Anyone else had a letter about this? OK, realistically, I wouldn’t have attended anyway, and I’m not sure I would have used my postal vote. But got a letter from MS Soc. yesterday, apologising that I never got the chance, because they hadn’t sent me my AGM invitation or voting papers. They then helpfully went on to explain that the constitution allows the results of the votes still to stand, despite the fact that some members, like me, were disenfranchised. So that’s alright then! I was already a bit peeved that the forum transition was dogged by delays and problems - but do accept that providing a forum is only a very minor part of the Society’s work, and, probably rightly, isn’t a top priority. But then I find out they couldn’t manage a meeting and a vote, either, without excluding some of the members. :roll: There’s no indication, in the letter, what proportion of the membership was affected. So I’m just wondering if anyone else has had a letter about this? My membership is up for renewal next month. Less than impressed, at the moment, so don’t think I’ll bother. Tina
Hi Tina - I’ll forward your enquiry to our Governance dept who organised the AGM and get back to you ASAP… Thanks Bob
Thanks Bob, I realise they couldn’t really do much, apart from apologise, once it had already happened. But I’m curious whether it was a very tiny number of members affected, or quite a lot. I’m a relatively new member (less than one year), so my guess is they must have used an out-of-date list. I’m surprised it’s not all automated though…or am I? 
Tina
Hi Tina Thanks for understanding. I’m not sure how the error occurred, but our Governance team tell me that they’re reviewing the situation and have already taken steps to ensure this does not happen again. For now, we can only apologise. I hope you’ll reconsider your decision not to renew your membership. The Society is its members and is better and stronger for having you on board. Have a great weekend! Bob
:roll: Me too. I’m a new (less than 1 year) girl too, but it just makes me more interested in the society; I may just have to get more involved and start an internal revolution. Sisters & Brothers - united we can just about stand up! :lol: :lol: :lol: Clarexxx
I received a letter too. I officially ‘joined’ as a member during the last year. The only thing they can realistically do is to either re-run the vote or let the results stand. I suspect the latter will be what happens. Are they going to explain why/how I’ve been excluded? And why my vote seemingly doesn’t count? What if my vote would have made a difference to any of the results? I don’t think it’s relevant whether I’d have exercised my right to vote. I probably wouldn’t to be honest. I can’t remember what they do in elections where there have been problems with getting voting cards to people. There was a lot of that during our last general election - some people in Bristol were sent the voting cards for a different area so they were effectively denied a vote. I think they looked at the result and determined that it wouldn’t have mad a different to the result if everyone who couldn’t vote had voted for the second placed candidate.
Hi All, Good to know I’m not alone - although that hardly makes it any better. Looks like what probably happened is they used an out-of-date list, so those of us affected were all new(ish) members. Ellen - actually, I completely agree it’s irrelevant whether or not we would have voted. It’s a hypothetical now, because we never got the chance. If you look at your letter again (assuming we all got the same letter, of course) I think it makes pretty clear they won’t be re-running the votes. Apparently the constitution expressly provides they don’t have to. I suppose it would waste a huge lot of money, and might not change the outcome - but then again, it might have. We’ll never know. There could be some strange effects from eliminating a whole category of voters - in this case, “newer” ones. In any case, it’s not very nice to think that although everyone paid their subscription, some got votes, but some didn’t. Even “not voting” is still a choice. But not if you never got the chance to do otherwise. Clare - at least you made me laugh about “united we can just about stand up”. Reminded me of the Oasis lyric: “Gonna start a revolution from my bed.” :lol: T. x