[Lnc-business] CORRECTED BALLOT 190214-3 : Appeal from Ruling of Chair

[Joe Bishop-Henchman]

This message is a duplicate, but I'm resending it because the list 
reflector has currently turned off emails I send from my Gmail app. I'm 
sending this one from the LP mailbox plain text website.

I vote yes, for two reasons:

1. Roberts recognizes two types of votes: yes and no. Anything else - 
abstain, present, recusal, blank ballot, spoiled ballot, absence - is a 
non-vote. O'Donnell did not vote and under our rules, the alternate vote 
should substitute in when the regional doesn't vote. Nothing I've seen 
in Roberts characterizes abstention as a "third" vote option to register 
protest or signal mild opposition. That may be past LNC practice, but it 
is not supported by Roberts or our Bylaws so the Chair's ruling is 
correct. It's the same reason O'Donnell's abstention does not count in 
the vote total. By not saying yes or no, O'Donnell did not "cast an 
abstention vote" - a contradictory term - but abstained from voting, ie, 
did not vote, ie, absented himself. Just because we've done it wrong in 
the past, and treated abstention as a third voting category rather than 
being the term describing a non-vote, doesn't mean we should continue.

2. Voting yes affirms what O'Donnell was trying to do, ie, let Lyons's 
vote substitute in. I get they could have inquired on how to do it right 
prior to the deadline, but voting yes sustains what they meant to do. If 
the resolution consequently fails we can always reconsider it or 
consider a slightly amended version. It shouldn't pass because Lyons 
messed up procedure.

If the Chairs ruling is overruled, I suppose we will have at least 
learned that "I am absent" allows the alternate to vote when "I abstain" 
doesn't. It's a distinction I find no support for in Roberts, and is 
silly when I ponder it. Ultimately Roberts likes neither alternates nor 
email ballots, so I would like to see our Bylaw more clearly define what 
constitutes absence from an email ballot. Treating an abstention as a 
category of vote (as we have with NOTA in many cases) is another option, 
but we should create that category by rule, not custom.

JBH

JBH

------------
Joe Bishop-Henchman
LNC Member (At-Large)
joe.bishop-henchman at lp.org
www.facebook.com/groups/189510455174837

On 2019-02-14 20:19, Caryn Ann Harlos via Lnc-business wrote:
> Due to confusion in prior ballot - this is a corrected ballot.
> 
> BALLOT 190214-3 : Appeal from Ruling of Chair
> 
> We have an electronic mail ballot.
> 
> Votes are due to the LNC-Business list by February 21, 2019 at 11:59:59 
> pm
> Pacific time.
> 
> Co-Sponsors:  Bilyeu, Goldstein, Harlos, Longstreth, Mattson
> 
> =============================================
> 
> Motion: Shall the ruling of the Chair on Ballot 190203-1 [Immigration
> Resolution] that "no" vote of Regional Alternate Lyons should be 
> counted
> after Regional Representative O'Donnell registered an unqualified 
> express
> abstention with the result that the Resolution would change from PASS 
> to
> FAIL be sustained?
> 
> *A YES VOTE SUSTAINS THE RULING OF THE CHAIR.*
> 
> *A NO VOTE OVERTURNS THE RULING OF THE CHAIR.*
> 
> =============================================
> 
> You can keep track of the Secretary's manual tally of votes here:
> https://tinyurl.com/lncvotes2019.  Votes are noted with a link to the
> actual ballot cast for verification. You can find the time that the 
> manual
> tally was last updated at the bottom of the sheet.
> 
> Please notify me of any discrepancies.
> --
> 
> *  In Liberty,*
> 
> *Libertarian Party and Libertarian National Committee Secretary *- 
> Caryn.Ann.
> Harlos at LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org> or Secretary at LP.org.
> *Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee* - LPedia at LP.org
> Call me at 561.523.2250 and follow my public figure page at
> facebook.com/pinkflameofliberty/
> 
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