Your awesome title Write an awesome description for your new site here. You can edit this line in _config.yml. It will appear in your document head meta (for Google search results) and in your feed.xml site description. Tue, 07 Apr 2026 01:47:34 +0000 Fall 2025 Updates /2025/10/fall-2025-updates.html <p>We’re grateful to the hundreds of folks who have written in over the last year. We love that OpaVote has helped y’all make positive changes in your organizations and the world.</p> <p>Since <a href="https://blog.opavote.com/2024/01/opavote-is-under-new-management.html">our last message</a>, we’ve been living our values to move slow and shape things ra... Mon, 27 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000 /2025/10/fall-2025-updates.html OpaVote Free Tier Now Offers 10 Weeks of Data Retention /2025/10/opavote-free-tier-provides-10-weeks-of-data-retention.html <p>OpaVote’s free tier is perfect for small elections, as well as preparing to run bigger ones on our online election platform. But the long-standing 2-week data retention policy was causing confusion and creating an unnecessary sense of urgency.</p> <p>Now free-tier elections get the same 10 weeks of data retention that paid clients receive. If you still want more time, ever... Wed, 08 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000 /2025/10/opavote-free-tier-provides-10-weeks-of-data-retention.html Coffee, Chocolate, and Voter Confidence: Equal Exchange Leverages OpaVote to Strengthen Workplace Democracy /2025/04/coffee-chocolate-and-voter-confidence.html <h2 id="executive-summary">Executive Summary</h2> <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndpydATC3iKlDJRTXRyGD48-Af2ZEVotpO09mMrh2CeoDWblZoWM5DN2pTYNAbwwy1UClU-vUxzAKIlUpg6meaJ5YCS0betxyacyN5JepKJVT1_SwkTKCImxuPBuRp3VRc79pojWyhJemYNrpbzJyLsHiciKYBD0gzK497ujh9aNGgClCnO5JMobTnsXZ/s6079/equal-exchange-team.jpg"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndpyd... Tue, 22 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000 /2025/04/coffee-chocolate-and-voter-confidence.html OpaVote’s 2024 HECVAT Lite Assessment Now Available /2024/02/opavotes-2024-hecvat-lite-assessment.html <p>OpaVote is trusted by many higher-education institutions to run elections and polls – from board, senate, and committee elections to approval of resolutions and rules changes.</p> <p>As part of our commitment to secure and reliable online voting, and our dedication to making choosing OpaVote as streamlined as possible for institutional IT departments, we’re thrilled to ann... Wed, 07 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000 /2024/02/opavotes-2024-hecvat-lite-assessment.html OpaVote is Under New Management /2024/01/opavote-is-under-new-management.html <p>OpaVote has been trusted by organizations around the world for easy, reliable and affordable voting for decades. In late 2023, OpaVote’s founder, Jeff, began looking for someone to take over operations. <a href="https://www.cohere.coop/">Cohere</a>, a small democratic software worker-cooperative, heard about Jeff’s search through <a href="https://www.calrc... Tue, 23 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000 /2024/01/opavote-is-under-new-management.html Running Elections through Zoom /2020/03/running-elections-through-zoom.