Success Story: TWEC Shares the Secret Sauce to a Successful Election

Summary

Back in 2013, Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative (TWEC) was seeking a way to increase voter participation. At the time, they offered only in-person voting with paper ballots at the annual meeting, which limited participation to those who could physically be present. Recognizing the drawbacks of this approach, TWEC sought a more inclusive solution. As Allison Frederickson, TWEC’s Member and Energy Services Manager, explains, “The democratic process is one of the most important pillars of a cooperative”. This understanding drove their decision to transition from in-person voting to a hybrid election model, offering both mail-in and online voting options.

Through this journey, TWEC discovered that the key to a successful election lies in effective communication, careful planning, and maintaining confidence in the process. After a decade of partnership with SBS, TWEC briefly switched to a different election vendor to manage costs. However, the challenges they faced with the new vendor highlighted the critical importance of these success factors. This experience revealed that while cost is always an important consideration, the risks of compromising accuracy and integrity – and ultimately losing the trust of their members – is a far greater price to pay.

 

About

TWEC is a member-owned electric distribution utility, founded in 1940 and now serving 8,900 member services across central Minnesota. Founded on cooperative principles, TWEC prioritizes member engagement and inclusivity in decision-making.

 

The Challenge

Before partnering with SBS, TWEC’s elections were conducted exclusively in-person at their annual meeting, with paper ballots hand-counted by the nominating committee. This approach inherently restricted participation, effectively disenfranchising members unable to attend the meeting.

They faced three main challenges in adding an online voting option to their election process:

1. Board Carefully Weighed Options: TWEC’s board was understandably cautious, wanting 100% certainty that new election technologies would maintain the integrity of their democratic process. Their primary concern was election accuracy and security. As Kallie Baxter, TWEC’s Marketing and Communications Specialist, noted, the board would ask a thorough range of questions at every meeting about potential risks, requiring comprehensive documentation and explanations for each innovation. Kallie recommends you slowly ease into it:

“Let’s try it [online voting] one year and see how many members actually use it. If we have a small amount, maybe we don’t offer it anymore. And you know, it’s [online voter participation] grown every year since we’ve offered it, so the board sees it as a positive change. With SBS’ reporting, we can show them the response rates vs. other co-ops in the state. They’re always excited to see our numbers, because they know we promote our election very heavily.”

1. Technological Uncertainty: Introducing online voting represented a significant leap for the cooperative. Board members were particularly concerned about potential vulnerabilities – specifically how the system would prevent double voting and protect against results tampering. They needed concrete evidence that the new method would be as secure as traditional paper ballots.
2. Member Engagement: TWEC recognized that their traditional voting method was alienating younger members who expected digital convenience. They understood that to remain relevant, they needed to provide flexible voting options that reflected changing member demographics. As Allison explains:

“Staying relevant with technology is key to our future. If we don’t, we risk becoming just another utility where members don’t see themselves as part of a cooperative. My advice to other co-ops is to do your due diligence. Work with your representatives to plan everything out. Line up your person at NISC, line up your person at SBS, and walk through the process step by step. You can have 100% confidence that SBS has already done it before, so you’re not going to hit roadblocks that are unexpected or unmanageable.”

 

The Solution

The Hybrid Election Model

Using SBS’ Fully Managed Voting Services, TWEC introduced a hybrid election model in 2019, allowing members to vote by mail-in or electronic ballot. This transition was a success, maintaining engagement levels and ensuring a smooth shift to online voting with single sign-on. By 2020, participation increased to 24%, a 3% boost in overall membership engagement. This growth highlighted the positive impact of the hybrid model on member participation.

Maintained Engagement with GOTV Efforts

TWEC is always proactive in encouraging member participation through robust get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts. They leverage multiple channels to promote elections, including social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube, digital and print newsletters, and their website. To ensure members are well-prepared to participate, TWEC uses sample ballots as an educational tool, both online and in print. As Kallie explains, “We started using sample ballots to create videos for YouTube and Facebook, showing our members how to vote and reducing invalid ballots. It’s been a great way to help our members, especially those voting for the first time, and we now always include a sample ballot in our newsletter as well.”

Prepared for a Digital Future

Looking ahead, TWEC is preparing for another significant evolution in their voting process. In 2025, they will transition from paper voting at their annual meeting to online voting. This shift will streamline the process even further, save costs, and provide a more efficient experience for members. The new system will utilize our onsite QR code services, where SBS will generate and print unique QR codes for TWEC to distribute during the meeting. This allows members to vote online using their own devices or TWEC-provided ones, with SBS delivering electronic results soon after voting ends.

Reassurance Through Organization and Security

SBS provided the resources needed to reassure the board that the election process, including online voting, would run seamlessly. To address the board’s concerns about election security, SBS supplied detailed documentation outlining its industry-leading security measures and online voting safeguards. This evidence gave the board the confidence to move forward with our online voting software.

After just one year of using another vendor to manage their election, TWEC is relieved to work with SBS again, finding a level of organization and communication that had previously been missing. As Allison put it, organization of the process from start to finish made all the difference:

“The level of organization that’s present makes a big difference. Everything is always laid out. There’s always a clear timeline. You always know who’s responsible for what. Last year, with the previous vendor, Kallie and I were constantly in the dark – stuff was due, like, three days ago, and nobody said anything. We never knew what was going on. It is the exact opposite with SBS.”

 

Results & Benefits

TWEC’s decision to offer both mail-in and online voting options led to a more inclusive approach – providing all members with the opportunity to vote, regardless of location or ability to attend the annual meeting. The results were immediate and impactful:

1. Increased Voter Participation: The shift to a hybrid election has proven successful year after year. Impressively, Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative now has one of the top voting percentages in the state.
2. Peace of Mind & Transparency: With SBS managing the election process, TWEC has greater confidence in the integrity of their elections. Their members, too, are reassured knowing that the process is secure and impartial. Kallie explains, “We know all the ballots are sent to SBS and tallied there – we don’t see any of the results until election night, just like the members. It gives us peace of mind. We can confidently tell our members that we have no involvement in the results, and they can trust the election process.”
3. Sustained Confidence and Success: With over a decade of partnership with SBS, TWEC now has a proven, trusted election process. Their experience has shown that when you prioritize communication, careful planning, and election integrity, the result is not only a successful election but an engaged membership that trusts the process year after year.

Offering advice to co-ops considering similar changes, Kallie says, “Giving your member the option for a hybrid election is best. If they’re a traditional member and they want to vote by mail, they can do that, but if they don’t have the time to mail in the ballot, they can do it online. And giving them that option, that’s what people want. They want options.”

TWEC’s journey highlights the importance of prioritizing security and member trust in order to run a successful election. As TWEC moves toward implementing online voting at their annual meeting, they continue to set an example for other co-ops navigating the evolving landscape of member engagement.