X-Message-Number: 965
Date: 08 Jul 92 01:09:44 EDT
From: Charles Platt <>

for CRYONET: 
 
Of relevance to Steve Bridge's letter [msg #0014.13] (which raises the 
concept of limited terms, among others) Article 5, Section 4 
of the Alcor Bylaws, states: 
 
     Each Director shall hold office until 
     the next annual meeting for election of the Board of
     Directors as specified in these Bylaws, and until his
     or her successor is elected and qualifies.
 
Article 5, Section 8 states:
 
     At the annual regular meeting of the Directors for the
     month of September Directors shall be elected by the 
     Board of Directors. Cumulative voting for the election
     of Directors shall not be permitted. The candidates
     receiving the highest number of votes up to the number
     of Directors to be elected shall be elected. Each
     Director shall cast one vote, with voting being by
     ballot only.
 
If I understand this correctly, it seems to say that every 
year, in September, it is mandatory for the board of 
directors to hold an election, either to re-elect themselves 
or to elect new directors. Thus, so far as I can see, Alcor 
is already half-way to Steve Bridge's desire for periodic 
renewal. 
 
However, I am unable to understand from Article 5 exactly how 
the voting procedure works. What is "cumulative voting"? Can 
anyone define or explain this term? And in practice, does the 
annual election simply result in each director voting himself 
or herself back into office? Since each director can only 
cast one vote, this would seem to be the implication. Or does 
the paragraph mean that each director casts one vote *for each 
office?* 
 
I am bringing this up because it seems foolish to start 
debating the ways in which the organization may be "reformed" 
if we are not clear, to begin with, on how the organization 
is supposed to function right now. Maybe everyone else is 
quite familiar with the procedures; but as a relative 
newcomer, I'm not. 
 
--Charles Platt

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