Democrats Abroad Australia elected its national officers at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday, 18 March 2017. Congratulations to its newly elected officers:



Chair: Umme Sarah Hoque

Vice Chair: Kent Getsinger

Secretary: Kito Alvarez

Treasurer: Mark Evans

Counsel: Lisa Lombardi

Thank you to everyone who ran for office, including candidates Michael Ramos, Elizabeth Cage, Evan Leandro and Saun Mowrey.

Following are the results of the election, which includes the tally of the votes cast at the AGM in person or via WebEx and the absentee ballots which all DAA members had the opportunity to cast up until 24 hours before the start of the AGM.

Chair

Umme Sarah Hoque: 57

Michael Ramos: 56

Vice Chair

Elizabeth Cage: 53

Kent Getsinger: 39

Evan Leandro: 15

Democrats Abroad requires gender diversity for the positions of Chair and Vice Chair. Members of DA Australia were informed prior to voting that only the votes of the Vice Chair of the opposite gender of the person elected Chair would be counted.

Secretary

Kito Alvarez: 60

Shaun Mowrey: 40

Treasurer

Mark Evans as the sole candidate was elected by unanimous assent at the AGM.

Legal Counsel

Lisa Lombardi as the sole candidate was elected by unanimous assent at the AGM.

There were abtensions from voters in the races for Vice Chair and Secretary which account for the differences in the tallies for the 3 contested races.

Verification of Election Results

Chris Stueckle, Teller of the Election, has verified the election results. All voters were confirmed as members of Democrats Abroad Australia in order to count their vote. In accordance with section 17.8 of the DA Australia by-laws and the absentee ballot instructions, absentee ballot votes were accepted from members whose email address matched the voter's email address in the records of Democrats Abroad. Where the email addresses did not match, the voter was informed prior to the AGM and notified of the opportunity to cast a vote during the AGM. The Teller of the Election and the Election Committee assistants Ersie Burke and Lisa Lombardi each counted the votes three times and ensured that only one vote was cast from a DAA member.



Minutes from the AGM will be circulated this week. The new board is currently being set up with full access to the Democrats Abroad Australia database, bank account, and social media.

Thank you to all DAA members who voted in the election and AGM. We had an unprecedented level of turn out. We look forward to DAA members involvement under the leadership of its newly elected national officers.