In 2020, the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) began using Simply Voting after another UAW local recommended the online voting system. The immediate need was an alternative to a scheduled voting event during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then, UAW’s use of online voting has expanded within a centralized account used by multiple UAW groups. Other UAW locals continue to use Simply Voting through their own separate accounts, while this particular account has grown to support a wider range of groups and voting needs.
Since 2020, UAW groups using the centralized account have conducted more than 60 online elections, including bargaining team and committee elections, contract ratifications, executive board and steward elections, vacancy elections, and other member votes. The experience shows how online voting for unions can grow from addressing one immediate need into supporting a broader, ongoing voting program.
Expanding Across Different UAW Groups
UAW represents workers in auto, aircraft and agricultural implement manufacturing and other industries across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
The centralized account began with UAW Local 4811, which represents roughly 60,000 researchers, educators, and professional staff across the University of California system. Over time, additional UAW groups began using the account, bringing new administrative teams, voter populations, and voting needs onto the same online voting system.
Separate administrator groups allow different teams to work independently within that broader environment. Rather than requiring every administrator to have access to every election, different UAW groups can manage the elections they are responsible for while remaining on the same online voting system.
The elections themselves also vary considerably in size. Some involve only a few dozen eligible voters, while the largest approach 38,000. Online voting for unions can therefore support both narrowly focused votes and much larger elections involving broad sections of the membership.
That structure has allowed the account to grow across different groups and electorate sizes while preserving separate administrative responsibility.
Supporting Different Types of Union Votes
UAW groups use Simply Voting for both governance elections and collective-bargaining-related votes.
Bargaining team and bargaining committee elections are a recurring use case, including vacancy and runoff elections. The online voting system is also used for contract and agreement ratifications, executive board elections, steward elections, and other member decisions.
The content presented to voters varies with the type of vote. For tentative agreement ratifications, UAW groups can include links to the agreement and supporting summaries hosted on their own websites so voters can review the material before submitting their vote. For candidate elections, candidate biographies and statements can be presented with the ballot so voters can review relevant information before making their selections.
The voting method can vary as well. Some UAW elections use plurality voting, while others have used preferential voting that allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference.
Simply Voting’s self-service online voting system gives UAW groups the flexibility to manage these different voting formats, supporting information, voter populations, and election structures within the same administrative environment.
That matters for organizations that conduct online voting throughout the year. One vote may involve a broad portion of the membership, while another may apply only to a particular workplace, region, department, bargaining unit, or other group.
Managing Different Voter Groups Within the Same Election
Some union elections also involve different voting rights within the same electorate.
UAW uses voter segmentation to make particular positions or questions available only to the voters who are eligible for them. Voting rights can be assigned based on a region, department, campus, bargaining unit, or another defined voter group, while broader questions remain available to everyone who is eligible to participate.
This allows different voter groups to receive the contests or questions that apply to them within the same election.
For example, members may all participate in an organization-wide vote while only some voters receive an additional contest tied to their region or group.
That flexibility is one of the ways online voting for unions can accommodate more complex membership structures without requiring every voter to receive identical ballot content.
One Online Voting System That Grew With UAW’s Needs
UAW’s experience with Simply Voting began with a specific need in 2020 and expanded over time across additional groups, voting types, and voter populations within the centralized account.
Today, that account supports independently managed administrative teams, different voting rights within elections, recurring online voting throughout the year, different voting methods, and a wide range of electorate sizes.
Online voting for unions can evolve as an organization’s needs change. UAW’s experience shows how a common online voting system can support that growth while still giving different groups the ability to manage their own elections.
Looking for online voting for your union? Contact us to learn how Simply Voting can support voting across different voter groups, administrative teams, and election types.
