On another list, there was discussion of the DPL encouraging the secretary to make the vote on the rms GR secret.
I'll let the DPL speak for his own position. A bit of background. There has been increasing harassment of people based on what they are expected to vote on the rms gr. People on both sides have expressed increasing discomfort with the idea of voting in public with the entire world knowing how they voted. I argued on another list that it would be appropriate for the DPL (with the concurrence of the secretary) to make the vote secret using constitution section 5.1 (3). Here's my rationale: Thanks for doing this. I'm actually very comfortable for us to make the decision under 5.1(3). We cleraly cannot hold a GR in time to change the constitution prior to the election ending. And our constitution already has a provision for making decisions where a timely decision is required. I think this qualifies; it is becoming more and more clear we need to protect people on both sides of the vote, and other avenues like GRs will not allow us to achieve something in time. This is not a situation that has become urgent through inaction on our part: as harassment has increased it has become more clear that action is needed. So while we might have been willing to let this last vote slide without secret ballots, it is becoming more clear through the actions of others that is an increasingly bad idea. So I absolutely support the DPL (with the secratary's concurrance) making this decision under the emergency powers DPL clause. I am very uncomfortable with the other rationales for making the decision--using various loopholes in the constitution. It's pretty clear that's not what was meant by the text of the constitution. And unfortunately, choosing to interpret the constitution creatively like that to meet the needs of the day is a very slipperly sloap with a lot of negative long-term consequences. I like that for the most part we use plain language and common sense. I would not like to see us twisting our language to meet the needs of the day. Especially when we have a clause already in our constitution for making emergency decisions. Let's be honest about this and make this as an emergency decision because we are in an emergency. If we're going to solve this long term, let's do it by GR, not by suddenly interpreting the constitution differently than we have for years. Several people agreed with me, ande one person disagreed. I'll let any of those people speak up if they choose and let the DPL comment if he chooses.
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