About OBS
The Online Balloting System is a custom-developed application that offers a complete set of functionalities for accepting online ballots in Bahá’à elections as well as processing paper ballots. The system utilizes the data in the national membership database to validate those eligible to vote and eligible to serve. The following three groups will be using OBS during elections:
Online VotersÂ
Chief Teller, Assistant Chief Teller(s), and Teller(s)Â
LSA Secretary or any Officers with eMembership2 access
The Local Spiritual Assembly secretary (or any officers with eMembership2 access) is responsible for creating the election in OBS for her or his electoral jurisdiction. The officer sets an election date, invites the appointed chief teller, assistant chief teller, and teller(s), and once the election results are known, confirms the results and makes them official.
The roles of the chief teller and assistant chief teller(s) include setting up telling stations, overseeing all aspects of paper ballot counting, including voter verification and ballot entry (additional tellers may help with this step), and, finally, merging the results from paper ballots with online ballots.Â
IMPORTANT: OBS tasks to be performed by the Spiritual Assembly officer and tellers can only be done using a laptop or desktop computer and not a tablet or smartphone.
OBS’s Key Functions
a) Automates some of the key labor-intensive steps in the balloting processÂ
b) Eliminates calculation errors when tellers complete their reportsÂ
c) Offers a complete balloting solution, accepting and tallying ballots submitted online, by mail, and by other meansÂ
d) Allows the setting up of multiple telling stations during the ballot processing, which enables multiple pairs of tellers to work from different computers (stations)Â
e) Offers a logical and easy-to-use dashboard for chief and assistant chief tellers in their respective jurisdictions, with a full view of each telling station and its step-by-step progressÂ
f) Makes online voting available on all popular devices/browsers, including desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones
How to Navigate
Contacting the Membership Office at the Bahá’à National Center: Help from the Membership Office is available for any step of this process between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. central time on weekdays.Â
The office can be reached at 847.733.3445 or at Membership@usbnc.org.