GREENWICH — After completing a major test of a new system, the Representative Municipal Assembly will change the way it votes in a landmark meeting on December 12.
At this meeting, the nonpartisan 230-member RTM will launch its new voting system. The classic voting cards will be gone and the new electronic clickers will take their place.
The new system has been tested for months, with RTM members having been in training since the summer. Now, RTM moderator Alexis Vouglaris is ready to implement the change.
“The technology to do this has improved dramatically,” Voulgaris said. “The clickers are very easy to use. They’re not bulky.”
The GTR tried to make a change two decades ago, “but back then they looked like Jeopardy clickers, with wires and it was very bulky,” she said.
“And now people are more familiar with using their cell phones and smart technology. Technology has finally caught up with us.” said Voulgaris.
Modernizing RTM’s voting system was a major initiative for Voulgaris, who was elected moderator in January, succeeding Tom Byrne.
The new system will make members more responsible for their own votes, she said.
Using the clicker, an RTM member can vote yes, no or abstain on each subject. A secure system is also in place to allow RTM members attending a meeting via Zoom to vote securely via an app.
Voulgaris compared the learning curve of using selectors to how RTM members adapted to Zoom meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
RTM members will wear the clickers around their necks on lanyards. They will be handed out at the start of each meeting and collected at the end. There will be a sign-in sheet, with a $150 fine for any RTM member who does not return their clicker.
Old method
In the old voting system, each of the 12 RTM constituencies had a tabulator among its members. In a vote, each tabulator collected the votes of all members of the district and filled out a voting card accordingly. It was then turned over to the town clerk to be counted.
RTM Pro Tempore moderator Katherine LoBalbo said the new voting method will make meetings more efficient and shorter.
“It has become apparent to many members that the current voting process is really a waste of time to debate and discourages amendments,” LoBalbo said. “We’re wasting productive meeting time, so that’s very exciting.”
The system, from Meridia, is used by the New Hampshire House of Representatives, the nation’s largest state legislature, as well as the US Congress.
New system
The call for the December 12 meeting includes a vote on the implementation of the new system. If approved, electronic voting will be in place.
There have been 15 training sessions for RTM members over the past few months, including individual district training. A mock reunion was held Nov. 30 at Central Middle School to give clickers a test. It included several voting points that Voulgaris had taken from the call to the January 1999 meeting.
The mock meeting went “fantastic,” Vouglaris said, with no issues with in-person or remote voting. A total of 100 people attended in person, and another 20 participated online, she said.
Byrne, a District 6 representative, was among the attendees. He created a surprise by proposing several amendments to the points discussed, Voulgaris said. She said she didn’t mind because it tested the system better.
“It was a good way to get everyone used to their devices, whether online or in person,” Voulgaris said. “It was a very light gathering, and I think people were happy to be together and use that and it worked.”
Byrne said the shift from all in-person Zoom meetings to the current hybrid model due to the COVID-19 pandemic “has generated huge time wasters.” Meetings have gone from an average of two and a half hours to more than four, which he says has diminished the enjoyment of RTM members.
“Our moderator deserves an incredible amount of thanks for taking the initiative to pursue this new voting technology and train the entire membership in its use,” Byrne said. That should eliminate much of the “just in place” time on votes, he said, while adding that it “remains to be seen” how the new system will pan out.
He praised the themed music playlists Voulgaris had previously created to play during votes, but Byrne said: “As creative as these playlists are, I suspect many members would rather make RTM business instead of listening to music.”
Once the new system is in place, Voulgaris said the five-minute period between votes would be reduced to one minute and could be further reduced.
“Waiting five minutes for a vote is a ridiculous amount of time to spend on a vote,” Voulgaris said. “In this new era, the voting window has shrunk to one minute and I think one minute is very generous. The votes (at the mock meeting) were in and ready to go within 30 seconds.
LoBalbo said she was encouraged that the votes went “lightning fast” during the mock meeting and she said it created good morale among the members.
Voulgaris praised the team behind the new system, including LoBalbo, clerk Jackie Budkins, assistant clerk Kimberly Spezzano. and Craig Jones and Jenny Larkin, whom Voulgaris called “the technical team”.
kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
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