The eAGM held during the first quarter of 2010 was the second electronic AGM that Civil Liberties Australia (CLA) has conducted. This Report of the meeting comprises a brief rundown on the methodology, what has been considered, the voting process and the outcomes. In 2010, there was no vote for directors/board members, as such votes are held every second year under the CLA constitution.
In 2010, there were 254 electronic voting ‘tokens’ (that is, emails which electronically permit voting and are sent to a member’s unique email address) issued for the eAGM. A further 12 paper ballots were issued to members not on email, or not comfortable with its use. Of the total 266 votes issued for the 2009 annual general meeting, 152 members voted…a 57% vote, which is very encouraging and a credit to the membership. This surpasses any likely attendance at a physical AGM, and backs up the Board’s decision three years ago to break new ground by managing the entire process electronically so that all members, no matter where they live, can take part and vote.
Results for the eAGM held in 2010:
- President’s Report Accepted unanimously
- Treasurer’s Report & Accepted unanimously
- Financial Statements 2 negative votes
- Annual Report Accepted unanimously
There were two ‘no’ votes lodged against the financial statements. No comments were received with these votes, so it is not known whether they expressed dissatisfaction, wished to make some other comment, or someone clicked the wrong voting buttons. This year, if anyone wishes to take issue with any item, there is space to make a comment, which is a more useful contribution than simply recording a negative vote. Alternatively, members are free to send an email to the president president@cla.asn.au or the secretary: secretary@cla.asn.au or the treasurer
treasurer@cla.asn.au
There was 1 vote against accepting the previous eAGM minutes: many members did not record a vote against this category at all. Under an eAGM, the notion of “minutes” is somewhat different from the job that minutes do under a physical AGM; in future a Report (like this one) will replace the minutes, and there will be no vote on the Report. Members are free to comment on the Report,
of course.
– Returning Officer, Bill Rowlings, May 2010