A letter to all IH Membership
From: Joe Coyle Lot 106/181.
Topic: Upcoming Vote to Allow Online Voting in IH.
Hello to all my fellow Indian Hammock members. I have asked, as a member of Indian Hammock since 2017, have requested to the owner of the Indian Hammock Owners’ Rights Facebook site and website to please post this message to all followers regarding the facts of allowing Online Voting in Indian Hammock.
As many of you know, I was tasked to research and recommend a company, and
related online voting platform, that could fit the needs of our Indian Hammock membership to allow more members to attend virtually, and vote virtually and electronically, in IH meetings, especially the annual members meeting.
The goal, and only goal, of this research was to allow members who could not physically attend, to be able to leverage their right to vote from anywhere in the world, on a secure, member verified, platform where all votes are anonymous.
I am confident we have identified that system. Also, while researching, another goal was for online voting to be additive, meaning in no way does it bypass the voting process for members that we have now, but only adds the ability to vote remotely and electronically, with full knowledge of any changes or motions executed during the actual meeting.
Finally, with the addition of our recent audio and video technologies, members can now attend meetings virtually, and vote in real time from anywhere in the world, safely, securely, and anonymously, while being 100% verified as the actual member executing the voting.
I hope you all find this intuitive, and a good starting point for the many questions I am sure are waiting to be asked.
I will break down my writing into groups, hopefully for clarity.
Why Introduce Online Voting:
To summarize along with the above statements, here are the highlights:
* Online Voting increases member participation on average by 75%
* You will be able to watch, listen, and participate in the meeting including voting with your vote, and any proxies, from anywhere in the world where you have internet access
* You can still vote in person.
* Proxies are fully supported, but hopefully will minimize “Proxy Harvesting”.
At our last annual meeting, 4 members controlled approximately 25% of the votes
It should also be mentioned that the 2024 BOD members voted unanimously to hold a special member meeting to ask membership to approve online voting. And finally, this is an additive solution and does not remove the current solution.
The Company:
The company selected to support online voting in IH, if approved, is Survey & Ballot Systems. Their website with a wealth of information is: Election Management Solutions & Voting Software | SBS Based in Minnesota, and with over 30 years in the election business, they are more than qualified in the industry. Their product, called DirectVoteLive, is a “Software as a Service” (SaaS) offering that is used by many clubs, HOA’s, Nonprofits, Churches, Credit Unions, and even Governments across the USA. They are fully licensed and certified, including in the great state of Florida.
The Technology Platform:
The technology Platform “DirectVoteLive” is state of the art, supporting industry-leading security including Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption, and is SOC2-compliant, which are the current standards for managing personal data. Happy to explain any of this in detail to any member.
The service runs on the Microsoft Azure Cloud, which is world class and runs workloads for companies around the world.
A few words about Software as a Service or (SaaS). SaaS has been around in the industry since the 1960’s although until the personal computer came into play, almost no one knew of it, or what it did, unless you are old like me and worked in the mainframe computing days. Today, SaaS is everywhere, used by everyone, every day. During the technology boom of the late 1990’s and 2000’s, two important technologies released the feasibility, and the availability of SaaS. Those technologies were Global Networking, and Cloud Computing. These two technologies becoming commodities launched SaaS. So, what is SaaS? Simply, it is software that runs in the Cloud, and as offered to, as a service, companies or individuals. The software remains under the control of the owner, in this case Survey & Ballots, and is presented to people via an online interface, for controlled usage. There is no installation, no CD’s or DVD’s, no updates need to be done, and no access to the underlying code. You get access to what you pay for, and nothing else. Some other examples, there are many, like the bank access everyone uses in your browser, Salesforce, ADP Payroll, the Google search engine, etc. There are thousands. SaaS is what we are recommending.
We have rented the platform for 1 year, with unlimited elections. With renewals entirely up to IH.
