2024 OTW Board Election Statistics

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2024-08-29 15:18:21 UTC

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OTW Elections News

Now that the 2024 election is over, we’re happy to share with you our voter turnout statistics!

For the 2024 Election, we had 14959 total eligible voters. Of those, 3415 voters cast a ballot, which represents 22.8% of the potential voters.

Our voter turnout is lower than that of last year, which had a turnout of 27.8%

We also saw a decrease in the number of ballots cast, from 4247 to 3415, which represents a -19.6% decrease.

Elections is committed to continuing to reach out to our eligible members to encourage them to vote in elections. Whoever is elected to the Board of Directors can have an important influence on the long-term health of the OTW’s projects, and we want our members to have a say in that.

For those who might be interested in the number of votes each candidate received, please note that our election process is designed to elect an equal cohort of Board members in order to allow them to work well together, so we do not release that information. As a general rule, we also won’t disclose which of our unsuccessful candidates received the fewest votes, since we don’t want to discourage them from running again in the future when circumstances and member interest might be different.

Once again, a big thank you to everyone who participated at every stage of the election! We hope to see you at the virtual polls again next year.

EDIT: 30 August 2024 15:30 UTC Post title edited for clarity.

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Jake8Park Thu 29 Aug 2024 05:08PM UTC

Is there any logistics or for the decrease in voter turnout? My best guess is that there’s no current controversial candidate so some people just didn’t care this cycle since nothing was seemingly at stake.

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1. DreamyMoonlight Thu 29 Aug 2024 05:18PM UTC
  
  I think so too. Analogous to the selection of politicians in some country.
  
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Aarchsp Thu 29 Aug 2024 07:22PM UTC

I choose not to participate because I'm scared of Politicians

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1. Gojou_Satoruu Fri 30 Aug 2024 05:54AM UTC
  
  me too, bestie
  
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Sirmlg0 Fri 30 Aug 2024 12:52AM UTC

since when ao3 dabbled in politics

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1. LacysWorldOfWords Fri 30 Aug 2024 01:05AM UTC
  
  I don't know to be honest, but that character development for us
  
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2. desulai Fri 30 Aug 2024 02:33PM UTC
  
  since the threat of banning "hamful" things came to light... lets all take this seriously lol
  
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3. grommile Fri 30 Aug 2024 11:34PM UTC
  
  The Organization for Transformative Works (the donation-funded nonprofit organization founded in 2007 that operates the Archive of Our Own) has been engaged in legal advocacy – an essentially political act – since 2008.
  You can read more here.
  
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gravityboysshieldgang Fri 30 Aug 2024 02:29AM UTC

There's such a weird OTW/AO3 attitude that's developed since 2019 and I don't know how to describe it. Shit is hidden on behalf of others, supposedly to "protect" people, but it really just comes off as scummy and weird. Just because you say what you won't say doesn't mean it's not strange. "We wont release election statistics! We won't release info on the anti-palestinian shit going on in stack! We wont release this, and we ain't gonna release that! B-but, its, its for good reason!" Just comes off so weird.
Edit: It's not transparent is what I'm trying to say, and this whole "we're trying to be more transparent" game is so ridiculous.

Last Edited Fri 30 Aug 2024 02:30AM UTC

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jaitus Fri 30 Aug 2024 02:05PM UTC

What is this referring to?

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1. Rambert Fri 30 Aug 2024 03:13PM UTC
  
  There is an annual election to fill seats on the OTW's Board of Directors. You must donate to be eligible to participate. (Participation is not required)
  
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2. 1. jaitus Sat 31 Aug 2024 10:37AM UTC
    
    Ah, ok!
    
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(This comment is under review by an admin and is currently unavailable.)
ShadiSan Fri 30 Aug 2024 10:36PM UTC

This is the first year I've participated, I don't really think I had any expectations but its nice to see some of the stats

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AngelAxo Sat 31 Aug 2024 07:43AM UTC

When will AO3 and its electives address the growing fandom issue of them deciding that 'All Media Types' overarching tags for large fandoms should be deleted and all fandoms should instead split into who knows how many individual tags. This is been having catastrophic effects on many modern fandoms, and now they're going back and destroying the searchability in older fandoms and deliberetly leavings fics tagged with all media types in unsearchable limbo. AO3 has been very quietly removing accessibiltiy and breaking ways to search fandom and this should be publically addressed.

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1. OTW_News_Post_Moderation (Official) Thu 05 Sep 2024 05:11PM UTC
  
  Hello AngelAxo,
  While News Post Moderators have no oversight over tag wrangling's decisions, we do want to direct you to an update on this topic from them!
  They posted this update on Tumblr as well as on Twitter, but I am copying it here below for ease of reading for everyone!
  
