Op-Ed: Vote ‘No’ to Instant Registration: Why We Should Keep Our Guardrails
This opinion piece originally appeared in the January 2024 Messenger, arguing for a “no” vote on the upcoming instant registration bylaws amendment.
By Roger Bakeman
As co-chair of the Bylaws Revision Committee, but speaking for myself, I urge you to keep the guardrails and vote “no” at the monthly CPNO meeting to the bylaws amendment allowing instant registration.
Instant registration allows instant voting. One problem is misinformation. It is not so much uninformed voters, as some would have it, but misinformed voters — members misinformed by information traveling at the speed of light, aroused by that misinformation, and able to instantly vote. Introducing some delay between registration and being eligible to vote, as our current bylaws do, is an important guardrail.
It allows time for passions to cool and more information to be considered and deliberated. No wonder that some delay between registration and voting characterizes so many organizations and government entities.
Consider, if the bylaws amendment allowing voting for the day or two after a meeting passes, a person who never attended a CPNO meeting, never heard any discussion, didn’t even attend the meeting when the issue was discussed, could still vote on that issue, and could be prompted to do so by targeted electronic communications designed to arouse. All this could happen in the shadows.
Do we really want to remove our fairly minimal guardrails that at least have the potential to allow time for other information and reflection?
All other neighborhood organizations in our NPU require some delay between registration and voting except for Lake Clarie Neighbors, and they require in-person registration before or at a regular membership meeting (not online). The Grant Park Neighborhood Association requires in-person registration at a regular membership meeting and defers voting privileges until attendance at a second regular membership meeting. And the state of Georgia requires registering 30 days before voting. Instant registration is not the norm.
—Roger Bakeman is a 48-year resident of Candler Park and was the CPNO Communications Officer 2018-2019 and the Membership Officer 2015-2018 and 2021-2023. He currently is the co-chair of the Bylaws Revision Committee.
Op-Ed: Guardrails or Voter Suppression? You Decide
This opinion piece was written in response to the op-ed that ran in the January issue of the Messenger, reprinted above. That story argued for a “no” vote on the upcoming proposed bylaws changes, while this story argues for a “yes” vote.
It is well-established that a well-functioning modern democracy demands that all voices be heard — that qualified members of a community be offered ample opportunities to vote on subjects that affect their lives, homes and safety. We, the undersigned members of the CPNO Bylaws Committee, would like to clarify the process we used in our efforts to reach that goal.
We started by putting aside our personal judgments and feelings to find out what our neighbors wanted. We did this by creating a survey. All members of the original committee signed off on the survey and it was sent to the email addresses provided by CPNO members.
The data gathered from the survey shows decisively that nearly 80 percent of respondents want to be able to vote on some issues outside of the regular monthly neighborhood meeting. With that in mind, we offer an amendment to the bylaws that allows CPNO members a two-day window for online voting on substantive matters (which generally involve money or zoning).
This will, among other things, offer our neighbors with evening job duties and child bedtimes on Mondays from 7-9 p.m. the opportunity to have their voices heard. This will be voted on at the February CPNO members meeting on Monday, Feb. 12.
The committee also offers an amendment to allow qualified persons same-day registration for membership because our survey showed that 56 percent of the respondents are in favor of this. This will also be voted on at the February CPNO members meeting. Currently, members have to be registered by the first day of the month of a vote to be eligible to participate.
Neither of these increases the risks of “misinformation,” which can be spread at any time to people whether they have registered with CPNO or not. People can reflect and inform (or misinform) themselves on neighborhood issues without registering with CPNO or even attending a live meeting — for example, by reading the minutes and agenda, watching recordings, and talking with their neighbors in the park.
Registration is purely an administrative issue. Requiring registration to vote weeks in advance does nothing to change the “informedness” of voters.
Talk of people being “prompted to [vote] by targeted electronic communication designed to arouse” could be more accurately described as “voter mobilization” or “political organizing” – and that is a good thing. It’s part of participatory democracy, and as such is categorically incapable of happening “in the shadows.” That is phrasing designed to scare and misinform.
The bylaws also already provide a guardrail to misinformation by stating that prior notification of substantive issues must be offered to members before a vote. Please visit the CPNO website for a complete list. They can be found in Article VI, under Section 5 “Previous Notice of Motions.”
It is vital to note that guardrails are also already in place to allow only qualified persons to register for membership in CPNO. Only those who are 18 or older and either live in Candler Park or own property or a business here can register. It does not matter if you have lived in the neighborhood for 45 years or 45 minutes. If you live here, you should be able to vote.
We, the undersigned members of the original CPNO Bylaws Committee feel strongly that requiring folks to jump through hoops in order to vote is voter suppression and is just plain wrong.
We do not support a waiting period for voting or requirements that demand qualified individuals to appear in person at a specific moment on a weekday evening to vote. If you agree with us, please vote in favor of the amendments we have put forward.
— Zach Binney (co-chair of the Bylaws Revision Committee), Sydney Boggess, Greg Luetscher, Donna Palmer, Steve Tellis and Shasha Zou (members of the Bylaws Revision Committee).
Op-Ed: Why I Oppose Option 3 Instant Registration
By David Godfrey
As a 46-year resident of Candler Park, I’ve witnessed a lot of changes, most for the good of the neighborhood.
But like any organization, we’ve had our share of controversies which sometimes pit us against ourselves. During the early 1980s, I served on the CPNO board, including a term as president.
Some of our issues involved the continued fight over the construction of “The Road,” a major rezoning request for twice the number of units in what became Parkview Heights (off of Page Avenue) and a proposal for a putt-putt golf/driving range in Candler Park.
A critical factor in mobilizing citizen action for any of these issues is determining what is true and what is false. For example, proponents for an original version of The Road claimed it was needed to handle the expected 1 million annual visitors to the Carter Center. This misinformation was published in a variety of mainstream media. I hate to think what we would have to deal with in today’s world of instantaneous messaging.
Option No. 3, which calls for instant registration, has the appeal of letting people show up on the day of a major vote and make decisions that can impact our entire community. What Option No. 3 doesn’t consider is the effect of widespread misinformation designed to scuttle what may be months or even years of deliberation.
Our present system provides for a minimal commitment to CPNO and its operations. The hard work and commitment of dozens of current and former board members along with the active participation of even more residents have helped make the Candler Park neighborhood one of the most desirable in all of Atlanta.
I’m voting against Option No. 3 because I strongly believe our current system has saved us from unnecessary highways, abuses to our zoning system and 2,000-watt metal halide floodlights along Candler Park Drive. And I believe it is more than adequate to handle future issues as well.
—David Godfrey is a 46-year resident of Candler Park, a past CPNO President, and has served in various other capacities on the board. He currently serves on the Bylaws Revision Committee.