Voting transparency policy approved, excludes elections

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The AVMA House of Delegates has added a provision on voting transparency to its operating manual. It states: “All votes of the HOD are transparent except for elections.”

Under the previous policy, percentages of yes and no votes were provided when the HOD voted on resolutions and bylaws changes, but not results of how individual organizations voted. For elections, only the winning candidates were announced; neither the percentages obtained by each candidate nor how each organization voted was provided.

In Resolution 10, the New Hampshire and Vermont VMAs proposed that the AVMA implement a system for voting transparency on issues and elections, with corresponding amendments to the HOD Manual.

The House Advisory Committee drafted an amendment to exclude elections from the new policy.

Among the points raised during discussion on the HOD floor was concern that some delegates could hold grudges against others who didn’t vote for their issue or candidate, and let it influence how they cast future votes. However, it was noted on the HOD floor that the body could elect to keep votes on a sensitive issue confidential.

The HOD approved the amended resolution by an 86 percent vote, to applause. Each organization’s vote on resolutions and bylaws changes will be made electronically available to AVMA members.