Voting restrictions

[9muckraker7 11]

VAordeal wrote:

 

" Although the new scouts usually know all of the kids in my troop because our pack & troop are chartered by the same school, they do not vote. They dont get a vote because they ususally vote for the nominees that they know personally. "

 

Isn't there some rule against placing such voting restrictions on OA elections?

[bluegoose 10]

I'm not sure if there is a rule against it, but when I was on an election team for the OA we would explain that it is not a popularity contest, and we had a box to check to have your ballot 'withdrawn' so that if a scout didn't want to have his vote counted(doesn't know candidates well enough, etc.)he could do so with the 'embarrasment' of refusing a ballot. An idea to solve this problem is to hold elections (if possible) before the time that the boys cross over into your troop. I'd ask your lodge and/or district election comittee for advice.

[blade1158 11]

"In Boy Scout troops and Varsity Scout teams, every active member of the of the unit under age 21 at the time of election is eligible to vote."

 

page 22, Guide for Officers and Advisers

[Proud Eagle 13]

Again, I must agree with blade.

 

He is spot on with the Guide for Officers and Advisers.

 

Also, to prohibit a member of the unit from voting would violate one of the original tenets of the Order, that being that members be elected by the members of their troop, both members (of the OA) and non-members (of the OA) alike.

 

Now, I suppose someone could suggest that new members may not be well enough informed and therefore should not vote, but it must be the choice of the individual Scout.

 

In the end there should be no such interference with the election process. Everyone should be instructed on the nature and purpose of the OA, the qualifications to look for in a candidate, and the method of election. After this is done, and any related questions are answered, paper ballots should be distributed to all members of the unit under 21 to have an opportunity to vote. It is then the choice of the individual Scouts to decide who to vote for, or if they should vote at all. Any campaigning, or pressuring of Scouts to vote or not vote goes against the spirit of the election process.

[VAordeal 10]

hello all! In ur upcoming election my troop is removing this restriction. Some other leader pointed this rule out and everyone will be voting.