What is Voting?
Voting is used to collect formal decisions from board members and other participants. Unlike Surveys and Evaluations, Voting is designed to capture a specific decision using a single question.
Voting questions use a Yes or No response format. Organizations can also choose to allow participants to Abstain from voting.
How do I create a voting?
Administrators can create a voting to collect a formal decision from participants.
To create a voting:
Navigate to the Voting section.
Select New Voting.
Enter a Vote Title.
Enter a Vote Description.
Select a Closing Date.
Select the recipients who will participate in the voting.
Click Create Vote.
The voting record is created and is ready for questions and supporting documents to be added.
Note: Creating the voting record does not publish the voting. The voting must be published before recipients can participate.
How do I add questions to a voting?
Once the voting record has been created, you can add one or more voting questions.
To add a question to a voting:
Open the voting.
Click New Question.
Enter the voting question.
Select whether participants are allowed to Abstain.
Click Finish to save the question.
Click Add Another Question if you want to create additional voting questions.
After adding your questions, you can optionally attach supporting documents for participants to review before submitting their responses.
What answer types are available in a voting?
Voting questions use a fixed response format.
Participants can select:
Yes
No
Administrators can also choose to allow:
Abstain
Unlike Surveys and Evaluations, voting questions do not support additional answer types such as multiple choice, ratings, or free-text responses.
Note: A voting can contain multiple questions, but each question uses the same Yes / No response format, with an optional Abstain option.
How do I publish a voting?
Once the voting question has been created and any supporting documents have been added, the voting can be published.
To publish a voting:
Open the voting.
Verify the voting question and recipient list.
Add any supporting documents if required.
Click Publish.
After a voting has been published, recipients can review the voting question, access any supporting documents, and submit their response.
Important: Voting questions cannot be modified after the voting has been published. If a change is required, a new voting must be created.
How do I view voting results?
Administrators can review voting results after participants begin submitting responses.
To view voting results:
Navigate to the Voting section.
Select the published voting.
Click View Responses.
The voting results page opens and displays the Summary view by default.
The Summary view provides a graphical overview of voting results for each question, including:
Yes responses
No responses
Abstain responses (if enabled)
Response totals by question
This view provides a quick way to understand voting outcomes without reviewing individual participant responses.
How do I view individual voting responses?
Administrators can review individual participant responses from the voting results page.
To view individual responses:
Navigate to the Voting section.
Click View Responses for the desired voting.
Select the Responses tab.
The Responses view displays:
Participant names
Response status
Date and time responses were submitted
This allows Administrators to identify who has responded and when their response was received.
Note: Available response information may vary depending on your organization's configuration and voting settings.
How do I export voting results?
Administrators can export summarized voting results for reporting or record-keeping purposes.
To export voting results:
Navigate to the voting results page.
Select Export Summary.
BoardWorks generates an Excel file containing the summarized voting results.
The exported summary can be used for:
Board reporting
Meeting records
Governance documentation
Audit purposes
How do I export individual voting responses?
Administrators can export participant-level voting responses to Microsoft Excel.
To export voting responses:
Navigate to the voting results page.
Select Export Responses.
BoardWorks generates an Excel file containing the voting responses submitted by participants.
The exported file can be used for:
Record keeping
Auditing
Compliance reviews
Additional analysis and reporting
Note: Exported results reflect the responses that have been received at the time the export is generated.
How is Voting different from Surveys and Evaluations?
Voting is designed specifically for formal decision-making and differs from Surveys and Evaluations in several ways.
Voting:
Uses a Yes / No response format
Can optionally allow participants to Abstain
Can contain one or more voting questions
Supports the attachment of supporting documents
Is designed to collect formal decisions from participants
Unlike Surveys and Evaluations, voting questions do not support additional response types such as multiple choice, ratings, rankings, or free-text responses.
Can participants review documents before voting?
Yes.
Supporting documents can be attached to a voting and made available to participants before they submit their responses.
These documents allow participants to review relevant information before making a decision.
Access to attached documents is controlled through standard BoardWorks permissions.
Who can view voting results?
All BoardWorks Administrators have access to voting questions and voting results.
Once participants submit their responses, Administrators can review voting activity and outcomes.
Can a voting be modified after it is published?
Published votings have certain limitations.
Once a voting has been published:
Voting questions cannot be modified
Existing question wording cannot be updated
Response options cannot be changed
If changes are required after publication, a new voting must be created.
Important: Review all voting questions, recipients, and supporting documents before publishing.
Can voting questions be copied?
No.
Voting questions cannot be copied from another voting.
Each voting question must be created individually.
Can voting templates be used?
No.
Voting cannot be created using templates and cannot be copied for future use.
Each voting must be created and configured individually.
What should I know about Voting?
Voting is designed to collect formal decisions from participants.
A voting can contain one or more questions.
All voting questions use a Yes / No response format.
Administrators can optionally allow participants to Abstain.
Supporting documents can be attached for participant review.
All Administrators have access to voting results.
Voting questions cannot be modified after publication.
Voting questions cannot be copied.
Voting cannot be created using templates.
