VOTING - for members NOT attending the swap

[keeperofcorals]

For the members of NCPARS that will not be attending the swap you are able to cast your votes for the upcoming BOD elections without having to do it in person. The bylaws state that votes can be cast electronically. You can cast your vote two (2) ways:
posting here or by sending an email. I'm sure most of you won't want to place your vote publicly and of course that is fine. To email your vote please send your email with your votes to nominations@ncpars.org This email address will forward your votes to the three (3) Nomination Committee members which is myself, Rick and Carl. The three of us will be the only people receiving these emails for votes so you don't have to worry about privacy issues. Each of us will bring a copy of any vote emails so that we can ensure accuracy and also ensure that everyone's vote is placed.
We do ask that if you are going to place your vote in this manner that you please do so no later then 4:00am 05/06/2006. Also, if you end up coming to the swap in person after you cast your vote by email please do not submit another vote by paper ballot. This will cause problems with the final counts.
Any questions can be posted here or contact one of the Nomination Committee members.

Thanks
----Rich----

 

[yellowtruck75]

Where is the list of people running and the position?

 

[keeperofcorals]

President: Rich, Brad
Vice-President: Kelly
Vice-President of Public Affairs: Brad, Kelly
Secretary:
Treasurer: Rich, Scott B.
At-Large Directors: Scott B., Mo, Brad, Carl, Sanjay

 

[Barney121]

I am actually a bit unsure about this, which is out of the blue to me... we never worked out voting procedures for how to do electronic voting, if I remember the electronic voting clause was put in the bylaws so that we would have the option to do something like web voting if we figured out how, but then we realized that the rules are very explicit that we need to finish the election for one position before moving on to the next, and so that needed to be done in person. That's why we did not do any electronic voting this spring, but were waiting to do it all at the swap. I also suspect that voting procedures need to be approved by either the BOD, or the members, rather than just announced on here. I'll try to look back at exactly how this is worded. The procedure is not unreasonable, it's just different than what I remember we had in mind.

As an aside, I think that only a few people would be voting this way, only members can vote and I don't think that the list of 2006 members is very long (most sign up annually at the first swap of the year). At minimum you'd need a list of who signed up to be 2006 members, that can come from Mal or Kevin.

Scott

 

[keeperofcorals]

Do whatever you guys want to do with the voting.
The Nomination Committee is just trying to make voting easy for the members who won't be attending the swap. There have been a couple of people who have asked about it and when we read the bylaws all that was mentioned was that votes can be cast electronically. There are no specifics and the wording is very vague.
Just trying to help out.

 

[Barney121]

Yes, you are right it's vague, and thanks for posting on this. Making it easy is always a good idea! I had just not thought about this at all, honestly, and hadn't realized anyone would ask (related to not thinking about it ). Even if it's just a few people, I'm sure they'd like to be able to participate. We'll figure it out with your help.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

wait, let me get this straight....i justr joined ncpars last swap(last year in oct., where i paid for the year, basically that event, and
now i am not considered a member, because we haven't had ONE event this whole year so far to pay dues at???

i most likely will not be attending swap(too far and too busy on weekends) and would like to be able to vote?

thanks - matt

 

[Sanjay]

Re: VOTING - for members NOT attending the swap

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7254224#post7254224 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by keeperofcorals
To email your vote please send your email with your votes to nominations@ncpars.org This email address will forward your votes to the three (3) Nomination Committee members which is myself, Rick and Carl. The three of us will be the only people receiving these emails for votes so you don't have to worry about privacy issues. Each of us will bring a copy of any vote emails so that we can ensure accuracy and also ensure that everyone's vote is placed.
We do ask that if you are going to place your vote in this manner that you please do so no later then 4:00am 05/06/2006. Any questions can be posted here or contact one of the Nomination Committee members.

Thanks
----Rich----

Is the paper voting supposed to be by "secret" ballot ?

Further, I think that those running for election should not be the ones recieving the electronic votes that are emailed in. I think these should be handled by "neutral" committee.

sanjay.

