Polls, AGM resolutions and committee elections
Run a quick poll, an AGM resolution or the managing committee election with one vote per flat. Owners stand from their page, flats vote online or on paper at the meeting, and the result makes the new committee.
PLANSScale only
The problem it solves
- Committee elections need paper slips, a ballot box and a long evening of counting.
- Two people from the same flat vote, and nobody can prove it afterwards.
- Owners abroad cannot vote on the AGM resolution at all.
- A show of hands means everyone knows who voted against the treasurer.
How it works
- The office opens Visitors > Elections & Polls > Votes and makes a Poll, a Resolution (AGM / SGM) or a Committee election. A resolution starts with For, Against and Abstain.
- For an election it adds the posts and their seats, such as Secretary (1) and Member (5), then clicks Open Nominations. Owners put their names forward with a short statement.
- The office approves or rejects each candidate. Open Voting puts the approved names on the ballot; nominations not approved are rejected.
- Each flat casts one vote on the resident page or in the app. At the meeting, the office enters paper ballots with Record Paper Ballot.
- Voting closes at the time set or with Close Voting. The top candidates for each post are marked elected, and Publish Results tells the flats.
- Make the Committee turns the elected candidates into the committee; the members before them step down.
Everything it does
Kinds of vote
- Poll: options you write; Choices per Flat 1 to start with, more for a multiple-choice poll
- Resolution (AGM / SGM): For, Against, Abstain; one choice
- Committee election: posts with seats; a flat may tick as many candidates as a post has seats
Who votes
- One vote per flat, by an owner (the default), or by any adult resident (owner, tenant or family)
- Towers / Blocks: limit the vote to some towers; empty means every flat
- A flat votes only if it has a resident who may cast its vote
- A second vote from the same flat is refused, online or on paper
Secret or open
- Secret Ballot: on to start with; only the counts are kept, never who chose what
- Who voted is always kept: the flat, who cast it and how (resident page, app or paper ballot)
- An open vote keeps each flat's choice for the office
- Show Results While Voting: for open polls only
Times and turnout
- Nominations Close, Voting Opens and Voting Closes; a job every 15 minutes opens and closes voting at those times
- Quorum (%): 0 to start with; if fewer flats vote, the result says the quorum was not met
- Flats Voting, Voted and Turnout (%) on the vote
Elections
- Only owners may stand, while nominations are open and before Nominations Close
- A candidate can withdraw while nominations are open
- Candidate states: Nominated, On the ballot, Rejected (with a reason), Withdrawn
- A tie for the last seat elects nobody for it; the office decides, writes it in the Result Note and ticks Elected
- The committee: member, flat, role, mobile, email, from and until; Shown to Residents on to start with; Step Down ends a term
Results
- Votes and share for each option or candidate, the elected ones marked
- States: Draft, Nominations open, Voting open, Closed, Results published, Cancelled
- A cancelled vote that has votes cannot go back to draft; make a new one
Who uses it
Society office or election officerSets up the vote, approves candidates, records paper ballots, closes voting and publishes results.
OwnerStands for a post, and casts the flat's vote.
Other residentsSee the votes and results; vote too when the vote allows any adult resident.
CommitteeIs made from the election result and shown to residents with roles and phone numbers.
Where you use it
- Web (office): Visitors > Elections & Polls (Votes, Candidates, Committee)
- Resident portal: Society > Elections & polls, with the committee
- The SmartMy Society Resident app: Society > Elections & polls: vote, stand, withdraw, results and the committee. It is built and in testing, not in the app stores yet
- At the meeting: Record Paper Ballot on the vote, one flat after another
- Not offered: proxy votes, votes weighted by area or share, and voting by people with no login other than on paper
What you control
Settings
- Voters: One vote per flat, by an owner
- Secret Ballot: on
- Choices per Flat: 1
- Quorum (%): 0 (none)
- Show Results While Voting: off
- Each resident: Votes alerts on, switched off under Alerts > Notify me about
Notifications
- Flat: Elections and Polls: when nominations open, voting opens or results are published. It goes to the residents of the flats who may vote and get Votes alerts. Also to a candidate when they are put on the ballot. A push to those signed in to the Resident app and the first of WhatsApp, SMS and email that reaches them, and always in-app
- It is a transactional event: it goes out at once, and a resident can switch off a channel but not the event. The Votes switch on their Alerts page stops these alerts for them
Questions
Can a tenant vote?
Only when you set the vote to "any adult resident", which suits an informal poll. For an AGM resolution or an election, keep the default: one vote per flat, by an owner.Can the office see how a flat voted?
Not in a secret ballot, the default. Only the counts are kept, with the list of flats that voted. In an open vote the office sees each choice.Some owners will vote at the meeting on paper. Is that counted?
Yes. The office enters each paper ballot with Record Paper Ballot. A flat that already voted online cannot vote again on paper.What if two candidates tie for the last seat?
Nobody is elected to that seat by the system. The office settles it as your bye-laws say, notes it in the Result Note and ticks Elected by hand.Our flat has no owner on record. Can it vote?
Not in a vote by owners, not even on paper. Add the owner to the flat first, then the flat can vote.Related features
SOCIETY OFFICENotice board for flats, towers and ownersThe society office posts notices to every flat, to chosen towers or to owners only, pins the important ones and attaches files. Residents are alerted when a notice goes up, and the office sees who has seen it.SOCIETY OFFICESociety documents: bye-laws, minutes and formsKeep the bye-laws, meeting minutes, audit reports, forms and insurance papers in one place. Each document is open to every resident or to owners only, and residents download it from their page or the app.FLATS AND RESIDENTSTowers, flats and resident loginsSet up your towers and flats once, add the owners, tenants and family of each flat, and give every resident a login of their own. Each resident sees only their own flat.FLATS AND RESIDENTSFamily page: who approves visitors and who gets alertsEach flat keeps its own Family members page. The owner or primary contact adds members and decides who may let visitors in and who hears about the gate, without calling the office.FLATS AND RESIDENTSResident app and resident web portalResidents answer the gate, invite guests, follow daily help and parcels and read alerts in the SmartMy Society Resident app or in a browser. Both show the same flat and do the same things.ACROSS SMARTMY SOCIETYNotificationsSmartMy Society tells the right person the moment something happens. It might be a visitor waiting for the flat, a parcel at the gate or the maid late. It might be a child at the gate, a bill due, an emergency. Each event has its own recipients and channels: app notification, in-app, email, and SMS or WhatsApp on paid credits.
See it set up for your own society.
Tell us how many towers, flats and gates you have. We will show you and your committee the resident app, the guard app and the office screens, set up that way.