Purpose

Our Bylaws require an annual election of our BoD, this page details the procedures that were used in the most recent election. These procedures should be updated whenever a change is made.

Procedure

Set the date and location of the Annual BoD Election

This date should be selected as soon as is reasonable and the room booked on the Event calendar. The date for the 2018 BoD Election was picked far too late and required a rushed schedule. The date chosen was the April member meeting, 04/12/2018 at 8pm, which coincided with Tour Night. Since then, monthly member meetings have been moved to the 2nd Friday of the month at 7pm, to avoid Tour Night. The Interactive Room was already taken by a class, which required contacting the instructor to see if the class could be relocated to another classroom.

Set the timeline for the Annual BoD Election

Working backward from the election date, select dates and times for the deadlines for:

• Mailing to all current members announcing BoD Annual Election (March 24, 2018 at 5:00pm) [Recommend 1 month prior to election]
• Meet The Candidates (April 4, 2018 at 8:00pm)
• Deadline for Statement of Intent for Online Voting Ballot (April 8, 2018 at noon)
• Deadline to register for online voting (April 8, 2018 at noon)
• Online Voting Beginning (April 8, 2018 at 7:00pm)
• Online Voting Ending (April 12, 2018 at 12:00pm)
• Deadline for submission of Statement of Intent, In-person voting only (April 12, 2018 at 8:00pm)
• Deadline for Voter Registration (not set, effectively April 12, 2018 at 10:00pm) [Recommend noon, day of election]
• In-Person Voting Beginning (April 12, 2018 at 8:00pm)
• In-Person Voting Ending (April 12, 2018 at 10:00pm)
• Vote Counting (April 12, 2018 at 10:00pm)
• Election Results Announcement (April 12, 2018 at 10:30pm)

BoD Election Mailing

Use the MembersAddress.csv file to setup a mailing using LOB.com

In 2018, the mailing cost $1183.75

Text of Notification Letter

Dear Members, It’s time to elect our annual Board of Directors. The Dallas Makerspace’s annual meeting has been set to occur on [insert date] starting at [insert time]. This election will include selecting the [insert year] Board of Directors, and any other matters properly submitted for a vote by the membership [may include note "(none currently submitted)"]. Electronic voting will end at 12:00 PM on [insert date]. In-person and proxy voting will end at 9:30 PM. Electronic voting will include all matters submitted to be included for a vote at the Annual Meeting. Results of the election will be announced that night.

A list of the current candidates and their Statements of Intent can be found at: [insert link]

If you are not registered to vote, and want to do so in the upcoming election, you can register online at http://votingrights.dallasmakerspace.org or can register by emailing: [email protected]. You must have been a member in good standing 90 days prior to registering and be the primary account member.

If you do not plan on voting, please keep in mind that every registered voter that doesn’t show up (or send a proxy) makes it more difficult to meet quorum for the election. You can also remove your voting rights online at http://votingrights.dallasmakerspace.org or by emailing [email protected]

This year there are several critical issues coming up that will need to be decided by the [insert year] Board. We urge you to learn the candidates positions on these important topics and vote accordingly.

Thanks for being part of the Dallas Makerspace! See you at the election.

Sincerely yours,

The [insert current year] Board of Directors

Meet the Candidates

In 2018, was held in Lecture Hall.

Online Voting

Use the VotingMembers.csv file to setup online voting using SimplyVoting.com.

In 2018, SimplyVoting.com cost $200 and was procured by Ken Purcell.

Create Ballot

• This year the ballot had all the candidates in alphabetical order.
• It has been suggested that the ballot be in random order.
• It has been suggested that talk handles and pictures be added to the ballot.
• Print enough ballots for members that didn't vote electronically (registered - electronic votes).

Create Voting Sheet

Use the VotingSheet.ods file, along with the VotingMembers and the SimplyVoting voter report to create the Voting Sheets. Create one blank Voting Sheet for late filers. In 2018, several members applied for voting rights on sight and therefore were not included on the pre-printed sheets. Also, the voting sheets had to be printed from LibreOffice so that one column of names could be inverted, so one name column faces the volunteer, the other faces the walk-up voter.

