March TW is here ...now what???

[Welcome]

This is NOT a political thread!!! It is merely a follow-up to Mr. Bob Palma’s excellent, unbiased and non-political thread he started here in this very SDC Forum about the all-important special election for Director of our Crossroads Zone, therefore, a seat on the SDC Board of Directors. Wife and I have read the excellent personal presentations both candidates offered (ref. March TW, pages 6 & 7) and are ready to cast our ballot or ballots ...BUT ...there appears to be no specific instructions & rules as to exactly who can vote and how to complete the ballot form(s) for various SDC member situations.

A few examples;

If your spouse’s name does not appear on your current SDC membership card, can he or she still vote? Will their vote be counted?

If a spouse wants to vote for one candidate and you the other, will a split vote ballot be counted? If yes, how should it be marked? Are separate ballots needed or do the rules allow separate ballots cast under the same SDC membership number?

We have research several decades back of TURNING WHEELS and the SDC Forum Archives to find clear answers to the above to no avail. In TURNING WHEELS we found much detailed information on who may run for what SDC office and details on the nominating process itself, but when it comes to the actual membership voting process little to no information could be found.

Does anyone know for sure and would like to share the information/instructions for voters with us here. If not, feel free to email the information to us at the address in our signature box below.

(For the purpose of clarification a scanned copy of the ballot in our March TURNING WHEELS appears below)

IMPORTANT: YOUR ballot(s) must be received by our SDC V.P. (Mr. Thomason) on or before April Fool’s Day 2012. Members voting in this special election must be current SDC members and live in the Crossroads Zone.

TIA for all those who respond!!!

[(S)]

Write in 2 very different colors! Looks easy enough, put your name where it says 'self' and her name where it says 'spouse' If you are the person named on your member card.

Maybe an SDC official can chime in , but it looks alot like 2 different votes would be OK, since thats how it reads.......

[Welcome]

Write in 2 very different colors! Looks easy enough, put your name where it says 'self' and her name where it says 'spouse' If you are the person named on your member card.<<<

Thanks for your input!!!

[2R5]

I f you and your spouse don't agree in the candidate why not just save a stamp and not vote !
I hope you realize that you'd just cancel each othere vote !

[Welcome]

I f you and your spouse don't agree in the candidate why not just save a stamp and not vote !
I hope you realize that you'd just cancel each othere vote !

That one specific question was posed for those in that situation married ...or living together ...and having the same SDC membership number.

WE do know who WE both are voting for, but of course the SDC Forum is certainly not the place to be broadcasting personal decisions in such matters!!!

[2R5]

I was wondering why we can't vote on with the internet , since we can renew our membership that way....doesn't seem thatit would be hard to set up and I bet we'd have alot more votes in the end.

[Skip Lackie]

Two signatures count as two votes for the same candidate. If you want to vote separately, make a second copy of the ballot. One member number gives two spouses the right to vote. All the details are spelled out in the bylaws.

[studegary]

That one specific question was posed for those in that situation married ...or living together ...and having the same SDC membership number.

WE do know who WE both are voting for, but of course the SDC Forum is certainly not the place to be broadcasting personal decisions in such matters!!!

If you are married, you each get a single vote on one SDC membership. If you are just living together, the membership only gets one vote. SDC is a family organization/membership.

[Welcome]

>>>All the details are spelled out in the bylaws.

Thanks for that all important voting info. Our ballot was duly marked & mail a few minutes ago!!!

BTW; we are always given an up-to-date copy of our Chapter's Bylaws, but in the 19 years we have been Studebaker Driver's Club, Inc. members we have never seen or were given a copy of the SDC Bylaws. Where can we find/get them??? TIA

[studegary]

Thanks for that all important voting info. Our ballot was duly marked & mail a few minutes ago!!!

BTW; we are always given an up-to-date copy of our Chapter's Bylaws, but in the 19 years we have been Studebaker Driver's Club, Inc. members we have never seen or were given a copy of the SDC Bylaws. Where can we find/get them??? TIA

They were published in Turning Wheels during the time that I was on the SDC Board. They are supposed to be published occasionaly, but that seems to be lacking. I guess that an online version has replaced the printed version (assuming they are online - I haven't checked).

[Skip Lackie]

Like Gary, I am also no longer on the board, so I can't answer the question definitively. They used to be printed in TW annually, usually in conjunction with the minutes of the annual board meeting (especially if the board changed some part of the bylaws). While I was still on the board a few years ago, the bylaws had been amended so many times that they were becoming unwieldy -- a minor change in one section often triggered many necessary changes in other sections. As a result, there was an effort to greatly simplify the bylaws and move a lot of routine procedural material into a Policy and Procedures Manual that could be more easily updated. Since SDC is a New York corporation, changes in the bylaws are (theoretically) supposed to be reported to the state -- so there was a strong motivation to make them as "permanent" as possible and put the trivial BS into a separate document. As a I recall, Larry Swanson was responsible for updating a loose-leaf book called the SDC Inside Facts every other year, copies of which were then sent to the president of each chapter. The Inside Facts book included among many other things, like the latest version of the bylaws, the judging manual, a listing of past meet locations, SDC presidents, etc.

I thought the bylaws were available on the home page under "Resources", but I don't see them there. They should be available to all members. Suggest you contact your board member and ask why they're not posted somewhere that is easily accessible. And check with your local chapter to see if they have a copy of the Inside Facts.

[studegary]

The most recent copy of "Inside Facts" that our chapter has received is the 2008 version. Is there a later version?

[Skip Lackie]

Gary-
If that question is directed at me, then I don't know -- I haven't been on the board for three years. As I noted, it was my understanding that the Inside Facts books would be updated and provided to all chapters approximately every other year. Suggest posing the question to either a board member or Larry Swanson.

The 2008 version of the Inside Facts would include a reasonably current version of the bylaws and should answer the original question posed above (if anybody still cares). It's worth noting that even when the bylaws were printed in TW every year, most members said that they had never seen them. Most of us read TW for its Stude content, and tend to skip over things like budgets and meeting minutes.