--- title: "Running an Election" description: "Turn on Elections, build a secret ballot, set the voting window and quorum, publish, enter paper ballots, follow turnout, and close and certify the results." url: https://support.communitrak.com/en/articles/87-running-an-election collection: "Elections for Leaders" updated: 2026-11-12 language: en --- # Running an Election Turn on Elections, build a secret ballot, set the voting window and quorum, publish, enter paper ballots, follow turnout, and close and certify the results. The Elections module runs secret-ballot votes for your community, such as a board election or a vote on a bylaw change. Voters can confirm who they are with a one-time code before voting, each property, household, or member gets exactly one ballot, and voters get a private receipt code. Your board can see who has voted, but never how anyone voted. This article covers turning Elections on, building and publishing an election, entering paper ballots, following turnout, and closing and certifying the results. For the voter's side, see **Voting in an Election**. ## **Who can do this** Elections has its own permissions, separate from Forms & Polls: - **Manage Elections**: create elections, build the ballot, change the audience, voting window, voting limit, voter verification, and quorum, preview the ballot, and delete an election before voting opens. - **Open, Close and Certify Elections**: publish an election, preview a draft ballot, and close and certify the count once voting has ended, and share the certified results with members. - **Record and Void Paper Ballots**: enter paper and in-person ballots while voting is open or being counted. Voiding a ballot also requires **View Election Results**. - **View Election Results**: see turnout, quorum, and who has voted while an election runs, and the vote totals once the count is certified. - **Export Election Results**: download a certified election's results as a spreadsheet. This also requires **View Election Results**. When Elections launched, every role that already had a Forms & Polls permission received the matching election permission: **Create, Update, & Edit Forms** became **Manage Elections**, **Open & Close Form** became **Open, Close and Certify Elections** and **Record and Void Paper Ballots**, **View Form Results** became **View Election Results**, and **Export Form Results** became **Export Election Results**. Community Admins and Community Leaders have all five. To change who has them, see **Managing Roles and Permissions**. The **Elections** section of the role editor only appears while the module is turned on. Some options may be unavailable or appear differently depending on your level of account access. ## **Turn on Elections** Elections starts off for every community. Turning it on requires the **Turn Modules On/Off** permission. 1. Log in to Communitrak at [https://app.communitrak.com](https://app.communitrak.com). 2. In the main navigation menu, expand **Community** and click **Preferences**. 3. Find the **Elections** card and turn on its switch. **Elections** now appears in the main navigation menu for anyone with an election permission. Residents only see it while there is an election that concerns them (see **What members see** below). ## **The Elections page** Click **Elections** in the main navigation menu. If you hold any election permission, you see every election in your community on three tabs: - **Active**: published elections that are scheduled, open for voting, or being counted. - **Drafts**: elections that haven't been published yet. - **Closed**: elections whose count has been certified. Each election shows its status and the date that matters right now: - **Not Published**: a draft. Members cannot see it. - **Voting Opens Soon**: published, waiting for its opening time. - **Voting Open**: members can vote now. - **Counting**: voting has closed. Paper and in-person ballots can still be entered, and results stay sealed until the count is certified. - **Certified**: the count is final and the results are unsealed. The **Check a receipt** card on the right lets anyone look up a receipt code. See **Voting in an Election**. ## **Create an election** 1. Click **New Election**. 2. Fill in the dialog: - **Election Name**: required, for example "2027 Board of Directors Election." - **Target Audience**: required. Choose **All Members**, or any combination of roles and member groups. Elections cannot be shared on your public website. - **Voting Limit**: **One vote per property** (the default), **One vote per household**, or **One vote per member**. Follow what your bylaws say about who votes. - **Voter Verification**: **Code by email or text** (the default) asks each voter to enter a 6-digit code sent to their email or phone before voting. **No code, signing in is enough** lets members vote as soon as they open the ballot, which is easier for members who find codes difficult, but means anyone signed in to their account can vote. 3. Click **Create Election**. The election is created as a draft and opens in the editor. Every election is a secret ballot, and that cannot be turned off. ## **Build the ballot** The editor has two tabs, **Questions** and **Settings**. On the Questions tab, your ballot questions are on the left, and the **Election Settings** and **Add Ballot Items** cards are on the right. A ballot holds four kinds of items: - **Multiple Choice**: the voter picks one of the **Choices**, for example "Approve" or "Reject." - **Dropdown**: the voter picks one of the **Dropdown Options**. - **Multi-Select**: the voter picks several of the **Options / Candidates**. Set **Minimum selections** and **Maximum selections** to match your rules (for example, "vote for up to 3"), and **Number of winners** to the number of open seats, so the results mark who was elected. - **Text Block** (under **Content**): instructions or candidate statements. Text blocks don't collect a vote. Click an item to add it, fill in the **Question Text**, any **Support Text (Optional)**, whether it's a **Required Question**, and its choices, then click **Save**. Each question saves when you click Save. Drag the handle on a question to