Poll Maker FAQ
Straight answers on repeat votes, privacy, sharing and editing, with the exact clicks for each.
Popular: Anonymous polls Voting twice Editing a live poll Several questions
Making a poll
Accounts, cost, and what one poll can hold.
Do I need an account to make a poll?
No. Type a question and its answers on the Poll Maker homepage, press Create Poll, and your link is ready to share.
Log in or sign up free when you want to find the poll again later. An account keeps every poll in your dashboard, where you can edit, close or reset it.
Is Poll Maker free?
Yes. Making a poll, sharing its link and collecting votes cost nothing.
Paid plans add controls such as hidden results, scheduled voting, custom themes and exports, and every plan starts with a 7-day free trial. Answers on this page marked Starter or Professional cover settings that come with those plans, and the plan comparison lists the rest.
Can a poll have more than one question?
Yes, as a survey. A standard poll asks one question, so for several, build a survey in the Form Builder: every question sits behind one link, and the responses land in the same dashboard as your polls.
Can voters pick more than one answer?
Yes. On the Settings tab, turn on Select multiple answers. The round buttons become tick boxes, and each voter can tick as many answers as they like before pressing Vote.
Several ticks still make one vote, so your repeat-vote rule applies as usual; the manual explains multiple answers versus multiple votes.
Can voters add their own answer?
Yes, through an Other box. Turn on Tick Other to add answer in Settings, and voters who tick Other can type an answer of their own.
Written-in answers appear in your results under Other, grouped where the text matches, as the manual's section on Other answers shows. They are not added to the list for later voters.
Can I add pictures to a poll?
, on the Starter plan
Yes. Click the picture icon at the end of the question or any answer, then upload an image, paste its web address, or pick one from the built-in photo and GIF libraries.
Crop it to fit, or switch the crop off to show the whole picture, as the manual's picture steps show.
Sharing a poll
Links, text messages and website embeds.
Can I send a poll by text or WhatsApp?
Yes. Paste your poll's link into the message. People tap it and vote in their phone's browser, with no app and no sign-up, and every vote lands in the same results.
WhatsApp and iMessage also have polls of their own; our guide to making a poll shows when each one beats a link.
How do I put a poll on my website?
, on the Starter plan
Save the poll, open Share, then Embed, and paste the code into your page wherever your site accepts HTML. Votes from the embedded poll and from its link add up to one set of results.
- Code: copy all of it into an HTML block on your page.
- Type: if your site strips scripts, choose Compatible (No Javascript) or IFRAME (Fixed Size) and copy the code again; the manual explains each embed type.
Voting rules
Repeat votes, bots, private polls and closing times.
Can people vote more than once?
Not by default. A new poll counts one vote per person per hour. Change the rule in Settings, then Security, then Configure: one vote each for good, a few a day, or no limit at all.
- Security: Heavy security, the default, catches the most repeats; Light security blocks fewer but never a genuine vote; blocking by IP address is not recommended, because a whole office or school can share one address.
- Allow: votes per person, per hour, day, week, month, year or all time. 1 per All time means one vote each, ever.
- Enter a unique code to vote: for a vote that must be airtight, give each voter a one-time code (see private polls).
Extra votes are left out of the results, not deleted, so you can change the rule once the poll is live and the count follows. Poll Maker spots repeats with fingerprinting, VPN and proxy detection, IP matching and timing patterns; the manual explains how the checks work.
Can I use a voting bot or buy votes?
No. Poll Maker removes automated votes, usually within seconds, so a bot or a script adds nothing to the results.
Our acceptable use policy rules out bots, scripts and bought votes, and we may close accounts that manipulate results.
Why were some votes removed from my poll?
Usually for one of two reasons. Poll Maker removes votes it identifies as automated, typically within seconds of them arriving. And your repeat-vote rule leaves extra votes from the same person out of the count.
Filtered votes are kept, not deleted: loosen the rule under Security and they count again, as the manual's page on securing a live poll shows. To check, open the poll's Voters list, which groups votes by IP address and computer.
Can I make a poll private?
