BOD

[EDYDO 0]

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And in this, is exactly why some of the BOD members are fully opposed to modifying the constitution of the USPA, in order to allow on-line voting. My belief is they're scared that most of the BOD will be voted off. There are several BOD members that want to see online voting happen, but not enough of them.

There are indeed enough BOD members who want to see online voting for USPA general elections. A motion to solicit proxies to change the USPA by-laws to allow online voting passed at the last meeting and as soon as we can get it out, you will have an opportunity to have your "say". The board has done its part, it is now up to the members.

Ed Dixon
Chair Nominations and Elections

[CSpenceFLY 1]

Might I request that the request for proxies be worded very carefully. As I recall, one of the last ones that went out was worded to pretty much give the BOD full reign. I don't keep notes so I might be wrong. I just remember reading one that I said to myself "there is no way in hell I'm signing that".

[DSE 5]

Spence, that was the sentiment I heard at the meeting as well. That the last one was cleverly worded and folks were afraid of it.

Ed, just that the motion passed to allow for proxies doesn't mean it's gonna make it through. Without the membership making an effort, I believe it won't. I guess in that, you're right. It's up to the membership.

[EDYDO 0]

The proxy request will target only those changes necessary to allow online voting. Specifically we must change By-Laws Section 7 where it says, "Ballots that do not contain the voting member's original signature will be declared invalid." and Section 5 which says, " December- Ballot election by mail."

Some other changes are also necessary in Section 3, but those are the two that the BOD may not change without the members approval.

The proposed plan still allows paper and photocopy ballots. The only difference will be another (more convenient?) way to vote.

So again, the members will make the decision.

Blue Skies,

Ed Dixon
Chair N&E

[MakeItHappen 15]

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The proxy request will target only those changes necessary to allow online voting. Specifically we must change By-Laws Section 7 where it says, "Ballots that do not contain the voting member's original signature will be declared invalid." and Section 5 which says, " December- Ballot election by mail."

Some other changes are also necessary in Section 3, but those are the two that the BOD may not change without the members approval.

The proposed plan still allows paper and photocopy ballots. The only difference will be another (more convenient?) way to vote.

So again, the members will make the decision.

Blue Skies,

Ed Dixon
Chair N&E

Is the exact text of the changes going to be published somewhere?
eg something like Move to amend Section blah by striking .... and inserting .... etc.
How is a recount done?
How do you reconcile a paper ballot and an electronic ballot from the same person?
How are members going to get usernames and passwords?
How much additional money is this going to cost?

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Make It Happen
Parachute History
DiveMaker

[michaelmullins 81]

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Hahahahaha!!!!

Dude, you just click on them.

I did! It just won't work for me.

You just did! Where did that frown emoticon come from? Just because you're old doesn't mean you have to be senile. And yes, I'm still fucking deaf.

Obviously, subtle humor is lost on you.

[JohnDeere 0]

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Hahahahaha!!!!

Dude, you just click on them.

I did! It just won't work for me.

You just did! Where did that frown emoticon come from? Just because you're old doesn't mean you have to be senile. And yes, I'm still fucking deaf.

Obviously, subtle humor is lost on you.

You just weren't talking loud enough! HEY BILLY, IT WAS SUBTLE HUMOR!

Nothing opens like a Deere!

You ignorant fool! Checks are for workers!

[Nutz 0]

You have to slow down too. HEY - BILLY - - IT - WAS - SUBTLE - HUMOR - ! - ! - !

"Don't! Get! Eliminated!"

[EDYDO 0]

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Is the exact text of the changes going to be published somewhere?
eg something like Move to amend Section blah by striking .... and inserting .... etc.
How is a recount done?
How do you reconcile a paper ballot and an electronic ballot from the same person?
How are members going to get usernames and passwords?
How much additional money is this going to cost?

Hi Jan,

I am far from an expert concerning online voting, although I have done a great deal of work on this project. The exact text of the proxy will be available to members as soon as it is available to me. I do not want it to be so detailed as to confuse those who are not familiar with our by-laws or require that they pull out a Governance Manual before they can vote. There are those on that side of the fence. With members approval, we will be changing what is ncessary to allow online voting and nothing else !

Online votes go directly into the system. Once a member casts a vote, they receive a paper receipt and are locked out. If they send a paper ballot, it is keyed into the system by an administrator and then that member is locked out. Essentially it is a 100% online system that locks out the possibility of two votes by one member, so there is no concern about voting twice.

It has not been firmed up as to how usernames and passwords will be handled. We do know that our provider will generate random passwords that USPA staff and BOD will not have access to. This will be far and above more secure than our present system.

The system cost will be determined by how many of the services we use. I expect the cost will be about $20,000 every other year (should we move to 3 year BOD terms? I think so.) That amounts to about 32 cents per year per member. The actual amount budgeted is $25,000 just in case something unexpected arises.

Blue Skies,

Ed

[skydived19006 4]

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I really can't say that they "shouldn't" be allowed. It's more a case of wondering why folks continue to elect so many of them. In the end I began to suspect that what was really happening was that the few thousand that bother to vote at all, are people who predominately have an interest in the industry, or in the operations of a DZ. They can be instructors, professional jumpers of almost any sort, plus packers, riggers in general, or others in the larger industry. Obviously not everyone that votes is in that group, but one can surmise that alot of these folks do choose to vote. And they will obviously have a certain affinity for others in the industry.

The real problem is that there are so many members that don't vote. That's because there are so many who are members because they feel they have to. They have little interest in USPA or any of their programs. They care more about what the DZ owner does. They just wanna jump.

I disagree, if 90% of the membership voted but as with the majority of those who now vote made their choices on a "beauty contest" basis the outcome would be no different. "Beauty contest" as in, 'I've heard of that guy', 'I saw a picture of that chick in Parachutist', 'I've jumped out of that dude's airplane.'

One reason that there are so many DZOs on the BOD is that the DZOs have a larger interest in the organization. Obviously, the majority of fun jumpers don't give a care about USPA. One thing that many fun jumpers like about skydiving is that they can get away from their day to day political BS lives.

Edit to add: They don't give a shit about Skyride either. The voters of one region even placed a DZO on the BOD who's in bed with Skyride (correct me if I'm mistaken!). The argument that more uninformed people voting doesn't hold water with me!

Experience is what you get when you thought you were going to get something else.

AC DZ

[zipplewrath 1]

Well, it's important in hypothetical to discuss the assumptions behind them. In this case, why would 90% of the membership be voting? You get the "beauty contest" now because people don't really have much they expect/need/want from USPA. If for some reason 90% of the membership voted, it would imply they had some interest in the outcome. Depending upon what those interests were it could significantly alter the outcomes.