Publish Results, Handle Ties, and Run a Runoff
Results are only declared when the count actually settled the question — ties, missed thresholds, disqualified leaders, and unopposed rejections all show as undecided instead of an arbitrary winner — with a tamper-evident seal and a branded PDF export.
For School administrators. Updated 2026-09-18.
Overview
The results page never guesses a winner.
A tie at the cutoff for a position's seats is shown as TIE with no winner declared, even though something must be displayed; a disqualified candidate's votes stay visible for transparency but they can never be declared a winner; a write-in candidate is reported but never automatically wins, since the name is unvetted free text; and a position with a required winning share (e.g.
50%+1) shows BELOW_THRESHOLD if nobody clears it. Abstentions are counted and shown but excluded from that share calculation. An unopposed position is a yes/no confidence vote, and is shown as rejected if more voters voted against than for.
The moment an election closes, its ballots are fingerprinted with a SHA-256 hash (the tally seal); recomputing that hash later and getting the same value proves nothing was altered after the count, and a mismatch is shown plainly on the results page.
Export PDF produces a branded report with a cover page, summary metrics, per-position bar charts, and result tables — this replaced the old CSV and plain-text downloads, which are no longer available.
When one or more positions come back as TIE or BELOW_THRESHOLD, a Create runoff action appears; it carries forward the same voter roll and only the candidates still in contention (the tied set, or the top two for a missed threshold), and always disables write-ins for the runoff round.
Before you start
- Have the “manage election” permission permission to publish results, export the PDF, or create a runoff
- The election should be closed for a final result (a live in-progress tally is only shown if the election's "show live results" option is turned on)
Steps
- Open the election and select Results
- Review each position's outcome banner — Decided, Tie, Below threshold, Rejected, or No votes
- If any position shows Tie or Below threshold, select Create runoff and set the new opens/closes dates
- Select Export PDF for a full branded report with charts and tables
- Select Publish results to notify voters once satisfied
Common problems
Two candidates have the same vote count but only one is marked winner
This should not happen — a tie at the cutoff is designed to show TIE with no winner. Report the specific election and position if a tie is being shown as decided.
A disqualified candidate has the most votes
Disqualified candidates are excluded from winning by design, even while leading; their tally stays visible for transparency only.
Create runoff isn't showing
The runoff action only appears when at least one position resulted in a tie or missed its required threshold. A fully decided election has nothing to run off.
Looking for the CSV or plain-text results download
Those exports were removed. Use Export PDF instead, which includes the same information plus charts, per-position tables, and the tally seal.