Woes of Write-in

How Maggie became a write-in for Regional Director was covered in another post. This is about what happens afterward.

If someone is a write-in, and they are elected, and they are not at Convention, how do they know they are elected? Think about it. If friends call them and tell them, is that 'official'?

As far as official notice goes, there weren't any. While we are on the subject, come to think of it, no one even called to confirm if she indeed wanted to serve!

Last year, the Election Results were on the AKA Web Site the following morning. This year that did not happen. Think about it. Several friends called to say she was elected. There was no way to determine if she was officially elected. Could she even say Thank You to the people who supported her without getting in to trouble?

To answer that question, yes, she did. She sent a Post to the Region One Club E-Groups:

Thank you to everyone who wrote me in for AKA Region One Director. I
look forward to serving the Region One to the best of my ability.

It is not yet official. The election results are not on the AKA Web Site
and I have not heard from the AKA President or from anyone on the AKA
Elections Committee.

The first order of business is the Regional Report for Kiting magazine.
Please e-mail me any information or pictures you would like to see
included. The report is due on the 22 of October.

Thanks for your help.

Maggie copied the AKA President on her Post. That earned her this response:

The election results are handled by the election committee. Jerry McGuire is the chair. The president has nothing to do with the election process, and in fact, is not allowed to be part of the committee or to contact candidates in their official capacity.

If you have issues with how the election has been handled, talk to Jerry.

The transition to the new board takes place 2 weeks from Wednesday, 10/13.

The webmaster will contact you before that,

Barbara

Um, huh?
First, Maggie was never a candidate.
Second, even if she was a candidate, she was no longer a candidate once the election was over. Third, she has no issues with the election process.
Fourth, she is not an RD until 10/27, but must have her RD Report submitted by 10/22?

It is very interesting that someone (such as our esteemed AKA President) who has no problem telling anyone what to do, can't suggest to her Elections Committee Chair that they notify someone who has been elected to an important position by write-in ballot. It would be nice if one of the "By The Book" people let her know she was the new RD, before they threw The Book at her for either presuming to be or not acting quickly enough to be. Can you say damned either way?

But perhaps the President has good reason to be so terse. The Regional Director, who was turned out of office by someone who was not even on the ballot, was her choice for AKA Regional Director of the Year.