Seneschal Election

Greetings unto the Citizens of the Crown Province of Østgarðr.

As our Seneschal (Lori Copeland) resigned her Office at the December 2015 Crown Provincial Commons, I as her Emergency Deputy, assumed the Office. I will hold this Office until June 2016, latest, or until the election of the Seneschal is voted upon. At the January Commons, we set that date to be at the next meeting of the Officer Corps, on Sunday, 13 March 2016, at 2pm at the home of Lady Sofya of Ostgardr [see below].

Unlike the Meeting of the Østgardr Commons, the Meeting of the Officer Corps are much stricter on 'who can speak and when'. Upon being recognized by the Seneschal, (running the Meeting), the indicated Officer is allowed to speak. Those who are not Officers, who wish to be recognized to speak, also must wait until recognized, but Officers have first priority.

Officers must be present to vote, unless they specifically designate that a (1) proxy is sent in writing, (2) signed, & (3) presented to another, (not necessarily an Officer, but a representative chosen by the Officer), & (4) has formally informed the Seneschal-in-Charge of whom will be holding their Officer's Proxy. ~ The Seneschals of each of the Cantons are considered to be an Officer of the Crown Province. ~ An entire listing of the Officer Corps are listed below.

As I am the Seneschal-in-Charge and will be running the Officer Corps meeting, notifications can be sent to me, at seneschal@ostgardr.eastkingdom.org

We need to OFFICIALLY announce the Candidates for the Office of Crown Provincial Seneschal and post it in The Seahorse. To date (as of Monday, 18 January 2016), the Candidates for the Office of Seneschal are

• Master Ian of Clan Mitchell (Mitchell Krevor),
• Master Phillip White (Craig Shupee),
• Baroné Francesco Gaetano Greco d'Edessa (Gy. G. Dioguardi, D.D.).

Again, only current Crown Provincial Officers have a vote. If a person holds more than one Crown Provincial Office, that person only holds one vote. If an Officer will not be in attendance at the Officer Corps Meeting, then that Officer may designate another person, Officer or not, to cast their vote.

I pray that you fare well,
+ Baroné Francesco Gaetano Gréco d'Edessa
• Seneschal, Crown Province of Østgar∂r

Ostgardr Officer Corps:

TITULAR HEADS

Viceroy

Sir Guy avec Cheval

Vicereine

Baroness Johanne aff Visby

OFFICERS *(Seeking Replacement)

Østgarðr Seneschal

Baronè Francesco Gaetano Grèco d'Edessa

(Deputy) Seneschal Broken Bridge

Lord Suuder Saran

*(Deputy) Seneschal Lions End

Baronè Francesco Gaetano Grèco d'Edessa

(Deputy) Seneschal Northpass

Lord Thomas of Northpass

(Deputy) Seneschal Whyt Whey

Lady Alienor Salton

*Herald

Baronè Francesco Gaetano Grèco d'Edessa

*Exchequer

Master Richard the Poor of Ely

Chatelaine

Lady Sofya of Ostgardr

Knight Marshal

Jarl Valgard Stonecleaver

Archery

Lord Suuder Saran

Arts & Sciences

Lady Lada Monguligin

Fencing

THLady Marion of York

Minister of Lists

Baron Jan aff Visby

Chronicler

Magistra Rufina Cambrensis

Webmaster

Master John Elys

Chamberlain

Mistress Katherine Gilliesfleur

Historian

Master Richard the Poor of Ely

will be at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 13 2016 at the home of Maria Dedvukaj, 24-47 26th St., Astoria [Qns] NY.

DIRECTIONS

By Mass Transit:

Nearest subway stop is the Astoria bound N or Q line stopping at Astoria Blvd. Walk 4 blocks in the direction of the Triboro Bridge. Turn right onto 26th Street.

By Car from Westchester/Bronx/NYC:

take the first exit off the Triboro Bridge (31st Street/Astoria Blvd Exit). Keep left at the fork and follow signs for 31st Street and merge onto Hoyt Avenue. Turn left onto 33rd Street. Take the first left onto Hoyt Avenue North. Go straight (3 lights) and turn right onto 26th Street. I'm about the 5th house on the right side of the street. It's a 2 family home and I'm on the first floor.

By Car from Long Island or Queens:

take I-278 East to exit 45 (31st Street Exit). It's the last exit before the Triboro Bridge. Merge onto Hoyt Avenue North. Go straight for three lights and turn right turn onto 26th Street.

Allergen Alert:

A small friendly dog will be there to greet you. Come prepared if you have allergies.

As a reminder, the election for Østgarðr's new Viceroy and Vicereine is coming soon. There is one slate of candidates, Suder Saaren and Lada Monguligan, and a polling ballot will be sent out to all paid members in January.

UPDATE: the mailing labels have finally arrived!  There will be an envelope-stuffing & mailing session on Friday, 22 January 2016, at 7pm, at Lady Sofya's house in Astoria, Queens.  Please contact Gy if you can help.

Even though there's only one slate of candidates, we need at least 50% of the ballots to be returned in order for the poll to be considered valid. Ballots of members 14 and up will be tallied toward the outcome. Ballots from those under 14 will be included for determining validity, but not for determining the outcome. The ballots will state a deadline of February 29, 2016.

After that, ballots will be tallied by the Branch Polling Deputy, a Regional Seneschal, and the Kingdom Seneschal (or designee). Talliers do not reside in the branch conducting the polling or have any other conflict of interest regarding the polling. Returned ballots may only be viewed by the talliers, the Kingdom Seneschal and/or the Kingdom Seneschal's designates, and The Crown. The outcome of the polling will be determined by a simple majority of valid returned ballots. If a polling fails to result in a simple majority, the disposition of the polling falls to The Crown. (Which it technically is anyway....)

(The Østgarðr Bylaws specify a Borda count, not a majority vote, but when there are fewer than three slates of candidates, they're equivalent systems.)

Relevant Law

The Bylaws of the Crown Province of Østgarðr; see section II.C

Current East Kingdom Law; see section VII.C.

The Governing Documents of the SCA; see section V.A.1.