OA election problems

[abc123]

During my oa elections I noticed I was not on the ballot when i thought i was supposed to be. After checking with my scoutmaster several times we found out I was supposed to be on the ballot. He said he would contact the election handler and see what could be done. After a week he told me nothing could be done and I would have to wait till next elections. Is this just policy or did something unfair happen here

[sst3rd]

abc123,

 

I realize that you are a Scout, but as a former Scoutmaster of many years, the nomination and election process should have been explained to the troop before the annual election. And then, the OA Elections representative should have reviewed the OA election process to the troop just prior to the election. After all of the regular requirements for nomination for an OA election are met, one final requirement needs to be met. That is the Scoutmaster's approval. After all of this is done, I always wrote the nominated Scouts up on our blackboard for all to review several weeks prior to the election. This gives all Scouts nominated or not, an opportunity to talk with the Scoutmaster about any questions. The Scoutmaster should have been more involved with your OA Election. He signs the paperwork.

 

sst3rd

[Eagle92]

Unfortunately the election is over and done. As sst3rd stated, the process should have been explained, the nominees announced and if any problems arise, it needs to be handled BEFORE the voting.

 

Don't feel to bad though. I had to wait until my 3rd year being eligible to get elected into the OA. Gopod things come to those who wait.

[Sentinel947]

Your Scoutmaster dropped the ball. I don't see any malicious intent. Keep being a good Scout, and you'll get elected easily. Work hard, be a good patrol mate and you'll get in.

[qwazse]

Your Scoutmaster dropped the ball. I don't see any malicious intent. Keep being a good Scout, and you'll get elected easily. Work hard, be a good patrol mate and you'll get in.

This is, once again, why I prefer having elections at summer camp. We can review the requirements on day one. Announce the list of boys who we think are eligible that day. Then on day two, we can make any corrections necessary before the election committee comes into camp.

[Eagle92]

Qwazse,

 

Back in the day, the OA election team would go into great detail of the entire process. Usually I would talk to the SM and give them some paperwork to fill out prior to the election, and the youth would review it, make sure everything is correct, then go over everything with the scouts prior to the election. Sometimes we played a video, and sometimes we did it by memory. But talking about it in advance eith the SM, especially a new SM, is a good idea.

[qwazse]

Qwazse,

 

Back in the day, the OA election team would go into great detail of the entire process. Usually I would talk to the SM and give them some paperwork to fill out prior to the election, and the youth would review it, make sure everything is correct, then go over everything with the scouts prior to the election. Sometimes we played a video, and sometimes we did it by memory. But talking about it in advance eith the SM, especially a new SM, is a good idea.

When our chapter's election team is operating at full strength with very disciplined boys, that can happen outside of summer camp. But with our rapidly expanding council and guys pulling double shifts to make ends meet, that's becoming hard to do. (I really hate being the guy who keeps ranting "It's the economy, stupid." But, as mentioned in the thread about membership. it seems like most families have actually become post-modern nomads.) It's increasingly hard to get the same people in the same place at different times (even if its the same day/hour one week later)!

[qwazse]

abc123,

What I'm trying to say with all of these discussions is that your Scoutmaster is probably an okay guy. There are a bunch of things that led to your credentials being overlooked, and as scouters we need to examine ourselves to be sensitive to other boys in our troops who may find themselves in the same situation. Is it unfair to you? Probably. Is it any one person's fault, probably not.

 

So, now you know that you've met criteria. Unlike other scouts, you have a while to think about it between now and the next election. Keep doing right by the boys in your troop and any cubs who may cross-over between now and then, and you'll get the votes you need and your SM's approval. All you need to decide now is "is the O/A for me?", and you get to think about how much time you'll put into the order after your ordeal. You might even want to start saving some $$ to pay for dues etc ... Because you've had more time to prepare, you may get more out of lodge life. This is an advantage that a lot of arrowmen don't have.

 

Let us know what you think and hopefully in a few months you can tell us how you've pulled the silver lining out of this cloud.

[SR540Beaver]

ABC123,

 

OA elections might seem confusing, but they really aren't if done correctly. As a Chapter Adviser, I was adament with my election teams that they convey the information to the unit. Before I became Adviser, the guys would wing it and adlib the presentation. It sucked. There is a very good video produced by national that trains election teams and another that explains the election process in great and easy to understand terms for the units. There is also a written script for the election team to use in presenting to the unit. My guys who were doing elections were also my ceremony guys for the most part. I knew that they didn't want to learn another script. So what we worked out was that I didn't care if they read the script. The important thing was that the information was conveyed t othe unit fully and correctly. We did overkill. We played the video, read the script and then opened it up to questions before ever passing out the ballot. But that doesn't really answer your question. Prior to arrinving to do an election, we were in cotact with the Scoutmaster and explained in great detail how the process would work and what the qualifications were for candidates. We even provided a ballot template for him to use. Occasionally we would arrive and they would forget we were coming....even though we had been in contact with them within the previous week. They would be totally unprepared....which is odd since our motto is Be Prepared. I've seen an SM ask for a show of hands of who wanted to be in the OA without considering the qualifications. I've seen them not have ballots prepared and scouts had to hand write the names on scraps of papers. Let me tell you, it's difficult to count ballots when people don't write the names in the same order. The bottom line is that the names on the ballot fall entirely to the SM and we trust that he has followed the procedures and policies of who should be there. He is the "gatekeeper" of who gets on the ballot. As others have said, I'm sure he is a good guy and I know he has a big job in addition to family and a paying job. Hopefully the election team did a good job of explaing the process to him to prepare him for assisting in a successful election. Hopefully your exclusion was just an oversight on his part. The good news is that the election team will be back next year. Hang in there.

