The Western Australian Swimming Association Inc. (Swimming WA) wishes to advise the outcome of the 2020 Board Election which concluded on Friday October 9th. The Swimming WA Returning Officer advised the Membership at the 2020 AGM held at UWA Business School in Crawley on Saturday 10th October that the outcome of the 2020 SWA Board election was a tie. That is, an even number of votes was cast and with only two (2) candidates standing, both had exactly the same number of votes.
In accordance with the Swimming WA Constitution, the process for determining the winner of the election was enacted with the process outlined in Swimming WA By Law 5.25 implemented. The process reads;
Election of Elected Swimming WA Directors
5.25 Pursuant to Reference A Rule 20.2, and in accordance with Rule 23.2, the method of Preferential Voting utilised by Swimming WA when conducting elections of Elected Directors shall be that votes are required to indicate the order of their preference for all the candidates by using the numbers four (4), three (3), two (2), one (1) and so on.
A preference must be shown for all the candidates or the vote will be informal. The preferences polled for each candidate are added to arrive at a “Preference Tally”. The candidates (equal to the number of positions to be filled) polling the highest preference tallies, shall be elected. If candidates poll the same preference tally and it is necessary to break that tie, the candidate with the greatest number of first preference votes (e.g. four (4) votes) is elected. If the candidates are still tied, the candidate with the greatest number of second preference votes (e.g. three (3) votes) is elected. This process continues until the tie is broken.
The result of this process meant that the number of first preference votes was 29 each and when the number of second preference votes was also considered, that also was 29 each. Regrettably, the system for breaking a tie was ineffective.
The Swimming WA Board have consulted both DLGSCI (who attended the 2020 AGM ) and the WASF Chief Executive Officer Mr. Rob Thompson. DLGSC provided advice to the CEO in regard to the options available regarding a drawn ballot, who conferred with the SWA Board who then accepted that advice.
The 2nd ballot will open on Tuesday October 13th at 12.00 noon (WST) and close at midnight on Sunday 18th October (WST).
The Membership will be notified of the result of the second election by the Returning Officer on Monday October 19th 12.00 noon. Please note should the second election result in a tie, the matter will be resolved by a method where the names of the candidates are placed into a hat and a name drawn out to determine the matter.
SWA Club Delegates eligible to vote as of October 1st 2020 will receive voting information on Tuesday morning October 13th and have the week to cast a vote on behalf of their Club.
Should Delegates have questions, they should contact Kirsty Read (Membership and Development Manager) on (08) 9328 4599.
