Post by Admin on Aug 2, 2016 6:53:06 GMT -7
Secret Vote on August 27, 2016 is still possible
Administrator's Note:The following open letter to the GLA Board was released by the Glastonbury Landowners for Positive Change.
Trust and competence are growing issues with the GLA Board. Many landowners are questioning the ability and willingness of the GLA Board to provide a secret ballot for the proposed Covenant 11.06 changes. In a previous email Debbie Blais questioned why the board included lax Bylaw change requirements with the 11.06 ballot instead of the more rigorous Covenant change requirements.
The Forum originally suggested that ballots be printed on different colored sheets with each color representing the number of votes a landowner has. Votes are tabulated by landowner, but each parcel gets one vote. Landowners with multiple parcels receive multiple votes.
Trust and competence are growing issues with the GLA Board. Many landowners are questioning the ability and willingness of the GLA Board to provide a secret ballot for the proposed Covenant 11.06 changes. In a previous email Debbie Blais questioned why the board included lax Bylaw change requirements with the 11.06 ballot instead of the more rigorous Covenant change requirements.
The Forum originally suggested that ballots be printed on different colored sheets with each color representing the number of votes a landowner has. Votes are tabulated by landowner, but each parcel gets one vote. Landowners with multiple parcels receive multiple votes.
GLA Board,
Despite putting the landowners name and parcels owned on the inner envelope of the mailing for Cov 11.06 vote, there is still a way this vote could be processed in a secret way – IF the GLA Board is willing to do so. I offer the following solution:
IF the ballots are removed from the inner envelope and remain folded (secret), then they may be put in a pile and counted separately from the process of opening the envelopes (when the opener knows who the vote belonged to). The problem is that the GLA put the verification of the Number of Votes and GLA Official Initial on the INSIDE of the voting paper, requiring that the vote be unfolded, so it cannot be recorded on the same side of the paper showing the vote! The person opening the envelope, standing right next to the persons recording Number of Votes and GLA Official Initial on the inside of the vote, may communicate with each oher and know who voted how – Not Secret! A simple verbal exchange is all that is needed to disclose the whole story.
IF the openers of the inner envelope verify the good standing of the member named on the inner envelope and then mark off the person as having voted X times (once for each parcel them own), and then a 2nd person is allowed to write on the OUTSIDE of the folded vote how many votes it’s worth, with their Official GLA Initial (vice on the INSIDE of the voting paper), then the folded votes may all be thrown into a pile for counting at a later, disjoint time – when it is no longer possible to pair the inner envelope with name and parcels to the vote coming out of the inner envelope. Counting is done at a later time, once all envelopes have been opened and it is no longer possible to associate a folded voting paper with which landowner submitted that vote.
In the future, it has been suggested that an easier way of doing knowing how many times (how many parcels) to count a vote would be to use different colored paper for landowners with different # of votes. Ie. 1 vote on WHITE paper; 2 votes on YELLOW paper; 3 votes on GREEN paper; 4 votes on BLUE paper; 5 votes on PINK paper; 6 votes on RED paper, etc. Then it’s easy to count them and no need to OPEN up the vote to record the Number of Votes!
Hopes this helps. I have volunteered to help count secret votes on Aug 27 and I understand the start time is 7 am at Emigrant Hall.
Debbie Blais SG 39-D
Despite putting the landowners name and parcels owned on the inner envelope of the mailing for Cov 11.06 vote, there is still a way this vote could be processed in a secret way – IF the GLA Board is willing to do so. I offer the following solution:
IF the ballots are removed from the inner envelope and remain folded (secret), then they may be put in a pile and counted separately from the process of opening the envelopes (when the opener knows who the vote belonged to). The problem is that the GLA put the verification of the Number of Votes and GLA Official Initial on the INSIDE of the voting paper, requiring that the vote be unfolded, so it cannot be recorded on the same side of the paper showing the vote! The person opening the envelope, standing right next to the persons recording Number of Votes and GLA Official Initial on the inside of the vote, may communicate with each oher and know who voted how – Not Secret! A simple verbal exchange is all that is needed to disclose the whole story.
IF the openers of the inner envelope verify the good standing of the member named on the inner envelope and then mark off the person as having voted X times (once for each parcel them own), and then a 2nd person is allowed to write on the OUTSIDE of the folded vote how many votes it’s worth, with their Official GLA Initial (vice on the INSIDE of the voting paper), then the folded votes may all be thrown into a pile for counting at a later, disjoint time – when it is no longer possible to pair the inner envelope with name and parcels to the vote coming out of the inner envelope. Counting is done at a later time, once all envelopes have been opened and it is no longer possible to associate a folded voting paper with which landowner submitted that vote.
In the future, it has been suggested that an easier way of doing knowing how many times (how many parcels) to count a vote would be to use different colored paper for landowners with different # of votes. Ie. 1 vote on WHITE paper; 2 votes on YELLOW paper; 3 votes on GREEN paper; 4 votes on BLUE paper; 5 votes on PINK paper; 6 votes on RED paper, etc. Then it’s easy to count them and no need to OPEN up the vote to record the Number of Votes!
Hopes this helps. I have volunteered to help count secret votes on Aug 27 and I understand the start time is 7 am at Emigrant Hall.
Debbie Blais SG 39-D