 

[Sanjay]

I think, Anyone who was an NCPARS member in 2005 should be eligible to vote.. along with any other who become members in 2006.


sanjay.

 

[poconofishy]

Re: Re: VOTING - for members NOT attending the swap

Re: Re: VOTING - for members NOT attending the swap

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7256146#post7256146 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sanjay
?

Further, I think that those running for election should not be the ones recieving the electronic votes that are emailed in. I think these should be handled by "neutral" committee.

sanjay.

If I was running for a position, which I am not, I would not want to be responsible for collecting electronic votes. It would make me uncomfortable. It has an air of impropriety, regardless of how legitimately, fairly and properly it is conducted. Its like pulling your own name out of a hat, it's just awkward. It opens the door for others to question fairness and legitimacy. Just my opinion.

 

[zooqi]

Re: Re: VOTING - for members NOT attending the swap

Re: Re: VOTING - for members NOT attending the swap

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7256146#post7256146 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sanjay
Further, I think that those running for election should not be the ones recieving the electronic votes that are emailed in. I think these should be handled by "neutral" committee.

 

[keeperofcorals]

E-A-G-L-E-S - I'm pretty sure I saw Fizz or someone post somewhere that anyone who paid dues in 2005/2006 is able to cast votes.

The committe didn't even think about 2 of us (Carl and I) being on the nomination list and counting the votes. Good point.

Rick is not running now so he can still collect the vote emails. In my opinion there should be at least 1 or 2 more people to also receive these votes.

 

[zooqi]

I think it was in the flyer in the bottom.

 

[zooqi]

Nevermind, is not there.. I just checked but that makes sense to have 05-06 to vote

 

[bmac]

I agree with Sanjay, the people running for office SHOULD NOT be the one's recieving the votes. The votes should go to a neutral party who then can tally the votes. Also, as EAGLES stated he just joined in Oct, his dues should not expire until the following Oct, Im sure the club did not give him a discount on his dues. He was only a member for three months before he has to pay another $30.

 

[keeperofcorals]

We have already agreed that people running for office are not going to be receiving votes. Now, we are looking for a few more people who are willing to receive the email votes so that they can help with gathering these votes and turning them into whomever is going to be doing the vote counting.
I saw that Fizz was working on how the voting at the swap was going to be done. Just an idea, but, if Fizz had an idea of who was going to help with that maybe those people could also handle the electronic voting. What do you think Fizz?
Just throwing out some ideas

 

[Fizz71]

Hang on here.......

The clause in the Bylaws was put there to leave the option open for us to do electronic voting. But that does NOT mean we can do email voting. You are the nominating committee here Rich..you have no say in voting procedures and no authority to just announce this sort of thing. Not even _I_ have that authority without clearing it through the board! Please stop making announcements and declaring statements inappropriately.

If we would do electronic voting it must STILL follow the OTHER rules for elections in the bylaws. Each candidate must be voted in...IN ORDER. That means the President must be decided before the VP can be voted on. This isn't like a US presidential election when we vote for all at once. If somebody tries to be president and fails they can still be on the at-large ballot to still be on the board. But if that person WINS the presidency, they need to be OFF the at-large ballot. Leaving them on would mean people might still vote for them and basically waste their vote....and give up the chance to vote for their SECOND choice since their first choice won something else.

This election will run in-person only. I'm sorry..this was discussed for MONTHS among the BOD about how to do this electronically and right now we just aren't set up for it. It is a shame that people who don't make the event can't vote, but this is not uncommon for a organization like ours. If you want to be heard, you need to show up. I've talked to a couple of people about this as well and everyone I spoke too understood that not being there meant not being able to vote. The only thing we would allow is for you to be NOMINATED and not be present since that wouldn't affect the voting process..provided you have already accepted the nomination.

And I wholeheartedly disagree with letting a 2005 member that is not a 2006 member vote. I'm sorry..but if you want a say in the 2006-2007 officials, you need to pony up the cash to be a 2006 member.

