Background
The Royal Irish Academy/Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann is Ireland’s leading body of experts, championing research in science and humanities. They identify and recognise Ireland’s world class researchers. The Academy is run by a Council of its members, of which membership is by election and considered the highest academic honour in Ireland.
What they needed
The Academy’s 2020 AGM was scheduled to take place in the middle of March. Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, it was not deemed safe for a physical meeting to be held. This left the organisation’s administration team with a dilemma, as there was not sufficient time to implement an advance/ proxy voting process and postponement of the meeting would have led to other governance issues.
The solution
The Academy contacted Mi-Voice approximately ten days before their AGM was due to start, enquiring whether we could assist its membership with “remote, on the day voting”. Within two days our election team had put together a solution that facilitated members voting securely, online, on the day of the meeting, allowing the organisation’s governance to continue to function while protecting the Academy’s membership data and ensuring full GDPR compliance.
The remote AGM took place without incident, and just under 78% of those who registered to attend the meeting cast their vote.
What they say
“Mi-Voice were very quick to respond, and found creative solutions to the unique issues our organisation presented. We were under pressure to produce an online voting platform for the first time in the Academy’s history, and Mi-Voice were able to give us an easy-to-use site, tailored for our needs and the needs of our Members. Ben and Lauren were a pleasure to work with, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them.”
Vanessa Carswell, Senior Programme Manager, Membership – Royal Irish Academy