Online Voting Insights & Resources

Community organisations rely on trust. Whether you’re running a sporting club, member association, union branch, professional body, cultural organisation, not-for-profit, or residents’ group, members need confidence that decisions are being made fairly and that every eligible vote is counted correctly. That sounds straightforward. In practice, voting disputes are one of the most common governance issues […]

When shareholders vote, they are exercising one of the most important rights they have as owners of a company. Yet many organisations still treat voting as an administrative task rather than a governance process. Ballots are distributed through multiple channels, proxy forms arrive at the last minute, vote counting is handled manually, and shareholders are […]

Co-operatives are built on member participation. Whether you’re running a community co-operative, a worker co-op, a housing co-op, an agricultural co-operative or a member-owned enterprise, the ability for members to vote on important decisions sits at the centre of good governance. The challenge is that member participation is not always easy. Members may be spread […]

Board elections often look straightforward on paper. Open nominations. Receive candidates. Hold a vote. Declare a result. The reality is usually more complicated. Every organisation has its own governance framework, constitutional requirements, membership structure and voting culture. A board election for a national association can look very different from one conducted by a strata organisation, […]

Boards often ask the same question when a contentious vote is approaching: “Should this be anonymous?” Sometimes the request comes from members who are worried about backlash. Sometimes it comes from directors trying to encourage honest participation. Other times it appears after a difficult election, a disputed AGM, or growing tension within an organisation. Anonymous […]

When an election result is challenged, questioned, or simply scrutinised by members, one issue sits at the centre of the discussion: Can the result be verified? Not whether people liked the outcome. Not whether participation was high. Whether the organisation can demonstrate that votes were issued correctly, received correctly, counted correctly, and reported correctly. That […]

For most organisations, the question isn’t whether online voting is possible anymore. It’s whether it can be trusted. Boards, associations, unions, clubs, companies, and strata communities are increasingly running elections and resolutions online. Members expect convenience. Participation rates are often higher. Results are faster. Yet many directors and governance professionals still ask the same thing: […]

When people hear the term weighted voting, they often assume it is something unusual or controversial. In reality, weighted voting is common across Australian companies, strata schemes, member organisations, investment structures, and shareholder meetings. In many cases, it is the standard way decisions are made. The confusion usually comes from the fact that not every […]

Most boards and committees already understand the importance of “fair” voting. Where things get harder is turning that principle into a process members actually trust — and can see working. Across associations, clubs, strata schemes, unions and professional bodies, I still see the same friction point: members don’t question outcomes because they suspect wrongdoing. They […]

Proxy voting sounds simple. A member can’t attend a meeting, so they appoint someone else to vote on their behalf. In practice, though, proxy voting is one of the areas where meetings regularly run into disputes. Late proxy forms, unclear voting directions, questions about who can act as a proxy, arguments over chairperson discretion — […]