E-voting in Saskatchewan

Most people rarely think about the logistics of voting, but the challenges are very real. CUs may not face all the problems of political entities, but they also need to get the vote out. That issue can be exacerbated when a CU’s field of membership covers a large, sparsely populated geographic area.

Just ask CUES member Daniel Johnson, CEO of $1.9 billion Innovation Credit Union. The CU is based in Battleford, but its 48,000 members are scattered across the sprawling, agriculture-oriented province of Saskatchewan.

“In travel time, there’s a 12-hour difference,” notes Johnson, whose CU uses CUES eVote: Elect and Educate for virtual balloting. For Innovation CU, “running the democratic process is cumbersome and time-consuming.” And there’s an election every year, as 10 directors serve three-year staggered terms.

E-voting Benefits

In April 2010, Innovation CU, third largest in the province and a member of CUES’ Center for Credit Union Board Excellence, began its move from all-paper ballots with a hybrid system that allowed e-voting and in-person voting at branches. This year, it went 100 percent online, with members voting from a home computer or from one at a branch.

Members love it, and so does staff. Speed and accuracy are the main benefits. “Every year we do a debriefing, and we’re very happy with the process and confident that we are ... keeping the valuable democratic process alive and well,” Johnson says. “The polls close at 1 p.m., and at 1:05 we have the results. In the past, it took a week and a half.”

E-voting also avoids spoiled ballots (and compromised elections) for things like not voting for the number of open positions (as the CU’s bylaws state members must).

Paper Still an Option

$5.6 billion Affinity Credit Union, too, has members dispersed throughout Saskatchewan. “We began e-voting in 2008, after our merger with FirstSask Credit Union,” says CUES member Shawna Miller, VP/governance and strategy at the Saskatoon-based CU, which also belongs to the Center for Credit Union Board Excellence.

Affinity CU’s governing set-up is unique, ensuring representation from 12 districts. Each district is governed by a counncil of elected delegates who use their local knowledge to ensure the voice of the member is heard. The delegates elect, from their own numbers, the CU’s directors. Those elected to the board serve staggered three-year terms, determine the CU’s strategic direction and are accountable for the CU’s results.

Using CUES eVote: Elect and Educate, Affinity CU is able to offer a combination of voting methods: in branch, by mail and online. “We offer the variety of methods, including paper ballots, to ensure we are inclusive in providing all members the opportunity to vote,” Miller says. “Not all of our members have access or are comfortable voting online.” In-branch voting can be done online with help, or by paper ballot.

Miller says Canada’s Credit Union Act outlines how electronic voting must be handled. For example, a CU must show due diligence in authenticating each member, she says.

Affinity CU uses the member’s birthdate and the last digits of his or her government-issued Social Insurance Number.

Miller says the CU has few paper ballots now and talks about going all online. “It’s an online world, but there is still a lot of paper floating around out there. I think it’s great that there are choices.”

While Johnson’s CU has wholeheartedly embraced e-voting, he cautions, “Every credit union has to know its membership. An urban, younger demographic will likely embrace e-voting easily. With an older membership, you’re probably going to have to do more nurturing.”

Charlene Komar Storey is a veteran credit union reporter based in New Jersey.