Why do you need 50% of troop there for an election??

[mashmaster]

5 minutes ago, Back Pack said:

Ours is three hours long and boring so we do our own. 

3 hours.....  WOW   Ours is maybe 30 minutes tops

[.40AET]

There's more to the vote than the requirement of having 50% of the Troop present at the election. In order to be selected, a Scout needs to get 50% of the total number who are in the room voting. We have a big troop and both parts make it hard to send more than one or two scouts a year. 

102 scouts in the Troop. Must have 51 scouts in the room for the election. A Scout who is selected needs 26 votes to be selected. 

There's nothing more frustrating than seeing 6 of your finest Scouts get 22 or 23 votes. 

 

[Back Pack]

35 minutes ago, mashmaster said:

3 hours.....  WOW   Ours is maybe 30 minutes tops

It’s a big reason we do our own because no one wanted to sit through 2-3 hours of scouts and adults being called out. Instead we do ours before camporee and then hang out on Saturday night and do our own special camp fire. 

[Back Pack]

19 minutes ago, .40AET said:

There's more to the vote than the requirement of having 50% of the Troop present at the election. In order to be selected, a Scout needs to get 50% of the total number who are in the room voting. We have a big troop and both parts make it hard to send more than one or two scouts a year. 

102 scouts in the Troop. Must have 51 scouts in the room for the election. A Scout who is selected needs 26 votes to be selected. 

There's nothing more frustrating than seeing 6 of your finest Scouts get 22 or 23 votes. 

 

Actually it’s 50% of ballots cast. So if you have 51 scouts show and only 40 submit ballots your magic number is 21. So it’s not scouts in the room but ballots cast. 

[HelpfulTracks]

2 hours ago, mashmaster said:

Our tapout is held at a district wide camporee.  It is pretty cool.

In the true spirit of political correc........ I mean safety, it is now called Call Out, and no contact is allowed.

[HelpfulTracks]

1 hour ago, Back Pack said:

Actually it’s 50% of ballots cast. So if you have 51 scouts show and only 40 submit ballots your magic number is 21. So it’s not scouts in the room but ballots cast. 

You are indeed correct sir!

[Back Pack]

42 minutes ago, HelpfulTracks said:

You are indeed correct sir!

Troops in my city really game the system. The scoutmasters go around encouraging the scouts to vote for everyone. The spl tries to get exactly 50%+1 to show so that the number of votes needed is low. Most of the 75+ person troops have 60% or more of their members in OA. My troop had maybe 20 at our biggest. We don’t do what these other troops do because it defeats the purpose of OA. 

[Back Pack]

49 minutes ago, HelpfulTracks said:

In the true spirit of political correc........ I mean safety, it is now called Call Out, and no contact is allowed.

We still tap out but it is light and only with consent of the parents of the guys participating. Parents are invited to watch and it’s all open. 

[skeptic]

Another reason, IMHO, that the Order has lost its interest.  When it truly was not simply something you could get into by becoming First Class and doing a bit of camping, while staying on the good side of the adults, it actually was an honor.  Now the mystique is gone, and it is simply something else to take up your time in too many lodges, and participation is generally sash and gone for the majority.  There are still some lodges that have managed to keep some of the deeper interest, but not in our area.  Ceremonies are not only no longer really semi-secret, but most of them are read from scripts, often obviously not even pre-read, and regalia is minimal.  For the past few years, I have spoken to all the technically eligible scouts and point blank asked them if they really care to elected, and if so will actually go to the Ordeal and give it a try afterward.  There is no point in calling them out if they are not going to follow through.  But we still do elections, and have a few members occasionally get more involved for a time.

[ParkMan]

4 minutes ago, skeptic said:

Another reason, IMHO, that the Order has lost its interest.  When it truly was not simply something you could get into by becoming First Class and doing a bit of camping, while staying on the good side of the adults, it actually was an honor.  Now the mystique is gone, and it is simply something else to take up your time in too many lodges, and participation is generally sash and gone for the majority.  There are still some lodges that have managed to keep some of the deeper interest, but not in our area.  Ceremonies are not only no longer really semi-secret, but most of them are read from scripts, often obviously not even pre-read, and regalia is minimal.  For the past few years, I have spoken to all the technically eligible scouts and point blank asked them if they really care to elected, and if so will actually go to the Ordeal and give it a try afterward.  There is no point in calling them out if they are not going to follow through.  But we still do elections, and have a few members occasionally get more involved for a time.

Yep - like many things in Scouting, I think the OA has lost it's luster because the people in it have stopped giving it luster. 

One can't be entrusted with the OA in your district, phone it in, and expect it to be a great program.  I think many havn't gotten that message.

[mashmaster]

55 minutes ago, Back Pack said:

We still tap out but it is light and only with consent of the parents of the guys participating. Parents are invited to watch and it’s all open. 

Ours is still tap outs...  For youth fairly firm, for the adults they really pound hard....

[HelpfulTracks]

2 hours ago, mashmaster said:

Ours is still tap outs...  For youth fairly firm, for the adults they really pound hard....

🙈🙉🙊

[.40AET]

9 hours ago, Back Pack said:

Actually it’s 50% of ballots cast. So if you have 51 scouts show and only 40 submit ballots your magic number is 21. So it’s not scouts in the room but ballots cast. 

Thank you for the correction 

[Eagle94-A1]

Yes, the OA has lost its luster. Started back when you could vote for whomever you wanted instead of 50% of those eligible. When I found out a SM rigged an election so that everyone could get in, I was ticked. I don't know what happened after I became inactive with the OA due to Cubs Scouts, but my chapter is dead in the water. My oldest, who has been eligible for some time now, has no interest in the OA.

[HelpfulTracks]

1 hour ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

Yes, the OA has lost its luster. Started back when you could vote for whomever you wanted instead of 50% of those eligible. When I found out a SM rigged an election so that everyone could get in, I was ticked. I don't know what happened after I became inactive with the OA due to Cubs Scouts, but my chapter is dead in the water. My oldest, who has been eligible for some time now, has no interest in the OA.

That is not the rule. A Scout can vote for everyone/anyone on the ballot. It has always been so. You need 50% of the Troop present in order to hold a vote, and you need 50% of the ballots cast to be elected.

Honestly, I cannot remember reading a single post of yours that is not negative towards Scouting.