<div class="gmail_quote">2009/1/27 James Purser <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:james@jamespurser.com.au">james@jamespurser.com.au</a>></span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
This article does raise a valid point even though it seems to contain a<br>
kernel of snark:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/22871/1141/" target="_blank">http://www.itwire.com/content/view/22871/1141/</a><br>
<br>
Why do we get low voter turnouts when we obviously have a much larger<br>
membership? If you didn't vote, I would like to hear why, no blame<br>
attached, just would be interesting to see the reasons.</blockquote><div><br>"Out of everyone who participated in <a href="http://Linux.Conf.Au">Linux.Conf.Au</a>, out of every Linux
user group in the country, out of every person who is on the membership
list of Linux Australia, only another 43 people could muster the
enthusiasm to express a preference."<br><br>The elections are held at LCA - how many eligible LA members attended LCA 2009? It was held at lunch time - who was out eating and drinking instead? Who wants to sit through an entire general meeting just to vote? (Maybe if voting was online you'd get more people.) Perhaps there's not enough contact with or visibility of the board during the year to make people aware of the issues and make them feel like they really should vote. Dunno.<br>
<br>I guess the main reason is apathy. Many members probably do not consider it important enough to bother voting.<br>For me, I'm happy with the current board and happy for whoever wins the votes to become president, vice president, treasurer, etc. I'm also happy to defer and let others who really have an opinion vote on my behalf.<br>
<br>Rest assured if I wasn't happy with the board I'd be campaigning a lot harder and you'd probably see a greater turnout. When things are good (and voting's not compulsory) this is what you see.<br><br>"Nevertheless, can President Stewart Smith genuinely assert to
government and educators and corporations that he represents the
interests of Linux users throughout the country when only a tiny number
of them were sufficiently motivated to vote?"<br><br>He sure can. That's how democracy works in the U.K, the U.S and NZ (and possibly every other Democratic country other than Australia).<br>Voting in Australia is compulsory but it's not the only way Democracy works.<br>
<br>-c<br></div></div>