Given that my inbox is on fire and facebook is similarly full of inconsistent messages, I can't fail to notice that an AGM is imminent.
Once again there is confusion to how nominations and proxy votes work.
Perhaps someone could maintain a description of how these things work and stick them online where they could be referred to, rather than getting halfway through the process and then realising we're doing it wrong.
I've lost count of the number of times we've had proxy voting chaos, therefore I shall share the joys of being old with you:
To attempt to vote by proxy one writes (types, etches in stone, scrawls in blood etc) and signs a short letter authorising a named person they trust to represent their interests by proxy. There may be instructions to the representative included, but this is not required.
These letters must be shown to the president at the start of the AGM, and a vote taken by the members present to allow proxy votes.
Experience tells us that proxy representation is best performed by someone you trust to represent your views, rather than someone of high standing in the society or a committee member acting purely on a set of proscriptive instructions.
There are occaisonaly tears and reductio ad hitlerium based arguments when proxy representation goes tits up.
