Scout Elections

[scoutingagain]

OK. We all know the youth leadership is elected by the scouts. But, I'm curious, is there a specific protocol to resolve a tie? Or how would your unit,... er the unit your serve, resolve a tie for SPL, split evenly between two candidates?

 

SA(This message has been edited by scoutingagain)

[OldGreyEagle]

Announce the tie to the troop, have both youth explain why they want to be SPL and have a revote

[TheScout]

Thats easy! We all talk about having a boy run troop. Let the PLC decide what to do.

[emb021]

Its time for the boys to learn how elections are run.

 

In a tie vote for an election, you run the election again.

 

If you have a three-way tie, or if you have 3 candidates and none get a majority, you run the election again with all 3 candidates. (the 'drop the candidate with the least votes is ONLY allowed if such a policy is documented in an organizations rules').

 

[SemperParatus]

"Its time for the boys to learn how elections are run."

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

First, each scout should declare victory. Then they should bring in the lawyers to examine voter fraud, hanging chads and disenfranchisement. Next they should bring in the spinmeisters to throw the real dirt, so they can look relatively clean throughout the process. Even if one is declared the victor, the loser should never admit defeat and constantly remind the troop that the election was stolen from him by gestapo tactics and he is a poor, downtrodden victim. He could have some of his former SPL buddies snipe at the new SPL throughout his tenure - calling him a liar and a thief and the devil. The loser could also try and grow a beard to up his 'cool' factor for the next round of elections. If all else fails, threaten to move the troop to Canada.

 

Just a few random thoughts off the top of my head.(This message has been edited by SemperParatus)

[Trevorum]

OK, OK, everyone calm down. Semper just hasn't had his coffee yet ...

 

This actually happened to us last month. After the votes were counted, the serving SPL came to me and said, "Mr. T, what do we do?" I said, "We need a new SPL who is elected by a majority vote ..." Long pause. He said, "Maybe we shold vote again?" The next round was a squeaker, but it was successfully resolved without involving any 3rd parties. The closeness of the election favorably reflected on both the candidates.

[SueM]

This just happened in our troop last week...it was my son and another boy, who I actually talked into running too and the first vote was a tie. They revoted and a couple of the boys including the last SPL purposely threw their votes to my son..not because they felt he was the best one for the job, but more so they could try and cause him issues!! The father of one of the boys actually came and told me this himself after the meeting..as he also said that he would not be bringing his son back for a while so that my son did not have to deal with deliberate sabotage right off the bat!!

 

Sue m.

[scoutingagain]

Well thanks for the input.

 

The situation was a simple two candidate race, split evenly. We decided to have a second election...the following week, giving each candidate a week to campaign. We may also end up with a different group of voters at the next meeting that may change the vote a little. We typically have about 75 - 80 % attendance at any given meeting, but there is usually some change in the make up of attendees.

 

I do give our candidates credit though. Prior to the announcement of the results I noted that they each had sought each other out and shook the other's hand in a "may the best man win" moment. It is not uncommon in our troop for the winning candidate to select the runner up as his ASPL and they end up working closely together for the next year, in at least one case becoming close friends.

 

I'll keep you posted.

 

 

[EagleInKY]

We once had a tie in a patrol (4-4). The candidates each restated their desire and why they should be elected... it went on and on. Finally, one of our ASMs, who has a fair amount of HR type arbitration experience, sat in with the six boys (the two candidates stayed out of the room). They talked through the pros and cons of each scout. Eventually one group convinced the other that "their candidate" was better. The adults didn't intervene until the boys were stuck.

 

That's the key. Let the boys try to run it. At the point where they can't, have an adult counsel them through it. Don't take over, but help them come up with a solution.

 

Once we had a 3 way tie. The boys decided to write 2 names down instead of one. That cleared the tie. There was one scout that was on nearly everyone's ballot, when looking for their top two choices. The point is, there are lots of ways to resolve these.