Elections & Distribution

Run voting rounds, analyze results, resolve conflicts, and make distribution decisions.

Understanding Voting Rounds

Voting rounds are the mechanism through which beneficiaries express their preferences for assets. Each round presents a set of assets to a set of participants and collects their input. You can run as many rounds as needed, refining the process as you go.

Allocate supports two types of rounds, each suited to different situations.

Simple Rounds

In a simple round, each beneficiary reviews the included assets and marks their preference for each one:

• None — No interest in this item.
• Want — Would like to receive this item.
• Really Want — Strongly prefers this item.

Simple rounds are best for an initial pass where you want to understand general interest levels. They are quick for beneficiaries to complete and produce clear signals about which items are most desired and where conflicts exist.

Weighted Rounds

In a weighted round, each beneficiary receives a credit budget — a pool of points they can distribute across the assets. The more credits they place on an item, the stronger their preference. The participant who bids the most credits on an item is the highest bidder.

Weighted rounds are ideal for resolving conflicts identified in an earlier simple round. By forcing beneficiaries to prioritize — they cannot bid heavily on everything — the process reveals which items each person values most. This produces clearer allocation signals when multiple people want the same things.

Tip: A common strategy is to run a simple round first to identify interest and conflicts, then follow with a weighted round focused on the contested items.

Creating and Running a Round

To create a round, navigate to the Elections tab and click “New Round.” The creation wizard walks you through three steps.

Selecting Assets and Participants

The asset selection step lets you build focused rounds. Some useful strategies:

• Full inventory rounds — Include all assets for a broad initial survey.
• Category rounds — Use metadata filters to create rounds for specific types (e.g., all artwork, all furniture).
• Conflict rounds — After reviewing results from a previous round, select only the assets where multiple beneficiaries showed strong interest.

You can include the same assets in multiple rounds. This is common when you need additional input to resolve a contested item.

Activating and Monitoring

Once you are satisfied with the round configuration, click “Activate.” This makes the round available to participants and locks the included assets from editing.

While the round is active, the Elections tab shows real-time participation data:

• Which participants have started voting.
• How many assets each participant has voted on.
• Whether each participant has submitted their final votes.

You do not need to wait for every participant to finish before closing a round. Use your judgment about when you have enough data to proceed.

Closing a Round

When you are ready, click “Close Round.” This ends the voting period and makes the full analytics available. Closing a round:

• Prevents any further voting by participants.
• Unlocks the included assets for editing.
• Calculates conflict scores and suggested allocations.
• Makes round analytics and reports available.

Note: You can close a round at any time, even if some participants have not voted. Unvoted assets default to “no preference.”

Election Results and Conflict Analysis

After closing a round, the analytics view presents a summary of the results. This includes overall participation rates, interest levels per asset, and — most importantly — the conflict analysis.

The analytics help you understand where there is consensus and where decisions will require more attention. Review them carefully before moving to the Distribution tab.

Understanding Conflict Levels

Every asset that was part of a closed round receives a conflict level:

• High conflict — Multiple beneficiaries are tied at the highest preference level. In a simple round, this means two or more people marked “Really Want” (or two or more marked “Want” with no one higher). In a weighted round, this means two or more participants bid the same highest amount. There is no clear winner.

• Low conflict — There is a clear winner, but other beneficiaries also showed interest. For example, one person marked “Really Want” while others marked “Want.” The suggested allocation is defensible, but you should be aware that other parties had interest.

• No conflict — Only one beneficiary showed interest, or no one expressed a preference. The allocation decision is straightforward.

High-conflict items deserve the most attention. They may benefit from an additional weighted round, a conversation with the parties, or a direct decision by the manager.

Suggested Allocations

For each asset, the platform generates a suggested allocation based on the voting data:

• In simple rounds: the person who marked “Really Want” is preferred over “Want.” If there is a tie, the person who voted first is suggested.
• In weighted rounds: the highest bidder wins. Ties are broken by submission time.

Suggestions are a starting point. You are not required to accept them, and you can override any suggestion with a manual decision.

Distribution Decisions

The Distribution tab is where you make and record the final allocation decisions for every asset in the case. It combines the voting data, conflict analysis, and suggested allocations into a single workspace.

Each asset in the table shows:

• The current allocation decision (which beneficiary, “Market” for liquidation, or unassigned).
• The conflict level from the most recent round.
• Whether the decision was manually set or auto-suggested.

You can filter the table using the metric cards at the top: total assets, unassigned, conflicts, and items marked for liquidation. Click a metric card to filter the table to that subset.

Manual Allocation Overrides

To change an allocation, click on the asset’s assignment dropdown and choose a different beneficiary or select “Market” to mark it for liquidation. When you manually change a decision, it is flagged as a manual override so you can distinguish it from system suggestions.

Market (Liquidation) means the item will be sold rather than distributed to a beneficiary. This is appropriate when no one wants an item, when there is an irreconcilable conflict, or when the estate plan requires certain items to be liquidated.

Bulk Operations

For efficiency, the Distribution tab provides bulk actions that apply to multiple assets at once:

• Accept All Suggestions — Apply the system’s suggested allocation for every asset. This is a fast way to start, after which you can manually adjust specific items.
• Liquidate Conflicts — Set all high-conflict items to Market. Useful when you want to avoid contentious decisions and sell the disputed items instead.
• Liquidate Unallocated — Set all unassigned items to Market. Ensures nothing is left without a decision.
• Clear All — Reset all decisions back to the system suggestions.

You can also select multiple assets using checkboxes and apply actions to the selection: assign to a specific beneficiary, mark for liquidation, or clear the selection.

Resolving Conflicts

Conflicts are an expected part of estate distribution. Here are several strategies for resolving them:

• Run a weighted round with only the contested items. This forces beneficiaries to prioritize and usually produces a clear winner.
• Accept the suggestion if the conflict is low and the suggested recipient has the strongest claim.
• Assign to Market if the conflict cannot be resolved and the item should be sold with proceeds divided.
• Make a direct decision based on external factors like the decedent’s wishes, prior agreements, or legal requirements. Document your reasoning in the case description.

Note: The goal is not to eliminate all conflict — it is to make defensible, well-documented decisions. The voting data provides a transparent record of each beneficiary’s preferences.