A secure online voting facility has been developed which will operate via the members section of the Guild website. This system will be available as a method of voting on the resolutions put before the members at the forthcoming AGM. Proxy voting will still be available for members who prefer it.
The electronic voting system will open in early August when the Gazette and Guild News are being delivered. The Annual Report, the Notice of the AGM, the agenda and proxy voting forms (and an SAE) will be enclosed with the mailing in the normal way.
The closing date and time for electronic voting will be the same as the date and time for the delivery of proxy forms to be received. Electronic voting will close at 13.00 hours on Friday 28th August 2020.
A link to the Electronic Voting section will appear on the website home page when it goes live. This will take you directly to your voting form and the candidates' CVs.
The voting this year will be by poll vote on each resolution.
Completing the online voting is simple and you can use the refresh button to establish how many resolutions you have voted on so as not to miss any.
Finally, you confirm your vote by submitting it with a confirmation button at the bottom of the form.
Your vote is counted automatically using the electronic voting facility, the system adds up the votes as they come in and records who has voted for the purpose of the records. The system does not record how you vote. Using the membership database, the system will check that you are a member at the time of voting. It will not allow anyone to vote more than once.
Electronic voting may not appeal to all. Those who prefer to complete a proxy voting form can do so in the usual way. On that page there will also be a downloadable proxy form which can returned by post, or overseas members can email it to the provided email address.
This is a huge step forward and it is hoped as many of you as possible will take advantage of this method of registering your vote securely and safely.
On behalf of the Management Committee
John Kneeshaw Guild President
Tim Humphreys Interim Guild Chairman
Richard Clark Guild Secretary
July 2020