Run the voting

The Voter Information section on the edit form lists what the voting page asks for before someone votes: email address, first name, last name, phone, and home address. Email is always asked: on the web a vote is tied to the voter's email, so it's the one field you can't switch off. Beyond that, ask for as little as you can; every extra field is a neighbor who gives up before casting a vote.

Tick Require address verification for voters and the voting page asks every web voter for a home address (even if Home address above it is unticked); a voter whose address falls outside your neighborhood's boundary is turned away with a message saying so. Unlike entries, there is no queue for voters: a vote from outside simply isn't taken. In the app the same rule uses the voter's saved home address: without one, the app asks them to add it first, and one outside the boundary is turned away. Leave it off for a contest you want the whole town to enjoy.

Anonymous entries, under Contest Details on the edit form, keeps entrants' names off the voting and results pages, so people vote for the display, not the neighbor. Entries show as their street when Display entry addresses is on, or as Entry 1, Entry 2 otherwise. You still see every name on your side, for contacting winners.

Each voter gets one vote in each category. On the web a voter is their email address; in the app it's their signed-in account. Voting again in a category replaces their earlier pick rather than adding a second vote, so changing your mind is allowed and stuffing the box from one address isn't. The voting page only takes votes while the contest is Voting Open. Require voters to confirm their email, in Voter Information, is on for every new contest: someone voting on the web still votes right away, but their votes count only after they click the link we email them, so a made-up address never adds a vote. One click covers all their votes in that contest, and votes from the app or from someone signed in count at once. Votes nobody confirms before voting closes are never counted and are removed when the contest closes. The Votes tab shows every counted voter, their progress, and their picks, with Manage to change or delete a voter's votes.

While entries are open, the Entry Links tab on the contest's page ends with Voting link (not the entry link): a separate box with the voting short link, Copy, the voting QR code, and the voting banner and flyer. Hand it out now so neighbors can save it. Until you open voting, anyone who follows it sees when voting begins, and the same link becomes the ballot the moment you press Open Voting.

On the web voting page, voters work through each category in a list, with photos to tap through and a vote button per entry. When Display entry addresses is on, a List View / Map View switch adds a map of every entry for touring, and the results page carries the same switch once the contest closes. In the app, the contest offers Browse entries & vote and a Contestant map, and voters vote while signed in to their account.