You may have a position with more than one vacancy, and more than one candidate running for the vacancies. This is common in elections for board members, or for any other position that has a group of people with a shared job in an organization. ElectionBuddy allows you to set up a ballot question for these situations quickly and easily.
Setting Up
- From the window that appears, or by selecting the + Add position or question button, select "Multiple candidates for 2 or more vacancies — eg. vote for 3 of 5 directors"
- Enter the ballot question title, and names of your candidates, and then set the number of available vacancies. If you outline more vacancies than you have candidates, Write-Ins will be automatically enabled.
- Add any Candidate Profiles and Photos (optional), and adjust any Settings for the ballot as required. Example: Random Order, Ask for Comments, Allow Abstain, or Write-Ins.
Minimum/Maximum Choices
Specify the minimum and maximum number of choices the voters can select on their ballot. First, input the total number of vacancies for the ballot question. Then select from the dropdown menus the minimum number of choices and the maximum number of choices.
When selecting the same number for both, voters will have to make that many selections to submit their ballot. While, selecting "0" for the minimum, will allow the voters to select nothing for that question and be able to submit their ballot. Keep in mind, that voters must make at least 1 selection on their ballot to submit. To allow voters to submit their ballot towards quorum please see: Quorum Voting
Here is an example ballot with 3 vacancies and 5 candidates, and the voters select exactly 3.
Alternative Voting Systems
Your ballot does not necessarily have to be a Plurality question when you have multiple candidates for multiple vacancies. Plurality is the most common option, but depending on your bylaws, you may be required to set this up in another way.
Below are other voting systems that work with multiple vacancies and candidates.
- Preferential- Also known as Instant Runoff Voting or Ranked-Choice Voting.
- Cumulative- Also known as multi-voting, dot-voting, or split voting.
To use one of these alternative voting systems, select the drop-down menu on the Ballot Question and select the voting system you like from the drop-down options
ElectionBuddy offers multiple voting systems to meet your voting needs. To be sure that you're picking the right one for your vote, this article will compare and contrast some of our voting systems to help guide you to the right choice - Please see Choosing the Right Voting System