OMOV rejected

[Roger de Coverly]

Yesterday I emailed the Silver Membership representative with my preferred choices for the election to be told I was the only person who had so far done so.

How ever many people email the Silver Membership representative, he only has one vote. That voting power is far outnumbered by those who would abduct an organisation's vote for their own purposes.

[JustinHorton]

However many people email the Silver Membership representative, he only has one vote. That voting power is far outnumbered by those who would abduct an organisation's vote for their own purposes.

This is right, and obvious. Or, if we prefer, obvious, and right.

[Michael Farthing]

I think Justin means 'accurate' rather than 'right' - unless he is personally planning a takeover of the ECF.

[Andrew Zigmond]

Yesterday I emailed the Silver Membership representative with my preferred choices for the election to be told I was the only person who had so far done so.

How ever many people email the Silver Membership representative, he only has one vote. That voting power is far outnumbered by those who would abduct an organisation's vote for their own purposes.

To an extent that's the case. However the brutal truth is that there is currently a vacancy for both a silver and a bronze representative. Nobody has bothered to `abduct` those. Neither are there that many howls of outrage about congress representatives betraying those who enter their events by voting `wrong`. I keep coming back to this point, that anybody who wants to influence votes at Council can do so relatively easily.

[JustinHorton]

Too much in the ECF depends on "influence" and not enough on representation.

[IanCalvert]

Yesterday I emailed the Silver Membership representative with my preferred choices for the election to be told I was the only person who had so far done so.

. I keep coming back to this point, that anybody who wants to influence votes at Council can do so relatively easily.

For many of us, it is specific, maybe minor IMPROVEMENTS that matter:not lost votes at Council.

Imagine if the much improved Westminster Parliament had an analogous voting power structure. There is a suspicion that even Baldric, of "cunning plan fame " could influence votes at Council... but not many!

[Jonathan Bryant]

Yesterday I emailed the Silver Membership representative with my preferred choices for the election to be told I was the only person who had so far done so.

How ever many people email the Silver Membership representative, he only has one vote. That voting power is far outnumbered by those who would abduct an organisation's vote for their own purposes.

Indeed. And no doubt that is why some people don’t bother. At least it’s why I don’t with the Gold representative.

The issue of representation as opposed to influence is also rather important, I feel.


Anyhoo, with regard to the ECF - we can keep on with the 'nobody bothers with council so there’s no demand for representation' argument if we want. While we do so, posts within the ECF will remain unfilled and the national body will continue to be seen as a distant irrelevance (save for the financial demand).

I do realise, of course, that this is not an easy state of affairs to change, and it’s not the sort of thing that OMOV in and of itself will change. And yet OMOV - in some form - most certainly is necessary if the ECF genuinely wants to engage with its (enforced) members.

[JustinHorton]

I note back in July 2014:

Regarding the governance review, Chris Fegan (CF) and the Governance Committee want to produce a paper for the AGM on OMOV. PE
is to talk to CF, CM and suggest that they provide input to the review rather than producing a separate paper.