Returning Office Q&A session

	A	B	C	D	E
1	Link to Statments	http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/ro0112state
2	Questions >	What steps, if any, would you suggest to increase turnout in our polls? Edward Edinburgh, personal question	Can the candidates confirm that they will keep all matters pertaining to the Returning Officer post confidential and that includes family and partners etc? Stuart N Shropshire	There are a number of polling software packages available; some you have to pay for, some are free, and they don't all have the same features - I think we have used three different packages so far. If for any reason we needed to change package again, how would you go about selecting the most appropriate software to use, who would you involve in your research, and how would you test it prior to use? Jane	The role of returning officer seems to call for quite a mixture of skills; organising information, communicating clearly, dealing with polling software, occasional heavy workload, meeting deadlines and I'm sure there are more. Which bit of the job do you think will be hardest for you? Jo Central Fife
3	Candidate

4	Carole Marland	This is a tough one. We can try to encourage people to vote, by emphasising how important it is for people to vote, and making Central a really friendly place so that people want to join!	A really important question Stuart, thank you! Absolutely! No questions asked. Confidentiality is key and high on my list of priorities! I would not disclose information.	Thanks Jane for a really valid question! I would certainly look at the free options over and above anything else and take into consideration our requirements and try to match the software accordingly. My choice of person to involve would be the retiring RO and/or our Tech team!	Hi Jo Great question! I can't see any of it posing a problem for me! However, to answer your question I think it would have to be the others you have not mentioned. I'm pedantic about ensuring that I have everything correct, so that is going to be the hardest thing I deal with, but it is manageable. Carole Sixmum
5	Joy Abbott	Thanks for your interesting question, here is my reply: As all the Freegle GO's & Mods have the option of taking part in any poll I cannot think of anything that we could do to increase the turnout. It is easy to think that if we wrote to them all individually that they would vote but I cannot see this happening, what I can see is that more of them would be annoyed. I know that I would be!	As I said when someone (was that you?) asked the same question to the Rep's candidate, my reply is the same here as it was then, as I have been Self Employed in the Guest House, Hotel and since 1975 the Retail Trade I am used to keeping things to myself.	If I were to be elected I would be a partner with Stuart and as such we would work out between ourselves whether the package we are using at the moment is the best one or not. I do not believe it is necessary to change things if they are seen to be working properly in the first place. I am quite sure that Stuart and I would be able to do all the things required and we would be able to work together.	Thanks for your question you asked I am quite sure that the RO does need lots of skills but so does everyone who has ever owned their business. As everyone knows there is a team of two RO's and I am quite sure that if I was elected I could work with Stuart. I know that I've mentioned it before, but in MHO teams should work together, it's no use having one RO who thinks that they know everything & who takes on the role as an individual person. There are lots of things that I do know, and several that I don't ... and I am glad of this as it makes me a normal person who will always look forward to either learning new things or improving on what I do know.
6	Paul Thompson	This is a tough one. First, during the early days of Freegle we made a bit more use of my mass mailing software to remind people of elections and polls before voting was closed. It would be worth considering doing this again, though we'd have to balance that with our appetite for sending yet another mass mailing. Second, one thing I have learned while working with the Freegle Geeks is that the easier it is for someone to do something, the more chance that they'd actually do it. As such, it'd be worth investigating how we can work to make voting easier. For instance, would it be acceptable to allow voting via a simple reply to the poll/election announcement mass mailing (assuming all the required details were included). Alternatively, setting up the actual elections and polls such that fewer clicks are required to participate might be worth considering. Third, I think it would be worth while for the Returning Officer team to do a bit of analysis on the data regarding poll participation. As my job involves databases and data analysis, I've always been curious as to whether any trends could be identified as to the participation in our polls. After identifying such trends, there may be some obvious things we can do to encourage more voting. But finally, voter participation is inherently linked to Volunteers interest in what's going on nationally. When Freegle first launched we had a surplus of passion and enthusiasm. However, as is typical of organisations, this interest fairly quickly tapered. Since then, voting participation has actually been pretty consistent. So while it always seems good to get more people involved in voting, it may be true as well that those voting her are actually interested is actually what we need. So again, if we want more people voting, we have to get more people interested in what is going on within Freegle as a national organisation.	As for the base issue of confidentiality, I would hope that my two years as a Rep would show that I can keep things confidential, even when times get tough. I would absolutely respect the confidentiality of the role. However, I chat with my wife about most everything that goes on in my life and would make no guarantee that I wouldn't chat with her about my goings on as Returning Officer. That wouldn't ever include specific details about who's voting for who, etc, etc. But I am sure that'd I'd ramble with her about the ongoing elections and my participation in that role. Of course, as my wife of 12 years, I know full well that she can keep anything confident that I talk with her about (as my life long partner) in confidence.	It's always fun to have a question that is fun for the geek in me. ;) Evaluating software is something I often have to do in my day job. For Freegle, I'd use the same sort of criteria that I use in my day job. Those would include: 1. Features - Our requirements aren't horribly complicated, but we do have a few. I'd look back over the past polls and elections we've run and put together a list of the features we either need or would like in a piece of polling software. That would form a list for evaluating the various options. 2. Reliability - Anything we use should be reliable. Whether we chose to self host it or used an external company, we need something that we know is reliable. 3. Security - We also need something that we can be confident of the security. One aspect of this, based on previous poll feedback, is that external hosting provides more voter confidence that confidentiality of elections and polls can be maintained. 4. Cost - I don't subscribe to the belief that we have to find a free option any more. Freegle now has a bank account and funds coming in. However, if an option does cost, it needs to be identifiably better then the free options and within a budget that the Reps and our Treasurer feels is appropriate. That about sums it up, though I am sure there would always be other aspects to consider.	I have to admit that I have struggled with this question a lot. Much of the organisational side of the Returning Officer role doesn't phase me as I have to deal with such details much in my day job. Also, after two years as a part of Reps, I feel quite well prepared to deal with the interpersonal part of this job. However, as I have thought about it I have realised that the toughest part of this role would be managing the timelines associated with polls and elections. As a grassroots and democratic foundation is a vital part of Freegle, I feel quite passionate that polls and elections are run with a high degree of precision and professionalism. So I'd likely hold myself to a pretty high standard in this area, which as a perfectionist is always tough. However, while my personal life and job often run me ragged, I am usually quite good at working to meet those critical and time sensitive deadlines. So the time management would be a challenge, but one I think I could work out in the long run.
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