Case Studies

CUES eVote™ Streamlines First-time Election for Merged Credit Union

When Niagara Credit Union and HEPCOE—two of the largest credit unions in the province of Ontario, Canada—merged to form $4.3 billion Meridian Credit Union in 2005, it became obvious that board elections would have to be streamlined.

Niagara Credit Union had approximately 180,000 members and HEPCOE about 100,000. They now have roughly 213,000 combined.

“Geographically, we are very spread out,” said Sheryl Wherry, Meridian’s VP/Corporate Governance. “So when we came together as a new organization, we knew that voting at the annual general meeting was not an option.”

Wherry says that when considering the options for voting— in branch, by mail or electronic—having members mail in their votes was not a favorable option because of the overall expense associated with this option.

“We built it into our bylaws that we had to do electronic and in-branch balloting,” she said. “We evaluated three different electronic voting sources and chose CUES eVote™. We’re very happy we did.”

Because of the flexibility of CUES eVote, Meridian is able to use paper ballots, in addition to the online option, for those members who aren’t comfortable with computers. Meridian has been a client of CUES eVote since 2007, and they continue to look for innovative ways to boost member
participation in the election. Although only about 1% of Meridian’s membership voted in 2009, this number was higher than in 2007 when Meridian limited itself to only electronic voting. Introducing the paper ballot in branch options and having CUES process these ballots through eVote was a significant improvement. Wherry feels confident they will see greater participation in the next election using CUES eVote. She believes that by making it easier for members to fill out the ballots at the branch, participation will increase.

In addition, CUES eVote made Wherry’s job as corporate secretary of the elections a little easier, “Those paper ballots, put into a ballot box, will be pulled out and sent to CUES for keying into the electronic system so we can be sure there is still one member, one vote,” she said.

Wherry says Meridian’s employees and board of directors were thrilled with how easy CUES eVote was to use; and they plan to use it for their next election, as well as for special resolutions such as bylaw changes.

“Working with CUES eVote was terrific,” Wherry said. “The CUES eVote coordinator was very good all the way through. In terms of the tabulated results coming back to me, I couldn’t have asked for anything better. The CUES eVote coordinator delivered on the commitment to deliver
that information confidentially as we needed it. It was a very positive experience.”

First Financial Credit Union Finds CUES eVote™ Eases Election Process

Ginger Chouinard, SVP/CMO, First Financial Credit Union, Albuquerque, N.M., discovered the benefits of using CUES eVote online election tool when First Financial was named the winner of the Credit Union Executives Society’s 2008 election giveaway.

Many of First Financial’s members live in rural areas without internet access. CUES® eVote easily handles hybrid elections, so the service was a good match for the $344 million asset-size institution.

First Financial realized an increase of 2.4% on the rate of returned ballots during the 2008 election. The 2007 election was administered internally and without CUES eVote; a total of 1,500 paper ballots were cast then, at a return rate of 4.1%. In the 2008 CUES eVote election, 2,379 votes were cast, at a return rate of 6.5%. Of those, 2,190 voters mailed paper ballots, while 189 utilized the online voting option.

Chouinard states the 2008 election ran smoother than in previous years, which may account for the increase in returns.

“I think that thanks to CUES eVote, the election was much better organized from a balloting standpoint. While I’d like to see the online voting numbers increase, I think having that option helped as well,” Chouinard said.

Chouinard also appreciated the ease with which CUES eVote worked within her credit union. “The time line CUES eVote provided made the election very easy to administer. Everything was done within the timeframes specified, and I never had to follow up to assure everything was on schedule. When I had questions, they always got back to me quickly. Their customer service was excellent,” she said.

CUES eVote™ Helps Increase Voter Participation at OAS Staff FCU

Patricia Mercado, marketing officer, $140 million OAS Staff Federal Credit Union, Washington, D.C., credits CUES eVote with not only helping her increase election participation among members, but with doing so for a bilingual membership.

With 40% of its membership abroad and Spanish speaking, OAS FCU needed to be able to educate its members, in English as well as Spanish, on the significance of voter participation. CUES eVote assisted OAS FCU by creating one election Web site in English and another in Spanish. Each member could select the language they preferred. The ability to do this resulted in a record increase of 26.5% in voting between 2006 and 2008.

“We started using CUES eVote in 2006 and 976 of our approximately 5,000 members voted,” Mercado said. “In 2008, that increased to 1,170—or 26.5%.”

Mercado says that prior to using CUES eVote, participation was low. In 2007, approximately 350 members voted.

“We thought it was important for other members to be a part of the credit union movement,” Mercado said. “Our board was very enthusiastic about using e-voting; but we have a lot of members abroad who do not speak English, so we decided that CUES eVote was the best option
for us.”

Mercado also creatively devised other incentives, in conjunction with CUES eVote to generate enthusiasm. The first year, OAS FCU offered a prize of $1,000 for one winner selected from everyone who participated in the election.

Since using CUES eVote, Mercado has also noticed a drop in paper ballots. “Now we offer paper ballots only by request, if members don’t want to vote electronically,” Merdado said. “The first year only six members requested paper ballots; the second year there was just one; and this year, so far, I have just one request. We have been very happy with CUES
eVote.”