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KJ_7-YVkJHhHxk72xOskApi0hc-qL-R3bN_u8IWNpC1jMsB4AkluTOcEZB13WJMyxZwtb1M53OyGBFsfCsi9pKedFnmNXb76Bny6ff78QOGA_yAyh7UzxGF0Pek9WsFBbMDVXby9cxxj/s1600/zoom.png"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KJ_7-YVkJHhHxk72xOskApi0hc-qL-R3bN_u8IWNpC1jMsB4AkluTOcEZB13WJMyxZwtb1M53OyGBFsfCsi9pKedFnmNXb76Bny6ff78QOGA_yAyh7UzxGF0Pek9WsFBbMDVXby9cxxj... Sun, 22 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 /2020/03/running-elections-through-zoom.html Three Most Common Voter Requests and How to Deal with Them /2019/12/three-most-common-voter-requests-and.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyLywKgboDTo8MLmAKgGdWKUiPUqYMDnWZuRQkGRvc6HoVIb0-KwdMtQXPN2Gv3ccqrAozBT_fqOt6Xc_jMnqzreosX_UmQe14G7gDlKpZhdi4A8gfsVc1ihpRgAUM-me6Z1NOwNf1jQt/s1600/voters.png"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyLywKgboDTo8MLmAKgGdWKUiPUqYMDnWZuRQkGRvc6HoVIb0-KwdMtQXPN2Gv3ccqrAozBT_fqOt6Xc_jMnqzreosX_UmQe14G7gDlKpZhdi4A8gfsVc1ihpRgAUM-me6Z1NOwNf1j... Sun, 15 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000 /2019/12/three-most-common-voter-requests-and.html Duration of elections and polls now resets when you start voting /2019/09/duration-of-elections-and-polls-now.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBnrx_Fg047ManwIAZqX9TwyWbauJRefmQqctp7iLVFmWHo0MaNjl_-5Y7jouoRYqPpkjBmrSfDa3yHB5pm0WUNIQrvSeLmBDBWTEXSgpTLvsLbEpokIgW9eXdGDDngfcSH5P94JbC0KRV/s1600/clock.png"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBnrx_Fg047ManwIAZqX9TwyWbauJRefmQqctp7iLVFmWHo0MaNjl_-5Y7jouoRYqPpkjBmrSfDa3yHB5pm0WUNIQrvSeLmBDBWTEXSgpTLvsLbEpokIgW9eXdGDDngfcSH5P94JbC0KR... Tue, 17 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000 /2019/09/duration-of-elections-and-polls-now.html Why we don't support equal rankings in RCV elections /2019/08/why-we-dont-support-equal-rankings-in.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpW86xd6KR8LFPF4_Wr4CHr-wLl_DT45c_6lQl5ZR9VIPPBbYINGBK92l47QY7UANtHadk0YNqZBPiBsw2LBmEwEAwOyQCohmEX3vU6equ6ECSTfVt-fusTF-OjreDLjvZsw-Fmc5kK9WC/s1600/ballot.png"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpW86xd6KR8LFPF4_Wr4CHr-wLl_DT45c_6lQl5ZR9VIPPBbYINGBK92l47QY7UANtHadk0YNqZBPiBsw2LBmEwEAwOyQCohmEX3vU6equ6ECSTfVt-fusTF-OjreDLjvZsw-Fmc5kK9... Sat, 31 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000 /2019/08/why-we-dont-support-equal-rankings-in.html Elections where a winning candidate withdraws /2019/08/elections-where-winning-candidate.