IEEE Standards AssociationTHE BALLOTING PROCESS
Balloting begins when the Sponsor decides the draft of the full standard is stable. The Sponsor forms a balloting group containing persons interested in the standard. While anyone can contribute comments, the only votes that count toward approval are those of the eligible members of the balloting group. IEEE-SA membership is required to sponsor ballot on standards (ballot or vote on the standards outside of the working group).
Balloting is a balanced process that prevents any one group or company from dominating. Balloters usually fall into one of three classes: producers, users, or general interest. The latter is a broad category that can include government officials, consultants and end users. No interest category can comprise over one-half of the balloting group. The goal in balloting is to gain the greatest consensus. A standard will pass if at least 75 percent of all ballots from a balloting group are returned and if 75 percent of these bear a "yes" vote. If ballot returns of 30 percent are abstentions, the ballot fails.
Ballots usually last 30 to 60 days. Balloters can approve, disapprove, or abstain. They can also approve or disapprove with comment. If the comments made by those who disapprove are accepted into the standard, their votes then move into the approved category with the agreement of the voter. The ballot resolution group responds to all comments, whether submitted by those within or outside of the balloting group. Editorial comments are often straightforward; changes to the standard based on technical comments are recirculated.
Anyone can appeal actions and decisions made during the process at any time. Before IEEE-SA Standards Board approval, complaints are handled by the Sponsor of the standard. After approval, they are handled by the IEEE-SA Standards Board if the issue is procedural or by the Sponsor if the issue is technical.
IEEE has two types of standards balloting. The first is the traditional balloting process by individuals only. The second allows a ballot group made up of non-individuals only (non-individuals can be entities like corporations, organizations, etc.).
In both types of balloting groups, each entity (individual or not) has one vote. This reflects the membership options in the IEEE-SA. Entities can name a representative and an alternate to cover personnel issues. In mixed balloting, a person can vote for himself or herself and also represent an organization.
Ballot work actually begins while the document is being finalized, with the formation of the balloting group. Many Sponsors have particular rules for how the balloting group is to be formed, so you should examine those carefully before taking any action. It is the responsibility of the Sponsor to form the balloting group.
In some cases, this may involve the membership of an active committee or committees; in other cases it may involve inviting a wide variety of interested parties to participate in balloting by forming an invitation pool. Ballot invitations are open for a minimum of 15 days.
Keep in mind that the balloting group is different from the Working Group, and Working Group members may not be automatically included in a balloting group. You need to ensure that you understand your Sponsor's policies for forming balloting groups and not assume that you are already in one!
You may also want to announce or publicize the upcoming ballot in various media outlets. In any case, forming a balloting group takes time, so don't wait until your draft is absolutely ready to ballot to start this task. (But you also don't want to form your balloting group too early so that the group information doesn't become outdated.)
The myBallot system 
is used to create the balloting group and sending an "invitation to ballot" to a pre-existing invitation pool. An IEEE-SA Staff Liaison can assist you throughout this balloting process.
Your balloting group must be one of the following types (as stated on the PAR); individuals only or non-individuals only. Non-individuals may have a primary and an alternate representative to the balloting group, but only one vote will count in the ballot (and the primary's vote is always preferred).
The primary concern when forming the balloting group is also one of the imperative principles of the standards process: balance. A balloting group must consist of a balance of a variety of interests, with no domination by any one group or company. (Contrast this with the Working Group, where anyone can freely participate.) Therefore, determining a balloting group doesn't involve just looking at potential balloters, but at how they fit into the overall picture of balance. The goal of balance is to have representation from all interested parties, but to avoid an overwhelming influence by any one of those parties.
Balance is usually achieved by potential balloters placing themselves into one of four categories; producers, users, government, and general interest (additional classifications can be added when needed). The Sponsor then examines these requests to see if balance has been achieved. If not, they will work with the balloters to see if it is possible to shift them into another category. The only requirement to join a balloting group is an interest in the subject, an IEEE Account, 
and IEEE-SA membership or payment of the appropriate fees. Balloting groups should have at least 10 members to help ensure this balance.
Once the balloting group is formed, the composition of that balloting group cannot change throughout the duration of the ballot and any subsequent recirculation ballots. (The composition of the ballot group can be changed up until the time when the first ballot starts.) Comments are considered from anyone who contributes them and must be addressed, but the only votes that count towards approval of the document are those of the eligible members of the balloting group.
If a balloter passes away or is incapacitated during the time of ballot, IEEE rules allow for their removal from the ballot group before the close of the first ballot. After the first ballot, the current vote of that balloter will stand, since it can't be resolved.
Consensus
What a balloting group is trying to achieve is the imperative principle of consensus. Consensus means agreement among the majority. It does not mean unanimity. A balloting group does not need to achieve 100% approval, or even 95% or 90%. According to IEEE rules, consensus is defined as a minimum 75% return of ballots from the balloting group, and a 75% approval rate from that 75% return group. If this is reached, then consensus has been achieved.
There are several rules that help to define what final level of consensus you reach. All ballot comments have to be responded to, and in considering a response you may make a change in the draft that may turn a no vote into a yes vote. The issue is what you do to balance your obligations to the majority versus that of the minority. Once you have achieved consensus, an obligation to the majority exists to approve and publish the standard quickly. However, you are obligated to respond to the negative comments of the minority. You should attempt to resolve those negative comments, but if there is no indication that further resolution can be achieved based on that, you should move your document forward for approval, still having met the terms of consensus.
Your first goal is to see if you can achieve a 75% return on your ballot. Otherwise, the ballot will fail. If you do not have a 75% return on the date the ballot is to close, you may extend the ballot for an additional period of up to 60 days or until a 75% return is achieved (whichever comes first). You should contact balloters and urge them to send in their ballots. Often, balloters haven't had the time to address the document and can be urged to do so.
However, if you can't get the necessary 75% ballot return within this time, the ballot will fail. At this point, you should re-form your balloting group (usually including those individuals who responded the first time) and start over again, trying to obtain a 75% return.
If you have achieved a 75% return, however, you can move onto the next stage of examining your rate of approval. Your goal is to have a 75% rate of approval from your returns, so your first step is to see how many approval votes you have and to address their comments, if any. Next, you must examine your negative ballots with any comments. Those comments should explain any difficulties the balloter has with the current document and offer precise wording for changes that would turn their "no" vote into a "yes" vote. In many cases, the balloter may offer vague solutions or even no solution at all. At this point, the Working Group (or a group established to resolve ballots) should examine the problem to see if they can resolve it on their own, or they may discuss the situation with the balloter and solicit more precise language. If a negative vote comes without comments, it cannot be resolved and does not count towards that percentage of the total votes needed for approval.
Remember, the primary purpose of ballot resolution is to create a document that gains a 75% approval rate from those who voted. There is no obligation to satisfy all concerns once a 75% approval has been gained.
Ballot Comments
Ballot comments can also fall into one of two categories—technical or editorial. You should consider having your balloters classify their type of ballot objections. Identifying these changes can assist the ballot review group greatly. But no matter what type of comment, all unresolved negative comments and the resulting changes must be recirculated.
Once the ballot review group has examined and dealt with all comments, the Working Group must recirculate the ballot if there is a need for that. The major reasons for recirculation are that new technical changes have been introduced in the document or that there are unresolved negative comments. The full balloting group has the right to examine these along with any revisions to the document and determine whether they want to maintain their vote.