[Lnc-business] E-MAIL BALLOT: Selection of LNC Secretary - Problematic voting method

Daniel Wiener wiener at alum.mit.edu
Wed Jan 30 09:00:01 EST 2013


Starchild,

There is no specific election procedure because the Bylaws do not specify
one or even require an election.  The Bylaws merely say:

"The National Committee shall appoint new officers if vacancies occur, such
officers to complete the term of the office vacated."

This means that the LNC can appoint a new officer by just passing a motion
saying it is selecting a particular person, and this has sometimes been
done in the past.  At its discretion, the LNC can employ a more complicated
election procedure of whatever form it wants.

In this case the Chair has caused an email ballot to be sent out in which
LNC members can vote for one of a list of candidates.  A majority is
required to select a candidate, just as a majority is required to pass any
motion.  If no candidate receives a majority, the Chair has said he will
deem the motion as having failed, and he will send out a new email ballot
with a reduced set of options.

This is an informal method of Instant Runoff Voting, since LNC members can
vote for whoever they most prefer, and then if they see that they're
candidate has insufficient support they can switch their votes to another
within the ten day voting window.  That effectively allows the bottom
candidates to be dropped without needing multiple formal voting rounds.

If you don't like this method, there is a simple solution: Propose an email
ballot which will employ a different selection method, and get three other
co-sponsors for it.  Then there will be a competing motion, and if the
Chair's motion fails (nobody gets a majority) and yours succeeds (your
method produces a majority on this or a subsequent motion), then your
procedure will have prevailed.

Dan Wiener

On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 11:40 PM, Starchild <sfdreamer at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Jim,
>
> I'm not sure how the voting method described below was chosen (perhaps
> I've overlooked or forgotten an email that would answer that question), but
> on consideration it seems to me that it was a poor choice, because it
> favors candidates deemed more likely to have a chance of receiving a
> majority of votes cast on a given ballot.
>  As with other aspects of governance, I think the Libertarian Party
> should conduct elections the same way we want them to be handled in the
> larger polity. This means we should *not* be using voting methods which
> could discourage people from voting for candidates expected to be less
> popular, out of fear of "wasting their votes" -- a practice which costs the
> LP and other alternative parties in the United States much support.
>
> With this in mind, I urge that we reopen this ballot for secretary *
> without* the rule that a majority on any given ballot will get a
> candidate elected.
>
> Love & Liberty,
>                                   ((( starchild )))
> At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee
>                                (415) 625-FREE
>
>
> On Jan 27, 2013, at 3:35 PM, James Lark wrote:
>
> TO:  Libertarian National Committee
>
> FROM:    James W. Lark, III
>                 Secretary Pro Tem, Libertarian National Committee
>                 Region 5S Representative, Libertarian National Committee
>
> SUBJECT:  E-MAIL BALLOT TO SELECT THE SECRETARY OF THE LNC
>
> The vote to select the secretary of the Libertarian National Committee
> will proceed as follows:
>
> On each ballot, a member of the Committee will cast a vote for at most one
> person on the list of candidates, or cast a vote for "None of the Above."
>  The candidate who receives a majority of the votes cast on a given ballot
> is selected to serve as secretary.
>
> Should no candidate receive a majority of the votes cast on a given
> ballot, a subsequent ballot will be distributed.  Candidates who received 0
> votes on the given ballot will not be included on the subsequent ballot.
>  In addition, of those candidates on the given ballot who received at least
> 1 vote, the person with the fewest votes will not be included
> on the subsequent ballot.
>
> The voting process will continue until a ballot produces a candidate who
> receives a majority of the votes cast on that given ballot.
>
>
> Candidates (listed in alphabetical order of surname):
>
> Blakey, Robin
>
> Blau, David
>
> Cooke, Mark
>
> Johnson, Gary E.
> Lester, Bill
>
> MacElroy, Bill
>
> Mattson, Alicia
> McDermott, Jim
> McDowell, Jake
> Moulton, Chuck
> Pellegrino, Anthony
>
> Reynolds, Robert
>
> Roberts, Shadrack
>
>
> SPONSOR:  Geoff Neale (request for ballot submitted to the Secretary at
> 6:08 p.m. EST on Sunday, January 27, 2013)
>
> VOTING PERIOD OPENS:  6:35 p.m. EST, Sunday, January 27, 2013
>
> VOTING PERIOD CONCLUDES:  6:35 p.m. EST, Wednesday, February 6, 2013
>
>
> NOTE:  This e-mail ballot is the second ballot that is currently open.
>  The voting period for a previous e-mail ballot opened at 5:05 p.m. EST on
> Sunday, January 20; the voting period for this previous e-mail ballot will
> conclude at 5:05 p.m. EST on Wednesday, January 30.
>
>
>
>
> INFORMATION CONCERNING E-MAIL BALLOT PROCESS:
>
>
> From the Libertarian Party Bylaws:
>
> Article 8, Section 10:
>
> The National Committee may, without meeting together, transact business by
> electronic mail. The Secretary shall send out electronic mail ballots on
> any question submitted by the Chair or cosponsored by at least 1/5 of the
> members of the Committee. The period for voting on a question shall remain
> open for ten days, unless all members have cast votes, or have stated an
> intention to abstain, by electronic mail to the Secretary. Votes from
> alternate regional representatives will be counted, in accordance with the
> ranking procedure of the region, only if the regional representative
> fails to respond to the ballot.
>
> The number of votes required for passage of any motion shall be the same
> as that required during a meeting. The Secretary shall preserve all such
> votes until the next meeting of the National Committee, at which meeting
> the Committee shall order the disposition of such votes.
>
>
> From the LNC Policy Manual:
>
> Section 1.04 ELECTRONIC MAIL BALLOT PROCEDURES
>
> 1) Electronic Mail Ballots (endnote 31)
>
> Electronic mail ballots shall not include an accompanying argument for or
> against passage of the motion. Notification of an electronic mail ballot
> shall be made by the Secretary by electronic mail. An LNC Member may change
> his or her vote on an electronic mail ballot, provided that the change is
> received by the Secretary by the deadline for return of ballots.
>
>
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>
>
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