Voting rules when the time comes

[Pepper]

I’d like to ask someone to clarify the rules for election voting. I’ve been talking with Yarrick and they seem quite complicated. So everyone gets 2 votes, am I right? Kellic, Kurst, or Ridayah please write detailed post regarding what the rules are when voting time comes :P. Thankies.

[Zepaw]

I thought I recall there being documentation of this but I’m having a hard time finding it. Simply put there are 2 open seats (cycles between 2 and 3 each year) and the eligible declared candidates are on the ballot for those seats. They are at-large seats essentially so it’s an open race, not running for a particular one of the two seats. You will vote for 2 people out of the candidates on your ballot. For this year its Legonnare, Yarrick, and myself so which ever two of us get the most cumulative votes take those two open seats.

I can’t find confirmation of these things so I could be wrong. A clarification by the election board would be helpful.

After reading through the election guidelines (https://www.mnfurs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/MNF-Election-Guidelines.pdf) I have a couple other questions. Who are the election undersecretaries? Are they Arashiin and Alkora like it seemed from the Feb community meeting? Not that I have a problem with either of them but according to the guidelines one is supposed to not be a member of MNFurs.
“A qualified voter is a registered member of Minnesota Furs” What does it mean to be a registered member? The by-laws https://www.mnfurs.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/MNFurs-Bylaws-Ratified-Aug-2-2022.pdf) make some mention in Article 2 about completion and receipt of a membership application but I’m sure I’m not the only one who has no idea if that’s even really a thing.

[Norm]

I too have wondered what constitutes a “registered” member.

I used

the whole page

for this!

[Mouring]

Norm wrote:

I too have wondered what constitutes a “registered” member.

It is generalized lawyer speak for anyone who has been notified that the requirements laid out by the non-profit are fulfilled, and the non-profit is now confirming that you have voting rights.

If this was CONvergences or Anime Detour they have a specific process where you actively have to contact the convention and state that you have the hours and give them your contact information X days before voting. They pull up your volunteer record and confirm, and then they give you a chance to dispute their record if wrong. Once that process is completed, and if you passed the requirements you become “certified” to have your vote counted.

I’m sure that Ridayah will correct me if I’m wrong, but MNFurs at this moment looks to be taking the approach that all hours are logged and verified up front, and the burden is on them to notify you. If you’ve not seen that notification and you believe you have the hours then you should contact MNFurs. I’m unsure what the cut-off date is/was for that. I’ve not be paying attention.

[Ridayah]

Just saw this, so here’s the simple answer – Zepaw nailed it on the head. There will be three names on the ballot, qualified voters will check next to the two names they are voting for (leaving one unchecked), and the two with the most tallies at the end of the voting win. There are provisions for a runoff election if necessary, but I don’t think it’ll come to that.

Zepaw, to clarify, Alkora and Arashiin are both the election undersecretaries this year. The rules are such that one of the election undersecretaries must not be a board member, and having an outside election undersecretary is encouraged. (As it stands, since Arashiin won’t be able to attend the final election due to attending BLFC for Furry Migration purposes, we have Cyn Letterman from CONvergence helping, with Drake as a backup there as well.)

“Registered Member” basically means someone whom has affiliated themselves in some way with MNFurs. Be it by signing up for the site, putting their name down on a sign-in event sheet, being part of the mailing list… primarily it’s the website, though. And as Mouring said, we’re being proactive in how we handle this. We take on the burden of notifying everyone whom is eligible to vote 30 days prior to the election. This meant the end of February. Since there was no easier way, this was done via notes through the website (Changes are being made to do email next year where possible).

I do thank you guys for raising questions! This is the first election we’ve ever done and the first I’ve ever run, and I know there’s gonna be a few hiccups or kinks, but it seems like we’re working through them okay, and on track for a successful election. Thank you!

[Zepaw]

Again I have no issue with those two and am not even asking for them to change but the guildlines don’t just encourage one being from outside the group, they say “One of these individuals must not be a member of Minnesota Furs. ” also they don’t say one of them must not be on the board, they say they both should not be. Only the secretary ( or their stand-in) could be a board member.

[Pepper]

Zepaw wrote:

Again I have no issue with those two and am not even asking for them to change but the guildlines don’t just encourage one being from outside the group, they say “One of these individuals must not be a member of Minnesota Furs. ” also they don’t say one of them must not be on the board, they say they both should not be. Only the secretary ( or their stand-in) could be a board member.

I guess there is a failure in the wording then?  Oh lovely!  Right before the election!

[Ridayah]

Zepaw wrote:

“One of these individuals must not be a member of Minnesota Furs. ”

Yeah, that line is one of the things that will be tweaked for NEXT year. There was a flaw there I hadn’t realized when I drafted the guidelines over a year ago – simply by becoming the election helper they’d automatically earn volunteer hours, which in turn makes for a membership… see where this is going? Something that unfortunately was great in theory but in practice turned out a lot harder than intended to follow through on, and to save everyone headache in the future it will be altered for next year’s elections.

[Zepaw]

That’s all well and good now that its been clarified. The trouble was there was no indication I’m aware of that it was for next year on. Obviously we aren’t privy to the board’s discussions so we only know such things if you tell us.

[Ridayah]

In the grand scheme of things it’s minor and the board has not in fact reviewed it yet – we’re waiting for the elections as a whole to wrap up and THEN say “Okay, what didn’t work, what needs changing, what can be done better?” This right now is just in my personal “things to go over when we DO meet to review”.

Please bear in mind that this is all new to everyone involved, nothing will be perfect, ESPECIALLY from the get-go! It’s a learning process. 🙂

[Pepper]

I find it amusing that these things aren’t quadruple checked before BEING IMPLEMENTED when they are really important 😛

[Mouring]

Pepper wrote:

I find it amusing that these things aren’t quadruple checked before BEING IMPLEMENTED when they are really important

You can have as many eyes look over something as you like, but until you put it into practice you never know if it is 100% right.

I suspect there are things in the Furry Migration Charter that need tweaking when end of 2015 rolls around. In fact, I can think of one off the top of my head, and amazingly enough directly relates to MNFurs voting. =)

[Zepaw]

Will we get some general stats when is at wrapped? I’m really interested to see the % of eligible voters that do.

[Ridayah]

Can you clarify what you mean? I’m not sure what you’re asking for there! Is it stats on how many were eligible to vote? How many DID vote, or what? o.o

[Snap]

Id be interested in that as well… as far as stats of how many eligible voters there were and how many actually voted.

Furry Migration Staff & MNFurs Board Member.

Posts on the MNFurs forums are of my own opinion and do not reflect that of MNFurs or chartered events unless otherwise stated.

http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Snap_E._Tiger

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