One question that frequently challenges the cooperative principles that should be guiding a housing cooperative is the question of cumulative voting vs. straight voting. Both cumulative voting and straight voting are accepted ways to conduct the nomination and election of board members, but the different outcomes they produce could result in different people becoming involved in the management of a cooperative.
How can an online voting system or electronic voting system help a housing cooperative? Every co-op board runs into voting situations that are nuanced and that’s where the electronic voting provides anonymity, transparency, speed and permanent record needed to make the right decisions.
Reticence. It’s a fancy word that means a “reluctance to speak about something” and reticence is often the last thing that a board wants to encounter when asking voters to speak their minds.
“Laws are like sausages,” is it said. “Best not to see them being made.”
While that may be true for most people, if you’re a member of a conference committee or a subcommittee charged with creating laws, you need to pay close attention to how those laws are made.
All cooperatives have at their core the same fundamental principles: The cooperative—or co-op—is owned and managed by its members, all of whom share in the profits or benefits of the co-op itself.
What is bullet voting? Basically, bullet voting—also known as single-shot voting or plump voting—is a tactic used when voters who could vote for multiple candidates actually vote only for the one candidate whom they most want to see among the winners.
When it comes to voting and accuracy, smaller associations and governing bodies have a decided advantage. Whether voting by voice, ballot or show of hands, it’s unlikely that anyone’s vote will get overlooked or improperly counted.
The nominating process for political office is, in many places, mired in traditions that don’t lend themselves to efficient and accurate voting.
As we gradually learn more and more about the extent to which foreign governments might have tampered with the 2016 election in the United States, governments and organizations that depend on voting are understandably concerned about how they’ll be affected by ongoing security issues.
Because the American system of government is one that relies on democratic principles, the system of governing by majority rule has naturally carried over into the non-governmental realm of our boards and associations.
