[Lnc-business] details for electronic mail ballots

Sun Jun 26 12:39:40 EDT 2016

Thanks Caryn. Can you provide an alternative example and how we might address that in the proposed statement?

The War on Cronyism Begins Now!

~David Pratt Demarest

Secretary, Nebraska Libertarian State Central Committee

Region 6 Representative, Libertarian National Committee

Secretary at LPNE.org <mailto:Secretary at LPNE.org> 

David.Demarest at LP.org <mailto:David.Demarest at LP.org>  

DPDemarest at centurylink.net <mailto:DPDemarest at centurylink.net>  

David.Demarest at firstdata.com <mailto:David.Demarest at firstdata.com> 

http://www.LPNE.org <http://www.lpne.org/> 

http://www.LP.org <http://www.lp.org/>   

Cell:      402-981-6469

Home: 402-493-0873

Office: 402-222-7207

From: Caryn Ann Harlos [mailto:carynannharlos at gmail.com] 
Sent: Sunday, June 26, 2016 10:59 AM
To: lnc-business at hq.lp.org
Cc: David Demarest <secretary at lpne.org>; david.demarest at firstdata.com; lnc-business <lnc-business at lp.org>
Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] details for electronic mail ballots

Yes that is what I was thinking- a policy manual section.

David also, not all reps serve at the pleasure of the state chairs- that is the default.  The region agreement can specify otherwise.

On Sunday, June 26, 2016, Sam Goldstein <goldsteinatlarge at gmail.com <mailto:goldsteinatlarge at gmail.com> > wrote:

David,

The LNC has no power to change the By-Laws, only the delegates in convention.  The LNC can amend the Policy Manual so it might be best to look for a place to insert your suggested Regional Representative responsiblities language in that document.  There are very few mentions of Regional Reps in the current language and the only responsibility outlined is the Regional Report to be submitted prior to every LNC meeting.

Having a definition inserted in the Policy Manual would help future newbies in determining their role and might encourage more people to seed a spot from their region.

Live Free,

Sam Goldstein

Libertarian National Committee

Member at Large

8925 N Meridian St, Ste 101

Indianapolis IN 46260

317-850-0726 Phone

317-582-1773 Fax

On Sun, Jun 26, 2016 at 9:33 AM, David Demarest <dpdemarest at centurylink.net <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','dpdemarest at centurylink.net');> > wrote:

Alicia – Thank you for very clear and unambiguous instructions and procedures on LNC email balloting – very helpful to us newcomers on the board!

On a similar but separate subject, at your convenience when your schedule is not so crazy, I would appreciate receiving similar instructions and procedures excerpted from the bylaws or elsewhere in LNC documentation that  clearly delineates the roles and responsibilities of regional representatives and their alternates. With Caryn Ann Harlos’ help, I see some of region structure mechanical details. However, I have not been able to locate any LNC documentation that spells out regional representative and alternate roles and responsibilities. 

Caryn Ann and I have discussed a possible default description of regional representative and alternate roles and responsibilities. I submit the following for discussion:

LNC regional representatives and alternates who serve at the pleasure of the region member state chairs are encouraged to provide a transparent channel that facilitates mutually supportive communication between the LNC and officers and members of the regional state organizations. Actual regional organization policies are left to the discretion of and agreement between the member state chairs and their regional representatives and alternates.

Question: Should the above be offered as a motion or as an amendment to the bylaws? If a motion is appropriate, in addition to Caryn, are there two more board members that would like to co-sponsor such a motion following discussion and revisions?

Thoughts?

Celebrate Life, Set the Bar High and LIVE FREE!

~David Pratt Demarest

Secretary, Nebraska Libertarian State Central Committee

Region 6 Representative, Libertarian National Committee

Secretary at LPNE.org <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','Secretary at LPNE.org');> 

David.Demarest at LP.org <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','David.Demarest at LP.org');>  

DPDemarest at centurylink.net <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','DPDemarest at centurylink.net');>  

David.Demarest at firstdata.com <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','David.Demarest at firstdata.com');> 

http://www.LPNE.org <http://www.lpne.org/> 

http://www.LP.org <http://www.lp.org/>   

Cell:      402-981-6469 <tel:402-981-6469> 

Home: 402-493-0873 <tel:402-493-0873> 

Office: 402-222-7207 <tel:402-222-7207> 

From: Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org');> ] On Behalf Of Alicia Mattson
Sent: Sunday, June 26, 2016 4:35 AM
To: lnc-business <lnc-business at lp.org <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','lnc-business at lp.org');> >
Subject: [Lnc-business] details for electronic mail ballots

