How to execute a Live Conference election from start to finish
Up to this point, you have tested your election’s setup, made the necessary corrections to the election, and are ready to execute the election event.
You are now ready to start your election. The three stages of an election are as follows:
To start the election event, go to the “Live” tab and click the yellow “Initiate election event” button.
A prompt will appear on the screen to confirm entering production mode. Click on the “Initiate the election event” button. Once you do this, the election will go from Demo to Production.
All eligible voters are now able to log into the election event and cast a vote according to your configurations once the election opens.
1.1. Observer Flow
Before continuing further in the election event, you need to make sure that those in charge of screening/streaming the election to the voters have access to the Observer frontend. This is especially important for in-person conferences or meetings, where the presentation is shown on a screen to the voters and/or participants.
Go to “Configuration”
Under “Observer access,” make sure that “Restrict observer access” is not enabled. It should look like this:
Now, click on the “Frontend” button and from the dropdown menu and choose the “Observer frontend” option.
On the Observer screen, simply copy the URL link and send it to those who will project the election. As the election progresses, the observer frontend will show all the presentation and ballot slides as you go through them. The only difference from the voter flow is that it does not allow for voting or any interaction with items.
As your conference or annual meeting begins and progresses, you will use the conductor panel to control the slides. You access the conductor panel by clicking on the “Conductor Panel” button either on the Live tab or on the dedicated Conductor panel button in the election menu.
Inside the Conductor Panel you can follow the below items:
The total number of voters (a tally of all voters in the system)
The total voters present in the election (a tally of the total number of voters online in the system at this time and place)
The total eligible voters present (a tally of the total number of eligible voters who can vote on a given ballot; note that this item is only visible when a ballot slide is open for voting)
You can use these items to make sure that the numbers correspond to your desired attendance (If they do not, double check that you have sent out login information to all of your voters).
For instructions of how to navigate a live election event in the conductor panel, see “How to test a Live Conference election.“
2.1. How to support voters during the election
From our experience, voters can run into problems and will sometimes require support. We have therefore gathered a list of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) from voters and offer advice on how to address them below.
When the election is over, click “Stop presentation” and then “Exit mode” to close the conductor panel and the election.
Go back to the “Live” tab and close the election event by clicking on the “Conclude the election event” button.
*In this same tab, you can now see the recently closed event and download a result report and the results. The election then returns to the “Demo” stage.
To download a result report, under the “Recently concluded event” section, click on the blue “Download result report” button.
To download the result data file (consisting of a zip-file with .xlsx and .csv-files of the election results), click on the blue “Download results” button.
An additional, but not necessary, step is to close off the sign in fields from the login page by going to the “Configuration” tab and, under “Main” click on “Status.”
Set the election status to “closed.” Visitors going to the login page will be told that the election is now closed.
Video Guide
Congratulations, you have successfully executed an election event using the “Live Conference Voting” setting in Electa!