Proposals and polls

Proposals and polls collect structured responses from a group. They can help test an idea, make a decision, identify priorities, schedule a meeting, or elect representatives.

Find the right help

These parts of the manual answer different questions:

A voting method defines how people respond and how results are calculated. A poll template is a reusable configuration built on a voting method, with preset instructions, options, and settings. A decision process may use a discussion and several templates before the group reaches an outcome.

Proposals

A proposal asks people to respond to a statement or course of action. Loomio includes templates for common purposes:

• Sense check gathers early reactions;
• Advice gathers input for a decision maker;
• Consent tests for meaningful objections; and
• Consensus seeks collective agreement.

See Proposals to compare them.

Polls

Use a poll when participants need to select, score, allocate, rank, state their availability, or cast an election ballot:

• Choose finds popular options;
• Score evaluates every option on a scale;
• Allocate distributes a limited budget of points;
• Rank finds an overall order of preference;
• Time poll finds when people are available; and
• STV Election elects multiple winners proportionally.

See Polls to compare them.

Start a proposal or poll

Choose whether to use a discussion

Start the proposal or poll inside a discussion when people need context, questions, or conversation before responding. A discussion can contain several proposals over time, keeping amendments and the eventual outcome together as one record of the topic.

Run a standalone poll when the discussion has already happened elsewhere, such as at a meeting, or when the question is simple and you only need to collect responses. Include enough detail or a link to the relevant record so voters understand what they are responding to.

In a discussion

Open the discussion, scroll to the reply area, select Start a vote, and choose a template.

Without a discussion

Open the Polls tab on the group page, select New poll, and choose a template.

If you create a discussion and poll at the same time only to run a vote, avoid notifying people twice. Start the discussion without notifying them and use the poll invitation, or run the poll without a discussion.

What happens next

When starting a proposal or poll, you provide a title and details, review its response options and settings, set a closing time, and invite participants. While it is open, participants can vote, explain their response, and change their vote. Results update as votes are submitted, subject to the poll's result-visibility setting.

When it closes, publish an outcome that records what the result means and what will happen next.