Ballots FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Ballots.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Ballots Overview.
Setup
Do I need to configure anything before Ballots works?
Yes. An administrator must enable Ballots from the Apps Marketplace and the tenant must hold a licence for it. Once enabled, every user in the business can create ballots by default. Visit Settings inside the Ballots app to restrict who can create, set vote-label wording, choose auto-approval defaults, and control which notifications are active.
Who can create ballots, and how do I restrict it?
By default, any user in the business can create a ballot. In Settings → Who Can Create Ballots?, choose Only admins and members of a group and optionally pick one or more groups. If you select that option but leave the group picker empty, only admins can create. App Admins, Admins, and Super Admins can always create regardless of this setting.
Permissions and access
Who can see which ballots?
Members see only ballots they are included in — ballots they created or ballots where they are on the voter roster. App Admins, Admins, and Super Admins see every ballot in the business, plus the Analytics and Settings tabs.
Which roles can access Analytics and Settings?
App Admin, Admin, and Super Admin. These tabs are hidden from the sidebar for all other users and the routes are guarded, so a direct URL also redirects with an “Admin access is required” message.
Day-to-day
What are the two ballot styles and when should I use each?
Yes/No presents Affirmative, Negative, and Abstain choices on a single document or person — use it for policy ratification, proposal approval, or a single-candidate appointment. Election lets voters select from up to 10 candidates or document options, with a configurable number of seats — use it for committee elections or multi-option selection. The style and subject type (document or person) lock once the ballot is published; they can only be changed while it is still a draft.
What happens when a ballot’s close date passes?
Voting ends and the ballot moves to Closed — Pending decision. If auto-approval is enabled and the ballot is Yes/No, the system checks whether the affirmative share meets the threshold. If it does, the ballot is automatically approved. Otherwise it stays pending until a creator or admin records the outcome manually — Approve, Reject, or Decline for Yes/No, or Declare Winner for an election.
How does the auto-approval threshold work?
The threshold is a percentage measured against all eligible voters, not just those who voted. A ballot with 1 affirmative vote out of 87 eligible voters reads roughly 1%, even if that one person is the only voter. The threshold is set in Settings → Default Auto-Approval Setting and applies to every Yes/No ballot at close. It accepts values from 1% to 100%; the default is 60%. Auto-approval does not apply to elections.
Can I customize the vote button labels?
Yes. Go to Settings → Label for Voting Action. You can rename the Affirmative, Negative, and Abstain labels to whatever wording fits your use case — for example “Yes”, “No”, “Pass”. The labels update on all existing Yes/No ballots.
What notifications does Ballots send, and which are on by default?
Ballots has six notification events, each individually togglable in Settings → Ballot Notifications:
- When a ballot opens — on by default
- When a ballot is closing (24-hour reminder) — on by default
- When a ballot is edited — off by default
- When a ballot is re-circulated — on by default
- When a ballot is approved — on by default
- When a user is added as a voter — on by default
Each notification sends an email and an in-app Inbox item. The opening, closing, re-circulate, and added-voter events appear as action requests in the Inbox so they surface on push notifications too.
What happens when I re-circulate a ballot?
Re-circulating starts a fresh voting round. All previous votes are permanently deleted, the voter roster is re-snapshotted from the current audience selection (so membership changes since the first publish are now reflected), and the ballot re-opens or schedules based on the new dates. The prior winner flags on election items are also cleared. Everyone on the new roster is notified.
When something looks wrong
I can’t find a ballot I’m supposed to vote on
Three common causes: (1) you are not on the voter roster — the roster is frozen when the ballot is published, so joining the group afterward does not add you; (2) the ballot is still in Scheduled status and has not opened yet — check with the creator for the open date; (3) the ballot is in Draft and has not been published. Ask your admin to check the voter list from the ballot’s Actions menu.
I voted but want to change my answer — can I?
Only if revoting is enabled on that ballot. The creator or admin sets the Allow voters to change their vote before close toggle when creating it, and the default is on. If revoting is off, the vote is final once cast. When a revote is allowed, the previous vote is superseded but kept in the audit history — only the latest vote counts in the tally.
I can’t see the results — it just says they’re hidden
The ballot’s Result visibility setting controls who can see tallies. Options are Everyone, Voters only, or Admins only. Additionally, Result availability can be set to After close, which hides results from everyone (except admins) until voting ends. Ask your admin which setting is in place.
A ballot is still showing “Scheduled” even though its open time has passed
The lifecycle job that transitions scheduled ballots to open runs every 10 minutes, so there can be a short delay. Opening the ballot’s list or detail page also triggers the transition immediately, so navigating to the ballot resolves it. If it persists, check that the open date and time zone are set correctly on the ballot.
How do I correct someone’s recorded vote?
Open the ballot, click Actions → Change Votes, find the voter, select the new choice, and enter a required audit comment explaining the correction. The change is logged in the ballot’s history with the comment, the modifier’s name, and a timestamp. If revoting is disabled on the ballot, you can record a first-time vote for a voter who hasn’t voted, but you cannot change an existing vote.
Licensing and limits
Does Ballots require a licence?
Yes. Ballots requires a per-tenant licence and is disabled by default. An administrator enables it from the Apps Marketplace.
What are the limits I should know about?
- Candidates or document options per ballot: up to 10
- Ballot title: up to 100 characters
- Auto-approval threshold: 1% to 100% of eligible voters
- Election seats: configurable; defaults to 1
- Comment policy per choice: Optional, Required, or Not allowed — set per choice (Affirmative, Negative, Abstain) or for the election as a whole
- Result visibility: Everyone, Voters only, or Admins only
- Export format: Excel-compatible spreadsheet (.xls)
- Analytics window: all-time only; no period filter
- Votes are not anonymous — every vote is attributable with the voter’s name and timestamp in the audit trail
More help
- Ballots Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Ballots questions from these articles.