[NSRCA-discussion] Election

Mon Dec 24 20:05:16 AKST 2018

I can speak to what's possible:
1.  Is theoretically possible, but as near as I can tell, no one directly
accessed that information other than the 50/50% that was true at the time
2.  We did know how many people had voted (at the time slightly under 25%
of membership), and, of course, we have no knowledge of what paper ballots
may have been submitted.  1+2 may lead you to conclude that if we know how
many had cast a ballot and that it is 50/50 that we know how many votes
there were for each candidate, but as not everyone who casts a ballot
necessarily votes in all the questions on the ballot, that's not
necessarily the case, though it would be reasonable to assume that it's
pretty close to those numbers.
3.  We DO NOT have access to that data.
4.  There's only one contested race (President).  No it was not available
simultaneously (obviously, since Arch didn't attend the board meeting), but
as I recall the board posted the "vote is close/vote is tied, be sure to
get your vote in" notifications on Facebook and multiple mailing lists
within hours of the board meeting.
5.  I wasn't present, so I cannot speak to that.

My suggestion to all would be to let the election proceed, there are 3
possibilities:
1.  It remains a tie -- we'll need to do a runoff
2.  Joe wins -- We can either do a revote directly or, my preference would
be to have a 2 question ballot similar to a gubernatorial recall election:
 1.  Should the results of the previous election be invalidated? 2.  Who
shall serve in the office of NSRCA President for 2019-2020: Arch Stafford
or Joe Walker.
3.  Arch wins -- The whole question is moot, the incumbent clearly did not
have an advantage in their favor.

I also believe that our bylaws were written in a far less contentious era
where people trusted in the good faith of others more than seems to be the
case today (I am, quite frankly, glad to be leaving the board, there's a
huge amount of work that goes into what we do, and everyone seems very
eager to criticize every inch but very few (with Tony as an obvious
exception) seem to be willing to step up and try to make a difference).  As
a result, the bylaws are badly in need of a revision, with a lawyer
consulting on the task to ensure things are a little more locked down.  I
can't believe a bunch of guys who share a love for flying model airplanes
can be so fundamentally mistrustful of each other's good intent.  It
*almost* makes me want to hang up my TX, except y'all are such different
people in-person...

Peter+

On Mon, Dec 24, 2018 at 3:49 PM Ken Dunlap via NSRCA-discussion <
nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> wrote:

> Joe.
>
> In your words "There is not a requirement (implied or otherwise) for a
> veil of secrecy in the process." So, in this spirit I have a couple of
> questions.
>
> 1) Did you see or were you made aware of the actual vote count in your
> race?
> 2) Did you see or were you made aware of the number of NSCRA members who
> have voted to date?
> 3) If you saw or were made aware of vote numbers, did you have access to
> who a member voted for in this election?
> 4) Was this information shared at the same time with all candidates or
> their representatives for each race?
> 5) Under the NSRCA By-Laws and Constitution, Article VIII Section 2e  says
> "e. A third party to the NSRCA such as an external audit group of the AMA
> should count all votes." If actual voting number totals were revealed, was
> a potential conflict with the By-laws discussed by any member of the Board
> and who did so?
>
> Thanks for the clarifications.
>
> Ken Dunlap
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org> on
> behalf of J via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
> *Sent:* Sunday, December 23, 2018 9:38 PM
> *To:* Tony Frackowiak; General pattern discussion
> *Subject:* Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Election
>
> Good evening all,
> First, thank you Tony F. for starting this thread as it is great to see
> interest in the process.  As a point of information, the Board did indeed
> discuss the status of the elections at the December 2018 meeting, as
> clearly reflected in the minutes. This was done for two reasons.
> 1. To verify that everything was up and running properly, and
> 2. To encourage as much of the membership as possible to cast their vote.
>
> The DVP’s were encouraged to reach out to their local members to vote,
> which you still can do for the next week or so. Please, encourage all who
> have not voted to please do so for whomever they like.
>
> It’s great to see such passion about the process. It’s also helpful to
> stick to what we know to be true and factual. There is *not* a
> requirement (implied or otherwise) for a veil of secrecy in the process.
> Any suggestion otherwise is simply incorrect.  Also, there was no
> advocating one candidate over another. There was however, excitement in
> people participating in the electronic ballot process.
>
> Here’s the good news.  If you feel strongly enough to change the voting
> process, you have that power and can submit that request to modify the
> bylaws as a member. You also have to opportunity to whip votes for the
> Candidate of your choosing until voting closes on December 31, with an
> electronic vote, or a written ballot for an additional 10 calendar days per
> the bylaws.
>
> So, tell all your friends that time is running short to let your voice be
> heard. Go online now and cast your vote (https://www.nsrca.us/
> <https://eur04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nsrca.us%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7C2e1c3cf00346458d1ec708d66948f90d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636812159472751011&sdata=Ur18IEwJ2zs17bNLkbnBiBQK%2B8DAgZks3UT9HE74xOY%3D&reserved=0>).
> Every vote matters!
>
> Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!
>
> Joe
>
> On Dec 22, 2018, at 7:08 PM, Tony Frackowiak via NSRCA-discussion <
> nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> wrote:
>
> I was looking at the minutes of the December 12th NSRCA BOD meeting.
> During that meeting according to the minutes there was a discussion about
> the current vote count in the election.
>
> Isn’t voting open until the end of the month?  And isn’t there a longer
> time for mailed in ballots to be received? Why are the votes being tallied
> and discussed by the Board before the end of the voting period?
>
> That is highly unethical and smacks of voting fraud. At the very least it
> sounds like an attempt to influence the results.
>
> I will await a reply.
>
> Tony Frackowiak
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-- 
Director, Fixed Wing Flight Training
Santa Clara County Model Aircraft Skypark
Associate Vice President, Academy of Model Aeronautics District X
Treasurer, National Society of Radio Control Aerobatics (NSRCA)
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