Recent activity has me wondering about online voting. Let's say that ALA needs Council to make a decision on something in short order. It doesn't have to be live (real time) but does need a decision within a few days. A simple yea/nay vote that indicates the councilor casting the vote and provides options for abstentions.
In the past, such actions were taken by email, resulting in someone (the person tabulating the results) getting 150+ emails. And then there are those participating in the voting who didn't see the option to respond to an individual in time, and so all 150+ people were inundated with yea/nay votes.
Is it possible to accomplish this task of voting using ALA Connect's polling option?
At first look, I think it may not be as the poll doesn't have the option of entering the name of the user who is casting the vote. Though, I'm uncertain if the system is collecting that behind the scenese. I didn't look.
Other options:
1. ALA staff, using the fabulous Drupal software create an online form for such voting. The address of said form being distributed only to individuals with the ability/right to vote on the matter.
2. Utilize a tool like SurveyMonkey or another online survey tool to create the poll. Again, distributing the address of the poll to only those individuals with the right to vote on the matter.
Is it possible that this could be a relatively simple and low-cost manner in which to introduce online voting for certain circumstances to the operations of ALA Council? It would be a demonstration of Council's comittment to move toward electronic member participation.
And, not the least of the benefits, it would eliminate 100+ emails for 100+ individuals with accounts on 100+ servers all over the U.S resulting in 100+ happier system administrators concerned about valuable server space.
Just some random thoughts for Council and members to ponder.