Equal opportunity officers: Reduce administrative costs with online elections

Along with the legally stipulated election of equal opportunities, officers in federal, and state offices, elections for equal opportunity officers are also regularly held in corporate bodies under public law, universities and other institutions and companies. These elections can only be secure, legally binding, cost-efficient and comfortable when held online.

In German federal offices with at least 100 employees, electing and appointing a female equal opportunities officer, and a deputy, is mandatory. In the federal states of Germany the corresponding implementation is done through the respective state’s equal opportunities laws. As the term for equal opportunities officers amounts to four years at the federal level in Germany, their elections are held every four years. The election schedule may differ in other institutions, and may amount to three years, for instance.

Ballot and postal elections entail great effort and significant expenses

The customary voting process entails a ballot election with an accompanied postal election. The organisational and financial expenses these require are, however, significant: Polling sites must be set up and electoral aides need to be hired. Ballots have to be printed and manually counted. And the workers have to leave their places of work for the election, giving rise to further additional time along with the pure act of voting. Voting by post causes additional expenses in the form of posting and returning the ballot documents. Postal elections also always mean a burden on the environment.

All of the costs and efforts listed are omitted when conducting the equal opportunities officer election online. The efforts are thereby greatly reduced both for the electoral administrators as well as the voters.

Reduce administrative costs and consider the voters’ needs

The online election of the equal opportunities officers saves the authorities, institution or the company not only expenses and effort, but also takes consideration for the needs of the voters. The voters can comfortably and securely cast their vote from their place of work, or from any other internet-compatible end device.

Voters impeded by illness, holiday or working from home can easily partake in the election. This comfort includes the great chance for higher voter participation, and thus greater acceptance of the election result. Protection of the data, the security of the voting process, the confidential vote and the legal validity of the voting result, available at the push of a button, are ensured by modern online voting systems like POLYAS.

Legal requirements for online elections are fulfilled

The opportunity to vote electronically is explicitly provided in § 5 (Form of the Election) and § 18 (Electronic Election) of the German Decree for Electing Equal Opportunity Officers and Their Deputies in Federal Offices (GleibWV), meaning that the legal requirements are already federally regulated. Amendments to the electoral bylaws of non-governmental institutions and companies can also be incorporated accordingly. It is thus likewise possible to elect equal opportunities officers online without issue, such as committees in colleges, or youth representatives in communities and municipalities.