The 2017 annual election for the Co-op’s board of directors has come to a close—thanks to all who participated!

A primary goal this year was to implement improvements in the election process to ensure that all votes could be counted, while also keeping the process user-friendly. This required a re-work of the paper balloting system. In order to vote this year, members needed to show an ID at the customer service desk to have their ballot printed. Printing the ballots this way ensured that all the member numbers were legible and corresponded to the appropriate member. Similar to last year, members also had the option to vote online, which required a two-step verification process. When the Board Perpetuation and Elections committee met to count the ballots this year, we were excited to find that we were able to count every vote — no vote was discarded.

There are three open seats available annually, with six candidates on the ballot running for election this year. On October 11th, three directors from the Board Perpetuation and Elections Committee counted the ballots. 446 ballots were cast and counted. The following three candidates will be seated during the November board meeting:

Emily DeFerrari – 374 votes
Arianna Garofalo – 366 votes
Sarah Trist – 352 votes

Congratulations to Emily, Arianna, and Sarah on their election to the EEFC Board of Directors, and thanks to everyone who submitted candidacy applications and voted in this year’s election. Your support and participation are greatly appreciated!

To those members who may be interested in running in next year’s election, please start inquiring early. The deadline for submitting candidacy comes faster than you’d think, and we would love to introduce you to the world of cooperative governance and ensure that you have the information you need to decide whether to declare your candidacy. If you are not interested or able to run for a seat on the board yourself, please think about recommending someone that the board should consider reaching out to for board service.