Alumni are currently voting on whether to eliminate alumni-wide balloting in uncontested elections for alumni trustees and executive committee members. In addition to the change in balloting policy, the proposed amendment to the Alumni Association constitution would reduce the use of paper ballots and change the constitution’s wording to reflect name changes to Dartmouth’s medical and business schools.
Voting on the amendment as well as the 2014 executive committee — for which every candidate is uncontested — began on Feb. 12 and will continue until March 11. While candidates are elected by majority, the amendment must attain a two-thirds majority vote to pass.
The executive committee proposed the changes in order to reduce costs and increase efficiency, Association of Alumni president John Daukas ’84 said.
“Dartmouth alumni get lots of requests from the College to do things — donate money, interview new students, respond to surveys and get involved in lots of different ways,” Daukas said. “Pursuing alumni and saying, ‘Look, you really have to vote in this election,’ when there is only one candidate running doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.”
The executive committee commissioned the proposed amendment following years of alumni requests, Daukas said, estimating that the association has received roughly 30 letters each year from alumni calling for change.
The association spends about $70,000 to conduct a vote among the entire alumni body.
James Adler ’60 said he supports the proposed amendment because it lowers costs and reduces redundancy.
Funds for printing ballots and purchasing postage stamps come from the College, former Alumni Association president John Mathias ’69 said.
Mathias said that holding an alumni-wide election is not worth the expenses of balloting when the election is uncontested.
Voting percentages rise in contested elections, Daukas said. On average, around 30 percent of alumni vote in contested trustee elections.
Last year, about 13 percent of alumni voted in uncontested elections, Daukas said in an email.
All current candidates for the Association of Alumni executive committee — which includes a president, two vice presidents, a secretary-treasurer and seven additional members — currently stand uncontested. Three candidates are seeking reelection to their current seats, including secretary-treasurer Martha Beattie ’76 and committee members Karen Francis-DeGolia ’84 and Mark Harty ’73.
The election does not include candidates for alumni trustee positions, as there are no vacancies this year.
Susan Finegan ’85, who is running for president of the association, said that her campaign was not affected by the lack of competition.
In previous elections, alumni could cast votes either electronically or by mail. The proposed amendment would make electronic ballots the default, though alumni will still be able to vote via mail if they request paper ballots.
The Association of Alumni constitution has been changed many times its in history. The proposed amendment will restore the original voting rules that governed the Association of Alumni and Alumni Council, Daukas said.
Two committees lead the Dartmouth alumni body. The Association of Alumni conducts alumni trustee elections, and the Alumni Council nominates alumni trustee candidates and represents and communicates alumni views on College affairs.
The current constitution gives the Alumni Council the ability to nominate up to two alumni trustee candidates.
In addition to the candidates nominated by the Alumni Council, alumni can nominate petition candidates. In order to run as a petition candidate, an individual must attain 500 signatures from Dartmouth alumni who can vote.
The proposed amendment would not affect the petition candidate process, Daukas said, adding that he believes the option to nominate petition candidates is a valuable part of the alumni trustee election process.
“I think it’s a great safety valve to have,” Daukas said.
In recent years, no petition candidates have been elected, and the Alumni Council has selected only one candidate for a trustee spot.
The article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction appended: Feb. 24, 2014
The original version did not correctly state the number of signatures that a petition candidate must attain before running in the trustee election. This figure is 500, not 50, which is the figure for Association of Alumni officer petition candidates.