  Update from Tag Wrangling Regarding Fandom Trees & AMTs
  
  Tag wrangling is, on the whole, a fluid process. It's meant to be, because the way language is used and the way tags are used change over time. We're the first to admit that we don’t always get it right, and that we do sometimes make mistakes despite our best intentions. This is why wrangling decisions are not set in stone and are reevaluated periodically as circumstances change or as new information becomes available.
  
  In light of the impact that removing the Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms metatag has had, we have put that metatag back in place.
  
  When it comes to fandom metatags and fandom trees, there is no 'one size fits all' approach that works for all fandoms. Consequently, we have placed a hold on all structural changes to fandom metatags, All Media Types fandoms (commonly called AMTs), and fandom trees while wranglers discuss the need for additional guidelines and adjustments to our approach regarding these tags going forward.
  
  This hold will remain in place until tag wranglers have had ample time to fully reevaluate our fandom wrangling guidelines with the aim of making it easier for Archive users to find the content they’re looking for and filter out the content they aren’t. This guideline reevaluation process is something we are actively working on, but it will likely take some time to complete. We will update again once these fandom guideline discussions have come to a close.
  
  Thank you for your patience and understanding.
  
  We hope this alleviates some of your concern. If you wish to discuss this further, we recommend you reach out to AO3 Support who can answer any questions you may have.
  Best,
  Safa
  OTW News Post Moderator
  
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2. 1. AngelAxo Thu 05 Sep 2024 05:14PM UTC
    
    Thank you very much for addressing this. I'll be following all developments closely.
    
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  2. akibara Tue 10 Sep 2024 10:51AM UTC
    
    Sorry to hijack the thread, but is there anyway/anywhere we can see and get updates from the tag wrangling committee directly? It'd be nice to be able to see changes in guidelines and large changes (like to fandom tags) as they are happening or are being discussed?
    Obviously the tag wranglers are volunteers, but are the people setting the guidelines also volunteers or is that an elected position? I'm not sure where I can get more info on this topic.
    
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  3. 1. OTW_News_Post_Moderation (Official) Tue 10 Sep 2024 06:57PM UTC
      
      Hi akibara,
      The OTW (which runs AO3) doesn't have any paid employees. Everyone is a volunteer, including the Chairs and other leaders of Tag Wrangling.
      The Tag Wrangling committee does not have a direct contact form. If you'd like to make suggestions for the Tag Wrangling committee, please contact Support, and they'll pass along your questions or suggestions.
      Best,
      Marty
      OTW News Post Moderator
      
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Cerevox Sat 31 Aug 2024 08:13AM UTC

Not surprised to see the turnout falling. The last couple of elections have felt meaningless, either all the candidates looking interchangeable to the casual observer, or there being as many open seats as candidates and they all win by default.
Personally, the only time I was eligible to vote my ballot email never showed up, but it was the cycle that everyone won anyway so it didn't even feel like it mattered that the system didn't work.

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1. OTW_News_Post_Moderation (Official) Wed 04 Sep 2024 03:08PM UTC
  
  Hello Cerevox,
  We're sorry to hear your ballot couldn't find you previously!
  In the future, if you believe you are an OTW member and do not receive voting instructions or a ballot, contact the Elections Committee via their contact form as they will be able to verify your record and if necessary resend you your ballot.
  Voting instructions are sent by email to all eligible members in July, and the ballot is sent to the same email when the election opens in August. These emails are sent to the email address provided when you donate to the OTW and select 'Yes' to the question "Do you want to be an OTW member? ($10 minimum donation)" in the donation form. In a small number of cases, emails may not be deliverable if there is a typo in that address.
  Best,
  Marty
  OTW News Post Moderator
  
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daydreamerbee Tue 03 Sep 2024 10:19PM UTC

I personally chose not to vote or donate this year because I am dissatisfied with the intransparency with which the OTW handled the unjust treatment of its own pro-palestine volunteers.

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1. RoyanderBivolt Thu 05 Sep 2024 11:29PM UTC
  
  I know many users who were past donors stop their donations this year for the same reason. I personally would feel more confident and comfortable giving money to the archive IF they fixed their habits of dodging questions on the treatment of their volunteers and freezing every comment that so much as mentions a specific topic.
  For a site that prides itself on enabling freedom of the community they do not inspire much confidence in me personally.
  
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peternurphy Thu 05 Sep 2024 01:20AM UTC

When is the next public board meeting?

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1. OTW_News_Post_Moderation (Official) Thu 05 Sep 2024 04:39PM UTC
  
  Hi peternurphy,
  The next quarterly Board meeting hasn't been scheduled yet, but it will be either at the end of this month start of next month.
  If you'd like to be informed of upcoming Board meetings, you can subscribe to the public Board meeting calendar. They also get announced with an @everyone in the Board Discord server (where the meetings also take place).
  Best,
  Safa
  OTW News Post Moderator
  
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Hippodameia Sat 07 Sep 2024 06:35PM UTC

I'm really surprised to see that there are so few eligible voters. I would have guessed the number to be much higher.

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