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Elections

Nominate candidates, read their platforms, and vote for your organization's officers.

When your organization elects officers, the whole thing happens inside fellos — nominations, campaigning, the ballot, and the result. You do not get emailed a link to a separate voting website, and nobody has to tally anything by hand afterwards.

Finding Elections

Elections is the last section in the left sidebar, below Store. On a phone, tap More in the bottom bar and pick Elections from the Dashboard Navigation sheet.

Don't see Elections?

The section only appears once your Site Admin has switched elections on for your organization. If it is missing entirely, nothing is wrong with your account — ask whoever administers your site.

The elections list

The Elections page lists what is happening now. When you are both involved in some elections and able to follow others, the rows split under two headings with a count each:

  • TAKING PART — elections you can nominate in, vote in, or both.
  • FOLLOWING — elections you can watch but not take part in. These rows carry a View only badge.

Every row shows the election title, a badge for the phase it is in, the description, the voting window as Voting <start> – <end>, and how many seats are being filled (1 position, 2 positions, and so on).

If there is nothing to show, the page reads No elections yet — "When an election opens that involves you, it will show up here."

Opening an election

Click a row to open it. Back to Elections returns you to the list.

Near the top is a timeline showing the phases this election uses — NOMINATIONS, CAMPAIGN, VOTING and RESULTS — each with its dates. Only the phases your conductor actually configured appear, so a simple election may show just VOTING and RESULTS. The RESULTS box reads "After certification" until the result is final.

Below that, each position on the ballot gets its own card listing its candidates. A position nobody has been nominated for yet reads No candidates yet.

Nominations

During the nominations phase, each position card has a Nominate button in its header. It opens a dialog titled Nominate for <Role> — <Org> with a member search, an optional Note, and a Submit nomination button that stays disabled until you have picked someone.

To stand yourself, nominate yourself — there is no separate "run for office" button.

Two things you may see in the search:

  • "More members match than are shown — narrow the search to find someone specific." — type more of the name.
  • "No members match the nominee eligibility rules for this election." — nobody you could nominate is eligible for this position. Eligibility is set per election, and it is based on member type.

When a nomination needs seconds

Some elections require a nomination to be seconded before it reaches the ballot. Those nominations show a Needs seconds (n/m) badge counting how many they have against how many they need, and other members can second them.

While a nomination still needs seconds, the nominee sees only a Decline button — there is nothing to accept yet.

When someone nominates you

Once a nomination has whatever seconds it needs, it is waiting on you. Your row shows an Awaiting acceptance badge with Accept and Decline buttons, and accepting lets you add an optional message that is published under your name. The person who nominated you sees Withdraw instead.

Campaigning and questions

If your conductor set up a campaign period, candidates get a Post your platform button during it. That opens a Campaign platform editor with the usual formatting controls; Save platform publishes it, and it then appears on your candidate row for everyone to read.

Every candidate row also has a Start discussion toggle — it becomes Discussion (N) once there are replies — where members can ask that candidate questions and they can answer. Discussion closes when voting ends.

Casting your ballot

When voting opens, a Cast your ballot card appears. Each position is listed as <Role> — <Org> with its candidates, and Submit ballot stays disabled until you have made a choice.

Submitting opens a confirmation dialog titled Submit your ballot? which lists back your choices and warns: "Once submitted, these votes are final and cannot be changed. Positions you leave blank stay open until voting closes." Cancel backs out; Submit final ballot commits. You then get a confirmation reading "Your ballot has been recorded. Votes are final."

Your vote is final

There is no edit and no undo. Once a position is voted, its ballot card is replaced by a read-only receipt headed Your ballot — "Your votes are final. This is the ballot you cast." There is also no write-in option and no abstain option; to skip a position, simply leave it blank.

In an election with several positions you can vote a bit at a time. Positions you have decided show their receipt, while the Cast your ballot card stays on the page holding only the ones you have not voted on yet.

Ranked ballots

Some elections use a ranked ballot instead. Those ask you to drag the candidates into your order of preference rather than pick one, with a checkbox to skip a position entirely. The confirmation is titled Submit your ranked ballot? and warns that "Once submitted, your rankings are final and cannot be changed."

Results

You will not see any running total. While voting is open — and while the election is waiting to be certified afterwards — there are no counts, no percentages and no turnout figures for members.

Once the conductor certifies the result, the badge changes to Results and the page gains a Turnout card, each candidate's vote count and percentage, and an Elected badge on the winner.

Certification is what moves the officers

Certifying is not just publishing a number. It places the winners into the officer roles they were elected to and closes out the outgoing officer's term, which is why the result and your organization's officer list never drift apart. You can see the change on a member's profile under Officer Position History.

Following an election you can't vote in

An election marked View only is one you can see but not take part in — a chapter electing its own representative, say. You get the candidates and, after certification, the result, but no Nominate button and no ballot. Eligibility is decided by member type, not by whether you hold a role.

How you hear about elections

Elections reach you through the notification bell in the top bar, under its Organization tab — one notification when an election is under way and another when voting opens. There are no election settings of your own to configure.