Question: voting - a little more info

I want to give a little more information on my previous qustion about voting. We voted by a show of hands at a PTO meeting for a new treasurer. We were not able to count the votes because we were so spread out and so many were there. It also appeared some were voting twice. We were going to have a signature vote as we were going out but some objected to that. We sent home ballots and as our Principal requested. Our principal had her secretary and an Assistant count the votes. Some teachers did not send home votes so not all participated. It has become a big issue because not everyone was represented when the votes were counted and someone saw something going on that was not appropriate. I don't want to cause problems (I am an employee at the school) or hurt any feelings but the count we received only had the 2 canidates 6 votes apart. I had seen some of the votes before they were counted and the other canidate was ahead. Should we just let this go?

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Craig writes:
I think you'd probably be better off looking for a compromise before holding a third election. Are there hard feelings between the candidates? Maybe there's a possibility that they will accept co-treasurer positions. Or that the "winner" will agree to step down at the end of this school year in favor of the other candidate. Would one be happy in another (unelected) board position, say volunteer coordinator? As far as the general perception of your group, the best thing you can do is publicly admit that the election procedure didn't work the way you wanted it to, apologize, state how you have corrected it for future elections, and (best case scenario) have the loser state publicly that she has accepted the result. Good luck, and please let us know how things go.