Posted by Rear Admiral Daniel Lerner (Personnel Director) in Motion to Modify Election Rules (Reposted)

Posted by Timothy Frogue in Motion to Modify Election Rules (Reposted)

Posted by Fleet Captain Adam W. (Current Ruler of the Club) in Motion to Modify Election Rules (Reposted)
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Member by Motion to Modify Election Rules

I, Timothy J. Frogue, a duly approved member of STF, do hereby move this honorable club to modify the rules governing elections as follows:

The current rule states:

If a Vice-Presidential candidate withdraws from the election after the end of the nomination period, but prior to the start of the voting period, and the Election Coordinator decides that there are special circumstances, the Election Coordinator may set a time period for the Presidential candidate to publicly declare an eligible member as his new Vice-Presidential candidate, at which time the Election Coordinator shall re-validate the ticket. Otherwise, the ticket shall remain invalidated. The special time period must end no later than the start of the voting period.

Proposed New Rule:

I propose the new rule read as follows:

If a Vice-Presidential candidate withdraws from the election after the end of the nomination period, but prior to the start of the voting period, and the Election Coordinator decides that there are special circumstances, the Election Coordinator may set a time period for the Presidential candidate to publicly declare an eligible member as his new Vice-Presidential candidate, at which time the Election Coordinator shall re-validate the ticket. Otherwise, the ticket shall remain invalidated. The special time period must end no later than the start of the voting period. Furthermore, if at any time prior to the closing of the primary election, the Presidential candidate of any ticket is disqualified, the vice-president shall be given (at a minimum) five days to either select a new candidate for which to complete his or her run for office or to officially withdraw from said election. If the Vice-Presidential candidate fails to select a new running mate, or to officially withdraw, the ability to do so will end after five days.

Argument:

While I have no intentions on running for club president, I was on the receiving end of this occurring when my running mate was disqualified by the EC and I was not given the ability to decide what I wanted to do. I was not responsible for the actions for the person I ran with and the rules currently allow for the withdraw of a vice-president candidate and for the presidential candidate to be able to choose a new running mate. The same should be true of the vice-president or it is a selective policy that could be perceived as punishment for a non-guilty party.

Therefore, I so move this new rule be considered and voted on according to the rules of our organization.

Respectfully submitted,
Timothy Frogue
Member of STF

(Sorry the first post was hard to read)

The rules of our organization state that there are to be no changes to the rules in the bylaw during the Election Season unless the sitting President, Vice President, and Election Coordinator post their consent. Election Season started when I posted the calendar on February 18.

I do not consent because there is no compelling reason to take this change up four days before nominations are open, especially if the person proposing it isn’t actually running themselves. At least a week is typically needed for any bylaw change of even the most trivial complexity.

If you wish to have this change made in the future, please propose it after April 6, 2019.

Joe P
Election Coordinator

The bylaw actually defines the start of the election season as when nominations are open. However, there is not enough time to discuss this change before the election begins, which would require the bill to be issued during the election. Since the Election Coordinator does not consent I will not be going forward with the proposed bill.

I suggest bringing forward any election related bylaw change proposals at least two months before the end of the term so there is enough time for discussion and EGO’s ten day review period.

As Joe requested, any discussion on this proposal should wait until after April 6th.

Adam W.
President

With all due respect, a motion has been made. Even if the change does not take affect until next election, I believe command is required to take up the issue.

Timothy Frogue

Command has never worked that way. One member (or two members) cannot control the what is or is not discussed in Command. That has always been the prerogative of the executive in STF. You cannot force a discussion if it does not make sense to discuss it at this time.

Also, there is established precedent to avoid having Command discussions about the election rules during an election. It has always led to allegations of campaign rule violations and ECs (including myself) have come down hard to stop that from happening unless the issue was essential.

Joe as EC has made it clear it will not pass. It serves no positive purpose to force the discussion now, and has the potential of real problems. This is exactly why the executive have the power to moderate Command.

Daniel

In other words, Command doesn’t work by Robert’s Rules of Order.

Daniel