Advance voting

You switch advance voting on in the meeting's Settings, mark the items that take advance votes, and send the notice. Each marked item closes for advance votes when you open it at the meeting.

Before you start

• Advance voting is for meetings with invited voters. It is not available for self-registration meetings, which have no notice to send a ballot to.
• Voters confirm who they are before they vote in advance: with a six-digit code sent to the e-mail address on your register, or with eID if the meeting uses eID verification. Check that every voter has an e-mail address on the register.
• Set it up before the notice goes out. Once the meeting is live or has ended, the settings cannot change.

Steps

1. Switch on advance voting. Open the meeting and go to Settings → Advance voting. Turn on Allow advance voting. The setting saves the moment you change it.
2. Decide how advance voters count for quorum. Advance voters count toward quorum appears once advance voting is on, and is on by default. On: a voter who voted in advance counts as taking part when quorum is worked out.
3. Mark the items. Add your agenda items as usual. Then edit each item that should take advance votes and tick Open for advance voting. The option appears only when the meeting has advance voting on, and not for sections, announcements or information items.
4. Choose when each item opens (optional). In the same form, set Opens for advance voting on. Leave it empty and the item opens when the notice is sent.
5. Send the notice. Marked items open for advance votes from the notice (or from their own date).
6. Run the meeting. When you open an item at the meeting, advance voting on it closes. When the meeting goes live, advance voting ends for the whole meeting.
7. Read the result. The minutes show, per item, how many ballots were cast in advance. The evidence package carries the same figures.

What voters see

1. The voter opens the personal ballot link from their notice.
2. They press Send me a code. A six-digit code goes to the e-mail address on your register; the voter cannot type another address. With eID verification, the eID step replaces the code.
3. They enter the code and press Open my ballot. A code is valid for 10 minutes.
4. Before casting, they are told: "This is an advance vote. It is final once cast: you cannot change it, and you will not be asked again at the meeting."

The same link still gets the voter into the live meeting. A proxy holder can cast an advance vote for the member they represent.

Settings and what each does

Setting	Where	What it does
Allow advance voting	Meeting → Settings	Lets voters vote before the meeting on the items you mark. A marked item takes votes from when the notice is sent until it is opened at the meeting or the meeting goes live, whichever comes first.
Advance voters count toward quorum	Meeting → Settings (shown when advance voting is on)	On (default): advance voters count as taking part for quorum, each member once, not again if also present or represented by proxy. Off: they are not counted toward quorum.
Open for advance voting	Edit an agenda item	Marks the item for advance votes.
Opens for advance voting on	Edit an agenda item	The date and time the item opens. Empty: it opens when the notice is sent.

Secret ballots and elections can take advance votes. A secret result is not counted until the item is closed.

How advance votes appear in the record

• Minutes, per item: for example "12 of these ballots were cast in advance." This is a count only, never how anyone voted.
• Minutes, attendance: a sentence stating whether advance voters counted toward quorum, and, when they did, the voting rights of those who voted in advance.
• Evidence package: the same figures and the quorum setting recorded for the meeting.

An advance vote does not record the voter as present at the meeting.

Common mistakes

• Looking for the option when adding an item. Mark items by editing them after they are added.
• Trying to switch advance voting off after votes are in. Once one advance vote is cast, advance voting stays on for that meeting.
• Editing an item that holds advance votes. Its wording, choices and advance setting can no longer change. Settle the wording before the notice goes out.
• Voters with no e-mail address. They cannot get a code. Add the address to the register first.
• Expecting an advance voter to vote again at the meeting. One ballot per voter per item: an advance voter is not asked again. To vote live on other items, the voter opens the link again; the advance sign-in cannot vote at the meeting.

FAQ

Can a voter change an advance vote? No. It is final once cast, and the voter is told so before casting.

When does advance voting close? For each item, when you open it at the meeting. For the whole meeting, when the meeting goes live.

Do advance votes count toward quorum? If Advance voters count toward quorum is on, which is the default. Each member counts once. See Understanding quorum.

Can proxies vote in advance? Yes. A proxy holder can cast an advance vote for the member they represent. See Registering proxies.

Does advance voting work with secret ballots? Yes. A secret result is counted only once the item is closed.

More on the meeting itself: Building the agenda, Sending invitations and managing eligibility and Running a live assembly.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules change and your articles of association may differ, so check the current rules or ask an adviser before you rely on it.