Why is the Election being held on Rootsweb with all of the problems they are creating for the Project?
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How do I know my vote will be secret? In the past there was a lot of discussion about the EC members knowing who voted for who.
How do I know that my vote won't be tampered with?
The voting booth software will be on the U of IN's server and Larry Stephens will be in charge of it. Most of you know of Larry. He has several e-mails lists and he hosted many lists when the old Maiser system went down. Larry has no connection with the USGenWeb Project. He has agreed to oversee our election as a completely impartial outsider
Once the voting begins the EC will be just as much in the dark as everyone else. The only reports the EC will receive from the voting booth software will be reports of the total number of voters who have cast a vote as of a specific date. None of the EC members will know who voted, who they voted for or where any candidate stands.
When the election is over the EC will receive a report listing all candidates and the total number of votes each received?
The Election Voting Booth Software will have a full record of who voted should any vote or seat be challenged. But, that information will not be available as a whole to the EC, the AB or any other group or faction of the Project. If any individual wants to know that their vote was actually recorded the information on their own vote will be available to them. Should any challenge be made about a candidate's total votes then the voting information can be confirmed.
Every vote will be private and secure.
Why are we only allowed to vote once this year? In the past I could vote as many times as I wanted. What if I change my mind?
In past elections there has always been problems with people questioning which of their votes were actually "counted". To eliminate any possibility of charges of tampering or counting the wrong vote the EC elected to have the voter software allow only one vote. In real life we are only allowed to vote one time. We can't change our minds and go vote again.
The USGenWeb Election runs for 31 days (Jul 1-Jul 31). That is ample time for anyone to decide who they wish to vote for.
I received four copies of the broadcast message, does this mean I have four votes?
No. The first broadcast message was sent to verify e-mail addresses and let people know to watch for the e-mail containing their password. There was a problem with the list server and the list was accidentally set as an "open list". The error was caught quickly and fixed. However, there were a few posts that were made to the list during the time it was open.
Your voter password will be sent to you in a 2nd e-mail (between June 30th and July 1st). If you receive more than one password please notify Keith Giddeon keith@giddeon.com immediately. That means that you are on the voter list under two different names with two different e-mail addresses.
So you're actually saying that someone could vote twice? Why are you allowing this to happen?
Until such time as the EC has a way for each individual volunteer to register to vote the EC has to depend on the SC of each state to send in a list of qualified voters. This year several of the SC's didn't send a list and it was necessary for the EC to visit every county (or the local equivalent of a county) and gather names and e-mail addresses by hand. If a person is listed on different state's county pages under different names and e-mail addresses then there is the possibility that that person is entered twice in the voter list. Under these circumstances the EC has no way of knowing it's the same individual. The only thing the EC can do is depend on the honesty of the person receiving more than one password to let us know so we can correct the voter's list.
I didn't receive my voter password - why?
It is possible that your mail bounced or it's possible that your name was left off of the lists sent by the SC or if the SC didn't send the EC a voter list - it is possible that the EC didn't find your name on the state's county list or county site. The USGenWeb Project's Election runs for 31 days (July 1st thru July 31st) so there is time to verify your information and, if you are qualified to vote, to add you to the voter list. Send an e-mail to Keith Giddeon keith@giddeon.com. He is in charge of the master voter's list.
How come my ballot isn't the same as a friend of mine?
The Voting Booth Software is set up so that each volunteer sees only the ballots they are eligible to vote on. The Voter list includes the region(s) or special project(s) you are eligible in and that is the only ballot(s) you will see.
I went to vote and I didn't get all the regions I'm qualified to vote for - what gives?
I went to vote and I have a ballot that I don't think I'm suppose to have.
The master voter list includes all of the regions and/or special project seats you are eligible to vote for based upon the information sent in by your SC or the information gathered by hand by the EC members. When you enter the voting booth the voter program checks your log-in information against the master voter list and reads the region(s) you are qualified to vote in. Those regional ballots are then displayed for you. If you didn't get all of the correct ballots that means that not all of your information was sent to the EC. If you received a ballot that you shouldn't have that means the information in the master list is incorrect. Please contact Linda Davenport lhaasdav@mindspring.com and the EC will get the information corrected.
I think this is a poor way to run an election! People can vote in an area that they're not suppose to!!!!
As long as the EC must depend on information supplied by other people or as long as the information about voters has to be gathered from the lists on State Pages or Special Project pages the possibility for errors exists. The EC believes that the majority of the volunteers of this project are honest and will notify the EC of any mistakes. For those few who are dishonest ..... there is nothing the EC can do.
HELP! I've lost my password.
The EC does not have access to any of the voter passwords. Please contact: Larry Stephens stephenl@indiana.edu
I went to vote and I got an error message when I hit the "cast vote" button.
You must set your browser to accept cookies. When you log in the cookies that are set on your computer contain the information on which seats you are qualified to vote for. When you hit the cast vote button the voting program compares the ballot # with the variables set by the cookies. The cookies do NOT contain the information on who you voted for and they expire the same day you vote.
What are the limits on who votes? I am a CC volunteer for several counties and could even hold many positions in associated activities like Archives area etc. Why do I only have one vote? Shouldn't I vote several time in the national election as well as each region I'm involved in?
Each volunteer has one vote for every region they qualify in. If a volunteer was allowed to vote for every county or job they do then the election would cease to be a fair representation of the membership since a few individuals who host several sites (jobs) could swing the election even if their choice was not the choice of the majority of the membership.
What happens if a candidate resigns from the race before the completion of the election period? Is the voter who cast a vote for that person now disenfranchised (aka out of luck), or will they be eligible to cast a ballot for one of the remaining candidates? How will a situation such as this be handled by the EC, should it happen?
If the voter has already cast their vote for a candidate that withdraws the voter cannot vote again for one of the remaining candidates. The Voting Booth software is set up to accept only one vote. This problem will be taken into consideration by the EC for future elections.
Do you have questions that are not covered above? Please forward them to: Linda Davenport lhaasdav@mindspring.com and we will do our best to answer them.