To run MeetingVotes, administrators must provide credentials for each voter to log into the voting process. There are two required credentials — an access key and a password.
Below, we have outlined some recommendations and best practices to help guide you in creating them.
Creating the Credentials
Access keys must be unique for each voter in your voter list; passwords do not have to be unique, but they will be more secure if you make them unique.
When creating the credentials, keep the following in mind:
The most effective credential is one that could not be known or easily guessed by other voters. Possible options for credentials include:
Internal credentials such as emails, membership IDs, or usernames
Random numerical credentials Example: 12345 and 1234
Random alpha-numerical credentials Example: a2eRd3 and LRT111
Using alphanumeric can help make a voter's credentials harder to guess.
Avoid using spaces in your credentials. If you accidentally use two spaces in your credentials instead of one, it is very difficult for the voter to notice this, and increases the risk that your voter will have login issues. Tip: instead of using spaces, try underscores ( _ ), hyphens ( - ), or periods ( . )
Tread carefully when using similar characters like 0 and O, or I and l (these look like the same characters, but they're an uppercase i and a lowercase L).
Credentials are not case-sensitive.
Sending Credentials Prior to Your Meeting
Provide voters with their credentials at least 30 minutes prior to your meeting by sending a meeting notice. You can also send credentials a few days before if you are planning to have more than 50 people attend your meeting. Voters can receive their notice with credentials via email, SMS, printed notices by mail, or in attendance at the door of an in-person meeting.
Once the notices are received, voters then confirm their participation in the meeting by entering their credentials and registering. The registration process establishes a quorum along with identifying the members that will participate in the meeting. This also gives the administrator time to address any voter issues, such as not receiving the credentials, prior to the actual meeting. This allows voters to get the experience of voting with ElectionBuddy without the pressure of casting a ballot during the live meeting.
An example of a registration and confirmation of credentials ballot:
For more tips on sending out your credentials, please see the article Onsite Votes.
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