WHEREAS, in accordance with the Bylaws of the Word Game Players’ Organization an election was held for positions on the WGPO Executive Committee and the WGPO Board of Player Representatives with voting conducted in December 2010; and
WHEREAS, without the knowledge of the WGPO webmaster or the members of the WGPO Nominations and Elections Committee, notice given in good faith to the WGPO membership of this election by e-mails from the WGPO web site only reached the first 150 of the approximately 600 members of the organization because the web site’s e-mail program by default did not transmit to more than 150 persons per hour with the remainder of the e-mails placed into a spam folder, and this unfortunate situation was not discovered until after the completion of the election;
WHEREAS, an analysis of the voting strongly indicates that this problem in e-mailing significantly impacted the number of members voting, with those receiving the e-mail notices voting at a rate over twice that of those who did not;
NOW, THEREFORE,
Be it resolved as follows by the Executive Committee and the Board of Player Representatives of the Word Game Players’ Organization, acting jointly, for and on behalf of the Word Game Players’ Organization:
Section 1. It is found and determined that the unintended and unknown failure of the e-mail notices to the WGPO membership resulted in a significant portion of the membership not receiving adequate notice of the ongoing election in December 2010 and deprived those members of the opportunity to participate in that election and that this failure of notice calls into question the validity of the results of that election.
Section 2. It is further found and determined that the best and fairest way to remedy the problems in the December 2010 election is to set aside the results of that election and conduct a new election with notice given to the entirety of the WGPO membership to the fullest extent possible, and for that reason, the December 2010 election and its results are hereby declared to be null and void and without effect.
Section 3. The Nominations and Elections Committee appointed to conduct the December 2010 election is hereby authorized to continue in existence and to conduct, as soon as possible early in 2011, a new election for the offices involved in the December 2010 election, complying substantially with the terms and conditions of Article VII of the WGPO Bylaws .
Section 4. This Joint Resolution shall be effective when adopted by action of both the existing WGPO Executive Committee and the existing WGPO Board of Player Representatives. Upon its becoming effective, the Joint Resolution shall be posted on the WGPO web site and disseminated to the WGPO membership through an e-mail distribution to them and by posting it on the WGPO listserv and other appropriate listservs.