Bylaws Article 13 authorizes our electronic mail ballots as follows:

Boards and committees may transact business by electronic mail. The chair or 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 board or 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 or be absent during the voting period, by electronic mail to the entire board or committee. Votes from alternates will be counted, in accordance with previously defined ranked order, in the absence of the corresponding committee member(s). The outcome of each motion shall be announced promptly and recorded in the minutes of the next meeting. The number of votes required for passage of any motion shall be the same as that required during a meeting. Motions dispensed through electronic mail ballots satisfy the requirement of giving previous notice.

We have 17 members of the board.  The chair may submit an electronic mail ballot, or 1/5 of the members of the board (4) may co-sponsor an electronic mail ballot.

The policy manual has some other provisions regarding electronic mail ballots:

------------------------------

Section 1.02.6 (regarding what is required to be in the minutes):  

The following aspects of each mail ballot conducted since the prior meeting and reported by the Secretary at that meeting:

o the complete text of the motion,

o the names of the co-sponsors,

o the dates of the initiation and completion of the balloting, and

o the roll of those voting on the motion.

Section 1.04.1:  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.

Section 2.07.4:  The Secretary shall report the results of electronic mail ballots at each LNC meeting immediately following those ballots.
------------------------------

I don't wait until the next meeting to tell you how the vote turned out, as you might wonder from 2.07.4.  I go ahead and report the results shortly after the voting period.  They are also reported at the next LNC meeting.

When does voting end on an electronic mail ballot?

The bylaws say that the voting remains open for 10 days (unless shortened by everyone voting/abstaining early).  What time of day on the final day does voting end?  If I send it at 5:17pm, does it end at 5:17pm on the 10th day?  Perhaps.  Or is it the generic sense of the day, as in 11:59pm on Thursday is still only one day after 9:15am on Wednesday?  What has worked well in past terms is to give the most generous interpretation of the voting deadline of 11:59:59pm.  Then members don't have to remember what time of day each mail ballot ends.  It always ends at midnight on the 10th day after it is sent.

Midnight in which time zone?  In the past I have used Pacific Time Zone, as it is my time zone and it also gives a generous interpretation.  It doesn't matter to me all that much which one we pick, so long as we set a standard that everyone knows.  Consistency is the main desired feature.  Unless the LNC feels inclined to say differently, I will continue to use Pacific Time Zone for the deadlines.

How do you co-sponsor an email ballot?

After someone sends a message to the list requesting co-sponsors, just reply to that message with a blatantly clear indication like "I will co-sponsor this."  Don't leave me guessing and interpreting with phrases like "This is a good idea" or "I support this".  I will not interpret such phrases as co-sponsorships.  Use the magic word "co-sponsor" to remove all doubt.

How do you vote?

After a sufficient number of co-sponsors have been identified, I will send a message announcing the start of the 10-day voting period with all the necessary details.

I use a fixed pattern for the subject lines when I sent email ballots.  That makes it easier to find them in your email history.  I'll number each email ballot with first the year, then a number indicating the year-to-date count of email ballots.  The first email ballot of this year will be 2016-01, for example.  The prior term's LNC did not conduct any email ballots in 2016, so that numbering won't duplicate anything from the past.

To vote, simply reply to that email thread with your vote.  

Make your vote very clear, as in, "I vote yes", or "I vote no".  

Do not use phrases that are subject to interpretation, or have contingencies like "I vote yes if this means X but no if it means Y".  If you say "you have my support", I do not interpret that as a vote, but as debate.

Please do not embed your vote inside of other extensive commentary, as that increases the chances that I will overlook your vote.

Please put your vote as the first thing in your email message.  The cleanest option is to put nothing else in your message except for the vote, though if you must include debate on the motion to explain yourself, make your vote the first thing in the message.

-Alicia

_______________________________________________
Lnc-business mailing list
Lnc-business at hq.lp.org <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','Lnc-business at hq.lp.org');> 
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-- 

In Liberty,

Caryn Ann Harlos

Region 1 Representative 

(Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington)

Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org <mailto:Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org> 

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