This is your ballot for selection of the site for Costume-Con [Insert Number], the [Insert Year] Costume-Con conference. You must be at least a Supporting Member (Fee: $[##.##]) of Costume-Con [Insert Number] to vote. The fee to participate in Site Selection is $10 (US funds, only). Please make your check payable to Costume-Con [Insert Number]. By paying your site selection voting fee, you will receive a credit equal to $10 (USD) towards a membership in the winning Costume-Con conference. There is/are [Insert Number of Bids] bids: [Insert Location(s)]. Please review the enclosed materials, then cast your vote on the ballot below. The Site Selection Commissioner must receive mailed ballots by no later than [Insert Date equal to fourteen (14) days prior to the first day of the Costume-Con conference where site selection will take place]. Ballots may still be delivered by hand until 2pm Sunday of Costume-Con [Insert Number]. Mail this ballot to:
[Site Selection Commissioner Name]
CC [Insert Number] Site Selection
[Address]
[City], [ST/PROV] [Postal Code] [Country]
For security, when mailing your ballot, you should seal this ballot and your $10 check payment for voting fee in an envelope. DO NOT send cash through the mail!
Fill in your Legal name and CC[Current CC Number] membership number below:
Name: ______________________________________________
CC[Current CC Number] membership number (On the mailing label): __________________
Badge Name (if different):________________________
Signature: __________________________________________ Date (MM/DD/YYYY): ____________________
Mailing Address: _____________________________________________________
City: ______________________________ ST/PROV: ______________________ Zip/Postal Code: _____________
Phone #: _________________________________ Email: _______________________________________
(Home/Cell/Work)
| FOR SITE SELECTION COMMISSIONER’S USE ONLY: Received by: ___________________________ Date: __________________________Site Selection Fee Enclosed: _________ Circle one: Cash / Check #:________Credit Card Payment NOT accepted. This Ballot is: ___Valid ___ Invalid (unverified) ___ Duplicate |
How to Vote:
This ballot uses a modified form of the Alternative Vote system, sometimes known as the “Australian ballot.” For those not familiar with the ballot process, the Australian ballot system is most used by the World Science Fiction Convention in their site selection process, on which the Costume-Con conference Site Selection process was originally based.
To vote: Make your choices in order of preference: “1” for your first choice, “2” for your second choice, etc. You are not required to rank all the options. Ballots marked in error with an “X” or checkmark instead of numbers will be considered as a “1” vote for the bid thus checked, and a “2” vote for no preference. Note that “None of the above” is not an abstention, but a vote that none of the nominees should be given the conference. When the ballots are counted, all the first-place choices will be tabulated. If no nominee has received half or more of the votes, the nominee with the fewest first-place votes will be eliminated, and its votes transferred to the nominees marked “2” on those ballots. This process of elimination will continue until one nominee receives half or more of the votes, at which point it becomes the winner (unless its votes are outnumbered by “None of the above”).
A few tips:
- Please keep in mind that second and further preferences play no part in the voting unless and until your first choice has been eliminated. This is not a point system where many voters’ second choice can overwhelm a few voters’ first choice.
- Nevertheless, if your top choices are eliminated early, your lowest preference could be the tiebreaker between the remaining nominees.
Ballot: Costume-Con [Insert Number] in [Insert year]
_______ Location: [Insert City, ST/PROV Country] [Insert Conference Contact Address] [Insert City, ST/PROV Postal Code] Facilities: [Insert Name of Conference Facilities] Dates: [Insert Starting Month Day]th – [Insert Ending Month Day]th, [Insert Year] Chair: [Insert Chair Name(s)] |
_______ Location: [Insert City, ST/PROV Country] [Insert Conference Contact Address] [Insert City, ST/PROV Postal Code] Facilities: [Insert Name of Conference Facilities] Dates: [Insert Starting Month Day]th – [Insert Ending Month Day]th, [Insert Year] Chair: [Insert Chair Name(s)] |
_______ Location: [Insert City, ST/PROV Country] [Insert Conference Contact Address] [Insert City, ST/PROV Postal Code] Facilities: [Insert Name of Conference Facilities] Dates: [Insert Starting Month Day]th – [Insert Ending Month Day]th, [Insert Year] Chair: [Insert Chair Name(s)] |
_______ Location: [Insert City, ST/PROV Country] [Insert Conference Contact Address] [Insert City, ST/PROV Postal Code] Facilities: [Insert Name of Conference Facilities] Dates: [Insert Starting Month Day]th – [Insert Ending Month Day]th, [Insert Year] Chair: [Insert Chair Name(s)] |
| _______ No preference Location: Anywhere (equivalent to abstention)_______ None of the Above |
_______ ________________________ |
This ballot has been verified by the Site Selection Commissioner: _____
This ballot has been verified by the Bid Representative(s) present (Initial below; once per representative):
______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______