BLE Focus

Spring 2001
Volume 108 - No. 1

BLE Focus

Voting: Resolutions and Officers

A total of 195 delegates assembled in Cleveland for the Ninth Triennial Convention in 1942, and they met in the large auditorium of the BLE's Engineer's Building.

Voting will be handled using the Audience Response System, which was first instituted at the 1996 Convention. Audience Response consists of a wireless keypad, with which a delegate may vote on motions and amendments. The keypad transmits a signal to several receivers, which forward the data to a computer for collation. The results of each vote are then displayed on a screen within seconds of the vote. Audience Response also will be used for attendance tracking purposes.

Two procedures are a frequent source of contention and misunderstanding at conventions, and they both relate to the manner in which resolutions are presented to the convention body.

The first is the committee's handling of multiple, and differing, resolutions on the same subject or section of law. Some delegates feel that each similar resolution should be deliberated on separately. This undoubtedly would lengthen the convention and could lead to such confusion that the outcome might not be what the delegates actually wanted. A better solution is the procedure adopted in 1996, which was facilitated by new technology introduced at that convention.

Since the Constitution and Bylaws or Legislative Committee has the floor in presenting its report, the committee makes its recommendation. The delegates are then free to adopt, amend or reject that recommendation. They may even vote to substitute another resolution for the committee recommendation. If the delegates vote against the committee recommendation, there is then no motion on the floor for discussion; and the first delegate up to the microphone to make a motion is free to move the passage of any one of the other resolutions from divisions on the same subject. The delegates would then be able to adopt, amend or reject that resolution. At that point, another delegate may make a motion for passage of one of the other resolutions not yet deliberated, and so on. It is a proven process, and it works.

The second misunderstood procedure revolves around the committee recommendation itself. In the past, committees often recommended the rejection of a resolution, which required the delegates to basically vote yes to say no, and vice versa. This was confusing. In 1996, the Constitution and Bylaws Committee used a procedure that, combined with the Audience Response screen, made things much more clear. If the committee recommends adoption of the resolution of a division, it would say so. If it recommends adoption of its own resolution, it would say so. But to recommend rejection of any and all resolutions on a particular subject, the committee would merely recommend "Retain Present Law," or "No Change." A "Retain Present Law" or "No Change" recommendation proved to be much easier to understand than a motion to reject.

As in 1996, delegates will have a much clearer idea of what they are actually voting on, because next to the Audience Response Screen is another screen, which will display and highlight the motion being presented or amended. No more necessity to ask the question, "What did we just vote on?"

As has been the practice at previous conventions, draft minutes of the previous day's session will be at each delegate's seat every morning. Delegates must be careful to look over these drafts to find any corrections that may be necessary.

While voting for resolutions is important, one of the main interests of any delegate is voting for ID officers.

All active members are eligible to run for and hold ID offices. Generally, candidates for office will begin campaigning some months before the convention. They do so through word of mouth, e-mail, snail mail, attendance at various meetings, etc.

But at the convention, a very important hurdle must be cleared. In order to have his/her name put on the ballot for an elective office, a candidate must be nominated from the convention floor by a delegate. Non-delegates have no standing at conventions and cannot nominate anyone. A member who fails to be nominated for office has only one option, and that is to run as a write-in candidate for the desired office.

After the 1991 convention, in which ballot counts took more than 15 hours, it was clear that a better method of vote tabulation was required. In 1996, the BLE returned to the old-style lever action voting machines that it had used in the 1960s. The results were a dramatic improvement in the speed and confidence level of the tabulating process.

This year, due a lack of availability of voting machines, different methods of voting are being investigated. One would combine a paper ballot with a scanner and computer to produce fast, accurate results. The other is "touch screen" voting technology.

Either system would make it technically feasible to have nominations, elections and runoff elections on the same day, although this is unlikely to happen due to the candidates' desire to campaign and the delegates desire to interview them at caucuses. Thus, the voting process usually occurs over a two-day period.

Voting will take place just off the convention floor. Delegates will be asked to take their Audience Response keypads with them, so that they can continue to vote on motions and amendments while waiting to cast their election ballots.

Video monitors will be placed near the polling area so voters can keep up with the debate.

Conclusion

Although the convention is 90 percent hard work, delegates, their families, visitors and guests will be able to blow off steam at the BLE/GIA banquet and entertainment night on Thursday. The show band Karakter will be performing after dinner, and there will be a dance floor for those still energetic enough to participate.

While anyone can make predictions, it must be understood that the convention is under the control of the delegates. Therefore, while many may hope to adjourn on Thursday, and it is possible to adjourn on Friday, it would be wise for delegates to plan to remain in session on Saturday, just to be safe. Delegates who shorten their stay at the hotel or change their airline reservations may be subject to penalties.

The convention of the I.D. is the time for our members to be heard through their delegates. It is the time for the delegates to meet the I.D. Officers and candidates and make a decision on future representation. And the convention is one of the prime places where the I.D. gets its direction for the next five years.

Miami Beach is a beautiful location, and delegates are invited to bring their families; but it should be understood that delegates will not see them very often, at least in the first several days, because they are shaping the future of this great organization.

Photo Captions:

Second from Top: W.G. Meeker of BLE Division 901, assistant director of research and education at that time, tallies test scores on a blackboard at a training session for local chairmen during the First Quadrennial Convention in 1966.

Third from Top: International President John F. Sytsma at the podium in the BLE Auditorium during the Third Quinquennial Convention in 1981. In attendance were 326 delegates representing 726 BLE divisions. Brother Sytsma ran unopposed and was elected to the union's top spot for the second time.

Fourth from Top: Delegates to the Sixth Quinquennial Convention in 1996 took to the streets and rallied with a large group of striking newspaper workers in Detroit. The BLE delegates took up a collection and donated $20,000 to the newspaper workers' strike fund.

Second from Bottom: Members of the Credentials Committee during the Ninth Triennial Convention in 1942. From left: Brothers William Holdinghousen, Division 811; Floyd D. Weaver, Division 472; James J. Kelly, Division 404; and Hugh Maginnis, Division 68.

Bottom: Delegates in the BLE Auditorium during the 12th Triennial Convention in 1953.

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