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MEMORANDUM - Change in Election Schedule
TO: Pacifica Foundation Community
FROM: Kenny Mostern, National Elections Supervisor
RE: Change in Election Schedule
DATE: October 18, 2004
1. Change in Election Schedule
A fundamental flaw in the Pacifica Foundation bylaws concerns
the extremely short turnaround time afforded between the date
that the nomination period closes (September 25) and the dates
that ballots must be mailed (October 15). This affords a period
of only three weeks for the elections supervisors to produce
and mail the ballots. Every effort has been made by the elections
supervisors to ensure that the present election conform to
the dates required in the bylaws.
However, a series of delays have beset the production and
mailing of the ballots over the last two weeks. In addition,
as a result of the fall fund drive, election related carts
and other materials have seen delays in being aired at several
Foundation radio stations. Finally, competition between our
election and the US Presidential election has lessened our
ability to promote the significance of the Foundation elections.
For all these reasons, it is my considered opinion that we
can assume that the Foundation election will not meet quorum
at least one, and perhaps all five, Foundation radio stations
by November 15.
Foundation Bylaws Section 4.5, “Elections Time Frame,”
states:
To be counted a ballot must be received on or before
November 15th (the “Election Close Date”). All
ballots shall be held sealed until the Election Close Date.
If the required quorum of ballots is not received by the
Elections Close Date, then the Elections Close Date shall
be extended by two additional weeks.
It is not logistically feasible for us to wait until November
15 to confirm that we have failed to reach quorum. By that
time spaces for ballot counting, travel arrangements for ballot
counters, and the personal schedules of Election Supervisors
will have long since been set. In anticipation of our failure
to reach quorum by November 15, I am declaring the
closing date of the election to be Monday, November 29, 2004.
2. New Schedule for Vote Counting
In accordance with the availability of TrueBallot, Inc.,
who are providing the optical scanning equipment for reading
our ballots, the revised schedule for vote counting will be
Tuesday, November 30: WPFW Washington
Wednesday, December 1: WBAI New York
Friday, December 3: KPFT Houston
Saturday, December 4: KPFK Los Angeles
Monday, December 6: KPFA Berkeley
3. Why the Schedule in the Bylaws is Impossible
to Meet
A. What needs to be done in the given timeframe
The bylaws of the Pacifica Foundation (Section 3.5) leave
a three week window between the date that the nomination period
closes, September 25, and the date that the ballots are to
be mailed, October 15. Since I accepted this job in late May,
I have discussed with Pacifica staff, the Local Elections
Supervisors upon their being hired, and a variety of Foundation
Board members and activists my doubts that it was possible
to do all of the following in the amount of time given:
- Verify the nomination papers
- Prepare the ballots for printing
- Design, prepare and proofread the Candidate statements,
return envelopes, and other materials for printing
- Go through all proof and production stages with the printer
- Deliver printed materials to a mail house
- Have the materials stuffed and posted
As someone who has sent out large mailings on numerous occasions
in the past, it was my opinion from the start that this process
should take at least four and more likely five weeks.
Two additional factors, also built into the bylaws, make
this schedule especially absurd.
- First, the entire election period following the mailing
is exactly one month. Third class nonprofit mail takes,
according to the post office, up to 15 days to deliver,
and many suspect that last year’s mailing actually
took longer than that. This means that the Foundation is
essentially required, by its bylaws, to send the mailing
first class, at an additional cost of $30,000 - $50,000.
Otherwise the ballots will not be received by the voters
with a reasonable time frame for learning about candidates
and making intelligent decisions. Just as importantly, this
also means that any inadvertent delay or difficulty in getting
the mail out (as we have had this year) will make reaching
quorum by the election close date much more difficult.
- Second, the election period is set in October and November,
the same time as the United States elections. Leaving aside
all questions about the attentiveness of the electorate
to our election, the simple, practical problem we have faced
in getting our materials printed and mailed this year is
that with literally billions of dollars being spent on November
elections (from the President down to local school boards)
at this very moment, print houses and mail houses are running
overtime, and getting space on printing and mailing machines
right now is next to impossible. This has caused extra delays
that would not be experienced at another time of the year.
Side note: The Pacifica election that was conducted in
late 2003 and early 2004 by Terry Boricious, which was using
Court ordered dates for its scheduling, closed its nomination
period on December 5, 2003, and it’s ballots were sent
out on January 5, 2004. This is a period of 31 days, 10 days
longer than the current elections. Additionally, printers
and mail houses have essentially no work from December 26
– January 5. During the crunch days when the Pacifica
election mailing had to go out, our mailing was the priority
mailing for the print and mail houses being used.
In preparing this report, I asked Terry Boricious whether
he felt that the 31 days he had was enough time to prepare
and mail the ballots. He said “absolutely not.”
I can only say that triply for the 21 days I was given.
B. My Solution and Its Rejection
In my attempt to meet the impossible schedule of the bylaws
as National Election Supervisor, I made two decisions that
might – alongside the entire staff working 70+ hours
the last week in September, which of course we did anyway
– have gotten the mailing out on time.
- First, I hired a company, TrueBallot, with a standard
ballot design, format and instructions, to produce the ballot,
so that all I had to do was certify the names and they would
be able to produce the ballots for us. (TrueBallot was also
selected because it has a standard double blind envelope
system that conformed to the requirements set forth for
the election by the Pacifica National Board, and because
of its optical scanning technology, which combines fully
auditable paper ballots with ease of counting.)
