TEAM TUSI: PROTECT THE PROCESS. PRESERVE THE UNITY. 
 

• Team TUSI has raised its concerns before votes are cast because questions about an election process should be addressed before Election Day—not after the results have been announced. 
   

  Our position is clear: 

  Team TUSI will not participate in the electronic voting process as presently structured. However, we remain ready and willing to participate in a traditional, in-person, secret-paper-ballot election where voter identification and eligibility are verified, ballots are privately cast, and the counting process can be observed and documented. 
   

  This is not about refusing an election. This is not about rejecting technology. 

  We are asking to use a process our community already understands while allowing adequate time to educate and prepare our members for technology in the future. And this is not about winning at any cost. It is about protecting the integrity of the process and preserving the unity of the community we will all still belong to when this election is over. 

  Recent events have only deepened our concerns. 
   

  We understand that a LIBAC elder wanted assistance understanding the electronic voting process. A supporter of Jones/Raynes reportedly contacted Election Commissioner Mr. Gonda Watson to help explain the process to his uncle. According to the account provided to us, Mr. Watson asked, “Who is he for?” When told the elder supported Team TUSI, he reportedly responded, “I don't talk to TUSI people.” 
   

  First things first: Why should an Election Commissioner need to know who an elder supports before explaining the voting process to him? 

  If that statement was made, it raises a serious question about impartiality. My people, this is the administrator helping lead the very electronic voting process we are repeatedly being told to “trust.”  

  So make it make sense. 
   

  Is this impartiality? Is this integrity? Is this transparency? And most importantly, is this unity? 

  Every LIBAC member deserves the same information, same respect, and same access, whether they support TUSI, Jones/Raynes, or neither. 
   

  We also initially heard breaking news of one Election Commission resignation, but we have since learned there were reportedly two. Mr. Watson reportedly submitted his resignation, individuals associated with Jones/Raynes reportedly encouraged him to reconsider, and we understand he subsequently submitted a letter rescinding that resignation. 
   

  If those facts are accurate, why has leadership remained silent about his status while Team TUSI is now being called to a meeting? This is an election process, not a social club. Transparency must apply to everyone. 
   

  Mr. Watson, the statement attributed to you has raised serious concerns about your impartiality. If you chose to resign or recuse yourself, allow that decision to stand. Let integrity prevail and step away from administering this election. 

  You cannot keep telling people to “trust the process” while giving them reasons to question the process. 

  And to the EC Chairman: continuing to impose an electronic process that has generated this level of distrust will not restore unity. 
   

  Give us the paper ballot. 

  Verify the voter. Issue the secret ballot. Allow the voter to cast it privately. Secure the ballot. Count the ballots openly under neutral observation. Document the results. 
   

  Table electronic voting for this election. Bring our community together on October 25. Afterward, provide adequate education and training, establish safeguards, and allow the community to determine how electronic voting should fit into LIBAC's future. 
   

  Technology is not the enemy. 

  But technology should never become more important than the trust and unity of the people it is supposed to serve. 

  LIBAC deserves better. LIBAC deserves an election process that every member can approach without first being asked, “Who are you for?”