eTools
28-Mar-2024 04:56:40 ET
Manage Sponsor Ballot Activity

Purpose

To provide the Sponsor/Ballot Designee with a centralized view of the sponsor ballots for which he/she is the Sponsor/Ballot Designee; and to provide a mechanism for the Sponsor/Ballot Designee to take appropriate actions upon ballot closing.

Procedure

Review the list of ballot groups shown to gain a centralized view of your balloting activity. Then, access your "closed" ballot group(s) (currently in "Ballot Close Date" stage) to determine appropriate action.


Columns Displayed

    Project

    • Shows the sponsoring society, committee, working group and project number. You can sort the list by clicking on the column header.


    • PAR or Standard #

    You can sort this list by PAR/Standard # by clicking on the column header.

    • Draft #-- <Filename>

    • Clicking on the draft number/filename link for a specific project will open the draft document or standard that is being voted on. (If the stage is "pre-ballot" stage, you can upload a new draft, or over-write the existing draft. in the "Upload Draft" area.) Drafts that do not open are typically due to the size of the document, system time-out or a slower connection speed. To fix, save a copy to your hard drive; then:

    • - Right click on the draft link.
      • - Select save as, and save the file to your desktop.
        • - Try to open the document.

        • Other Files

        • Uploaded documents other than the balloted draft are found here -- click on the file name to open.
      • NEW FEATURE! If a voter in the ballot group has implemented the"change vote" (flip vote) feature, it will be noted here as "flip vote.txt" and can become part of the ballot files used for ballot submission.


          • Stage

          • Incomplete: Sponsors, Ballot Designees, and Staff will see this stage for Invitation requests that have not been completed by the submitter (i.e., Sponsor or Ballot Designee). The Sponsor or Ballot Designee should complete the invitation through the mechanism provided in the Invitation Summary screen.

          • PreInvite: Sponsors. Ballot Designees, and Staff will see this stage for Invitation requests that have not yet been approved by the Staff Liaison. Staff Liaison will need to review and approve the invitation request to move it to the Invitation stage.

          • Invitation: The Invitation period is open and the ballot group is being formed. Enrollment in the ballot group is accepted by IEEE SA members or those who have paid a per-ballot fee.

          • PreBallot: The project is between the Invitation stage and the Ballot stage. This means that the invitation is closed but the ballot has not yet opened.

          • Ballot: The ballot period is open and votes/comments are being accepted from the ballot group.

          • Ballot Closed: The ballot period has closed. The system is waiting for the Sponsor/Ballot Designee to initiate the comment resolution process.

          • Recirculation Review #: The Sponsor/Ballot Designee has submitted the ballot recirculation request through myProject and is awaiting staff liaison approval. Once Staff approves, the recirculation period will open.

          • Comment Resolution #: The Sponsor/Ballot Designee has initiated the Comment Resolution stage through myProject. Once complete, the Sponsor/Ballot Designee will either initiate the recirculation ballot, or initiate the Submit to Revcom process.

          • Submit to RevCom: The Sponsor/Designee has concluded the Comment Resolution portion of the process, and all comment resolution activity ceases. Governance or Admin staff will forward all files needed for RevCom into the EProjects Repository (the IEEE Standards electronic filing system), which automatically causes myBallot to insert a "Submitted to RevCom" status on the Manage Sponsor Ballot Activity screen. In this way, users will immediately know the current status of the project.

          • Number of Balloters

          • This column shows the number of voters in your ballot group. Clicking on the number link will provide further details about the votes, on a "Ballot Response Summary screen.

          • Ballot Close Date

          • This is the actual ballot close date. This means that on this date at 11:59 pm eastern time, the ballot group will no longer be able to enter votes or comments.

          • Important Note: When a ballot close date is reached and the response rate is:

          • met -- a 'Resolve Comments' link is displayed next to the ballot. Following the link will display the 'Download Off-line Comment Response Tool' page which allows the Sponsor/Ballot Designee to begin the comment resolution process.

          • not met -- the 'Extend Ballot,' 'Reset Ballot' and 'Terminate Ballot' links are shown under the "Actions" column.

          • Extend Ballot. If the Sponsor/Ballot Designee chooses "Extend Ballot," the voter will see "BALLOT EXTENDED" in the close date field. If the voter clicks on that text the following notice will appear: "Due to insufficient response, this ballot has been extended to 11:59pm EST on the date given above OR 11:59om EST on the date at which the required 75% is reached, whichever occurs first. Please note that if you try to submit a comment before the date given above but after the 75% is reached, your comment will be rejected since the ballot has been automatically closed."

          • Response Rate %

          • Provides the response rate percentage to the ballot (response % = total who have responded with a vote affirm, negative, or abstain / total # in ballot group). A slash and number (example /10) next to the percentage denotes the number of additional responses needed to meet the required response rate.

          • NOTE: For your ballot to pass, you must achieve a 75% response rate as well as the specified approval rate.

          • Approval Rate %

          • Provides the approval rate percentage [approval % = total # who have responded with an affirmative vote / total # in ballot group who responded - (abstain voters + negative voters without comments).

          • NOTE: For your ballot to pass, you must achieve a minimum 75% approval rate from those who respond.

          • Abstain Rate %

          • Provides the abstention percentage rate (abstain % = total # who have responded with an abstain vote / total # in ballot group).

          • NOTE: If 30% or more of the returns from the eligible balloters are abstentions, the ballot shall be considered invalid and the ballot should be failed.

          • Number of Comments

          • Shows the number of comments received for that specific ballot. Click on the number link and you will be brought to a Voter Response Detail screen. In that screen, you can view the details of the comments and sort the data by any column header that is underlined. The resolution of comment process is discussed in detail in the Comment Resolution documentation of myBallot.

          • Actions

          • If the ballot has closed and the response rate is not met, the Sponsor/Ballot Designee can choose to do one of the following through the links shown:

          • Extend Ballot: If the ballot has closed and the response rate is not met, then the 'extend ballot' link is shown. Choosing this action provides the Sponsor/Designee with the ability to extend the ballot if it does not close with the required approval rate. A ballot can be extended up to 60 days past the original end date.

          • Reset Ballot: This link goes to a confirmation page. Resetting a ballot means that ballot group will remain intact but all the ballot activity (voting and comments) will be set to null. The Sponsor/Ballot Designee will be requested to supply a reason for resetting the ballot and send the request to the IEEE-SA Balloting Center staff, who will then reset the ballot. Note that the Reset Ballot link is unavailable in the PreBallot stage because the balloting activity (voting and commenting) has not started yet and thus there is nothing to reset. It is also disabled for recirculated ballots and comment resolutions. The Reset Ballot link is available for the following stages: Ballot, Failed and Invalid.

          • Terminate Ballot: This link goes to a confirmation page. Terminating a ballot means that the ballot group has been disbanded. If the ballot starts again from the invitation stage, individuals must re-enroll in the ballot group when the sponsor initiates that function. You will be requested to supply a reason for terminating the ballot and send your request to Balloting Center staff, who will then terminate the ballot. The Terminate Ballot link is available at any stage of the ballot.