 

[qwazse]

ABC123,

 

OA elections might seem confusing, but they really aren't if done correctly. As a Chapter Adviser, I was adament with my election teams that they convey the information to the unit. Before I became Adviser, the guys would wing it and adlib the presentation. It sucked. There is a very good video produced by national that trains election teams and another that explains the election process in great and easy to understand terms for the units. There is also a written script for the election team to use in presenting to the unit. My guys who were doing elections were also my ceremony guys for the most part. I knew that they didn't want to learn another script. So what we worked out was that I didn't care if they read the script. The important thing was that the information was conveyed t othe unit fully and correctly. We did overkill. We played the video, read the script and then opened it up to questions before ever passing out the ballot. But that doesn't really answer your question. Prior to arrinving to do an election, we were in cotact with the Scoutmaster and explained in great detail how the process would work and what the qualifications were for candidates. We even provided a ballot template for him to use. Occasionally we would arrive and they would forget we were coming....even though we had been in contact with them within the previous week. They would be totally unprepared....which is odd since our motto is Be Prepared. I've seen an SM ask for a show of hands of who wanted to be in the OA without considering the qualifications. I've seen them not have ballots prepared and scouts had to hand write the names on scraps of papers. Let me tell you, it's difficult to count ballots when people don't write the names in the same order. The bottom line is that the names on the ballot fall entirely to the SM and we trust that he has followed the procedures and policies of who should be there. He is the "gatekeeper" of who gets on the ballot. As others have said, I'm sure he is a good guy and I know he has a big job in addition to family and a paying job. Hopefully the election team did a good job of explaing the process to him to prepare him for assisting in a successful election. Hopefully your exclusion was just an oversight on his part. The good news is that the election team will be back next year. Hang in there.

SR540, did your lodge strictly maintain a once-per-year-per-troop schedule?

[SR540Beaver]

ABC123,

 

OA elections might seem confusing, but they really aren't if done correctly. As a Chapter Adviser, I was adament with my election teams that they convey the information to the unit. Before I became Adviser, the guys would wing it and adlib the presentation. It sucked. There is a very good video produced by national that trains election teams and another that explains the election process in great and easy to understand terms for the units. There is also a written script for the election team to use in presenting to the unit. My guys who were doing elections were also my ceremony guys for the most part. I knew that they didn't want to learn another script. So what we worked out was that I didn't care if they read the script. The important thing was that the information was conveyed t othe unit fully and correctly. We did overkill. We played the video, read the script and then opened it up to questions before ever passing out the ballot. But that doesn't really answer your question. Prior to arrinving to do an election, we were in cotact with the Scoutmaster and explained in great detail how the process would work and what the qualifications were for candidates. We even provided a ballot template for him to use. Occasionally we would arrive and they would forget we were coming....even though we had been in contact with them within the previous week. They would be totally unprepared....which is odd since our motto is Be Prepared. I've seen an SM ask for a show of hands of who wanted to be in the OA without considering the qualifications. I've seen them not have ballots prepared and scouts had to hand write the names on scraps of papers. Let me tell you, it's difficult to count ballots when people don't write the names in the same order. The bottom line is that the names on the ballot fall entirely to the SM and we trust that he has followed the procedures and policies of who should be there. He is the "gatekeeper" of who gets on the ballot. As others have said, I'm sure he is a good guy and I know he has a big job in addition to family and a paying job. Hopefully the election team did a good job of explaing the process to him to prepare him for assisting in a successful election. Hopefully your exclusion was just an oversight on his part. The good news is that the election team will be back next year. Hang in there.

Yes qwazse. We do elections in the last quarter of the year for the coming year. We do call outs in the spring during Camporees and have an Ordeal in May and August. If a unit doesn't "get with the program" and puts offrespoding to our requests to provide an election, we can technically do them up until the first Ordeal. But we really try to get them all done prior to December 31st.

[duechtlands]

The issue i see with other scouts voting who go's OA is this. If they do not like the kid for what ever reason that kid never gets into OA.

[qwazse]

The issue i see with other scouts voting who go's OA is this. If they do not like the kid for what ever reason that kid never gets into OA.

How is this a bad thing? Either you have just learned that your peers have found something lacking in your behavior, or - in the outside chance that you are God's gift to scouting kind - that your peers are idiots and instead of wasting your time in honor societies, you should devote the year to helping them be better scouts.

[frankpalazzi]

How is this a bad thing? Either you have just learned that your peers have found something lacking in your behavior' date=' or - in the outside chance that you are God's gift to scouting kind - that your peers are idiots and instead of wasting your time in honor societies, you should devote the year to helping them be better scouts. [/quote']

 

I'm glad that post has a "like" button! There are plenty of OA members who will not be Eagle Scouts, and plenty of Eagle Scouts who will not become OA members. These are kids we're talkin' 'bout. They have their own way of doing things, and every Scout has something to contribute whether Tenderfoot or Eagle, sash wearer or not.