[ivfdf-news] Electronic Vote

[Ian Thompson]

As the designated Returning Officer I have now 
received the required number of notifications to instigate an electronic vote.

The societies proposing that there is an EV are :-

Sheffield Ceilidhsoc
Gog Magog Molly (Cambridge)
The Round (Cambridge)
Edinburgh University New Scotland Scottish Country Dance Society
Exeter University Folk Society
Warwick University Folk Society

This meets the required number of societies as 
per section 7.1.1 of the constitution. As all of 
the notifications where sent to ivfdf-news I am 
assuming that they are valid and that those 
calling for the vote are actually representing their society.

There are two motions that currently proposed are as below

1.  "That the Sheffield 2008 committee are confirmed as hosts of IVFDF 2008."
2.  "That the Sheffield 2008 committee are granted underwriting from
central funds up to a maximum of £1000."

Over the next 3 weeks (until the end of the 23th 
of May) it is possible for the above proposals to be modified.
It is expected that those proposing the 2008 
IVFDF bid will present a report to the list to inform those eligible to vote.
It is also expected that there will be a report 
from the external advisors to 2008 to also inform those eligible to vote.
In the light of these reports and any subsequent 
discussions it will be possible for Sheffield 
ALONE to amend the above motions (as previously 
stated by Andrew the most likely amendment would 
be around the value of the underwriting from central funds).

During the next 3 week period can I request that 
EACH (member) society sends the names and valid 
e-mail addresses for their 2 voting members to
ivfdf-reps at ianthompson.me.uk [this will enable me 
to stream mail appropriately, but I won't 
actively ignore names accidentally sent to any of 
my other addresses], please ensure that the names 
you put forward are members of ivfdf-news (see 
http://www.ivfdf.org/Mailing_lists and 
http://lists.ivfdf.org/mailman/listinfo/ivfdf-news 
to subscribe those people to ivfdf-news if need be).

In 3 weeks time I will send another message to 
the ivfdf-news list indicating the final proposal 
for voting and a list of societies and names of 
voting members that I have received by that date 
(end of 23rd May). Voting will open on the 
24th  of May and close at midnight on the 30st of 
May. I will indicate the process involved in more 
detail in my message on the 24th of May about the 
final proposal. I will then indicate the result 
by e-mailing ivfdf-news with the outcome and how 
everyone voted. (hopefully before I go away for 4 
days to Germany at 05:55am on the 1st of June ! 
so early responses are welcome to save me being 
up till the wee hours counting the results 
PLEASE). People will then have a further 7 days 
to dispute the vote (in which case we might have 
to go through the whole thing again !!!!), if 
there are no disputes then the result previously 
announced will be considered valid.

For information I enclose the relevant segments 
of the IVFDF constitution (there are currently no 
sections of the standing orders which apply to 
EV's) which can be viewed in full at http://www.ivfdf.org/Constitution

Ian
----from the constitution----
8. ELECTRONIC VOTING

8.1. Any Member Society may call an EV with the 
support required for calling an ERM as specified 
in section 7.1 by notifying the electronic 
mailing list specified in section 10.2.6.
[ 7.1. An Extraordinary Representatives Meeting (ERM) may be called by either:
   7.1.1. Five Member Societies from at least three different universities.
   7.1.2. Sufficient Member Societies to form a 
quorum as defined in section 4.2.
.....

4.2. Where specified, a quorum shall require:
    4.2.1. If the association has 9 or more 
Member Societies, representatives from one third 
of all Member Societies, rounding up; otherwise 
if the association has 3 or more Member 
Societies, representatives from 3 Member 
Societies; otherwise representatives from all Member Societies.
    4.2.2. Representatives from Member Societies 
from three different universities where such 
Member Societies exist; otherwise representatives 
from a Member Society from each university with a Member Society. ]

8.2. Each Member Society may choose up to two of 
its members to have voting rights in an EV, 
hereafter referred to as Voting Members.
8.3. The EV shall be conducted in accordance with 
the Standing Orders by a Returning Officer.
8.3.1. The returning Officer shall be one of the 
following, in order of preference, depending on 
availability: the Archivist, the Treasurer, other 
officers defined by the Standing Orders in order 
of definition. Anyone serving on an active 
Festival Committee or with a conflict of interest 
shall be deemed unavailable for this purpose if another Officer is available.
8.4. The Returning Officer shall give notice of 
the proposal(s) to the electronic mailing list 
specified in section 10.2.6, appending the 
entirety of section 8 of the constitution and any 
Standing Orders governing the conduct of EVs.
8.5. At least three weeks shall be allowed 
following notification of the proposal(s) to 
allow discussion of the proposal(s) to take place.
8.5.1. Member Societies must inform the Returning 
Officer of its Voting Members during the discussion period.
8.5.2. Proposals may be altered during the 
discussion period in whole or in part by the 
Member Society which called the EV at the discretion of the Returning Officer.
8.5.3. Proposals may be withdrawn by the Member 
Society which called the EV by notifying the 
Returning Officer during the discussion period.
8.6. Once the discussion period is over the 
Return Officer shall then send an e-mail to the 
list indicating the opening of voting and 
confirming the proposal(s), listing the Voting 
Members and the duration of the vote, which shall be not less than one week.
8.6.1. Each Voting Member may vote by sending an 
e-mail with their vote to the Returning Officer.
8.6.2. The Returning Officer may not vote.
8.6.3. Votes, once cast, cannot be changed.
8.7. Once voting is closed, the Returning Officer 
shall send an e-mail to the list indicating the 
result of the vote, and listing the people who 
voted, the way they voted and their affiliation. 
The e-mail shall also indicate the duration of a 
period to allow the validity of the votes cast to 
be disputed, which shall be not less than one week.
8.7.1. The vote shall be void unless those from 
whom valid votes are received form a quorum as defined in section 4.2.
8.7.2. In the event of a tie, the vote shall be declared not carried.
8.7.3. If the Returning Officer believes that the 
outcome of the vote has been jeopardised by 
procedures not being properly followed, he/she 
shall declare the vote void. The Returning 
Officer's decision in this is final.
8.8. Once the dispute period is over, the 
Returning Officer shall send a final e-mail to 
the list announcing the validity of the vote and/or the result.
8.9. The Returning Officer shall keep all 
relevant correspondence, including votes cast, 
until the end of the dispute period.
8.10. The Archivist shall record the proposal(s), summary of votes and result.

--
Dr Ian M. Thompson
Treasurer, Central IVFDF