Following a routine review of the recent Exeter City Supporters’ Trust election an administrative error has been identified.
The review discovered that the error occurred during a transfer of data which led to 548 people, equating to 13% of the membership, not receiving their voting email or postal ballot.
Because of this, the election will be re-run in its entirety to ensure transparency, integrity and inclusivity. The decision to take this action is based on the recommendation by the Trust’s Election Review Group (ERG), which reviews every election held by the Supporters’ Trust.
The extent of this error was not apparent until the completion of the original election and while a number of members were provided with the opportunity to vote on request, the Trust would never wish to disfranchise any member.
This week the Trust Board voted to declare the previous election null and void and to re-run the election in its entirety. We are therefore asking members to participate in the new election.
Whilst the election process is underway, we want to reassure supporters that the business and management of the football club will continue as normal. An interim Trust Board chair will be elected and the process will not delay or affect any club decisions or business.
The Trust Board acknowledges the inconvenience and upset that this decision may cause the candidates from the previous election, especially those who were successful, and the Board would encourage all candidates to re-stand.
The Trust Board would also like to acknowledge the inconvenience and upset caused to the membership, especially those who were erroneously excluded from voting because of the administrative error.
To further ensure transparency, the new election will be conducted by an independent polling company, Mi-Voice (https://www.mi-voice.com/), who have carried out successful membership votes for other Supporters’ Trusts, such as Bury and Wrexham.
The hustings will take place in The Grecian Centre at St James Park at 10.30am on Saturday, January 6, before the Carlisle United fixture and will feature pre-submitted questions as well as questions from members in attendance. The hustings will also be streamed live. Questions should pertain to the role of an ECFCST Trustee and sent to the Trust Secretary, trust.secretary@ecfcst.org.uk, by January 4 at noon.
The Election Review Group consists of four trustees who were not involved in the organisation or running of the recent election. It also includes the independent returning officer and an invited representative of the Football Supporters Association (FSA). The group will remain in place throughout the re-run election process in order to monitor compliance with the election policy and to deal with any issues raised.
The re-run election will follow the schedule below:
Nominations for election are now open here: https://www.mi-nomination.com/exetercityfcst
29th December (noon) – deadline for nominations to be received.
6th January – Hustings (10.30am, ahead of the Carlisle game), with the voting period then opening immediately after the hustings have finished.
19th January (noon) – voting period closes.
20th January (10.30am) - announcement of results ahead of the Cambridge game.
An FAQ page will be published in due course. Any queries regarding the re-run election should be directed to trust.secretary@ecfcst.org.uk.