[nabs-l] nabs-l Digest, Vol 33, Issue 12

[Marissa Slaughter]

Although I agree that having a state delegate would provide for a more organized and decorous NABS election, I believe that sitting with ones state would be essential. Granted, if the delegate did not wish to ask the opinion of the other members of her or his state, there would be no reason to sit with that group. However, if a delegate were interested in the opinions of the other members, the way to ensure that those opinions were heard would be to sit according to states. I agree that it would be simple to ask, "Who is in favor of...", but sitting by states would be essential for that to work. 

Furthermore, I am personally not in favor of state delegates because I believe that each person's figurative voice should be heard. Majority would rule with a state delegate system, but we all know that sometimes the majority does not take into consideration the views, thoughts, or feelings of the minority. On the other hand, I do understand the merits of a state delegates system, especially considering the problems we had at this past meeting. 

Marissa


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Message: 15
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:25:54 -0400
From: "Corbb O'Connor" <corbbo at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] NABS Leadership Update
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
    <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID:
    <4ed9a39a0907150825n1cd8d6eelce1ead92960501f2 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Thank you for your comments on the idea of delegation voting. One
misconception that is worth righting: most state presidents will agree that
the delegate's vote is NOT intended to be democratically chosen. As one
state president told me after the Freeman/Sayer election, the delegates on
the convention floor have more inside knowledge than the general membership.
State presidents -- in the NFB and in NABS -- are chosen because of their
leadership, past experience, and beliefs on what is best for the division.
It therefore makes sense that their vote have more influence in a runoff
election. As for what ensures that each state has a voice at the NABS
meeting, this is easier than you might think. Before convention, state
presidents send in the names of their state's delegate and alternate who
will be in attendance at the NABS meeting. That list is assembled, and those
people are called on if there is a runoff election at the NABS business
meeting. Would sitting by state require some work? Probably. Is it
essential? Not really. If a state president wanted to do a quick vote within
their delegation before voting, a simple: "Those of you from New Jersey, who
favors...and who favors..." with a voice vote would do the trick. Of course
that requires that decorum at NABS meetings be improved from what we saw
this year.

Corbb
President, Virginia Students Division

On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 9:40 AM, Briley Pollard <brileyp at gmail.com> wrote:

> Corbb,
>
> I agree that this is a way for the blind to independantly run an
> election, but there is the issue of representation. What insures that
> the representative from each state speaks for the majority? I know in
> Tn during the bored election in general session, our rep didn't ask us
> who we wanted in the position. He picked who he wanted without
> consulting the membership. As for sitting with our state, that isn't a
> bad idea. Maybe sit with our region? This would probably make things a
> little more organized, which is my eternal hope for NABS.
>
> -Briley
>
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End of nabs-l Digest, Vol 33, Issue 12
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