reorder it, and use the pencil or trash can to edit or remove it. > **Info:** **Note:** Every choice in a question must have different text. Communitrak won't publish an election with two identical choices, because it could record the wrong one. ## **Set the voting window and quorum** The **Election Settings** card holds the rules for the vote. Times are in your own time zone, which is shown at the top of the card. - **Voting opens**: when voting starts. Leave it blank to open voting as soon as the election is published. - **Voting closes**: required. It must be in the future and after the opening time. - **Voting Limit**: one vote per property, household, or member, as chosen when you created the election. - **Voter Verification**: whether voters enter a code before voting, as chosen when you created the election. - **Quorum**: the share of eligible properties, households, or members that must vote, as a percentage. Leave it blank if your election has no quorum. Click **Save Election Settings** after making changes. ## **Settings tab** The Settings tab holds the election's **Election Title** and **Target Audience**. The type always reads **Election**, and an election cannot be turned into a form or poll. Click **Save Settings** to apply changes. Who can vote comes from the target audience, and Communitrak reads it live. If you change a member's role or groups while voting is open, their vote is added or removed and the quorum changes with it. The role and group screens under **Members** warn you when a change would do this. ## **Preview the ballot** Click **Preview ballot** at the top of the editor, or choose **Preview ballot** from the election's menu on the Elections page. You see the ballot exactly as voters will, and you can click **Check my choices** to test the selection rules. Nothing you choose in a preview is saved or counted. Previewing requires **Manage Elections** or **Open, Close and Certify Elections**. Someone who can publish but not edit sees **Preview Ballot** on a draft so they can check it before publishing. ## **Publish the election** 1. Click **Publish & Set Live** in the **General** card in the editor, or choose **Publish** from the election's menu on the Elections page. 2. Confirm by clicking **Publish**. The confirmation tells you when voting opens and closes. Publishing requires **Open, Close and Certify Elections**. An election can be published once it has a saved closing time in the future and at least one Multiple Choice, Dropdown, or Multi-Select question with choices. If something is missing, the button explains what. Once an election is published: - Its questions, voting limit, voter verification, and audience can no longer change. - Until voting opens, you can still move the voting window and change the quorum from the Election Settings card. - Once voting opens, the window and quorum are locked too, so the quorum cannot move after turnout is visible. > **Info:** **Tip:** Communitrak doesn't email your community when voting opens. Members see a "Voting is open" notice on their Dashboard and the Elections item in their menu, but announce the election yourself too, for example with a bulletin board post or a message to everyone. ## **Follow turnout** On the Elections page, click **View Results** on a published election. This requires **View Election Results**. - The top card shows the turnout, for example "38% turnout" and "57 of 150 eligible properties voted," with a bar marking the quorum and whether it's **met** or **not met yet**. - Below it is the list of properties, households, or members that have voted, with the **Method** (**Online**, **Paper ballot**, or **In person**) and when. - Vote totals are sealed. Nobody sees them in Communitrak, including admins, until the count is certified. ## **Enter paper and in-person ballots** If some owners vote on paper or at a meeting, enter their ballots so they're counted with the online ones. This requires **Record and Void Paper Ballots**, and works while voting is open and while the election is being counted. 1. On the results page, click **Record paper ballot**. 2. Choose the property, household, or member that voted. Any that have already voted cannot be picked. 3. Under **How was it cast?**, choose **Paper ballot** or **In person**. 4. Mark the choices exactly as they appear on the ballot, then click **Review**. 5. Check the summary and click **Record ballot**. A recorded ballot cannot be edited, and that property, household, or member can no longer vote online. Paper and in-person ballots don't get a receipt code. The voter list shows who entered each one. If you have **Record and Void Paper Ballots** but not **View Election Results**, the results page shows only the **Record paper ballot** button, without turnout or the voter list. ### **Void a paper ballot** If a paper or in-person ballot was entered wrongly, for example for the wrong address, void it and enter it again. This requires both **Record and Void Paper Ballots** and **View Election Results**, and works only until the count is certified. 1. On the results page, find the ballot in the voter list and click **Void**. 2. Enter a **Reason**. It's required. 3. Click **Void ballot**. The ballot's votes are removed from the count, and the property, household, or member can vote again. The row stays in the voter list, struck through, with who voided it, when, and the reason. Online ballots cannot be voided. Because online ballots are stored separately from the people who cast them, there is no way to find and remove one person's online ballot. ## **Close and certify** When voting has closed, the election moves to **Counting**. Enter any remaining paper ballots, then certify the count. This requires **Open, Close and Certify Elections**. 