OA Election Guidance

[Twocubdad]

We've got OA elections this week. Usually we do OA elections just before crossover, so this is a new problem. As you may know, to be elected to the OA there must be 50% of the Scouts in attendance and a nominee must receive 50% of the vote. (Okay, that's close -- you OA guys can fine tune the rules for me, but I think that's about it.)

 

The issue is we have 25 new Scouts who really haven't had time to get to know the Scouts up for election to the Order. What advice/instructions would you give these new guys? The way the elections are structured, if we suggest to the new guys they abstain, it counts as an "against" vote. I really hate telling the boy "just vote for everyone," although personally I'm comfortable that all the boys on the ballot are deserving of election to the Order. Is it fair to suggest the Troop Guides give the new guys advice?

[John-in-KC]

When is Ordeal weekend?

 

Can you postpone?

 

Actually I thought the Guide to Offices and Elections said an abstention did not count either way. Would a fellow Arrowman check me on that?

 

One other option is to have the Tenderfeet off doing something someplace else that night.

 

 

[eagle90]

We traditionally have the same problem. We just do not have the new crossovers vote, and we don't count them toward the total number of scouts or the 50%. The election officials have always gone along with this policy.

[Eagle92]

As a former chapter adviser, I say postpone until the new guys can get to know the eligible scouts better. I know of an instance,, back when they had % limits in the process, where the election was held a week after crossover, which doubled the size of the troop. 2 folks were eligible, one was the brother of one of the new Scouts, the other was the ASPL. the big brother had already expressed a non-interest in the OA to his peers, and the older scouts knew not to vote for him. BUT the younger brother talked his friends into voting for Big Brother, who got a majority of the vote, was elected, called out, and never went though an Ordeal.

[Crew21_Adv]

Twocubdad,

 

 

http://www.oa-bsa.org/resources/pubs/GOA-2008.pdf

 

Greetings!

 

This particular obtacle is a challenge each election period for my local chapter and local troops.

 

John-in-KC is correct, and I'm sure a few others just getting to this post will see it also. Without the entire quote, its on the bottom right of page 22, in the Guide.

 

There is also a national OA DVD, created by Unami Lodge and Cradle of Liberty Council at Treasure Island Scout Reservation. The most recent election video describes the election procedures very well. It can also be found on Youtube, if you search OA election video.

 

Normally, A withheld ballot (abstain) sheet does not count. A blank ballot counts as a negative, submitted ballot but no confidence vote for any candidate.

 

But it is usually difficult for a 10.5 y/o new Scout to understand the election procedures. You may need to state what the definition of abstain means.

 

So yes, I would advise, I would have the Troop Guides advise. Something to the effect "If you don't know any of these older guys yet. Hold on to your sheet. Do not hand over a ballot." Then repeat, repeat, repeat.

 

Good Luck and hopefully the OA election outcome is good report!

 

Scouting Forever and Venture On!

Crew21 Adv

[Stone Cold]

You need to have 50% of the registered scouts in attendance to have an election. The candidates need to have 50% of "the votes cast" to be elected. For example, if you have 50 registered scouts, there must be 25 present for an election. If 5 of those are brand new scouts who don't know any of the candidates and they don't vote, then there are 20 votes cast and 10 are needed to be elected. If they do vote, and a blank ballot is counted as a vote, then 13 votes are needed to be elected. So it is better to not have brand new scouts vote. The only blank ballots should be if they feel that no candidates are worthy of election.

[eaglescout1996]

If the election team does a good job with the explaination, then there shouldn't be a problem.

 

Last month I went out as an Advisor with an election team and the troop had about 12 new crossovers. I'd say about 8 of them didn't turn in ballots because it was explained that if you didn't know the candidates that well and you're not sure who to vote for, do not turn in a ballot.

 

I was also surprised to see that only one of the five eligible scouts were voted in by this particular troop. Again, the election team did a good job of explaining the responsibilities of arrowmen and what is expected, and the scouts of this troop knew that only one would follow through.

 

Just have the team explain that a ballot not turned in does not count toward the election.

[hotair36]

The actual wording is that 50% of the ACTIVE (emphasis added) scouts need to be present, not 50% of the registered scouts. Who do you consider active? If John scout has not not attended the last 4 meetings due to his HS basketball team commitment or play practice, most OA teams and unit leaders would not count him as active (for this purpose as opposed to active participation for advancement) at the time of the election.

Crew21_Adv and John-in-KC are right on it for the situation you describe. The election video, and the Guide for Officers and Advisers, both are clear that the team need to make clear (In the section titled "Induction: Election to Ordeal, item 7 "If you are new in the unit and do not know the candidates well enough to vote wisely, you may abstain by not turning in a ballot at all; this will not affect the final result" The election team should (must) be be sure that this part is stressed as they explain the election process.

 

[Twocubdad]

Unfortunately, changing the schedule is a problem. Our lodge likes to get this done early and we've already missed our district's two call outs. The guys will have to go out of distict for that.

 

But would it be acceptable to have a ballot where you could vote "For," "Against" or "Don't Know" for each Scout separately? Several of the candidates are troop guides and I can see where the new guys would want to vote for them.

 

Ultimately, I guess it's all a matter of what we work out with the election team.

[nolesrule]

There is no option to abstain for some and vote for others in the OA election rules. You either participate in the vote by turning in a ballot or you abstain by not turning in a ballot. The written rule is an affirmative vote on at least 50% of ballots turned in.

 

Besides, creating a third category like you suggest would make the affirmative threshold inconsistent. 50% would (could) be different for each scout on the ballot, setting a different standard for each scout.

 

I'm comfortable with the idea that if you are new to a unit do not feel like you can make an informed vote on ALL names on the ballot, then you shouldn't vote at all, and it's part of the OA election rules, all of which are on a publicly available document distributed on the OA website...no password needed.

[SR540Beaver]

Our Lodge does elections in the November/December time frame with call outs around the following March and our first Ordeal in May with a second Ordeal in September. Most new scouts crossover in the February/March time frame. We seldom have this issue.

[gcnphkr]

We call the new scouts together. Explain what is going on and then go work on something else. That way they are not even given a ballot. They all have understood and not had a problem with it.

 

More of an issue for us would be if they voted knowing who is eligible to vote. In March, half the new scouts may not have actually crossed over yet, or have not completed the registration.