Looking for a convenient and cost-effective way to conduct online voting? Look no further than Google Forms—a powerful yet user-friendly tool that’s ready to be yours with minimal setup.
In this post, you'll discover how to harness the potential of Google Forms to create efficient online voting systems. We’ll explore the step-by-step process of setting up your voting form, customizing questions, and ensuring ease of analyzing your results.
Ready? Let’s learn why Google Forms is the best free online voting tool.
Google Forms is the best free online voting tool
Among countless other survey platforms, here’s why we think Google Forms is the best online voting tool:
It’s easy to use, easy to share, and free
With Google Forms’ user-friendly design, you can swiftly create voting forms tailored to your specific needs. The simplicity doesn't end there; sharing your forms is also a breeze. Distribute voting links via email and social media or embed them on your website to reach your target audience effortlessly.
The best part is that this won't cost you a single dime. Its accessibility makes it an ideal choice for organizations and individuals seeking a budget-friendly yet efficient way to conduct online voting.
Turn forms into anonymous polling tool
Privacy and confidentiality are paramount in any voting process. This proves particularly useful for sensitive topics, elections, or feedback collection, where anonymity fosters candid participation.
While Google Forms doesn’t inherently include a feature for creating anonymous forms, it’s easy to create anonymous polls. This ensures that respondents can share their opinions without fear of identification.
Check out our guide to making anonymous Google Forms.
Make it even better with add-ons
What makes Google Forms the best free online voting tool is that this already great platform can be elevated with add-ons that expand its capabilities. From offering response summaries with insights to limiting form responses, add-ons provide a tailored approach to meet your unique form requirements.
For example, Form Publisher is a powerful add-on that can amplify the functionality of your online voting forms. Form Publisher turns your Google Form responses into individual response documents, which can then be stored in your Google Drive until you’re ready to analyze them.
How to create an easy voting tool with Google Forms
If you’ve never made a poll before, you may want to check out our guide on how to make a poll on Google Forms.
Step 1: Create and title a new form
Click the “Blank” button in your Google Forms to create a new Google Form.
Name your form and write a brief description of it. As part of the description, you can provide instructions or tips to help your respondents interact with the form.
Step 2: Add a multiple-choice poll
Add your poll question with its options. Ensure that the multiple-choice format is selected.
If you want to add more questions to your form, click the “Add question” button in the floating menu. However, ensure that all your questions are in the multiple-choice format for the poll data to be meaningful.
Step 3: Change the settings
Once you’ve added all the questions, it’s a good idea to make the form anonymous to encourage honest and unbiased responses.
To do this, toggle to the “Settings” tab at the top of the form or by clicking “Change settings” in the notification below the form description.
In the settings, under the “Responses” tab, ensure that the form isn’t collecting email addresses.
The next setting you can change is the “Limit to 1 response”. This is effective if you’re looking for one vote per respondent. However, as mentioned above, it requires sign-in by your respondents. Although this sign-in information isn’t disclosed to the owner of the form, assess whether it will discourage your respondents from providing candid responses.
Step 4: Send it and observe results
Now, all you have to do is send your form so that people can vote.
Click the “Send” button in the top right corner to send your form.
This will open up a pop-up window showing you all the options to share your form. You can share your form through email or a link, post it on social media, or embed it on a webpage. Select how you want to share your form by toggling to your preferred channel.
In the same window, you also have the option to “Add editors” to the form. Learn more about editors, collaborators, and the different ways you can share your form.
With that, you’re done! Now, all you have to do is wait for the responses to start coming in.
Make your free voting tool better with free add-ons!
Now you know how easy it is to use Google Forms as a free online voting tool! The best part about working with Google Forms is that you have access to many helpful Google Forms add-ons.
Form Publisher is one of them! Once your form is ready, you can use Form Publisher to convert responses (or votes) into individual documents. You can save them in your preferred file format in your Google Drive or even route them through a team.If that sounds like something your next online poll could benefit from, check out Form Publisher!