Here is the final election report from the 2018 ICC Elections Committee:

Dear Members of the Iranian Canadian Congress,

The ICC Election Committee (the “Committee”) is pleased to announce the following:

A successful and transparent Election was completed on Sunday, April 29, 2018 at 7:00 pm.

According to ICC Bylaws and similar to the 2017 Election, the 2018 ICC Election was administered in two parts:

Online Voting

Online voting was administered for the second time through an online software, ELECTIONBUDDY, from Sunday April 22, 2018 at 2:00 pm to Saturday April 28, 2018 at 6:00 pm

ELCTIONBUDDY is a popular and secured software used by many non-profit organizations for their elections. The software is designed in a way that it involves a secured Sockets Layer (SSL) connection encryption feature, which provides high integrity and allows for no access by anyone else prior to the commitment of the online vote. The software is also designed so that no change can be made to the voting process once the vote has been initiated.  

Ballot #1 - Election of the six (6) ICC Board Members + Bylaw Exemptions for 4 Candidates’ Nomination Eligibility (Membership and Citizenship Exemptions)

Online Voting for Ballot #1 opened on Sunday, April 22, 2018 at 2:00 pm and was closed on Saturday, April 28, 2018 at 6:00 pm.

Ballot # 2 - Bylaws Amendments and Approval of the Code of Conduct

Online Voting for Ballot #2 opened on Tuesday, April 24, 2018 at 2:00 pm and was closed on Saturday, April 28, 2018 at 6:00 pm.

A total of 629 members were eligible to vote online for Ballot #1 and a total of 698 members were eligible to vote online for Ballot #2. Both Ballots (#1 and #2) along with instructions were provided to members via email. Of those 629 members eligible for Ballot #1, 337 voted and of those 698 members eligible for Ballot #2, 260 voted.

The result of the online vote was only known to the one (1) Committee member in charge of administering the online vote until the completion of the vote count on the day of the AGM.

In-Person Voting

In-Person voting was held on Sunday, April 29, 2018 with polls opening from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm and extended for two (2) more hours from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm in a nearby location due to unforeseen circumstances (the Toronto Strong Vigil for the victims of the recent van attack). Accordingly, the initial three hour In-Person Voting window was increased to seven (7) hours in total.

The In- Person election also involved 2 Ballots:

Ballot #1 (Blue Ballot) - Election of the six (6) ICC Board Members + Bylaw Exemptions for 4 Candidates’ Nomination Eligibility (Membership and Citizenship Exemptions)  

Ballot # 2 (Pink Ballot) – Bylaws Amendments and Approval of the Code of Conduct

By the start of the voting on the day of the AGM, we were advised by the Board that the ICC had 957 members as of the cut off date of eligibility on April 23, 2018.

No memberships were renewed on the day of the AGM.

As those who voted online were not eligible to vote again in person, of the 957 members eligible to vote in the 2018 election, only 620 were eligible to vote In-Person.

A total of 188 people voted in person or by proxy on the day of the AGM.

Outcome of the Election

The ICC had 957 members eligible to vote in this year’s, 2018 AGM. Of the 957, a total of 525 voted. 337 online; and 188 In-Person or by Proxy on the day of the AGM.

The result of the voting process was as follows:

Ballot #1: Bylaw Exemption for 4 candidates (“Exemption Motion”) – 427 Members Voted “Yes” (297 online + 130 in person) and 31 Members Voted “No”. Therefore the Bylaw Exemption Motion was passed by affirmative vote (427 votes), which is more than 2/3 of the members voting for this election. (2/3 of 525 = 350)

Once the Exemption Motion was passed and all 10 Candidates were declared eligible, the Committee started to count the votes for the 10 Candidates and the following results were established according to the First – Past –The – Post Voting Method adopted by the ICC Bylaws:

Ballot #2 Bylaw Amendments and Approval of the Code of Conduct passed as per following table:

Attention: For more information regarding the Bylaw Amendments and the Code of Conduct, please refer to the ICC website.

Election Turnout

Total number of ICC members in Ontario as of April 23, 2018: 957

Total number of voters in the 2018 ICC Election: 525

2018 Election Turnout (Percentage of Ontario members voted in the 2018 Election): 54.9%

Past Election Turnouts:
2014 and before: Data not available.

2015: 58.2%

2016: 54.5%

2017: 71.4%

Irregularities or Complaints Noted and Reviewed 

• At the very start of the Online Voting Process and once the Committee sent Ballot #1 to all eligible voters, the Committee received a notice for 26 undeliverable ballots from ELECTIONBUDDY. The Committee immediately raised this issue with the Board. Upon the Board’s investigation, it was discovered that the issue was caused because of expired/invalid emails originally provided by the members.
• On the day of the AGM, April 29, 2018 at 1:55 am, the Committee received an unexpected email from one of the candidates, regarding the intention of four of the candidates to withdraw from the election. In receiving this email, the Committee immediately informed the ICC Board.
• The ICC Board received individual confirmations from each of the 4 later around 10:30AM on April 29, 2018.   
• Given the circumstances on the day of the AGM, receiving the Board’s approval at 10:30 am, while online voting was completed and in-person voting was underway, the Committee had no choice but to carry on with the election as planned, and with minimal modifications. The ballots remained in the same format and the names of all candidates including the 4 candidates remained in display. Only a note was placed on the list of names, informing the voters of the initial email received by the Committee regarding the intention of the Group of Four (4) candidates’ withdrawal.
• Since the Group of Four (4) candidates’ formal withdrawal was confirmed while the in-person voting was in process and the ballots remained in the same format, the Committee decided to read all votes casted. 
• As there was a modification in the voting hours due to the Toronto Strong Vigil held at Mel Lastman Square and voting hours were extended from 3 to 7 hours in two locations (10:00 am to 3:30 pm at North York Civic Centre and 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at 7 Lorraine Drive), the Committee assigned volunteers to remain at North York Civic Centre until 5:00 pm to direct potential voters to 7 Lorraine drive for voting.
• In the beginning of the In-Person Voting process, some voters were refused as they provided their Ontario Health Card as their IDs. This issue was brought to the attention of the Committee and it was immediately resolved as the issue was in the implementation of the Committee’s policy on IDs and the refused voters were allowed to cast their ballot. Prior to the In-Person Voting the Committee decided to accept Ontario Health Card as a form of Identification and proof of residency in Ontario.
• Finally, please note that the Committee will destroy the personal information of all members who voted by way of a proxy.

The Committee appreciates all members for trusting the Committee with their personal information in our efforts to prevent irregularities and safeguard the integrity of the election.

We thank all members for their participations, the Board and our wonderful Volunteers for helping make this election a success.

Yours truly,

2018 ICC Election Committee (Mashoud Nasseri, Ramin Faraji, Sadie R. Etemad)

May 2, 2018