What the SaaS Platform Does:
In summary and as stated above, the platform allows verified members to vote in elections remotely and unanimously from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Securely and confidently. Some more details:
* The election committee runs the election as always, verifies the members and any proxies, and loads that information into the system under the election.
Proxies are also loaded in, so if a member assigns their vote to another member,
that assigned member has an additional vote, just like the paper process.
* By default, all elections are anonymous and are stated as such on every screen and report. Period.
* Members are verified by the election committee prior to the election, and the system
verifies the members in real time by sending a specific link to members for access. No link is the same, and the links are only sent to verified member devices.
* In real-time, the election committee can load in for example additional BOD members
elected on the floor for office, any motion made in real time by members for vote at the
meeting, etc.
* All information regarding an election can be loaded into the system so remote voters have the same access to information as those attending in person.
* All members are notified electronically if any new motions, etc. are approved at the
meeting. So even members not watching via audio/video will be notified in real-time should another vote be needed.
* For those attending the meeting, voting results will be displayed in real-time at the meeting on our monitor for all to see. For remote voters, they can see the same on their devices. At the end of the meeting, all results are distributed via report to registered voters via the same link that was supplied.
I would also like to mention that Survey & Ballots also offers a comprehensive hands-on service, where they send a team on site to run the entire election, using the same software, via their team, thereby freeing up our election committee, for a price!
What the SaaS Platform Does Not Do:
Again, as stated previously:
* The platform will not expose who votes, and that information is not available to anyone, including the administrator executing the election process.
* Will not allow any manipulation of the voting, by anyone, including the platform owners.
* Does not restrict in any way how IH runs elections. It only offers a more efficient way to execute the election.
Our Testing Process:
As many are aware, the elections committee has performed several tests, including 2 tests with the entire membership, to prove our goal of adding online voting both securely and anonymously. Many of you have already participated. This is the reason the BOD voted to rent the platform for a year, to demonstrate to membership, using the actual productive platform, that we can add remote online voting to our current election process.
How Much Does It Cost IH to Leverage?
We have purchased the “rental” of the platform for 1-year, unlimited number of elections, for approximately $530.00. 1-year renewals are at our discretion, with no obligation. I am sure prices will vary year by year, but their prices have been consistent over the years, with only minor fluctuations. The price we negotiated also includes a TXT message add-on, that allows us to notify members in real-time via TXT along with the included email in the standard package.
Some Additional Information:
It should be noted that even for members attending the meeting onsite, you can STILL vote using the online platform. This is the best of both worlds as you are there in real-time, but can use your phone, tablet, laptop, to vote, not having to fill out ballots with pen, rip off certain colored paper to vote on motions, etc.
Expecting people to choose to vote electronically even while onsite, the BOD and yours truly have agreed to install a Starlink internet system at the lodge, which all but guarantees us that every member attending can leverage online voting at the lodge, without worry of bandwidth issues.
Image how much this platform will speed to vote counting, especially as more members choose to vote on the platform versus paper. No more trying to fill the hours of dead air while manual counting occurs.
To Summarize:
I would like to start by thanking David Etzion for allowing this post to his followers to happen, as I want to get the facts to as many members as possible.
I would also like to stress that this post comes from Joe Coyle the member, and in no way has any ties to the BOD, where I also serve the community for this year.
I am more than happy to make myself available to anyone who has additional questions or would like to discuss anything in more detail. Please reach out and I will spend the time.
And, we have an extremely knowledgeable election committee that is now well versed in this platform, has run mock elections, and is another great resource to connect with for any details or questions.
Finally, visit the Survey & Ballots website at: Election Management Solutions & Voting Software |SBS There is a wealth of information available including other users’ comments, case studies, etc.
It is worth your time, so you are self-informed prior to the meeting on Sunday, December 15th.
So, let’s get this done. And hopefully let’s not let 4 members control 25% of the outcome of this decision of allowing online voting.
Thank you all and God Bless.
Joe Coyle
Lot 106/181.
Cell and email on our IH website.
