OpenSlides
OpenSlides is a free and open source tool to help deliberative bodies inside of DSA run their meetings and administer votes more smoothly, allow any comrade attending the meeting to vote in a consistent manner, and help reduce labor that Chapter and Working Group leadership undergo to prepare for various meetings in DSA, all in a single location.
OpenSlides is a progressive web application, so it can run on comrades computers and phones with no difference to functionality and no need to install anything on to a personal device.
Agenda Creation
Create, publish, and modify agendas on-the-fly in a central place, and even mark agenda items as done! No need to copy and paste old agendas to make the next!
Voting
Create votes on the fly during a meeting to deploy to comrades, and get instant results. Open and Secret ballots, along with an option to run paper ballots with digital tabulation.
Resolution Drafting and Amendments
Create, submit, and even amend resolutions. When amendments are adopted, they’re changed on the fly in the original resolution.
Records
OpenSlides supports exporting out motions, agendas, and full tabulated voting results into a PDF, giving time back to chapter records keepers and allowing for consistency of records keeping practices.
Group Management
Working Groups or other sub-chapter formations can be managed via groups in OpenSlides, allowing for observers versus voting members to exist in the tool.
Progressive Stack
Allow comrades to get on stack and adjust on the fly to prioritize margialized voices. OpenSlides includes features to mark yourself as for or against for formal debate, raise a point of order, and track time spoken for each speaker with a built in timer.
The NTC began testing this tool inside of DSA Chapters between April and May 2023, to prepare for its debut at the 2023 DSA Convention. We’re thrilled to have been part of this testing and have posted a full retrospective of this effort which can be found here: Two Months of OpenSlides: An NTC Report Back