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm7x7N4a4l7ysz0AgqN1bGC9BRNaDTK7zQGomnz6oatehJeXhY0EVKkTv_DFjWaOmLxuYwViQqnXtfXaZ0TRogX7iiLkuQO7yvf-VOHMXsQ0-2J7uGr3UThYPJUjDLix3uXlDUaD7SY4Gi/s1600/stop.jpg"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm7x7N4a4l7ysz0AgqN1bGC9BRNaDTK7zQGomnz6oatehJeXhY0EVKkTv_DFjWaOmLxuYwViQqnXtfXaZ0TRogX7iiLkuQO7yvf-VOHMXsQ0-2J7uGr3UThYPJUjDLix3uXlDUaD7SY4Gi... Wed, 14 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000 /2019/08/elections-where-winning-candidate.html Weighted code voters now available /2019/07/weighted-code-voters-now-available.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNH85rxkjnwZ6JUa8ZV_Nw9EPijQDoGwI2tgbbQuqD-hQKfsD5_L1-dhnjcNTz4l1vOSVH7odTO8l3f-vdZDkSyUIUEOFi6aKBa8ynpNBDV7jeKvEId2dRxwMy0c8kJLSBLGvtGmLF-4Uq/s1600/weights.jpg"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNH85rxkjnwZ6JUa8ZV_Nw9EPijQDoGwI2tgbbQuqD-hQKfsD5_L1-dhnjcNTz4l1vOSVH7odTO8l3f-vdZDkSyUIUEOFi6aKBa8ynpNBDV7jeKvEId2dRxwMy0c8kJLSBLGvtGmLF-... Mon, 01 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000 /2019/07/weighted-code-voters-now-available.html Elections with a Large Number of Candidates /2019/06/elections-with-large-number-of.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ESM0RFujeWLPiXjcBp6WBPqmTKCJLAIApbYKtpoCdVIk5Cj4tJYz_4uEjYKk_Phw_3Rgzlj_Aww6127uayNAZY33z-z-0vcbeWIWIb-uTivDSKBs8_U4_m78KatiaCUu-YTDcbHWEV1A/s1600/candidates.jpg"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ESM0RFujeWLPiXjcBp6WBPqmTKCJLAIApbYKtpoCdVIk5Cj4tJYz_4uEjYKk_Phw_3Rgzlj_Aww6127uayNAZY33z-z-0vcbeWIWIb-uTivDSKBs8_U4_m78KatiaCUu-YTDcb... Fri, 14 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0000 /2019/06/elections-with-large-number-of.html Why I'm against lowering the voting age to less than 18 /2019/03/why-im-against-lowering-voting-age-to.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3o7C1ipB6hyphenhyphenqNY37KeGNn9tI8xl8uXRxMQFV8s47xJvkYsVV6y5NwBAuGbdy4Tjf5pTl8kHAV0O7tZbpvqAg6bSFD6qFnZ2CGRFq-w2bE7yCn53BzU4jecyHT2SrlW73c6JeUf4NKSnyO/s1600/turnout.png"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3o7C1ipB6hyphenhyphenqNY37KeGNn9tI8xl8uXRxMQFV8s47xJvkYsVV6y5NwBAuGbdy4Tjf5pTl8kHAV0O7tZbpvqAg6bSFD6qFnZ2CGRFq-w2bE7yCn53BzU4jec... Fri, 15 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000 /2019/03/why-im-against-lowering-voting-age-to.html Largest Election Ever with 57,000 Voters /2019/03/largest-election-ever-with-57000-voters.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5Xe11GegAOwBN-qWE7Iaqi548sgy0YeQenbMRYC11NEvMjGb-b9kNhp3hrX4qlzEpXfs3_qdi6rkkDOVKvTvWWWa2QC9vEE3rLx2VhcHU4xl-MVbPYyZ6p1_qUHeuWqozQr_X-o0NOOt/s1600/traffic.png"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5Xe11GegAOwBN-qWE7Iaqi548sgy0YeQenbMRYC11NEvMjGb-b9kNhp3hrX4qlzEpXfs3_qdi6rkkDOVKvTvWWWa2QC9vEE3rLx2VhcHU4xl-MVbPYyZ6p1_qUHeuWqozQr_X-o0N... Wed, 13 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000 /2019/03/largest-election-ever-with-57000-voters.html Easier payments with OpaVote /2018/12/easier-payments-with-opavote.