1. On the results page, click **Close and certify**. You can also choose it from the election's menu on the Elections page. 2. Read the confirmation and click **Close and certify**. > **Info:** **Heads up:** Certification is final. It unseals the results, and no more ballots can be entered or voided. It cannot be undone. You cannot close an election while voting is open. Closing early would let someone compare the totals with the list of who had voted so far, so wait until the closing time has passed. Before then, **Close and certify** is shown but grayed out. To call off an election that hasn't opened yet, delete it instead. ## **Read the results** Once certified, the results page shows a **Results** section with a card for each question: every choice's votes and percentage, and the number of votes and ballots counted. Percentages are out of the ballots cast. - On a Multi-Select question with **Number of winners** set, the top choices are marked **Elected** (or **Most votes** for a single seat). - Choices with the same number of votes are marked **Tied**. If a tie leaves more candidates than seats, a **Tie for the last seat** notice appears. Communitrak never breaks a tie, so follow your bylaws. ## **Share the results with members** Certified results stay with people who have **View Election Results** until your board decides to share them. Sharing requires **Open, Close and Certify Elections**. 1. On a certified election's results page, find the **Not shared with members** card and click **Share results with members**. 2. Read the confirmation and click **Share results**. Members who could vote in the election now see each choice's votes and percentage, turnout, and quorum on the election's page, and the Elections page shows them **View Results**. The voter list, voided ballots, and who entered paper ballots are never shared. On the Elections page, the election is marked **Results shared**. Sharing can be undone. Click **Stop sharing** on the results page, and members no longer see the totals. You can share them again later. ## **Export the results** After certification, click **Export CSV** on the results page. This requires **View Election Results** and **Export Election Results**. The spreadsheet has three sections: - The vote totals for each question and choice. - Turnout and quorum. - The voter list: each property, household, or member that voted, the method, when, who entered paper ballots, and any voided ballots (without the void reason). Nothing in the export connects a voter to their choices. ## **Edit or delete an election** - A draft can be changed freely. Click **Edit Election**, or choose **Edit** from its menu. - A published election that hasn't opened yet still opens in the editor, but only the voting window and quorum can change. - An election can be deleted only before voting opens and only if it has no ballots. Choose **Delete** from its menu, or **Delete Election** in the editor's **Danger Zone**. This requires **Manage Elections** and cannot be undone. - Once voting has opened, an election is part of your community's record and cannot be deleted. ## **What members see** - Members see **Elections** in their menu only while an election they can vote in is open or being counted, and for 30 days after it's certified. Their tabs are **Current** and **Recent**. - While they still need to vote, their Dashboard shows a **Voting is open** notice with a **Vote** button. - Members never see drafts, other audiences' elections, or the voter list. They see vote totals only after the count is certified and your board clicks **Share results with members**. Until then, their election page says the count has been certified and that your board will share the results. ## **Frequently asked questions** ### **Can the board see how someone voted?** No. Communitrak stores who voted separately from what was voted, with nothing linking the two for online ballots. Admins see that a property, household, or member voted, and when, but never their choices. A paper ballot is linked to its voter only until the count is certified, so it can be voided if it was entered wrongly. After certification, that link is removed too. ### **How does Communitrak know a voter is who they say they are?** Every voter must be signed in to their own Communitrak account. If the election uses **Code by email or text**, each voter also receives a 6-digit code by email or by text message to a verified phone number, and enters it to confirm it's them. The code expires after 10 minutes. With **No code, signing in is enough**, being signed in is the only check. Choose it when your members would struggle with codes and your bylaws don't require more. Paper and in-person ballots work the same either way. ### **What is a receipt code?** After voting online, the voter is shown a private receipt code once, and a copy is emailed to them. Anyone in your community can enter a code under **Check a receipt** on the Elections page to confirm that a ballot was recorded, when, and how it arrived. A receipt never shows the choices on the ballot. ### **Can someone vote twice?** No. Each property, household, or member gets one ballot, depending on the voting limit. A person who belongs to more than one household in your community can still vote only once in the same election. A cast ballot cannot be changed. ### **Why is a member unable to vote?** The ballot page tells them why. The most common reasons are that the election isn't open to their role or groups, that their household isn't linked to a property (for a one-vote-per-property election), or that someone else at their property or in their household already voted. ### **Can Communitrak staff vote?** No. Communitrak team accounts cannot cast ballots in community elections. ### **Is the election included in our community data export?** Yes. The export includes each election's settings, who voted, and the totals of certified elections. Individual ballots are never included. See **Downloading Your Community's Data**. ## **Things to know** - Elections only appears in the main navigation menu while the module is turned on. Turning it off hides it without deleting anything. - Elections don't appear in Forms & Polls, and votes don't appear in members' My Submissions. - Elections cannot send email notifications or create requests the way forms can. - If your community's Communitrak subscription is in read-only mode, elections can be viewed, but not created, published, voted in, or certified. If you have questions or need help, chat with Communitrak Support from any page using the messenger icon in the bottom-right corner.