Two ways to run your election
Both use the same sealed ballots, the same state rule pack, the same four ways for an owner to vote and the same certified report. The difference is how much your board does and how much VoteStead does.
Which one fits your board
Test election
Free any size, any state
as many as you like
Start here. Your board votes in a practice election with real emails and texts, sees the owner screens and opens the certified report format.
- The whole owner flow, from invitation to receipt
- 21 ballot templates, or write your own questions
- Printable access code letters, reminder cards and labels
- Turnout and quorum tracking with automatic reminders
- Never binding, never charged
Self-serve
$89.99 per election
plus $0.65 a unit, falling to $0.35
Pick this when your board has a volunteer with a few evenings, a roster in a spreadsheet, and a printer or a mail shop for the owners without email.
- Your board sets the dates, the questions and the candidates
- The launch checklist refuses to open voting until the state steps are done
- You print the access code letters, reminder cards and labels
- Your board answers owner questions, with the help center behind you
- Add the independent VoteStead key holder for $149 so no two owners open the count alone
Managed
$199 per election
plus $1.55 a unit, falling to $0.90
Pick this when the vote is contested, the board is short of time, a manager runs the community, or the result has to stand up to an owner with a lawyer.
- VoteStead builds the ballot and loads the roster from your file
- VoteStead prints, stuffs, stamps and mails the notices, reminder cards and paper ballot packets you order
- VoteStead answers owners by email and text through the whole vote
- A VoteStead key holder and an independent inspector hold two of the three shares
- A rerun inside 60 days at no charge if quorum fails
Not sure yet? Run a free test election first. It sends real emails and texts to your board, in your state, and nothing about it is binding or billed.
Who does what
| Task | Self-serve | Managed |
|---|---|---|
| Pick dates, questions and candidates | Your board | VoteStead, with your board's approval |
| Confirm the steps your state requires | Your board, from the checklist | VoteStead walks the board through it |
| Upload the owner roster | Your board | VoteStead, from your file, cleaned |
| Run a call for nominations | Included | Included, VoteStead chases candidates |
| Choose the 3 key holders | Your board names 3 non-candidates. Add the independent VoteStead key holder ($149 add-on) and your board names 2. | VoteStead, an independent inspector and one board member not up for election |
| Send invitations and reminders | Automatic | Automatic |
| Mailed notices for owners without email | Print your own free, or add VoteStead mailing at $1.75 a letter, postage included | Print your own free, or add VoteStead mailing at $1.75 a letter, postage included |
| Paper ballot packets | Print your own free, or add VoteStead mailing at $4.50 a packet | Print your own free, or add VoteStead mailing at $4.50 a packet |
| Answer owner questions during the vote | Your board | VoteStead by email and text |
| Watch quorum and chase the units with no ballot in | Your board, from the live dashboard | VoteStead, with progress reports to the board |
| Count and certify | Your key holders and inspector | VoteStead with your key holders |
| Rerun if quorum fails | Half price inside 60 days | Free inside 60 days |
| Free test election before the real one | Included | Included |
What both include, whichever you pick
These are not upgrades. An owner gets the same election either way, and so does the board filing the result.
- Your state rule pack, reviewed by counsel, with the statute cited
- A launch checklist that blocks a vote missing a required step
- Four ways to vote: email link, text link, mailed access code, paper ballot
- Ballots sealed in the owner browser, stored with no name, unit or timestamp
- A count that needs 2 of 3 key holders, and only after voting closes
- A tracker code each owner checks against the public list after the count
- A certified results PDF, and a final report emailed to everyone you list
- A hash-chained audit log your board exports for an inspector or an attorney
- Sealed ballots and credentials deleted a year after voting closes by default, held longer on request, with the certified result and audit log kept
- No per-ballot fee online, so full online turnout costs the same as half. Printed mail is priced by the piece
What a 120-unit election costs
| Line | Self-serve | Managed |
|---|---|---|
| Base | $89.99 | $199 |
| 120 units | $71 | $168.50 |
| Independent VoteStead key holder | $149 add-on | Included |
| 30 mailed access code letters | You print, $0 | $52.50 |
| Paper ballot packets, if any owner asks | $4.50 each | $4.50 each |
| Total for this election | $309.99 | $420 |
Totals are for one election. There is no platform fee and no subscription, and VoteStead Annual is optional. Every rate is on the pricing page, including the estimator and the cases that need a written quote.
What both tiers include
An association election is the ballot plus the state statute, the owners without email, a count nobody may open early and a record that answers a challenge a year later. All four are in the price on both tiers.
- The law is a control, not an article. Votes your statute does not authorize are switched off in the console with the law named, and the launch checklist holds the election until the state steps are done. Your governing documents and local rules still apply, so your association confirms those as well.
- Mail is priced like mail. $1.75 for a letter with an access code and PIN, and $4.50 for a full paper ballot packet, postage included both ways. Published elsewhere: $2.15 to $3.15 a postcard, $3.00 a mailed access letter, $6.00 a printed ballot packet, and postal mail only on a $299 tier.
- An independent key holder costs $149. Published elsewhere: $300 for an inspector service, or $499 and up for a managed election with one.
- Setup and nominations are included. Published elsewhere: $250 for ballot setup and $100 to $200 for nomination collection.
Those are published rates from ElectionBuddy, AssociationVoting and vote.direct, read on October 8, 2026, named and linked on the comparison page, which also says where one of them is the cheaper answer.
From first call to certified result
Tell us the vote
Unit count, what owners are deciding, and the date you need results. A quote comes back in writing, with the whole total in it.
Run a free test
Your board votes in a practice election in your own state, sees the emails and texts, and opens the certified report format.
Launch the real vote
The checklist clears, key shares go out, invitations send, and quorum tracks as ballots arrive.
Count and file
Two key holders open the count after voting closes. You get the certified PDF, the audit log and a public page where owners check their own ballot.
Common questions
More in the help center, or type a question into the box at the bottom right of any page.
Our board has never run an online vote. Which one should we pick?
Run a free test election first, then pick. Boards with a volunteer who has time usually stay on self-serve for surveys, budgets and uncontested seats, and move to managed for a contested board election, a special assessment or an amendment, where an owner is most likely to challenge the result.
We started self-serve. What does moving to managed take?
Tell us before voting opens and we requote the election at managed rates and take over the roster, the ballot and owner support. An election already open stays on the tier it launched under, because the key holders and the notices name who is running it.
On a managed election, does VoteStead see how owners voted?
No. VoteStead holds one of three key shares, and one share opens nothing. Two holders have to act after voting closes, and what comes out is a tally rather than a list of units. The only route to a single ballot needs that owner tracker code as well, and the owner is the one person who has it. The design is the same on both tiers.
Who is the independent inspector on a managed election?
A person with no other paid contract with your association, who is not a candidate, a director up for election or your managing agent. The three managed key holders are VoteStead, that inspector and one board member not up for election. California law requires an independent inspector of elections, and the rule pack flags it on your state page. Your association attorney is the right person to confirm how it applies to your community.
What happens if quorum fails?
You rerun the vote inside 60 days at no charge on managed, or at half price on self-serve. Quorum shows as ballots arrive, and reminders go only to units with no ballot in, so a board sees a shortfall with days left rather than on the last afternoon.
Do owners need an account or an app?
No. An owner opens a link from an email or a text, enters a 6-digit code, and votes in the browser. Owners without email use the access code and PIN from a mailed letter, or return a paper ballot.