Most people remember the debacle of the Bush vs. Gore election of 2000 where the infamous Hanging Chad first debuted. I make light of this merely to get your attention for I know that not many people like talking about politics whatever the form. However, the majority of people reading this should be concerned for this is our sport and unfortunately politics affects some aspects of it, especially in NAFA.
Not long after my last post, Let the People Vote, I received private email concerning the last election complaining of “irregularities” in the NAFA voting process. Obviously, this sparked my curiosity so I fired off some email and talked with several people about what had taken place. What follows is a culmination of what I found. I’m not going to go into a “he said she said” and I will not name anyone. I have contacted NAFA and they assure me that a reply is forthcoming.
I have tried to stay as neutral as I can, but I have offered my opinion. Hopefully, after reading this, you will be able to form your own opinion and I welcome your comments.
The Ballot
This year’s ballot was different than those in the past in that only one ballot was sent out by NAFA. So if your club had 8 votes, they were all on a single ballot. From what I can understand, one or more people complained about the ballot, believing this would cause block voting. In other words, clubs would not be able to split their votes. The word from a Board member was that voting patterns over the last three elections showed that only a few clubs split their votes, so only a single sheet of paper was sent to each club to save money.
The only rule that I could find that would come close to violating the single sheet ballot was in Chapter 4, Delegate Voting, paragraph (d), which states, “Delegate voting may be conducted by paper ballot, electronic balloting, or a combination of both.” Does a single ballot violate this rule since “a combination of both” could not be accomplished with a single ballot?
Not long after a complaint was made (or maybe at the same time), a function on the NAFA balloting website was added to allow club owners to split their ballots. However, there were no instructions on the ballot or the website about making a combination vote.
For me the biggest question is whether the ballots were tabulated correctly, and I have some other concerns too. What is the likelihood of an error by the voter because of the ballot? Could someone voting online think they were casting all of their club votes for a candidate or MVP and only cast a single vote? Was the ballot confusing to the voter? In my opinion a yes answer to any of these questions is a reason for concern.
One other concern I have deals with the destruction of the ballots after the election. The NAFA rule book, Article V, Section 2, Paragraph (h) clearly states, “… The Election Committee shall ensure that all returned ballots are authentic and shall destroy the ballots, after reporting the results, at the adjournment of the Annual General Meeting.” So, if this is the case, how would anyone know the trend and voting patterns of a club or clubs?
The Chat Transcript
The chat transcript that appears on the NAFA website is not a complete record of what transpired during the chat. Apparently, the chat transcripts have always had some minor revisions made to them before being posting to the website and this is something that I never questioned or even knew about. Who would ever think the chat transcript was not a complete and accurate record?
The way I understand it, one of the transcripts had a major change to it because of a reported personal attack toward one of the candidates. I did speak to the person that made the attack and I can only surmise that it wasn’t that bad but since I have not read the original transcript, I really cannot make a judgment.
I don’t like quoting a source but in this case they make a compelling argument, “Imagine if the Kennedy/Nixon debate was edited to remove the sweating from Nixon’s face. Kennedy might have not won that election.” We can only imagine the unknown effects of editing the chat transcript.
Politics get messy sometimes and if you are running for office you just have to take your licks and let the people decide. I am under the opinion that people have a way of seeing the truth no matter what is said. I believe the record is the record and should not be altered.
My Thoughts
What follows is just me talking and really has nothing to do with the election results.
Board Diversity
I would like to see more diverse views in my Board members. If you look at the people that currently serve, most run on a Division 1 team running in the top of their regions. Not that this is particularly bad, but it does breed a certain mind set. Additionally, they hold a point of view that is different from most of the people they serve. This is purely my opinion, but it seems like the same people serve over and over again. When they are not on the Board, they serve in different capacities until they can run again. Serving multiple times brings on a form of elitism, i.e. I know best.
Do term limits sound unreasonable? I am talking about a 2 term maximum for a total of 6 years in an individual’s lifetime. That would give a member 3 years on, 1 year or more off, and then 3 more years if they are selected again.
Board Appointments
Appointments are going to happen and there is just no way around it. However, at the end of the appointment these people run for the board and almost always get elected. To me, this gives the appointee an unfair advantage over anyone outside that wants to run. I would like to see the rule changed so that an appointee cannot run for the Board until one year after leaving their appointment. This means that the vacant position they are filling would go to someone not serving on the Board already. If any appointees would like to serve, they can run in the next election. This would be a much fairer way to handle appointments.
Lastly, I would like to thank all of the NAFA Board members for serving us. I know that they give of themselves more than any of us will really ever know. I know they don’t have an easy job and are called upon to make tough decisions for our sport and I only want the best for each of them.
Larry
