Dear MACers, I am also sending a copy of this message to Mich Sineath, AEJ PR directors and Exec. Dir. Jennifer McGill. Not only was this the first time for us to have to use electronic voting which decreases participation but electronic voting itself typically causes low voter response. Low voter turn out typically hurts candidates of color more than white candidates in any election. I think AEJ is no exception. The low voter turn out is a function of the electronic polling and all the EXTRA things that can go wrong in the multi-stepped process vs. the now "too expensive" mail ballots. The email reminding us to vote could have never gotten to members and not even bounced back to headquarters ... so they wouldn't even know about some. I for one and overwhelmed by too many emails from all the organizations I belong to, including my university switching to email only everything to save money. At least my university has regularly made the size of our electronic boxes smaller because that too costs money. So faculty member email boxes may be temporarily closed a few times a week, every Monday or a few times day depending on what they email volume is like. If one archives emails in order to be allowed to send emails (sometimes my university won't allow me to send emails until I clear my in box), the archive gets bigger and it's easy to miss the ballot in the queue. And the list goes on... I am asking Jennifer, Mich and MACers to proffer suggestions about how we can improve the electronic voting process so as not to disadvantage candidates of color, and well as AEJers of all colors who are "email challenged," which included the majority of the membership I think. Thanks in advance for your help. Know Justice, Know Peace, Rev. Dr. E-K. Daufin, Professor of Communication ASU FSA Co-VP for Faculty, AEJMC MAC Officer Alabama State University, 915 S. Jackson St. Montgomery, AL 36101-0271 PH:334-229-6885 Thanks in advance for your research & creative activity referrals: http://home.earthlink.net/~ekdaufin With all my heart I want work that I love; for abundant pay; in a beautiful, functional, comfortable environment; with/for kind, competent, happy, supportive people who love, enjoy and appreciate me and I they. Ashe. Confidentiality Notice: Unless otherwise noted, this e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. -----Original Message----- From: Federico Subervi [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 10:19 AM Subject: Didn't win... Esteemed colleagues, I am sad and disappointed to share the news that I did not win the AEJMC VP election. Fewer than 700 people voted, and I earned only 217 votes. Linda earned an extra 100. This was a record year in low voter turnout (less than 27% of the membership voted), and it seems to me that few of the colleagues who might have favored me actually remembered to vote. Should my candidacy be of interest to you for some other post or for the following year, please be active and not only submit the nomination, but then please do vote, too. All the best, Federico