Voting in person or by proxy?

[Mary B.]

This week our coho voted on two issues, neither of which were terribly dramatic.

The issue is, however, that only those people who have the free time to attend a Sunday afternoon General Meeting could vote. Some of us had proxy votes (I am working on Tokyo time, so could not attend, and many of us work on weekends at libraries and non-profits and employers) but only those people in attendance get to decide if an issue should be revised on the fly and then voted on accordingly.

So all the revisions, all discussion, all the voting, happen in the meeting.

Which means, if you're not there, F2F, at the meeting, your voice doesn't count.

Is this fair?

[Carolyn S]

That's a tough one. On one hand we argue that just because you can't attend the meeting, you will have to live with the outcome, so you should be able to vote absentee or proxy. On the other hand, if you are not at the meeting you miss the discussion, the faces and the body language on the way to the vote, therefore you can't cast an informed vote. In many cases, the proposal is made available in advance, you could call the proposer with your clarifying questions and express your considered opinion. They could be shared in the meeting so you could have a voice in the decision process, even if you can't vote.

We've considered including away members by teleconf or skype in our meetings. Pretty cumbersome and not very satisfying, but a way to participate and even vote.

[Mary B.]

It is a tough one, Carolyn. I'm interested that your coho is actually considering Skype cam. I have suggested it, and gotten nothing but cross-eyed looks of disbelief. Our coho is relatively young, most adults are age 30-60, but I think there are only 5 of us I know of who are actually that comfortable with technology. We're a village of Luddites, I tell ya. How many members of your coho feel comfortable with the idea?

One thing I recently discovered is that our charter and our coho software give us the ability to vote online instead of in person. It's never been used, but there's a clause in our charter that says if 2/3 of the members choose to do so, we can delay the vote and use online voting instead. I think that might be useful for complicated or hot button issues, especially if a coho has the ability to provide an active online discussion board as well as additional focus group meetings before the vote.

[Sharon Villines]

What about a speaker phone? The concern is that you need to be part of the discussion to be part of building consensus. It's a synergistic process. Tossing in a yes or no only works in voting. Even then, not hearing others reasoning for voting yes or no, means you can't consider the information surfaced in the group. No relationship to their feelings or needs.

After 10 or 12 discussions, you may know all the information and points of view that can be raised but what about amendments made in the meeting — and you have already voted yes or no not even knowing what they are.

[Mary Vallier-Kaplan]

Proxies for Plenary meeting of members and proxies for Unit Owners Association are different in our community. At Plenary meeting where 99.9% is consensus seeking decisionmaking, we allow a proxy to be given to the facilitator in advance that shares what you are thinking about the proposal as presented as part of the agenda. There is no proxy for participating in the actual decisionmaking per se. Regarding UOA decisions which are often votes, a written and signed proxy can be given to the Chair in advance of the meeting with your "vote" on the article as posted by the Clerk prior to the meeting. If that changes in any way however the proxy is not valid unless a person writes submitted proxy to another unit owner as such...."vote according to your conscience on my behalf".

Nubanusit Neighborhood & Farm

[connie]

hmmmm..... it's not like this is just a straight condo strata vote - I am of the mindset that absent people need to find a way to contribute -- I would find a trusted neighbour to be my representative and do my vote for me. Some cohousing are experiencing absentee members who are using their units as vacation "homes" and not contributing to the day to day obligations of cohousing. This puts a greater burden on those who are there.