What is SimpleVote?
A practical overview of how online elections work in SimpleVote, and who does what.
In plain terms
SimpleVote is for organisations that need a proper election, not a straw poll in a chat thread.
You set up the election, add candidates and voters, and invite people by email. Each voter gets a personal link, votes on their phone or laptop, and you close the poll and publish results when you are ready. Parties, unions, student unions, and member associations use it for contested elections where fairness and a clear paper trail matter.
You can run Scottish STV (ranked ballots for multi-seat contests), first-past-the-post, or approval voting. One election can include several positions (for example Chair and Committee) under a single invite email, so members are not bombarded with separate messages for each role.
How voting stays private
Voters do not need a SimpleVote account. They open the link in the email, complete their ballot, and submit. Once their casting is finished, rankings are stored without their email address. On your dashboard you can see who has voted and who has not (turnout). You cannot open an individual’s ballot and see how they ranked candidates.
Who runs elections in the organisation
On Free and Pro you are usually both the organisation owner and the person running the election. On Scale and Enterprise you can add Managers (coordinate elections and assign people) and Electoral Returning Officers (run a specific election day to day). That split is useful when a national office sets policy and a local branch runs the poll.
How to get oriented
If you prefer to watch rather than read, start with the video above. For a first live dry run, follow Your first election checklist with a handful of email addresses you control. Before you invite a large roll, read How voter credits work so you know what Open voting will use.