The voting and prioritization methodology empowers you with enhanced decision-making capabilities. This feature offers a wide range of voting methods designed to facilitate a more inclusive, nuanced, and effective decision-making process. Whether it's the simplicity and accessibility of Approval Voting, the expressive power of Cumulative Voting, or the financial responsibility of Participatory Budgeting, each method offers unique benefits that cater to diverse decision-making scenarios.
In this support article, we will explore the various methods available and highlight their unique benefits.
Choosing the voting method that fits your needs and objectives:
1. "One Vote per Option" (Approval Voting)
Approval Voting, also known as "One Vote per Option," is a simple and accessible method that allows participants to cast a single vote for each option they approve of. This approach encourages broader participation, as it doesn't require individuals to navigate complex voting systems. By reducing the incentive for strategic voting and mitigating extreme polarization, Approval Voting promotes fair and inclusive decision-making.
2. "Multiple Votes per Option" (Cumulative Voting)
Cumulative Voting, the "Multiple Votes per Option" method, provides participants with a budget of votes that they can distribute across multiple options based on their individual priorities and preferences. This approach recognizes that different options may carry varying levels of significance for participants. By allowing for a more nuanced allocation of votes, Cumulative Voting fosters a more expressive decision-making process that captures the diverse perspectives within the group.
Encourage participants to distribute their votes genuinely based on their assessment of each option's significance. If you fear a small group of individuals strategically concentrating their votes on a single option in an attempt to manipulate the outcome, you may consider implementing a maximum number of votes per option. When/if doing so, consider the total number of options available for voting. The maximum number of votes per option should be set in a way that allows participants to express their preferences across a meaningful range of choices. If the limit is too restrictive, it may undermine the granularity of the decision-making process.
3. Participatory Budgeting - Basket Exercise
Participatory Budgeting, known as the "Basket Exercise," is a method that involves allocating a predetermined budget among a set of options. Each option is assigned a specific price, representing its associated cost or value. Participants are tasked with distributing their allocated budget across the options based on their assessment of their relative importance. This method promotes financial responsibility and encourages participants to consider the trade-offs between different options.
Adding options
Adding options in a voting phase
When you added a phase specifically for voting after a phase where you collected input you can use the "input manager" located on every phase to move the collected input to the voting phase.
The numbers under each input represent the phases of the project. To move an input to the voting phase, click on the number of the voting phase (if the second phase is the voting phase, click on '2').
If you are doing a budget allocation, make sure to add a budget to the options you are adding!
If you want to test out a voting phase, the phase will need to be active for you to be able to test it out.
Ongoing guidance
Users coming to the project will receive clear and transparent guidance on the rules of the voting phase. This transparency helps participants understand the limitations and ensures they are aware of the boundaries within which they can express their preferences.
Once the voting phase is over, participants will be directed to check out the results of the voting phase, which will be shared in the front office automatically upon the conclusion of the voting phase.
See some examples here
Monitor results live
In the "input manager" of each phase of your project you will be able to monitor votes as they come in, and get a sense of your users’ preferences as they express them. Online votes will be captured in one of the columns. If you have added offline votes collected in person, these will show on a separate column in the input manager.
By leveraging these new features, you can tap into the collective wisdom of your users, minimize biases, and make more informed and inclusive decisions. We believe that this dedicated methodology will empower our clients to navigate complex choices effectively and maximize the value they derive from the decision-making process.
Closing the loop with your residents on the outcomes of the voting phase is a key step in the trust building process of any participatory engagement project. By default, vote phase results will be shared with your community upon completion of the voting phase. But if you choose so, you can un-toggle the result sharing under the project settings tab in the back office to have more control over when to share the results. See below how results might look like.
Above, results view for a voting phase that only gathered votes online. Below, how the results for a voting phase that combined both online and in person voting will show.
Uploading Offline Votes
This feature allows organizers to easily input votes cast through traditional, in-person non-digital means into the same system that manages online votes. To do so, go to the input manager, click on the specific input you want to add in-person /manual votes to, and add the offline votes on the open field at the right of the interface.
This update ensures that individuals who may not have access to or comfort with digital voting can still have their voices heard and counted alongside those who vote online.
If you have any questions or need assistance in utilizing these new voting and prioritization methods, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team. We are here to ensure a seamless and impactful decision-making experience for you and your organization.
Need more help or support? Contact our Support Team via the chat bubble. 💬