UMCA Election Discussion
My thoughts...
Campaigning:I'm against the managing director campaigning, but what about the BoD? Should a Board member be allowed to campaign?
Should campaigning be outlawed altogether? Here are my thoughts on that:
1) A mailing to 1600 people can be very expensive (postage alone is $672, add in either duplicating costs or printer cartridge it adds up) with RAAM expenses this year, I could not have swung that. Who wants to spend upwards of $700 on a board seat anyway? That would leave the board open to the more privileged among us.
2) campaigning by email can get messy. Candidate A sends out their email. Candidate B sends out their email but it includes something about Candidate A. Then Candidate A wants to respond...We've all seen political ads flying as it gets closer to election day imagine that as emails.
3) Campaign by phone calls? Really expensive. Not a level playing field.
Voting:I like Marino's idea of a postcard, but eventually, I'd like to see people be able to vote by phone,online, or by postcard. They get a 12 digit code on their postcard which they can plug into a form on the website. If they lose the postcard (and 12 digit code) we send another postcard by first class mail. By making it quick and easy we'll increase voter turn out.
Candidate statements:We'll always be restricted in size in the magazine, it's a fact of printing. If the statement, picture, whatever, fits within the size alloted and is not profane, it should not be touched by the Editor except for punctuation and grammar.
The UMCA should have a section of the website for FULL candidate statements, pictures, whatever the candidate wants. Technically this should be as easy as sending an email, so it shouldn't present any technical barriers to candidates if they have a computer. Candidates should be able to make real time updates to their statements (meaning they can do it themselves, they don't have to send it to the webmaster, who sits on it for three weeks)
Election Commissioner:I think this is a waste of volunteer energy.
Election schedule:Should stand as written in the bylaws.
Nomination process:works fine.
