How to Prepare your Union Branch For Electronic Balloting

This August, one of the most anticipated changes brought in by the Employment Rights Act 2025 will be introduced; electronic balloting.

For decades, trade unions like Community have been shackled by restrictive, archaic laws that require postal-only votes for statutory ballots, slowing down our collective voice. In the modern world of work, this isn’t enough, and that is where the Employment Rights Act 2025 will change things.

From August 2026, Community members will finally have the option to vote electronically (as well as in person, if needed) for statutory ballots, including union elections and industrial action, provided both Community and the employer agree.

This change is a massive win for workplace democracy, no matter which sector you work in.

However, electronic balloting is only as powerful as the infrastructure being it. If we hold out of date or incorrect member data, these ballots will fail. As a Community Representative, the work to prepare for this shift doesn’t start in August, it starts right now.

In this blog, we’ll explore how you can work with your fellow Community Reps and members to ensure your branch is digitally ready.

Run a Branch Data Health Check

The biggest point of failure for an electronic ballot isn’t the technology; it’s a bounced email. If a member’s contact details are wrong or out of date, they don’t get a vote, and we risk missing our critical turnout thresholds.

Don’t wait until a ballot is called to realise your membership data is out of date. Initiate a Branch Data Health Check this week:

• Audit your membership: Cross-reference your current branch list against known staff in your workplaces. Who has left? Who is new? P.S. You can use Subscriber on the Move to check your branch data.
• Identify the “blanks”: Run a report to find any member profiles missing email addresses or mobile numbers.
• Organise a data drive: Use your next branch meeting, newsletter, or check in specifically to get members to log into their online Community account and check their contact details are up-to-date.

Ditch the workplace email addresses

This is perhaps the most critical task for Community Reps. Members must not use their workplace email addresses for union ballots.

There are three major reasons for this:

• Employer Surveillance & Firewalls: IT departments can block external emails from independent balloting agencies, or worse, track who is opening and clicking on ballot links.
• GDPR & Security: Using employer systems for confidential union voting compromises the privacy of the ballot.
• Access Issues: If a member is suspended, on long-term sick leave, or locked out of their work account during a dispute, they completely lose their ability to vote.

Make sure to check your membership list for email domains ending in .gov.uk, .nhs.net, .co.uk (matching your employer), or school domains. Reach out to these members individually and explain why they must update their email address to a personal one, like Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo, otherwise they will miss out on having a say on the direction of their union.

Bust Myths Around Electronic Balloting

For some of Community’s long-standing members, electronic voting might feel unfamiliar or insecure. Reps need to be proactive in building trust in using electronic balloting.

Reassure them on confidentiality: Our electronic ballots are managed by independent, legally authorised scrutineers, just like postal ballots are. Employers will never see how an individual member has voted.
Highlight ease of access: Remind members that they will be able to vote securely from any device in less than a minute. No more hunting for pens, losing envelopes, or rushing to find a post box.

Laying the Groundwork with Management

Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, it is specified that electronic balloting can be used, as long as both Community and your employer agree. Progressive branches should start introducing this new change to your employer, and any branch committees as soon as possible so all parties are aware of this change.

This should be framed positively as electronic balloting reduced administrative friction, creates a clearer picture of employee sentiment around workplace issues, and ensures a faster, more modern industrial relations framework.

Ultimately, electronic balloting is a tool that will give Community members a louder, faster, and more accessible voice in the workplace. However, a tool is only useful in the right hands. Therefore, by cleaning up your branch data, moving members onto personal emails, and prepping Community branches for this change, we’ll ensure that when this change comes into effect, we’re ready to hit the ground running.