Monday, August 28, 2023

Why Not Vote For The Member Nominated SECU Board Candidates?

    SECU MEMBERS NOMINATED THESE CANDIDATES!!

   ✅ Barbara Perkins, Michael Clements, Chuck Stone

                     * Here's how you can vote (starting September 1):

 ðŸ‘‰ To cast an absentee vote online, please visit https://secuvote.ey.com and follow the instructions on the website to login and cast your vote. In order to verify membership and login to the online voting platform, each member will be required to certify their voting eligibility and provide the following information: (i) the account number for an SECU deposit account owned by the member, either individually or jointly, and (ii) the last 5 digits of the member’s Social Security number. Upon logging into the online voting platform, the member will be presented with the electronic absentee ballot for their completion and submission. If assistance is needed with logging into the online voting platform, please contact Member Services Support at (888) 732-8562.

 ðŸ‘‰ To cast an absentee vote via a paper absentee ballot, please contact Member Services Support at (888)732-8562 and request a paper absentee ballot. Following the request, a paper absentee ballot, along with voting instructions, Statement of Background for the candidates, and a stamped pre-addressed mailing envelope, will be mailed to the requested address within 7 business days. Upon completing the paper absentee ballot, the member will submit the ballot by placing it in the provided stamped pre-addressed mailing envelope and mailing it to the election tellers. The ballot must be returned to the election tellers at the address on the envelope; ballots cannot be accepted by branches. Any ballots left with a branch will not be counted.

 ðŸ‘‰ Members who attend the Annual Meeting in person and who have not previously voted may cast their vote during the Annual Meeting. The vote during the Annual Meeting will be taken using electronic devices and tallied by the election tellers. That tally will be added to the absentee ballot preliminary results, and the final results will be announced prior to adjournment of the Annual Meeting. 
 
 
  ... MEMBER NOMINATED CANDIDATES!  
      Yep, let's put the members back in charge of their credit union!










Sunday, August 27, 2023

SECU Board Elections - Privacy, Integrity, Trust - Too Much For SECU Members To Ask Of "This Board"? - Part 2

https://gumlet.assettype.com/greaterkashmir/import/2019/12/integrity.jpeg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&w=1200 

[This is an excerpt of a follow-up email to the SECU Board [see preceeding 8/27 post for original ask/response], requesting information and transparency on SECU Board election procedures]

🔆 To:< Board Corporate Secretary Cc: CHARLES STONE , Michael Clements [8/26/2023]

To the Board of Directors, NC SECU Management, the Election Committee and the election facilitators:

In obtaining the signatures required by the Board to self nominate, the members had several questions and concerns not covered by the information indicated in your prior posts which is why I requested the meeting with the election facilitator. I would think that the Board would welcome opportunities to show that transparency is a priority as stated on the NC SECU website. 

I had hoped for a stronger indication of appreciation of your primary fiduciary responsibility to the membership. There are only 3 candidates who don't already have access to the election facilitator. 

Regardless, I would be happy for the Board to be the entity to ask E & Y my questions and reply to this email for clarification. E & Y still has an ethical responsibility to the AICPA, NCACPAs, and the NC State Board of CPA Examiners which is why I prefer to get the answers directly from them

My first question concerns the privacy of the ballots. I would think that the Board would want to assure the membership about voting privacy. Will any member of the Board or management of the NC SECU, either directly or through any other conduit, have any way of identifying or associating the name, account number, or other identifying data of a member with the candidate(s) they voted for? 

My second question concerns equal access to relevant information to all candidates. I also think the Board would want to assure all the candidates that each has the same access or lack thereof to the same information. Will anyone have access to the relative status of votes for each candidate in the election at any point in time? If so, who specifically will have that access? Will E & Y be reporting any of the votes cast for each candidate to anyone before the conclusion of the vote at the annual meeting? If yes, will that information be available to all? 

Having been trained in internal controls, I would like to review the plan for verifying the eligibility of the voters, the process of sending and receiving absentee ballots as established by the election facilitators, and the access to the electronic voting and summary files. In general, I would like to review the entire processes of the election facilitators. 

My other question at this time concerns how members with joint accounts will be able to vote. Has the election facilitator made provisions to recognize all parties on a joint account to vote in order to allow votes by each party over 16 on the account? If yes, will they need to or can they vote using different mediums, e. g. online vs absentee vs in person voting? If yes, can the Board add the clarifying information to the published voting information? 

My questions are not meant to be critical. I believe we have a mutual goal of conveying accurate information to the membership. "

 Sincerely, Barbara Perkins 

 

... Well, if you had any doubts about the quality of the SECU self-nominees... hope the intelligence and integrity of this request clears that little question up!