COG Electronic Voting

CDM+ Regional for the Church of God is used to provide electronic voting solutions for state offices.

Please contact CDM+ support for more information on this service.

Form

Complete the following form to reserve electronic voting services from Suran Systems, Inc.

2026 Church of God Electronic Voting Reservation.pdf

Database Preparation

Before Suran pulls your database you’ll need to mark minister records to ensure the right people can vote and are eligible for candidates. See Preparing for Electronic Voting for how to do this.

Voting Preparation

You will be assigned one more Suran representatives who will travel to the meeting to facilitate the vote. They will be in contact to arrange the following details:

Logistics

1. The address where the meeting will be held

2. Schedule for the minister’s meeting

   1. Start time

   2. Breaks

   3. Anticipated End

   4. General description of any additional programming that could affect timing of the vote

3. When Suran can set up and test the equipment, usually the day before the vote (we will need 1-2 hours)

4. Lodging for 1-2 nights

5. Arranging a meeting with ushers the day of the vote (will need 4-8 depending on the size of the meeting)

6. When Suran will pull your database to load on the voting server

Election Details

1. Which boards are you electing

2. For each board:

   1. Which group in CDM+ tracks that board (as listed under File → Master Coding System)

   2. Which ranks of ministers are eligible to be elected

   3. The names of any ministers who are not eligible to be elected to that specific board due to tenure

   4. Number of positions

   5. Number of alternates

3. How many copies of the voting results do you want printed

4. What rules do you follow for limiting the list of candidates when motioned by a minister

Venue Requirements

At the venue for the voting, Suran will require:

1. (2) 6' or longer tables

2. (2) chairs

3. A/C power (standard 120v) at the tables

4. A printer

5. Ample paper and toner/ink for the printer

6. A/V person/team who can project the result webpage

Day of the vote

Passing out devices

The Suran representative will work with an usher team to pass out devices and provide guidance for how to help ministers that encounter any problems when voting. This brief training should be held prior to the start of the minister’s meeting.

Video

We recommend the A/V team play the following video before the vote:

Direct Download 2026 Electronic Voting.mp4 (50 MB)

Transcript

Here is the transcript from the video. You can use this to provide written instructions.

Welcome to Electronic Voting by Suran Systems.

Today you will be using one of two types of devices to vote. One is larger and looks like a phone. The other is smaller with a home button at the bottom.

If you are using the larger device, press the recessed button on the right of the phone to wake it up. There are volume controls which will not do anything when pressed. Look for the button below the volume controls. Once you press the button, you will see the login screen.

If you have a smaller device, press the physical home button on the bottom of the device and slide it to unlock.

Please wait for the antennae, or wifi, signal to appear at the top of the screen before tapping the icon at the bottom which is labelled COG voting. Remember, make sure the antennae is visible before you tap on the icon. The login screen will then appear.

From this point on, the instructions are the same for all devices.

Enter your file number and tap GO to begin voting. A list of eligible candidates will appear.

You will vote for all candidates at one time. If, for example, you are voting for 12 state council members, choose all 12 names and then cast your ballot.

Here's we're going to select 3 of our favorite ice cream flavors. Scroll up and down the list to look at all of the options. You can tap the letter keys on the right to jump to names beginning with that letter.

Once you have selected all of your choices you will see a confirmation page to cast your ballot.

Be certain to tap CAST BALLOT so your vote will be recorded.

If you made a selection that you don't want, tap on it and then tap remove candidate. This will allow you to tap on SELECT MORE to go back and choose another option.

When you get to this confirmation page remember to tap CAST BALLOT so your vote is recorded.

Thank you for using Electronic Voting from Suran Systems.

Sample Vote

We ask that the body conduct a sample vote prior to the first election to test the equipment, familiarize ministers with the system, and identify any issues.

Conducting Votes

The Administrative Bishop will announce when voting is open and closed. The Suran representative will signal when the vote is available to be opened. Here is a suggested script that the bishop may use.

Voting for (insert board to be elected) is now open. Enter in your ministerial file number and vote for (insert number of positions to be elected) at this time. We will wait until everyone has voted before closing the voting session. If you have any problems with the device raise your hand and someone will come and assist you.

After everyone has voted the Administrative Bishop will announce:

Voting for (insert board to be elected) is now closed. We will wait for the teller’s report.

Displaying Results

The Suran representative will provide a URL the A/V team can use to project results after each election, along with a brief training on how to use the site.

Collecting Devices

Devices should be collected before any breaks or when concluding the meeting to avoid ministers unintentionally leaving with a device. Suran will bill the state office for any lost devices per the voting contract.