In Person Voting

• Set up a voting station:
  • Location: in a visible location - for transparency - & near the Infrastructure Chair, so they can verify eligibility if needed. In 2018, the station was in the meeting room and the Infrastructure Chair was in the Common Room. The line of voters distracted from the meeting and crowded the aisle.
  • Volunteers: need 4, plus Infrastructure Chair. One to oversee Voting Sheets for last names beginning with A-M. Second for N-Z + blank sheet for late filers. A third to collect completed ballots & proxies in an envelope. A fourth to act as runner. Two people must be at the voting station to monitor ballots at all times.
  • Materials: manila envelope for completed ballots, tape, pens in solo cup, voting sheets, blank ballots in a manila envelope (to control access), laptop. Signs that say "Voters A-M / Sign In Here", "Voters N-Z + late filers / Sign In Here", and "Return Ballots Here / Voting ends at 9:30pm".
  • Table: needs to be long enough to tape down the voter sheets in a line.
• Registration continued during voting, requiring lookup of voting rights throughout the voting process. The member notification letter stated that in-person balloting and registration ended at 9:30pm, but the voting volunteers were told 10pm.
• Newly registered voters were handwritten onto the Voting Sheets.
• Voters and Proxy Voters were checked against the Voting Sheets to see if they had voted already.
• Voters and Proxy Voters signed the Voting Sheets and received a ballot.
• Completed Ballots and Proxies were placed in a large envelope.

Vote Counting

• Candidates were invited to witness the ballot counting or provide a proxy witness. In 2018, we did not notify the candidates of this until the vote count was ready to begin, resulting in a delay.
• Announce over the P.A. system that the vote counting is beginning.
• Vote Counting Station:
  • Choose a room with a monitor. In 2018, we used the location of the member meeting, Interactive.
  • Use the Vote Counting spreadsheet template. Make a copy. Update with names of candidates in tally column and names of candidate or proxy witnesses. Cast the spreadsheet onto the monitor.
  • Print out of the online voting results.
  • Volunteers: Need 3. One to check + read + number the ballot, one to type the result into the spreadsheet, one to spread the ballots on a table for inspection.
• Ballots were individually checked, counted and numbered (excessive votes invalidated the ballot, ie 6 votes).
• Ballots were entered into a spreadsheet for live updates of totals and verified.
• Ballots were laid out for candidates to visually verify.
• Ballots were counted and that count compared to the number of in person votes tallied and the number of signatures on the Voting Sheets.
• Online vote totals were added to the spreadsheet.
• The new BoD was announced.

Post Election

Infrastructure Chair stored envelope of ballots in the cabinet in the server room.

Infrastructure Chair created @DallasMakerspace.org emails for the new BoD members and added them to the Admin@/DMSBiz@ email group.

Infrastructure Chair added the following AD rights to the new BoD members:

• Administration
• Board of Directors
• Calendar Admins
• Electrical Room Access
• Financial Reporting
• Google Apps Users
• Honorarium Admins
• MakerManager Admins
• Server Room Access
• WordPress Editors
• Infrastructure Secure Share Access

Post BoD Handover

Infrastructure Chair removes the outgoing BoD members from the Admin@/DMSBiz@ email group.

Infrastructure Chair removes the following AD rights from the outgoing BoD members (unless there is a good reason to keep specific rights):

• Administration
• Board of Directors
• Calendar Admins
• Electrical Room Access
• Financial Reporting
• Google Apps Users
• Honorarium Admins
• MakerManager Admins
• Server Room Access
• WordPress Editors
• Infrastructure Secure Share Access

Files

Media:MembersAddress.zip This file contains a Windows .CMD file that must be run as an admin on a computer on the domain, it creates MembersAddress.csv, which is imported into LOB.com to send letters informing the membership of the BoD election.

Media:VotingMembers.zip This file contains a Windows .CMD file that must be run as an admin on a computer on the domain, it creates VotingMembers.csv, which is imported into the following Libre Office Calc file and is also used by Simply Voting as the list for electronic voting.

Media:VotingSheet.ods This Libre Office 5 Calc file uses the above .CSV file and the voting report from Simply Voting to create the Voter sign in sheet used to verify voters. Libre Office was used because Excel won't let you rotate text 180 degrees in a cell.