, on the Starter plan
Yes, with unique codes. Turn on Enter a unique code to vote under Settings, Security, Configure. Then open Share, then Unique Codes, choose how many you need, and download them as codes or as ready-made links.
Only someone with a code can vote, and each code votes as often as your Allow setting permits. Codes also tell you who voted: match each code to the person you gave it to, as the manual's unique codes steps show.
Can a poll open and close on its own?
, on the Starter plan
Yes. In Settings, then Advanced, turn on Start & End Dates and set a start, an end or both, with the time zone. Before the start, the poll says it has not opened yet; after the end, that it has closed.
Times run in half-hour steps on a 24-hour clock, as the manual's date steps show.
Results and privacy
What voters see, what you see, and how to get the numbers out.
Are Poll Maker polls anonymous?
To other voters, yes. Results show only totals, never who picked what, and nobody signs up to vote.
You, the poll's owner, see a little more: each vote's IP address, browser and approximate location, in the poll's Voters list, but no names unless you ask who voted. That record is what stops repeat votes, and our privacy policy lists everything kept with each vote.
Can I see who voted?
Not by name unless you ask for it. Three ways to know who voted:
- Add a box for it: Settings, Advanced, Text Field, then Name, Email or a label of your own, such as a team or class, as the manual's text field section shows.
- Give each person a unique code and match the codes to names. on the Starter plan
- Send it from Share, then Email: invites and reminders track who has voted. on the Starter plan
How do I see and download the results?
Results update live as votes arrive. Voters see them after voting unless you hide them, and your dashboard has the full report: open the poll's Results for bar and pie charts, a map, a timeline and the list of voters.
On the Professional plan, choose Export in the poll's More menu to download every response as Excel or CSV. Switch on the option to include votes your security settings filtered out when you want them too, as the manual's export steps describe.
Is there a limit on votes?
No. A poll takes as many votes as it gets, on every plan, and they arrive in real time.
Surveys and quizzes have monthly response allowances on each plan, but poll votes never count toward them.
Can I hide the results from voters?
, on the Starter plan
Yes. Turn on Hide results in Settings: voters won't see the results, even after voting, and you still see everything in your dashboard. To let voters choose whether to look, keep results visible and turn on Show results button instead.
If the poll is already on your website, copy its embed code again after changing this, as the manual's note on hiding results advises.
Your polls and account
Editing, finding and closing polls, and the account itself.
Can I edit a poll after people have voted?
Yes, and the votes stay. Open your dashboard, choose Edit in the poll's More menu, make the change and press Save Poll.
- More: the three dots at the end of the poll's row.
- Edit opens the poll in the editor. Make the change, then press Save Poll.
Rewording the question or an answer keeps its votes, and new answers start at zero without touching the others; deleting an answer drops the votes it had, as the manual's editing notes explain. Made the poll without an account? Move it into your account first, the way finding a lost poll describes.
I lost my poll. How do I find it?
Made it while logged in? It is in your dashboard: type any word from the question into its search box.
Made it without an account? Log in or sign up free, then on the Contact page choose Find a poll in my account and enter the question and the poll's link. It attaches to your account straight away, as the manual's claim section describes.
How do I close, reset or delete a poll?
All three are in the poll's More menu in your dashboard. Stop ends voting at once and the link then says the poll has closed; Clear sets the votes back to zero; Delete removes the poll and its link for good.
If the poll is shared or embedded anywhere, stop it rather than delete it, so people see it has closed instead of an error, as the manual's note on deleting advises.
How do I reset my password?
Choose Forgot Password? on the login box, or go straight to the password reset page: enter your email address and we send a link to set a new password.
Forgot which email you used? The manual's password section explains how to log in with your username instead and update it.
How do I cancel my plan or get a refund?
Cancel from your dashboard's account settings in one click; a trial canceled before it ends is never charged.
Your first payment comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee: write to us from the email address on your subscription to claim it.
Still need a hand?
Every paid plan includes email support for anything at all. On a free account, write to us about cancellations, refunds or enterprise plans. We reply Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm AEST.
Answers checked against the live product on 24 September 2026
