The Circle of Swords Gaming Guild : Forum / topic
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en-gb2024-03-29T09:21:06-04:00lucaskelly@nospam.comhourly12000-01-01T12:00+00:00Address
https://circleofswords.com/main/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?31899
2024-03-29T09:21:06-04:00Hello, I also wanted to remind you all to verify your address on the COS site. You can find it under your profile. This is to make sure you will receive your ballot for the upcoming Board elections. Additionally If you wish to run for a Board position please submit something to Dave Schnur to let him know.Re: Address
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2024-03-29T09:21:06-04:00AuberonWhy doesn't the voting happen electronically? You would get far more participation, it would be easier on all involved, and it would save $ on stamps.Re: Address
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2024-03-29T09:21:06-04:00FinnikSame reason the presidential elections are always under review. Too much ability to tamper.Re: Address
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2024-03-29T09:21:06-04:00BalazarActually Josh, there are programs that make it next to impossible for all but the most experience hackers. We are looking into it but many members of the club don't even use the forums so they may never check their emails. We have discussed it and are looking into a variety of options.Re: Address
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2024-03-29T09:21:06-04:00Auberon@ Finnik - Hogwash! 1) Who would take the time to hack a club election, 2) Online survey tools have the ability to send a single use link to a specific e-mail address. There are plenty of ways to manage an exercise like this without risk of tampering.Re: Address
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2024-03-29T09:21:06-04:00AuberonQuestions:1) Are envelopes with return addresses secret?2) Why are secret ballots a requirement? 3) Who is this unbiased "group of individuals" that sorts and counts ballots?4) Where does the counting occur?5) Are current board/club members able to witness the vote counting?6) Who collects and stores the mailed in ballots prior to vote counting?7) What percentage of members have voted over the last 5 years?Re: Address
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2024-03-29T09:21:06-04:00daveAugust 31st is the cut off for the BoardRe: Address
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2024-03-29T09:21:06-04:00FinnikI’d rather stick to paper ballots. If it matters to you who is one the board, then vote!Re: Address
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2024-03-29T09:21:06-04:00LucasAuberon wrote ...Questions:1) Are envelopes with return addresses secret?2) Why are secret ballots a requirement? 3) Who is this unbiased "group of individuals" that sorts and counts ballots?4) Where does the counting occur?5) Are current board/club members able to witness the vote counting?6) Who collects and stores the mailed in ballots prior to vote counting?7) What percentage of members have voted over the last 5 years? Answers (to the best of my knowledge):1) Yes, in that when the envelopes are opened prior to counting, the ballots are left folded when placed into a pile, shuffled, unfolded, and then counted by a group of impartial individuals.2) Secret ballots are not a requirement that I'm aware of, but I'd have to check the bylaws to be certain. While we respect the transparency of the voting process, we also respect the privacy of our members in allowing the freedom to vote for who they choose without issue. We do not want members targeted for their voting history, especially when who someone *says* they'll vote for may not be who they *actually* vote for.(I've done as much in the past, and I wouldn't want someone giving me crap for who I voted for. At best I wouldn't vote, at worst I'd make it a huge issue and push for that person to be ejected.)3) The group of unbiased individuals is whatever impartial group of people the Guildmaster can gather to each individually count the ballots and compare totals. In the event of a discrepancy, the ballots are recounted. It varies from year to year, but each of them is not running for a board position at the time, as well as those with strong enough character to not reveal the specific results of the number of votes for each candidate (see point 5) below). There may be other criteria that the Guildmaster may use to ensure the privacy and integrity of the process, but this has been the general basis throughout the years.4) The counting occurs primarily at the Guildmaster's residence as we do not have an official office.5) I would assume the actual counting of votes, unlike the Board of Directors meetings, are not open. In the same regard as point 1) above in respecting the privacy of our members, we also respect the members that run for Board positions. We do not want someone who volunteers even more of their time and effort to the club to find out they only received 1, 2, etc. votes in the event of a loss (or win). That is why only the results of those elected are shared.In the event the counting of votes is made open to club members, I would highly recommend that in years with highly or hotly contested elections, the counting of votes would be declared closed anyways to prevent issues. Also close observation of the opening of the envelopes and pooling of the ballots prior to counting would not be permitted per the privacy goals stated in 1).6) The sealed ballot envelopes are collected and stored by the Guildmaster, to include in-person and via the post office box. The Treasurer also has access to the post office box, and provides any sealed ballots to the Guildmaster for collection. They are stored at the Guildmaster's residence in a secure location until the time of counting.7) Approximately 30% if I remember correctly. We have an average of 100+ members vote each year (including lifetime members), and we have an average of 30+ ballots returned. In years where there are multiple people running for the same office, this may rise to 40+, or in uncontested years dip as low as 10+. When the counting is completed, only who will serve as the new board members are announced, and only with general numbers of total ballots provided (not the individual number of votes for each as per point 5).Re: Address
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2024-03-29T09:21:06-04:00shadowsonOne of the organizations that I belong to created a hybrid system to save on postage. People can email the secretary to opt into receive their notices via email only. That way members who don't use/check email will still receive paper notices while those that want electronic communication get it.Re: Address
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2024-03-29T09:21:06-04:00LucasAs Kimber mentioned, options will continue to be considered. Since the topic came up last year, we have not found a system that has been tried, tested, and approved by the COS Board that meets our current voting criteria within the past year. That process would *then* need tested by the current membership prior to use for an official event like a board election.One of the largest issues is that we currently have a secret ballot system. To date with most systems, when a link sent to a member instead of a ballot, the votes of that member are recorded with that user account. If you know of an inexpensive system (or even code we can integrate into our website coding) that permits this, please send it to Kimber for research. It also needs to recognize the link or vote to be used only once, regardless of email/IP/session/cookie, to prevent multiple votes by the same user. It sounds like you know of a few, so please do so.Until the time that a system is approved, we will continue with the current mail option. The paper votes are all opened at once into a randomized stack before counting begins, which is handled by a group of individuals who are not running for a position and thus unbiased as to the outcome.As such, it is up to the membership to provide a current mailing address for their ballot (just as they would need to provide a valid email address). This is why the reminder went out a little earlier to hopefully improve the voter response over previous years.The hybrid option Ben mentioned is the only way we would implement electronic voting anyways to allow for the member's preference.