What MYC Thinks About Online Voting...

Online voting was the main focus of the survey taken in May, 2009. I’d like to get the results of that survey pertaining to online voting on the record by including them here on the blog. What follows are the answers to the following question:
Assuming that a reliable and efficient online process could be established, should members be entitled to vote online whether or not they attend business meetings?

Yes         No        Unsure
47.5%    44.1%     8.5%
28          26           5

It is interesting to note that almost all of those voting “No” also said that they did not believe it would be possible to conduct online voting in a reliable and efficient manner. The report of the Participation Committee at the November MYC meeting attempted to demonstrate how online voting could be handled. While there was much opposition to online voting voiced after hearing the report, no one argued that online voting was not readily feasible.  This presentation was distributed by Diane Kampf about a week before that meeting and remains available upon request.

I am also including below most of the comments on electronic voting (versus voting only by meeting attendees) made by the survey respondents in May. While there is a lot of material here, I believe that those who want to understand what members are feeling will find the time to read these comments as well as consider the final totals before making any decision about adopting or rejecting online voting.
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Attendance at a meeting should not be a voting requirement any more than attendance at a presidential debate should be a requirement for voting for president. Claiming that non-attendees are ill informed is merely a way that one group exerts power over another. All arguments in favor or against a motion can be communicated in writing and the motions can be communicated in writing. Anything that can not stand up to this test should not be passed. The suggestion that voters need to attend meetings and see facial expressions, hear emotions, and hear voice intonations in order to evaluate an idea is ridiculous. Any motion that only makes sense in the context of a meeting is not worthy of passage. Meeting attendance is an obstacle to participation for many of us with busy lives.

I feel that participation in the club should be hands-on, in the company of our fellow members. Sitting back at a computer is too impersonal and does not foster the consensus building that meeting in person provides. Most importantly, no matter how efficient an online process might be, it will be an additional burden on the members responsible for administering the process. No voting process can be as simple as counting hands at a meeting.

It seems to me to come down to prefering democracy over government by the few. Town meetings are fine as a forum for discussion of issues, but they are not superior to other discussion forums...just different. Each forum has good points and bad points. Why not use more than one? Using a Town Meeting to make decisions seems antiquated. We can give everyone a vote now! The people who attend meetings now are not necessarily better members than the rest of the membership. There are many ways in which a member can contribute, and in a democracy, we don't just award the right to vote to the elite anyway. Every member has a stake in the issues that come to a vote, and every member should have a workable means to exercise their vote... every time. As it is, we may need a vote of the few to authorize a change to permit everyone to vote. Can we rely on the integrity of those few or will they try to protect their power?

If they want to vote they should show up at the meeting.

Yes, but............... The reason for having a democratic system is to avoid having to make a decision by majority vote every time. None of us is asked to go to the polls annually to approve the federal budget. We TRUST our leadership for this. Hence, voting YES, but only for specific cases where clear alternatives have been established. At all cost avoid having too many cooks in the kitchen.

I'm concerned that votes will be cast based on lobbying by other members rather than the facts and issues. It's much easier to vote than to wade through the online discussion, assuming there even is one.

The process of being in the room, of having participated in and hearing all viewpoints is critical. too often one believes that critical thinking and discussion has not taken place, and doesn't realize the views that have already been expressed and how compromises have been worked through.

The club seems to have a three classes of members, board members who make most of the important decisions (and choose their successors), meeting attendees who vote on a limited number of club issues and usually endorse the board, and the rest, who can be ignored by the first two. If that structure is not built into the by-laws, current practice has made it so. I can't think of a successful initiative that has come from a non-board member since the building of the club house. This is not democracy and this is not a healthy way to run an organization. At some point incentives like gifts were tried as an inducement for meeting attendance. It failed. Compulsion will fail. Electronic communication is the best available option on the table to increase participation in governance. If we stop short of voting electronically, I suspect that in the end, electronic communication will wither and die. Just my opinion.

The ideal is for people to attend those meetings in person to participate in face to face discussions, and I admire the people who regularly do so - they are the pillars of the club. However I know many of us have very busy lives and cannot participate in these meetings as much as we would like so I applaud this effort to find a way to include more members in the discussions and the decision making.

I believe that with advancing technology online discussion is already taking place via email, and will soon spread to other modalities (chat rooms, message boards, blogs, forums, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) with or without the official club blessing. It would be best for the club to embrace it, and make it that much more convenient for members. Either way, I'm optimistic that the club will greatly benefit from a much more open process in the months and years to come. A great deal of creativity and energy will be unleashed. With so much more discussion and participation happening online, it seems a given that sooner or later a large portion of the membership will insist on being able to vote electronically.

