To set up motions in CouncilARS™, press the “Resolutions” button in your menu
ID
The ID is responsible for the internal sorting and is a “floating point number”. When inserting a resolution between ID 1 and 2, you can simply enter 1.1 or 1.01 as the ID if you want to insert several resolutions.
TIP: If you want to “duplicate” a resolution, you can simply edit the existing resolution and change the ID (e.g. from 1 to 1.01). This will create an exactl copy of the resolution
this can be very useful when you need to split a Resolution with multiple votes on a motion into sub-items and vote on each sub-item separately
Topic Nr.
This is your internal resolution number (or template). It can consist of numbers as well as text or special characters (e.g. 1141/2022/AFKRL).
Description
Is the displayed text on your slide.
Selection 1 – Selection 5
shows you the stored text.
Secret?
Is the vote secret? In the case of secret ballots, only the overall result is saved and recorded. Individual voting behaviour and party results are not available in this view.
Not by name?
In this mode, the overall result is saved. Optionally, the party result can be saved, but not the individual voting behaviour of the participants.
Voting mode
Infowhyse has provided seven different voting modes by default, which are divided into four sections
Yes/No and Yes/No/Abstain
When using either of these modes, the operator cannot change the text for Yes/No or Yes/No/Disable. These fields are predefined and cannot be changed by default. If you prefer a different wording than the one provided by Infowhyse, please contact us via support@infowhyse.com.
Two to five options
Using one of these modes allows the operator to define the text to be displayed for options 1 – 5 depending on their selection. The difference with the modes for y/n and
y/n/e is the display on the unit during tuning. In y/n/e mode, the units show Y/N or E on the display, whereas in this mode they only show the key pressed (1,2,3 etc.).
Attendance check
In this mode, only the “1” key is active. When a vote is started as an attendance check, all participants are set to not present. They are set to present again when the “1” key is pressed (depending on the setting in the options, the SEND key must still be pressed. Participants who do not vote on this question must either be set to manually present or a new attendance check must be carried out. Otherwise, they will not be able to participate until they are set to present.
No voting slide
When you import or create votes, you can also simply display resolution texts, whether they are votes or not. If a resolution is declared as “No vote”, this slide can only be displayed, but not voted on.
Resolutions
Using the points above, you can add a new resolution, edit or delete the selected one. You can also delete all resolutions.
In addition, you can import resolutions via a csv template, which you can open via “Import Template”. TOP is your resolution template or resolution no. and text contains the text you have entered or copied in.
Additional Import Functions
Import Somacos
The XML structure of Somacos (SessionNet from the company Somacos) can be easily loaded and processed in CouncilARS™ via the “Import Somacos XML”. Already during the import of the list of draft resolutions CouncilARS™ decides on the basis of the draft number whether it is a vote or no vote. By means of a dialogue you can preselect the voting mode to be used.
Import Sternberg CSV
The software Meeting Service from the company Sternberg offers the possibility to export the agenda as CSV, which can also be imported into CouncilARS™. Here, too, the voting mode can be preselected and CouncilARS decides on the basis of the resolution template whether a resolution is a voting issue or not.
IMPORTANT: Please double-check all Resolutions after the import to verify that all Resolutions are setup correctly.