Set up and run an officer election

Understand the outcome

Running the election, managing voters, and certifying results are separate permissions. Split them across people.

Elections runs officer elections with secret ballots. Define the positions your department elects, decide who may vote and who may stand, and run nominations, voting, the count, and certification in one place. Ballots are stored with no voter, no timestamp, and no identifier, and administrative actions are recorded on a tamper-evident audit chain.

Before you begin

Make the decision before changing the screen. Record the current configuration when the department already uses this feature, and use a test record or test account when the change can affect active members.

• Decide positions, requirements, and counting method.
• Decide who may vote and who may stand.
• Decide whether to use a tally passphrase.

Where to work and what access you need

Start from the portal destination named in the procedure. Administrators normally need permission to view Elections plus the specific create, edit, manage, approve, report, or all-record action used by the task. Visibility alone does not grant management access.

• Elections overview/modules/elections
• Elections/modules/elections/elections
• Election detail/modules/elections/elections/:id
• Vote/modules/elections/vote/:id
• Results/modules/elections/results/:id
• My Ballots/modules/elections/my
• Positions/modules/elections/positions
• Disqualifiers/modules/elections/disqualifiers
• Audit Trail/modules/elections/audit
• Settings/modules/elections/settings

Required foundation

• Core must be enabled and correctly configured before this workflow can operate reliably.

If your department uses custom roles, test the procedure with that role—not only with a full administrator account. This confirms the people responsible for daily operations can complete the workflow without receiving unrelated access.

Complete the task

1. Step 1Set up positions

   Open Positions and add each office and its requirements; add disqualifiers.

2. Step 2Create the election

   Choose races and the counting method: plurality, approval, or ranked choice.

3. Step 3Build the voter roll

   Build it from roles and review it.

4. Step 4Collect nominations

   Officers nominate or members self-nominate.

5. Step 5Open voting

   Open voting manually and set a tally passphrase if you use one.

6. Step 6Close, count, and certify

   Close voting, run the count, and certify; the certified result includes the audit chain.

Operational safeguards

Apply these module-level controls while completing the procedure. They prevent a technically saved configuration from becoming an operational or access problem later.

• Control point
  Split running, voter management, and certification across different people.
• Control point
  Set positions and disqualifiers before nominations open.
• Control point
  Check the voter roll before opening voting.
• Control point
  Consider a tally passphrase and store it safely; the count cannot run without it.
• Control point
  Open and close voting yourself; elections do not open automatically.
• Control point
  Plan how ties will be settled; they are not broken automatically.

Verify the result

Do not consider the setup complete merely because the save action succeeded. Confirm the behavior from the user-facing or operational view, then retain evidence of the test when department policy requires it.

• Eligible members see their ballot.
• Turnout updates during voting.
• The audit trail verifies.

If any verification fails, return to the source configuration and correct it there. Do not edit a report or downstream record to conceal an incorrect setup.

Troubleshooting

A member isn’t on the roll

Check their roles before voting opens.

Count won’t run

Enter the tally passphrase, or check for a tampered ballot, which stops the count.

Results tied

Ties aren’t broken automatically; follow your bylaws.

Related Elections capabilities

This task sits inside a larger module workflow. These related capabilities may affect the result or provide the next administrative step:

• Plurality, approval, and single-seat ranked choice with instant runoff
• Encrypted, sealed ballots; a tampered ballot stops the count
• Optional tally passphrase required to open the ballot box
• No voter or timestamp on ballots, hour-rounded roll times, and a minimum ballot count to publish
• One vote per member, enforced by the database, with no recasting
• Voter receipts that prove participation and can confirm a ballot is still in the box
• Hash-chained audit log you can re-verify, printed on the certified result
• Notifications when voting opens, closing-soon reminders to non-voters, and certified results
• Separate permissions for running elections, managing voters, and certifying

Use the module hub to open the dedicated procedure associated with any capability listed here.

Connected modules and downstream effects

This workflow is primarily contained within its module. Verify its member-facing result and reporting output before department-wide rollout.

Continue in Elections

Return to the Elections module guide for connected workflows, dependencies, portal destinations, and additional procedures.