Using Write-ins as a contest option
This guide explains how to configure and use the write-in feature. This functionality allows voters to write text as their voting option. In this guide, we will distinguish between two use cases for this feature: one, when using it as a candidate option, and the other, when used in combination with the “excluded” feature.
How to setup write-in option
Before setting up this feature, make sure to create a contest – see how to do so here. When creating your contest’s options, enable the setting called “Write in option”.
Once enabled, two additional functionalities will appear. Here, start by selecting bytes size that is allowed for the write-in option, that is, the amount that can be written in the option. Please be aware to only select the amount that is needed for the option, as a bigger byte size also means a longer calculation time of the result because the cryptograms of a vote will have a higher complexity.
Additionally, you can write any custom placeholder text that will appear in the option before the voter types anything into it.
Finally, the contest’s options should look something like this:
In the backend:
In the ballot:
Voter flow
When a voter logs into the ballot, they will be met with the following:
When selecting the write-in option, in this example “Other”, the voter must write something in the text field.
Mapping write-in options before generating results
Before generating the results of a contest that includes a write-in option, you need to first map these options. Once you start the extraction process, you will then be directed to the write-in mapping step. Mapping the write-in options is necessary in order to generate a result that includes those new options.
To map a write-in option, you simply need to select which candidate (ie. option) the text in the write-in option should correspond to.
By default, the system will create new options corresponding to the text submitted as write-in votes, and they will be mapped as such. This default mapping will look likes this:
In mappings:
In final result:
Alternatively, there are different ways the write-in options can be mapped (instead of the default mapping).
1. Mapping the write-in option to an existing option of the same name: In the example shown below, we are mapping the write-in options “Ricky Martin” and “Rick Martino” to the option “Rick Martin”, to fix the name spelling. This then means that the candidate, “Rick Martin” receives two more votes from the write-in options.
In mapping:
In final result:
2. Creating a new option to map several write-in options: In this example, there are two write-in options, “Braad Pitt” and “Bread Pitt”, and we want these to be mapped to the same option, which is not already an option on the original ballot.
There are two ways to create new options:
“Add new option”: This feature allows you to create a new option that is used only for the mappings of the specific write-in option.
“Add new global option”: This feature applies in cases when a voting round has more than one contest. In these cases, you can create one new option that can be used accross the mappings of different contests of the voting round.
In mapping:
In final result:
3. Marking the write-in option to count as an invalid option: In this example, a write-in option is “me”, which does not correspond to a known candidate name and thus needs to be invalidated. This option is thus not counted towards the final result.
In mapping:
In final result:
At the bottom of the page, you can “Submit mapping” or “Download write-in votes”, which will download a .csv file containing all the information about the write-in votes. When using just the default mapping, click “Calculate result” to generate the results.
When pairing “Excluded” with “Write-ins” in the same option
A contest option that is “Write-in” as well as “Excluded”, means that it will not be part of the final generated result. Instead, it will appear as a null vote in the results report. The text entered by the voter can be accessed in the results .csv export, but these votes are never counted towards any candidate or option in the final result.
When generating the results of a contest that contains a write-in & excluded option, it will not be possible to map this option (as shown below):
Write-in options submitted during the voting process will then be counted as null votes and not count towards the final result. In the results report, it looks like this:
Inside the results zip folder, available for download, there will also be a file containing information on these write-in options – in the example below, you can see the two write-in votes and their contents.
This configuration can be useful when voters may want to provide some sort of additional comment as part of their vote. A common use for this option is when voters want to show their dissatisfaction or leave a remark that should be recorded but not included in the final tally.
As such, this configuration is useful for:
Complaints or formal remarks related to the contest or the voting process.
General comments or suggestions that should be documented.
Situations where the voter does not support any of the available options, but you still want to capture their input.