After helping more than a hundred First Nation Bands across Canada conduct a variety of mission-critical voting events including referendums and elections, one successful First Nations startup based in Victoria is selling safe and secure voting technology to professional associations across Canada.

“It can be difficult for large membership-driven organizations, such as professional associations, non-profits, unions and sports clubs to arrange elections and fulfill their governance responsibilities,” says Lawrence Lewis, CEO of SmartBallot. “Elections are expensive to organize and carry out, and often geographic obstacles result in low voter turnout and poor membership engagement. Until now there has been no secure, mature technology solution to solve these problems.”

SmartBallot is a voting registration tool and app developed by Lewis and his Victoria-based team that makes it easier for organizations to engage and communicate with membership, conduct mission critical voting events, carry out legitimate decision-making and reduce the costs and strain of administrative management.

“The SmartBallot app’s underlying software architecture has already been tested, proven and commercialized, and is widely used by more than 120 First Nations across Canada to communicate, and hold elections and referendums online,” says Lewis. “SmartBallot also relies on twenty years of experience with voting and registrar management. Our technology has seen 100,000 ballots cast, with zero security issues.”

Offered as a cloud-based software-as-a-service, SmartBallot ensures membership-driven organizations deliver good governance, democratic processes and best practices, legitimate decision making and administrative management resources.

Lawrence Lewis is a successful serial technology entrepreneur and innovator. He is also a member of the We Wai Kai Nation from central Vancouver Island, and has a long career working with First Nation peoples throughout Canada as an educator, political activist, policy writer, environmentalist and Nation leader. As the founder of OneFeather, the voting technology solution that powers SmartBallot, Lewis employs a Victoria-based technology team that is changing how elections are administered across Canada.

SmartBallot is intended for any organization that has a voting membership the organization needs to engage on a regular basis, including:

• Unions
• Homeowners’ Associations
• Non-Profits (NGOs, Societies, Charities, Clubs)
• Professional and Athletic Associations
• Colleges and Universities
• Schools
• Boards of directors for major corporations.

As a cloud-based platform, SmartBallot also provides secure and easy registrar management and communication. Features include:

• Notifications of changes to member contact info or errors (i.e. email not received).
• Can send minutes, conduct surveys, and send other relevant documentation.
• System tracks sent /received /opened emails.
• Easy to keep membership details up to date, which simplifies proactive management for account administrators.

“Do you need to engage members or make an organization decision?” asks Lewis. “SmartBallot allows you to quickly and easily get and share the information and decisions you need.”

Media Contact

Lawrence Lewis, CEO, SmartBallot

lawrence@smartballot.ca