- Second, I decided that there was neither time, nor room,
for the candidate statement booklets to be mailed, and that
we would therefore distribute them by other means.
It is a fact that had we mailed only the ballots, without
the additional printing, folding, stapling, and stuffing required
by the candidate statements, our ballots would have gone out
on time. However, my solution to this problem was rejected
by the Pacifica National Board and by the active membership,
who believed that by not including the candidate statements
with the mailing, we would make it less likely that voters
would make an effort to become educated about the issues and
vote. Whatever my personal feelings on the matter, I have
no intention at this point in challenging the clear consensus
of the Pacifica community on this question.
4. The Actual Production and Mailing Timeframe
as of Today
As of today, the following have been printed and are at the
mail house:
- All of the ballots
- All of the envelopes, surveys, and additional materials
- The candidate statements for three stations, but not all
five, stations
The printer has promised the remaining candidate statements
no later than Wednesday. The ballots are now scheduled to
be stuffed and mailed by the mail house between Wednesday,
October 20 and Monday, October 25. They will be sent third
class, which means that they should be received by all Pacifica
members between November 1 and November 10. With the election
close having been delayed until November 29, this will give
all voters sufficient opportunity to select their favored
candidates and return their ballots.
5. Other Needs That Are Being Met By the
New Schedule
While it is the delay in the ballot production that is the
immediate cause of the election extension, there are two other
issues that Pacifica election officials have been facing which
are solved by this extension:
- First, all five stations are having fund drives during
the election period, and management at several stations
has been very reluctant to play election related carts during
the fund drive. This reluctance is inappropriate and contrary
to the bylaws of the Foundation, and, should there be legal
concerns about the election process, would pose a very large
problem for the Foundation. Nevertheless, the extension
of the election period gives station management a new opportunity
to properly publicize the elections and the candidates.
- Second, and more reasonably, it has been very difficult
to convince anyone – including myself, and this is
my job – that coverage of the Pacifica election is
more important than coverage of the Presidential and other
United States elections at this moment. By giving ourselves
nearly four weeks after the end of the US election period
to publicize the Foundation elections, we substantially
increase the likelihood that our listener members will pay
attention, and make intelligent choices, about our Foundation
elections.
6. Necessary Bylaws Changes
For the most part, I have been hesitant to suggest bylaws
changes to the Election process while we are in the middle
of that process. I had been planning to remain silent about
my recommendations until my final report, at the close of
the elections. However, the present memo cannot possibly be
concluded without making the following comments:
Whatever else might be said about the writing of the present
Pacifica bylaws, it is clear to me that they were not written
by people who have experience with project management of print
and mail jobs. For the second consecutive election, the National
Election Supervisor has had tremendous difficulty producing
the ballot mailing in the timeframe required. As such, the
Pacifica National Board should give immediate consideration
to the following bylaws changes:
- In order to make the job of the election supervisors possible,
the time period between the close of the nomination process
and the mailing of the ballots should be extended from three
to five weeks.
- In order that the Foundation be able to, comfortably,
mail the ballots by third class mail (thus saving tens of
thousands of dollars) while still ensuring that individuals
have enough time after receiving their ballots to vote,
the election period should be increased to at least five
weeks.
- In order that Foundation elections not conflict with
United States elections, the election period should be moved
to another time of the year.
- In spite of the above, I do not believe that the overall
period of time during which the elections are conducted
needs to be increased at all. That is, Bylaws section 3.4.a.
currently states that “In May of each year in which
there will be an election of Delegates by the Members, the
Executive Director shall appoint a national elections supervisor
whose role shall be to oversee and certify the fairness
of the Delegates elections in each station area and to confirm
said elections’ compliance with these Bylaws.”
I was actually appointed to begin work on June 1, 2004,
which means that my timeframe of employment extends for
six and a half months, until the due date for the final
report on the election, December 15, 2004.
In my view, this job can and should still be conducted
over six and a half months. In particular, the 62 days
currently afforded for the nomination period, from July
25 to September 25, can be cut. Essentially no nomination
packets are turned in until the last week before the close
of the nomination period, and the job of the election
supervisors during this period is no more than a 10-15
hour a week job.
It is true that in the present elections cycle the Elections
Supervisors were primarily concerned with distribution
of information about the Elections, and with gathering
and auditing the elections lists, during this time period.
However, improved recordkeeping on the part of the Foundation
would make possible substantially cutting the amount of
gathering and auditing time required. And publicity about
the election in no way requires a nine week nomination
period. I therefore recommend that the nomination period
for the election be cut by four weeks.
Taken as a whole, the above suggestions would result in an
election period that has at its center three periods of exactly
five weeks (35 days):
- The nomination period
- The ballot production period
- The election period
Using this pattern, the following schedule is one example
of a workable schedule for the Pacifica National Elections,
and should be considered as a bylaws amendment. It is offered
as a possibility; other schedules could also be built.
| January 1 |
National Election Supervisor starts work |
| February 15 |
Local Election Supervisors start work |
| March 1 |
Nomination period opens |
| April 4 |
Nomination period closes at 5PM |
| May 10 |
Ballots mailed by 5PM |
| June 14 |
Ballots must be received by 5PM |
| July 1 |
Date by which election must be counted and certified |
| July 15 |
Final reports of the election supervisors due |
Please note that in this proposal, the period during which
the election supervisors will be conducting their list audits
is approximately March 15 to April 15, a period that overlaps
between the nomination and ballot production periods.
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