How to run a fair vote with clickers 

What makes a vote fair?

Use these five checks for any vote, with or without devices:

1. Eligibility. Only people entitled to vote can vote. Guests, staff and observers cannot.
2. One vote each, or the weighting your rules require (by shares, units or delegates).
3. Secrecy when it is needed. For elections, appointments, pay and other sensitive items, nobody should be able to link a vote to a person.
4. A count anyone can check. The number of votes cast is announced and can be compared with the number of voters in the room.
5. A clear question. Everyone knows exactly what "For" means before they vote.

Secrecy changes how people vote. In Solomon Asch's conformity experiments, people often gave an answer they could see was wrong because the group around them gave it (Asch, Scientific American, 1955). A raised hand in front of colleagues, a landlord or your manager carries the same pressure.

What do your rules say about counting votes?

Read your constitution, bylaws or articles before you design the vote. Two common rule sets:

United States: Robert's Rules of Order. It is widely used by US associations, boards and nonprofits. Its official FAQ says:

• A majority means "more than half" of the votes cast.
• "Abstentions have absolutely no effect on the outcome of the vote" when the rule is a majority or two thirds of the votes cast. If your rules require a majority of the members present, or of the entire membership, an abstention has the same effect as a "no."
• A two-thirds vote means the "yes" votes "must be at least double the negative votes."
• The chair of a large assembly refrains from voting "except (i) when the vote is by ballot, or (ii) whenever his or her vote will affect the result." On a vote that is not by ballot, if a majority is required and there is a tie, the chair may vote yes to carry the motion.

(Robert's Rules FAQ)

United Kingdom: Companies Act 2006, for company general meetings. On a show of hands, "each member present in person has one vote." On a poll, in a company with share capital, each member has "one vote in respect of each share or each £10 of stock held" (section 284). Articles cannot stop at least 5 members, or members holding at least 10% of the voting rights, from demanding a poll on most questions (section 321).

What this means for a clicker vote:

• One clicker per voter gives you show-of-hands rules with a secret, exact count. That suits clubs, cooperatives, unions, housing associations and member associations where every member counts equally.
• A poll weighted by shares needs either a system that weights each voter or a separate poll procedure. Plan this before an AGM or annual meeting where a poll could be demanded.
• Abstain as an option. If your rule is "majority of votes cast," leave abstentions out of the calculation, and say so on the slide.

How do you write a motion slide nobody can misread?

• One motion per slide, worded exactly as on the agenda. Example: "Motion 3: Increase the annual membership fee from the next financial year, as set out in paper C."
• The same key order on every slide. A = For, B = Against, C = Abstain, for the whole meeting. Changing the order between motions invites mistakes.
• Elections: candidates in a fixed order announced in advance, such as alphabetical. One vote per round if you need more than one round.
• Show the threshold on the slide: "Passes with a two-thirds majority of votes cast."
• Amendments first. Vote on an amendment before the motion it changes, each on its own slide.

How do you set up a fair vote before the meeting?

1. Count the eligible voters from your register and bring 10% spare clickers.
2. Decide per item: anonymous or named. Elections and sensitive items are usually anonymous. Some rules require a record of who voted how. Announce the mode before each vote.
3. Plan registration. Each eligible voter gets one clicker when they sign in. Note the clicker number next to the name only if the vote is named. Observers get none.
4. Decide on proxies in advance: does a proxy holder get a second clicker, or is the proxy counted separately?
5. Prepare a test question, such as "Is today Thursday?", to run before the first real vote.

How do you run each vote during the meeting?

A script for the chair:

1. Run the test question first. The number of answers tells you how many voters are present, which helps with the quorum, and shows everyone how to press.
2. Read the motion aloud and say the keys: "A for, B against, C abstain."
3. Open voting. Show only the number of votes received while voting is open. Keep the result hidden so nobody follows the trend.
4. Give a warning: "Voting closes in ten seconds."
5. Close voting and say the count first: "164 votes cast." Compare it with the number of clickers handed out.
6. Show and read the result: "For 112, against 41, abstentions 11. The motion is carried."
7. If the count does not match, for example more votes than voters, stop and run the vote again before anyone sees the result.

What if a result is close or challenged?

• Re-run the vote at once, with the same slide and the same settings, if the count did not match or a voter reports a fault. Decide this rule before the meeting and say it at the start.
• Keep the report for every vote, including re-runs.
• Check your rules on ties. Under Robert's Rules a tie is not "more than half," so the motion fails unless the chair's vote decides it. Your own rules may say something else.
• UK companies: if members demand a poll, follow the poll procedure in your articles. A clicker vote counted one per person is not a share-weighted poll unless the system weights it.

How do you record the result after the meeting?

1. Export the report for each vote: motion, votes cast, result.
2. Attach it to the minutes, or copy the counts into them.
3. Collect the clickers at the door and count them back into the case.
4. Store named results only for as long as your rules and data policy allow.

How does an OMBEA vote work?

Each voter gets an OMBEA ResponsePad, and each motion is a slide in your PowerPoint deck. In anonymous mode no device is recorded at all, so nobody, not even the chair, can link a vote to a person. Named votes are possible when your rules require a record. ResponsePads use their own radio link to a USB receiver up to 100 meters away, so a town hall, a hotel function room or a basement with no signal all work, with up to 2,000 voters in one session. After the meeting you export the report to Excel or PDF for the minutes. See meetings and voting, events and conferences and the full features.

For a broader look at hardware choices for boards, AGMs and councils, read voting devices for meetings. If your venue has weak internet, see live polling without Wi-Fi. New to the category? Start with what an audience response system is.