I did say in another post that I wasn't going to be a ***** about making people send in their 2006 dues just to get on the ballot. But I expect everybody who is on the ballot to pay their 2006 dues at the door at the swap. Which is another reason why we can't just do elections by email...the people on the ballot aren't paid for 2006 and to my knowledge only one person sent in a check for 2006. Everybody else paid for 2006 paid in advance at the last swap, with the exception of Mal and I who can just deposit our dues it without mailing it. I put my dues in when we opened the official account. If you don't pay your dues at the door, you're off the ballot.

Anyway....I'm sorry...but emails just won't cut it.

ARTICLE VI ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ OFFICERS
Section 1. The Election of Officers
Paragraph 2: All officers of the Society are to be elected by the membership of the Society at the annual membership meeting or by electronic ballot, except as provided in Article V, Section 3, Paragraph 2. The Board of Directors shall determine the exact time and method for elections.

Please note the BOD determines the time and method. The BOD has decided on this upcoming swap as the time, and the method will be decided last minute based on the conditions at the event (either a show of hands/cards or private ballot) but it will be in person. No emailing. The reason for the last minute decision on the method of hands or ballots is to make sure that the voting is fair. A typical society membership meeting would be closed to non-members, but since this meeting is being held inside the event, we will have a lot of people there that won't be counted....if they didn't pay 2006 dues for NCPARS membership. So verbal is no good..hands are no good...so it will either be a show of a special card, or paper ballot...it depends on how many members we have voting.

And the reason email is no good:
Paragraph 6: The officers of the society shall be elected in the sequence of President, Vice-president, Vice-President of Public Affairs, Secretary, Treasurer, and in the conduct of the election each officer shall be declared elected before voting upon the next officers(s).

If the membership wants electronic voting...the next BOD can figure out a way to do it without violating other aspects of the bylaws...some kind of one vote at a time process. Either that or petition the board to amend the bylaws, which needs to be voted on by the membership...and that you could do by email.

I apologize for those not coming...but I'm sure you can understand.

--Fizz

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

Well, Kevin i am VERY disapointed. I really appreciated the help you gave on your free time to help me set up my new tank by driving at night for an hour each way....but this is not good!

As a paying member, i think it is b.s. that i cannot vote, just because i can't make the journey to psu on one certain day of a year. So my thoughts mean nothing? I should be able to vote and be counted, if that means that if i vote for the losing pres., i can't have my vote count once again if he or she runs for another office, fine.

If this is the case and nothing will be done to solve this problem consider me no longer part of ncpars

I am very disapointed! This isn't that hard to figure out a resolution to, is it?

-Matt

 

[keeperofcorals]

Just saying that we can't do the email voting would have been sufficent. There was no need for the excitable response. There were 3 of us, not just me, that agreed on doing this post.

Anyway -

The bylaws, as stated before, are very vague on some subjects - voting/elections being one of them especially the statement about electronic voting.

I'm sure there maybe a problem about the only people that are allowed to vote are 2006 standing members considering that it seems that it may cause a problem with not a lot of members that have paid their dues and others that are not able to attend the event but want to place a vote. I mean it's understandable that the decision of only 2006 members has been made but personally I think it will have an adverse affect on the vote. There have been replies from members that they will be coming to the event but not paying dues until all of this has been taken care of. All I'm saying is that telling people that the only way they can voice their opinion by voting is by paying their dues is unfair. These people may feel that they are trapped to pay money just to try to make/see a change occur.

This isn't my opinon but this is how it may be perceived.


I figured this act of trying to help would have made a reaction like yours. The three of us on this committee were not trying to go over anyones head or do things our way. Just to make that clear before anyone thinks that. We are however thankful to Scott (Barney121) and Sanjay for calmly discussing this manner

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

How can i be a 2006 member, when there hasn't been ONE meeting or swap this year to attend and pay dues?
That is asinine!!!