Really, is a Proxy vote good for Kin?

Proxy Definition;

1. A person authorized to act for another; an agent or substitute.

2. The authority to act for another.

3. The written authorization to act in place of another.

District 5 House Rules, Section 14, Article 7;

District Proxy

a)   A proxy shall be allowed at District Convention, Fall Leadership Conference or any special membership meeting.

b)  A proxy is the authority given to an active life member or active member, in good standing within the District, to vote on behalf of an absentee Club.

c)   A proxy must be in written form, delivered to the credentials desk prior to the commencement of the District meeting. A proxy must be dated, may have a statement of intent to proxy voting authority, be signed by, two executive members preferably the President and the Secretary.

d)  Proxy authority may be used at any poll vote or ballot vote, within that assigned District meeting.

A proxy does allow all Kin to have their voice. This seems to be the only benefit to a proxy. We have a proxy to give the illusion of democracy and fairness. In reality many organization do NOT have a proxy vote, reasons are as follows;

• ·        A proxy is, in essence, a power of attorney. Thus the proxy holder votes how they feel the vote should be placed, and not necessarily how the absent member wanted the vote placed.

• ·        A proxy will dramatically change the dynamics of the floor of a conference. When a straw vote is held, we would have 80 people in the room, with all the information. If a poll vote is held, then there will be 500 votes, with about 5 Kin holding ¾ of the vote. I do not believe that this is democratic or fair. This is a recipe for disillusion for the majority of members.

• ·        We have a huge issue with participation in Kinventions and conferences. We need to educate members and make them more active in our Association. Do we do this with the proxy rule? A proxy allows members and Clubs to stay home. A proxy just rewards members for not being active. We need to make members accountable, if they wish to have a voice, they must become part of the Organization.

• ·        All Clubs need only send one member to be able to have their own vote. This should not be difficult, to send at least one member.

A proxy does not promote democracy; rather it puts the voting power in the hands of a few. We need more informed decisions, having a proxy system has the unknowledgeable members with the power of the vote. A Club that is too complacent to send a member to Kinvention should not be afforded the luxury of having a vote. The active members and Clubs that take part in our meetings and the discussion are the ones that I would like to see making the decisions in our Association. Members and Clubs that stay home and don’t have the information should not be making choices for us.

Who do you give your proxy to? Why aren’t you attending? Are they really voting in your best interest?