Running an online election requires information about the people who are eligible to vote. Voter lists often contain personally identifiable information (PII), such as names, email addresses, voter IDs, mailing information, or other details tied to an individual. That makes it important to transfer voter information securely, control who can access it, and avoid keeping it longer than necessary.
Organizations should decide which voter information is actually needed to run the election before providing a voter list to an online voting system. The same discipline should apply after the election: keep the records you have a reason to retain, and remove voter data when you no longer need it.
What voter data does an online election need?
An online voting system will need information to identify an eligible voter, deliver voting credentials, authenticate them, or determine which ballot questions and voting rights apply.
With Simply Voting, organizations can import a .CSV containing voter information and select the fields required for the election. An organization’s source database may contain additional fields that serve no voting purpose. Those fields should not be imported into the online voting system. For more on preparing the source data itself, see How to Prepare an Accurate Voter List for Online Voting.
Limiting the voter data provided for an online election reduces the amount of personal information that needs to be transferred, stored, accessed, and protected.
How should voter data be transferred?
For a self-service online election, a customer administrator will import voter data directly into the online voting system.
A managed election supported by a Simply Voting Project Manager may require voter files or other information to be exchanged with Simply Voting. Those exchanges should use secure upload areas or protected download links, not ordinary email attachments.
If an online voting provider routinely sends or requests voter PII by ordinary email attachment, that should be treated as a data-handling red flag.
What controls should apply to voter data during an online election?
Once voter data is in the online voting system, controls should govern how it is used, who can access it, and which subprocessors are involved.
Voter data should only be used by the online voting provider to administer the election and should not be processed for unrelated purposes. Organizations should be familiar with the online voting provider’s privacy and data-processing terms, understand what subprocessors are involved, and what role they play. Relevant subprocessors should be listed on the provider’s website; if they are not, ask. The provider should also be able to explain how it reviews and manages the subprocessors it relies on.
Access to voter information should also be limited to the people who need it. With Simply Voting, customers can assign account roles and permissions so their users only have access to the elections and functions required for their work. Administrator activity and changes involving election data are also recorded with user and timestamp information, providing an audit trail.
What should happen to election data after the election?
Once an online election is complete, decide which election records you actually need to keep based on your governance, audit, legal, or other retention requirements.
Simply Voting provides several downloadable election records, including:
- an Electors .CSV reflecting the final voter list, including updates, additions, or removals
- raw results in .CSV format;
- a Results Summary .CSV;
- an Election Log .CSV containing an audit trail of election activity; and
- a Certified Results .PDF summarizing the election results.
After downloading the records you need, decide how long the underlying election data should remain in the online voting system.
Archiving an election
For a finished election with votes, Simply Voting's archive process preserves limited election information, including the election name, dates, number of voters and votes, ballot content, and a downloadable .CSV summary of results.
Archiving permanently removes elector data, individual votes, election logs, reports, and the Certified Results .PDF. Archived elections cannot be restored, so any records that need to be kept should be downloaded beforehand. Their ballot questions, options, and descriptions can still be cloned into a new Draft, but the original elector list cannot be recovered.
Finished elections with votes are archived automatically after five years. Customers can archive earlier, or arrange extended retention if they need an election to remain in its Finished state beyond five years.
Deleting an election
Customers can also delete an election rather than retain an archived record. Deletion permanently removes the election itself, including its ballot content and remaining election data, so it cannot be restored or cloned.
Simply Voting maintains backups for disaster recovery and business continuity. Deleted data may remain temporarily in those backups before cycling out within seven days.
What about paper ballots in a hybrid election?
The same retention principle applies to physical election materials.
A hybrid election may produce returned paper ballots, spoiled ballots, envelopes, and other materials that should not remain in storage indefinitely.
When Simply Voting manages those materials, items held by Simply Voting are shredded once they are no longer needed for the project, or returned to the customer if requested.
Organizations managing their own paper voting should establish a process for deciding what must be retained, how long it must be kept, and how it will eventually be securely destroyed.
Be deliberate about retention
A good rule of thumb is to be deliberate at both ends of the election. Before voting starts, think about what voter information you actually need and avoid importing information simply because it happens to be in your database. After voting has closed, decide which results, reports, and records you need to keep, and for how long. The same applies to physical election materials. Once voter data or election materials no longer serve a purpose, they should be securely deleted or destroyed.
Planning an online election? Contact us to discuss your election and how voter data will be handled from setup through retention.
