Who can vote and who can stand
Set your association's own rules for voters and candidates — good financial standing, length of membership, member category — or leave them off.
By default, every active member can vote and every active member can stand. Nothing here changes that until your association chooses to. If your constitution says otherwise — only paid-up members vote, only members of a year or more stand — you can set that up yourself, and it is checked automatically.
How it works
A rule is a set of conditions you switch on. You set one for who can vote and one for who can stand, and they can differ.
| Condition | What it checks |
|---|---|
| Good financial standing | The member has no overdue charges, or owes no more than an amount you choose. Dues, levies and penalties all count. |
| Length of membership | Has been a member for at least a number of months you choose, counted from their join date. |
| Kind of member | Is one of the member categories you tick. |
| Candidates only: also a voter | A candidate must also be allowed to vote. |
| Candidates only: limit | One person can stand for at most a number of positions. |
Only the conditions you switch on are checked. A member must always be active, whatever the rule.
Set the rules for one election
The rules can be changed until voting opens. Once it has, they are fixed for the rest of the election.
Set your association's usual rules
If your association always uses the same rules, save them once and every new election will start from them. You can still change them for a single election.
Go to GovernanceVoting Rules on the web, or ManageVotingVoting rules on your phone. The Administrator and the Election Committee can save them. Clearing them puts the association back to the default.
Saving them never changes an election that already exists: each election keeps its own copy.
Exceptions for one member
Every association has the member who is one day short, or the one under a disciplinary hold. On an election's rules page, the committee can allow or bar one named member from voting or from standing, whatever the rules say. A reason is required, and it stays on record.
- Exceptions can be made until voting closes, even while voting is open.
- Someone who has already voted can't be barred from voting: a vote that has been cast is never taken back.
- An exception can't make an inactive member eligible.
What members see
- With no rules set, nothing changes. They see no extra text.
- With rules set, the election shows what it asks of people and whether they meet it. A member who doesn't is told why in plain words — for example "You have ₦5,000.00 overdue. Clear it to vote." — and the Vote or Nominate button is not offered.
- Eligibility is checked at the moment someone votes or is nominated. A member who clears an overdue charge on day two can vote on day two.
Turnout
With rules set, the number of members who can vote is counted as it stands now, plus anyone who has already voted. The turnout figure and any minimum turnout use that number, so it can move a little during voting; the progress chart labels it "members can vote".
Why it matters
Your rules are the association's own, not ours. The conditions are a menu, and each setting — the amount, the number of months, the categories — is yours to choose. Use the See who this would let in check before you rely on a rule, so you know who it will turn away before the election opens.
What you can do
Related
The Election Committee
Who runs your elections, what the role can do, and how to appoint the people who hold it.
Creating an election and its positions
Set up a new election and the positions being contested, on the web or on your phone.
Opening and closing voting
Open the ballot once every candidate is decided, and close it when the window ends.
Last updated 28 October 2026