We have a problem with meeting our quorum requirement. I do not see electronic voting as an appropriate solution to that problem. I believe that we should relax the quorum requirement.

The downside of on line voting is that you won't know the results instantly. will need to establish time limits for voting.

I think ideas from all of the club members are important to establish the fabric of our club. We need to understand what we actually have here. We need to find out what this club consists of. Where the interests lie, and come to an understanding of what we really need to be voting on. Until then I feel that we will have some power plays going on and maybe we can seek out the problems and deal with them head on Make MYC a better club for all.

I hope people aren't reluctant to support voting because they are afraid of bad online voting procedures. Many large organizations conduct voting this way, and the club need not tolerate anything less than a good voting mechanism. If people just don't believe it, we should test the approach... do it on a provisional basis. I also worry that folks envison a less than optimal discussion/voting approach and may respond negatively to their vision. Before any online voting is introduced, the detailed procedures and devices will have to be worked out, and this should be done after seeking input from all the members.

Adopting some electronic method for discussion and/or voting and a rewrite of the bylaws may help make our governing process more efficient and inclusive, but simply adopting a more formal process to our meetings and educating members in what is appropriate and acceptable behavior in our meeting process will lead to more participation by members who don't currently wish to participate because they are frustrated by what often occurs at current meetings. Controlled electronic discussion of the issues is positive and will provide an accurate record of the discussions and the opinions of members on the issues outside of the formal business meeting. But if the electronic discussion is allowed to digress into inappropriate personal discussions unrelated to the issues then there will be no improvement over our current meeting process and thus will not contribute to a more inclusive and efficient governing process.

These are difficult questions with a lot of unknowns. The whole thing with on-line participation by members is also an unknow. Perhaps some type of pliot, or as suggested above, on-line discussion / voting in the absense of a quorum could be tried out for 6 months, and evaluated based on that experience.

I realize how much work this is but it really would get much more input from many more members.

This is the best solution to an age old problem...I work many nights...others have child care issues...some of our members live far away...It also gives time for thought on issues. This survey is a great example of what can be done. Good job to who designed it!!!!!

It seems that we are making more of this than we need to. We are just a sailing club after all. Our goal should be to make sailing safe and enjoyable for all those who wish to. It seems we are creating a bureaucracy and positions of power that go beyond the intent of the club. Clearly, we need rules and guidelines to ensure the well-being and safety of all members as well as to promote sailing and the enjoyment it brings. When we start imposing mandatory rules we are then moving away from a group of people who love sailing toward a system of control that requires more attention to doing things properly and correctly. It is a move away from the heart to the intellect; away from our passion to that of cold reason and intellect. I would suggest that we be cautious and attempt to maintain a balance between our hearts and our reasoning. We need rules and guidelines but the fundamental element of this club is our passion for sailing not in who votes for what or how they vote. We need to keep our focus.

I am satisfied with the way the Club is run and would come to meetings or approach a Board memebr if I was dissatisfied. I use the Club for pleasure and do not currently feel the need to get involved in other ways.

Although fewer votes are cast by the current system than might be via electronic voting, I believe that the quality of each vote is far greater.

We think electronic discussions would enhance the exchange of ideas. We are opposed to electronic voting. There could be some exceptions made for exigent circumstances, such as medical.

This is the worse idea to come before MYC in 20 years.

I personally am satisfied with the current process and bylaws. I stated before the quorum was established for a reason and should be maintained as is.

I really am on the fence about this issue. It would be nice to have more member participation in club decision making. However I have strong qualms about putting things in writing -- invariably there are misunderstandings and hurt feelings, especially if it's a sensitive topic that is being discussed. Also, it is way too easy to hit the send button -- either on purpose or accidentally before editing what one has written. I do like this survey forum as a way of gathering data and information on what club members think about a topic. It allows anonymity and yet the board or a committee can proceed in a logical manner on whatever issue is at hand.

 I like that we are considering advanced technology to better the Club. Of course, the devil is in the details and how we achieve and maintain controls will make it a success or not.

 ONLY CONCERN IS THAT AGENDA ITEMS ARE DISCUSSED AT MEETINGS PRIOR TO VOTE AND THEIR PROS AND CONS MAY SWAY YOUR VOTE. ONLINE PARTICIPANTS WILL MISS DISCUSSION AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION.