Ladylightkeeper asked me to post the following for her. She is on vacation and does not have computer access.

The time is now here to cast your vote to determine the “restoration lighthouse of the year” for the Wacko 2003 pin. The nominations which were submitted the most times are listed here in alphabetical order. Those nominees are:
Bodie Island
Coquille River
Esopus Meadows

Please read over these instructions before casting your vote.
1) Only those registered on the Collector Forums may vote.
2) You may vote for only one lighthouse.
3) You may wish to review any posted lighthouse websites either on this thread or on the original nominations thread before you decide which light you think needs our donation the most.
4) Voting will not be done on the Forum. You will need to send your vote to both persons in charge of tallying the vote. This is done as a cautionary measure in case there should be a computer glitch or a personal emergency for either committee worker.
5) When you vote, please include your forum nickname and your real name for forum registration verification if needed.
6) Send your vote in two separate emails to:
Darlene Cook – bugqueen@earthlink.net
Ruthie Cooper – mmtlc@cox.net
The lighthouse receiving the most votes will be the winner. If there is a tie, then another tie-breaker election will be necessary. DEADLINE FOR VOTING IS JUNE 20, 2002 MIDNIGHT, PACIFIC TIME.
7) The winning lighthouse will be announced after Lamar Bevil has contacted their preservation group to determine that they agree to being a recipient of our donations and will provide us with all written legal paperwork within a reasonable time span to allow us to meet our design and production deadlines. Disinterest or failure to provide the necessary permissions to meet our deadlines will result in the runner-up lighthouse being considered for the pin project.

Once all has been negotiated successfully, the winner will be announced, photos of the Harbour lights sculpture will be obtained, and the pin design will be started.

Thank you for supporting this preservation project by taking the time to cast your vote.

Keep the Flame Burning, Ladylightkeeper, Barbara Hupp.

Coquille River needs your support http://www.bandonworld.com/thelight/

BODIE ISLAND, NORTH CAROLINA

COQUILLE RIVER, OREGON

ESOPUS MEADOWS, NEW YORK




[This message has been edited by MtnHkr (edited 06-06-2002).]

Here's additional information on the current status of Bodie Island: http://www.lhdigest.com/Digest/StoryPage.cfm?StoryKey=821

Isn't campaigning within 100' of the polling place during an election prohibited?

Difficult choice with these, as well as so many other lights, needing attention.

LOL Mombo

Actual polling place is location of the email addresses, which I believe both are at least 100' away from where this forum originates.

Let's see, Moby Dick posted Coquille; Lamar posted Bodie Island; so I guess Mombo it's your turn to post for Esopus Meadows.

Thanks MtnHkr for links to all three.

Keep those votes coming.

Don't forget you only have until June 20th to vote!

Esopus Meadows

Esopus Meadows

Esopus Meadows

Esopus Meadows

Esopus Meadows

While the lighthouse is not yet open to the public on a regular basis there have been numerous occasions that have afforded opportunities to visit. Of course volunteers are always welcome to the lighthouse!


[This message has been edited by mombo (edited 06-09-2002).]

Just a last reminder...voting is still going on until June 20th, Midnight Pacific Time...There are many of our regulars who have not taken the time yet to vote...Come on now it's your WACKO duty...
Ruthie

Thanks for the reminder!!!


V*O*T*E*

Less than 24 hours to get those votes in. Deadline is midnight tonight.

Thanks to all who have already registered your votes.

Wacko Pin Committee

Voting has ended.

The winning lighthouse will be announced after Lamar Bevil has contacted their preservation group to determine that they agree to being a recipient of our donations and will provide us with all written legal paperwork within a reasonable time span to allow us to meet our design and production deadlines. Disinterest or failure to provide the necessary permissions to meet our deadlines will result in the runner-up lighthouse being considered for the pin project.

Once all has been negotiated successfully, the winner will be announced, photos of the Harbour lights sculpture will be obtained, and the pin design will be started.

Thank you to all who took the time to vote for the 2003 Wacko Pin. Thank you for your interest in and continued support of this lighthouse preservation activity.

A special thank you to Ruthie, MrsTLC, for helping us out by accepting the votes during this phase of our Wacko Pin Project.

The Wacko Pin Committee

Given what John commented in another thread concerning the sudden significant jump in membership, is it appropriate to consider some modifications to eligibility to vote? Right now, you must be a registered member. John's post indicated that it appeared that there were some efforts underway to "stuff" the ballott box. Maybe the voter needs to have been registered prior to the start of voting, or must at least make a post to be eligible?

FWIW,

Dave

Dave,

Sounds like something to consider for the next go round.

Unfortunately, even though it's not fair that "ballot stuffing" went on it would also be unfair to change the rules in midstream.

Anyway, the end result will be to help a Lighthouse so it can be understood if someone found a way of gaining a legal advantage and used it to their advantage.

As Dave said FWIW, but his suggestions sound good to me. Heck, it could just be a coincidence that all those people decided to join the forums. It's also possible that they have not had anything to say yet.

Dennis

Another obvious way to do the process would be that only "Wackos" can nominate and vote for the "Wacko pin"...after all it IS the "Wacko pin." But anyone who wants can buy a pin, including "Newbies" and nonregistered forum visitors. To register multiple new names and then make 50 posts with each of them to earn "Wacko" status would be difficult.

I agree that the end result is helping a lighthouse (and I personally don't have a strong preference and will buy 2 pins no matter which one wins). However, I still think if there is a way to identify people who voted more than once this go around (and I assume that there is or the topic wouldn't have been brought up by John), the user names should be forwarded to Ladybug and then all their votes beyond the first should be disqualified. While it may not have been explicitly stated, we all implicitly understand the democratic process here and we all know one person gets just one vote.

[This message has been edited by DocJ44 (edited 06-24-2002).]

I wanted to step in and comment on letting only "wackos" nominate and vote. I am a newbie and have been so for quite a while. It has taken until this year for this type of preservation to be available to "non-wackos." I was furious with the whole forum concept a couple of years ago when I tried to buy the Morris Island Wacko pin. My check was returned because I was not a Wacko. What a slap in the face. Was trying to help support a preservation effort, yet my identity was not good enough. After that experience, my whole outlook on Wackos was anything but complimentary. It was not until the Baltimore reunion that I found out that the idiotic rule was changed.

I do not participate on the forum on a regular basis and therefore getting to 50 posts puts me back in the "excluded" group. I can understand if you want to impose a rule to prevent ballot box stuffing and go with "registered" forum members (no matter what type) as of a certain day, but to go back to this type of exclusion is elitist.
I just hope the folks in charge next year keep a cool head, but prevent last minute ballot box stuffing in a democratic way.

Unfortunately sanibel, thats the problem with just being registered...you can apparently register any number of times under any number of different user names as you want at any time you want. Being advised that this was what happened this year, whats to keep anyone from signing up right now with 10 different user names in anticipation to give their favorite light an advantage next year...other than the fact they really need to get a life.

I recall the original rules from the first year which is why I stated that buying a pin should be open to anyone. Sorry for opening an old wound.






[This message has been edited by DocJ44 (edited 06-24-2002).]

I just don't get it... why would someone do something like that (stuff the ballots). I didn't even vote this time because I felt like all three were very deserving of the help. I spoke up about Esopus Meadows during the nominations because I had just recently been there.. but I just don't get it...

I did not vote either mainly because any of the three lighthouses was fine with me. Why anyone in there right minds would try and purposely stuff a vote in favor of anyone of the three is totally unthinkable. Maybe Billie is still in politics and just can't stop trying to run things. And the other thing that I am glad of is that Florida didn't have a thing to do with this choice. I told you guys all along that they ought to quit using chads everywhere in the USA.

Chadless in Florida
Rich

The committee does the best we can to avoid ballot box stuffing. It's true that someone could register for the Forums 10 times and attempt to vote 10 times, once on each Forum name. But they'd also have to have 10 different valid email adresses, too; not impossible but certainly more difficult to keep up with.

I would welcome any and all suggestions for verifying voting integrity at Lamar3@earthlink.net or click on the little email icon at the top of this message.

I say we should limit voting to Wackos only. I know that I won't buy this years Pin, if the winner was a cheater.

The "ballot stuffing" situation has been resolved and many of those votes were disqualified. They did not affect the outcome of the final vote as a number of them were "not registered". I am sure the committee will look at this procedure in depth before the process for the next pin is announced. All suggestions are welcome. I too have some concerns about the whole process as we are leaving out some people who have supported our project the last three years and are not registered on the forums for various reasons.

As soon as the legal paperwork is done we will announce the winner.

Thanks for your comments.

Darlene

When i wrote my earlier post I was under the impression that different people, not the same person with different personas, registered with the express idea to vote in the Wacko Pin Project.

I thought it was somewhat similar to the Photography contest where we had several people become Members so as to enter the contest, but have stayed to make numerous contributions to the Forums.

My comments were made toungue in cheek , and seriously. I felt with that concept above someone found a way to help their cause legally inside the rules.

The method apparently used is not the same and if that is what occurred it is reprehensible.

I stand by my support of Dave's ideas and agree with those who have put forth the idea that only Wackos have the vote.

It is not elitist unless the voting laws of the USA are elitist.

Dennis

[This message has been edited by wheland (edited 06-24-2002).]

If the ballot stuffing was caught and the count adjusted the rules we have are fine. There is no need to restrict who votes. One thing I have learned in teaching is that someone will always find a way to cheat no matter what you do. The most you can hope for is to bust them and pray they learn from it. There is no need to punish those who are not wacko's for the acts of a few.


Chuck

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bigdragon

[This message has been edited by shiulong (edited 06-25-2002).]

Unfortunately, this can be a no-win situation in many ways. As the idea is "fine tuned" each year someone will feel that too many are excluded or too many are included.

Sanibel has a very good point, but remember back to that first year when the "wacko" pin idea was conceived. It was made clear early on that if you had not achieved your forum wacko status you could not have one. Many people posted furiously to get to 50 in time. Some people who joined the forums late in the game were exluded, and many were hurt that they were not allowed to participate. We can rationalize the decision, but the hurt was still there.

So, the process was re-thought and eligibility significantly expanded. After all, this was to raise funds for lighthouse preservation, so the more support that could be gained and the more pins sold, the better the gift to the lighthouse. In general, I don't have a problem with that thought process.

Lamar makes a good point concerning the different email addresses that would be needed. Many of us do have multiple ones, so we could re-register and stuff the ballot box some. As others have stated, I can't imagine why someone would want to stuff this ballot box unless they had a serious love affair with one of the lights. (And, as Rich pointed out, we can't even hang this one on Florida - they did not even have a light in the running!)

If you want to affect the outcome of the vote, do what Paul did last year - he made an impassioned plea to help a light that many would have questioned needed help. When Paul presented his case and supported it with pictures and facts, the voters were swayed, and that is the way it should be.

Don't know if I could support the Wacko only nomination and vote, primarily because of the exclusion issue. As I suggested, I would think it reasonable to require that a person have been registered prior to a certain date to be eligible to vote. And, I feel if the person should make at least a token post or two to prove they exist. Who knows, John may decide to have another pruning of the non-posting registered members.

I appreciate that the committee makes the efforts they do and have plans in place to do their best to keep the voting fair. Share your positive ideas with them to continue fine tuning the process. Now, I have this light in mind that really needs some help. . .

Dave

Darlene indicated above that the ballot stuffing issue was identified, promptly resolved and didn't influence the winner.

Therfore, I really don't think we need to change anything at all since we can be assured the committee is working hard to maintain the integrity of the voting process.


[This message has been edited by DocJ44 (edited 06-25-2002).]

WELL SAID DAVE!

Chuck

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bigdragon

Thanks Darlene for clearing that up for everyone. After all, the committee can see when we were registered members and there enough technoids out there to help figure these things out if needed.
Now, I will just await the winning lighthouse.

And the winner is:

Bodie Island, NC

Thanks lots to all who have participated so far, and to all who support assistance to this beautiful, needy lighthouse by purchasing Wacko pins. The committee will keep you all up-to-date on the pin's progress.

Watch this space!