Make NCECA history… Participate in NCECA’s first-ever e-ballot to help us elect new Board Members for the positions of Secretary, Director-at-Large, and Student Director-at-Large.
E-balloting election for new members of NCECA’s Board of Directors opens Wednesday, March 4 and closes at 4pm CST, Friday March 21, 2014.
IMPORTANT- NCECA MEMBERS MUST USE THEIR NCECA MEMBER E-MAIL AND PASSWORD LOG-INS IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN BOARD ELECTIONS. VERIFY YOUR MEMBERSHIP STATUS, LOGIN EMAIL AND PASSWORD TODAY AND KEEP IT IN A HANDY PLACE SO THAT YOU WILL BE READY TO VOTE.
All members who are active on or before February 28, 2014 will be required to use the e-ballot system.
Paper ballots will only be available at conference to new members whose dues are paid during onsite registration in Milwaukee.
Election results will be reported at the second members business meeting on Saturday, March 22, 2014.
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Some food for thought about this election:
The way in which it this e-mail election is being conducted does not appear to be inclusive of all NCECA members, particularly those who are not Board nominees who may wish to put their names forward to serve the organization.
What about nominations from the floor? This election seems to shortchange the democratic process by presenting Board nominees only? Will there be nominees from the floor? If people have already voted, how would this be handled if e-balloting opens March 4, 2014? Will nominees from the general membership be presented before March 4, 2014? Have I missed something?
Videos are interesting, but in the interests of fairness, it might to be preferable for a candidate stand alone at a mike, or simply have printed matter regarding each one, as with other ballots by mail from other organizations. This would prevent the possibility of discrimination by special effects from videos. This way, the electorate may focus on the candidate’s platform and ideas for the organization?
Another point: “All members who are active on or before February 28, 2014 will be required to use the e-ballot system.”
Although we live in a very technical age, there are those members who do not have phones, or means to participate with an e-ballot without paying some fee at a hotel to use e-mail to vote. Yes, there are some members out there who shouldn’t have to pay to play.
Hi Roberta,
I’m so glad you brought up these points! We had extensive discussions about many of these things in our Fall board meeting. Firstly, anyone who wishes to run for a board position has the opportunity to do so. Nominations were accepted last fall in the form of peer or self nomination. Candidates were then vetted by the nominations committee. It is the responsibility of that committee to bring forward the names of two candidates for board approval. This is to ensure that there are, at minimum, two viable candidates for each open board position. Any candidates may still place their name on the ballot in addition to the board nominees. You may notice that there are three candidates for director-at-large, two of which are the board approved candidates and one is a member “running from the floor”.
The goal of the electronic ballot is to make the election process more accessible to all members, not just those who are able to and chose to stay for the saturday conclusion of the member’s meeting. The three minute speech that has always happened at the conference was not viable in this model, so we felt that a video speech was the next best option. All candidates had the same period of time & same instructions to come up with a video, and some candidates did chose to get a bit more creative with their video, rather than just sit in front of a camera and give a speech. Perhaps it is up to the voter to determine whether the special effects of the video are more important than the message?
Lastly, the e-ballot system. We do understand that some members may have a challenge with the electronic voting. We are ready to assist any of our members who need help with the e-ballot process at the conference. There will be computers set up near registration where you can vote, and staff will be onsite to troubleshoot any problems.
I sincerely hope that I have answered all of your questions and concerns. If not, please don’t hesitate to keep the conversation about this going! We absolutely want this process to be clear, transparent and inclusive! Thanks for sharing your concerns so that we can address them!
Many thanks for taking the time and providing good information and clarification about the e-mail balloting, which basically is good because hopefully more will vote. Really helpful in permitting me to understand the process. Still wonder about those videos, but I guess that creativity should count for something, and hopefully will relate to the person’s platform and issues at hand. Thank you.