CU*Answers, a West-Michigan based CUSO known for providing its flagship core processing system CU*BASE, is announcing a project to create an online voting system so that credit unions can periodically set up a ballot in CU*BASE and allow members to complete the ballot (vote) online after logging into It’s Me 247 Online Banking.
To allow for paper ballots to still be cast (for members that don’t have access to a computer, or who have disabilities that don’t use a computer, etc,), the CUSO will also develop a tool in CU*BASE for authorized for authorized users to enter the results of paper ballots to be tallied along with online votes.
The configuration will include controls that prevent a ballot from being changed after the active voting period has begun, and clear the results from a previous election prior to setting up a ballot for the next elections. The voting tools for CU*BASE and It’s Me 247 will include controls to prevent members from voting more than once and to ensure that members are eligible to vote (must have par value on deposit in the base share account).
According to CU*Answers, the idea is to create a simple, inexpensive way for credit unions to gather votes from members on things like Board Elections or Proposals, etc., such as for the Annual Meeting.