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTPJB3FTJMBy5-lUubSVHgXIOsUJYh7Orkkc8LOsrJxixkxToV1GPJCgktGI1Pqex-09QfPBns6WN_GYUW80-4OlwA7Yy1vYfSrTPE-yJoCS5rnIfv1LvS5nIDHBKKOnsANVI-aS83ukB8/s1600/cc.png"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTPJB3FTJMBy5-lUubSVHgXIOsUJYh7Orkkc8LOsrJxixkxToV1GPJCgktGI1Pqex-09QfPBns6WN_GYUW80-4OlwA7Yy1vYfSrTPE-yJoCS5rnIfv1LvS5nIDHBKKOnsANVI-aS83ukB8/s... Sun, 09 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000 /2018/12/easier-payments-with-opavote.html Customer Spotlight: Impact 100 uses OpaVote to award grants to nonprofits. /2018/11/customer-spotlight-impact-100-uses.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_YerPRZGL5kmmIkYOZUDGyU2T6IyBKgz5IYSDG3s-d18V4gBkxbISu4IiHO7ZLmefxTzbNEEJPb4Y_uBl32qvI0b1eeRhyBuA4zgohSB-Wed5C3KfAJf5DcNCGLu7kvaDP42JqyQe6yn/s1600/impact+100.jpg"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_YerPRZGL5kmmIkYOZUDGyU2T6IyBKgz5IYSDG3s-d18V4gBkxbISu4IiHO7ZLmefxTzbNEEJPb4Y_uBl32qvI0b1eeRhyBuA4zgohSB-Wed5C3KfAJf5DcNCGLu7kvaDP42Jq... Sun, 18 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000 /2018/11/customer-spotlight-impact-100-uses.html Above the Line (ATL) Voting with OpaVote /2018/10/above-line-atl-voting-with-opavote.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gBWhiBU5Q2reYxxcpzyiwAunVFC8TKldDa6qPT0jyZV4EeNn7K6isykiksdSRxH6WMyXCHsmX-IxdjXuPtVs_3IYdL_PYreGyLF00Pq4MffmhEP3HOPwWUf-5WiH4eBicgrLzjQfeWfk/s1600/atl-ballot.gif"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gBWhiBU5Q2reYxxcpzyiwAunVFC8TKldDa6qPT0jyZV4EeNn7K6isykiksdSRxH6WMyXCHsmX-IxdjXuPtVs_3IYdL_PYreGyLF00Pq4MffmhEP3HOPwWUf-5WiH4eBicgrLzj... Thu, 18 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000 /2018/10/above-line-atl-voting-with-opavote.html No Longer Allowing PayPal Payments /2018/09/no-longer-allowing-paypal-payments.html <p>For many years, we’ve allowed customers to make payments to OpaVote using a credit card via Stripe or via PayPal.  Because PayPal is such a difficult company to work with, we’ve decided to stop accepting payments via PayPal.  Stripe supports payments in more than 135 countries so this should be a good solution for nearly all OpaVote customers.</p> <!-- excerpt end --> <... Sat, 29 Sep 2018 00:00:00 +0000 /2018/09/no-longer-allowing-paypal-payments.html Non-Anonymous or Recorded Voting Now Available /2018/09/non-anonymous-or-recorded-voting-now.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglBvibo3UsF6sAQRRmOiZPtRq-MUxgdJruTRY_F6nCrIpZm12lN4z3NJ__ICCOmBvA6x_ehIKwzGKV36rv3rKCUs2T6frZE9tmVQneePjY552D7iogpYT_xJB4N-2aK48B3fG_QUaH2BuN/s1600/recorded_vote.png"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglBvibo3UsF6sAQRRmOiZPtRq-MUxgdJruTRY_F6nCrIpZm12lN4z3NJ__ICCOmBvA6x_ehIKwzGKV36rv3rKCUs2T6frZE9tmVQneePjY552D7iogpYT_xJB4N-2aK48B3fG... Sun, 16 Sep 2018 00:00:00 +0000 /2018/09/non-anonymous-or-recorded-voting-now.html Which elections have the largest turnout? /2018/09/elections-with-largest-turnout.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI4vUJGJ5FU1d7umMqiZ9PMwjRYq5envtVlC01R8xSWbY4aNJ6OuSvyn3vPYtZ0lk76xrbVVW1O6pFTIWij9iR0SQzYdYJYPGu97uiWVLa4jzHuWuESStFxCvR84OZrqandyC-QVXqeBa4/s1600/highschool.png"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI4vUJGJ5FU1d7umMqiZ9PMwjRYq5envtVlC01R8xSWbY4aNJ6OuSvyn3vPYtZ0lk76xrbVVW1O6pFTIWij9iR0SQzYdYJYPGu97uiWVLa4jzHuWuESStFxCvR84OZrqandyC-QV... Wed, 05 Sep 2018 00:00:00 +0000 /2018/09/elections-with-largest-turnout.html Voting Software Humor /2018/08/voting-software-humor.html <p>I’ll let this one speak for itself.  :)</p> <p><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGBuVeE4esW8LjE_TNnZvctyLVhuhh8jbF8GmuMaEmlj20sxi4yo2ymvtcbkjy70jZz4RxB-Eek5bVsx5DAK_Smf4NetXROT6oF45hHcr4k4BwcuH6VBbv7r7vS3LmvI5-5dgzrUvojBZy/s1600/voting_software.png" alt="" /> <a href="https://xkcd.com/2030/">XKCD 2030</a></p> Thu, 09 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000 /2018/08/voting-software-humor.html Elections with Sub-Groups of Voters /2018/06/elections-with-sub-groups-of-voters.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHVtLToZrJm1UCLRb5knbHA37PvHaf1ogipguBoR433YvJpLOzE9AbOHnGwpgBOIwFZdPHd37BgYT1txABut8U1Lvf_YS1jRyuH4XQlCw3adKvo7LIBKCjK_eIXLViqcd4ghbe-OeUu90g/s1600/ma.jpeg"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHVtLToZrJm1UCLRb5knbHA37PvHaf1ogipguBoR433YvJpLOzE9AbOHnGwpgBOIwFZdPHd37BgYT1txABut8U1Lvf_YS1jRyuH4XQlCw3adKvo7LIBKCjK_eIXLViqcd4ghbe-OeUu90g/... Sun, 24 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000 /2018/06/elections-with-sub-groups-of-voters.html Updated OpaVote pricing /2018/05/updated-opavote-pricing.html <p>We’ve recently revised how we do pricing of elections, and we think it will be a welcome change for you.</p> <!-- excerpt end --> <p>Previously, the price of your election depended on how long it lasted. The first week was free, and it would cost $10 for each additional two weeks.</p> <p>Now, all elections can last for up to 12 weeks (from when you crea... Mon, 28 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000 /2018/05/updated-opavote-pricing.html Trusting your Election Manager /2018/05/trusting-your-election-manager.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbIQHwNedhYeRIfTcu-F49ilqMVbfuhqH8SQzlOrzIHScHQ9Pk8H2a_beG5GhAWtZZ7kQajBbQ_FtwRwRa_M3P_lQW3sds0EFxK9-ImaXedbx-xEOjMT3h3WYlWi6L_I6Zo9lf5soh8AF5/s1600/trust.jpg"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbIQHwNedhYeRIfTcu-F49ilqMVbfuhqH8SQzlOrzIHScHQ9Pk8H2a_beG5GhAWtZZ7kQajBbQ_FtwRwRa_M3P_lQW3sds0EFxK9-ImaXedbx-xEOjMT3h3WYlWi6L_I6Zo9lf5soh8AF... Mon, 28 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000 /2018/05/trusting-your-election-manager.html Weighted Votes with Ranked-Choice Voting /2018/04/weighted-votes-with-ranked-choice-voting.html <p><a href="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlj1KpEkTgHDndbTTwKYFyQUx7SINLV6HVNVjJtRbDH6pXDA9U__ppJ5Yy1_K1BPq39fsifNhgZ-s3z7KV8TvNnO4sDLpP-Qu4_jH9A6I5sQjuqHev85rTfgNYlw3Fz5N_sE_Cugbjf3Yz/s1600/weights.jpg"><img src="/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlj1KpEkTgHDndbTTwKYFyQUx7SINLV6HVNVjJtRbDH6pXDA9U__ppJ5Yy1_K1BPq39fsifNhgZ-s3z7KV8TvNnO4sDLpP-Qu4_jH9A6I5sQjuqHev85rTfgNYlw3Fz5N_sE_Cugbjf... Fri, 06 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000 /2018/04/weighted-votes-with-ranked-choice-voting.html