Civic Service Union 52 Board of Directors Election was not necessary this year as everyone running for a position was elected by acclamation. Had an election been necessary, it was going to be done via electronic voting. Again, this election if it had happened would not have been possible if not for the tremendous help of the CSU 52 office staff. I would also like to thank Michelle Shimenosky my ARO for all of her assistance in the preparation for a potential election amid all the interruptions of Covid.
Had an election been necessary this year the company “Smart Ballot” had been contracted to undertake the responsibility of collecting the votes done electronically. On the potential of an election being called next year I would be inclined to keep “Smart Ballot” as the provider. As a suggestion, I would encourage the members of the Bylaws Committee to continue to look and change the bylaws as necessary to accommodate an election via electronic voting. I do realize that the existing bylaws should still stand as they are, in case one has to hold an election which is not run electronically.
I recognize the Bylaws give the RO the discretion to decide on the election period right now. As for an election date under bylaw 5.01 (a) (ii) should an election be called I would choose to run the election period for seven days. It would also run over a weekend to give all members a possibility to vote. As an example for this year, Election would have been called October 5, 14 days after October 19 and not more than 24 days October 29. I would have run the election from October 21 to 28. An advanced poll would have been held probably October 14.
There are so many reasons why the election format for future elections needs to be changed. These changes also come with their issues but are not insurmountable. Between now and next October I would encourage the Union to continue working on obtaining members personnel mail addresses. It is my understanding at last count about 81% of these email address are known to the Union. There are about 73% who subscribe to the eNews and only 33% that have claimed their accounts. If these numbers can be increased it will mean there is a potential of more members being able to vote should they choose to do so. I still hold on to the belief that there will be a larger percentage of members voting if it is done electronically.
Respectfully submitted
2021 November 28
Kim Woolgar