The association representing the full-time professors at the University of Ottawa, APUO, has decided to pass on voting transparency. This reminded me of the National Electoral Council of Venezuela that since the last presidential election of July 2024 has not published the detailed results of the voting district by district.
I requested, in writing through an email - since I could not attend the most recent general meeting held on December 11 - that the APUO reports in the minutes the details of the votes (for, against and abstentions) during the general meeting that took place last April 30. I was particularly interested in having the minutes reflect the actual vote results regarding the motion titled, "Institutional Obligations relating to Violations of International Legal Standards in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (resolution G2425.08)." The published minutes only report the number of abstentions (14) but not the number of people who voted for or against the motion. The resolution could also be titled a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) motion against Israel. It contains the usual preamble that promotes a number of well worn libels against the world’s only Jewish state.
Those who were present at the April meeting, which includes myself, knows that the BDS motion passed with a very slight majority, but we do not have access to the official numbers of votes because my request to amend the minutes was defeated by the assembly on December 11. Why? One of the reasons given to reject my proposal is that the APUO should not report on the full official voting results because it does not want to show that there are internal divisions lest the employer find out.
It seems that, according to unofficial sources, that the BDS resolution passed by a relative majority of 57% of the members that were present in the meeting. Around 37% voted against and around 6% abstained (more or less 43% not supporting it). These are unofficial numbers. The association has decided not to provide the details of the vote. It also seems that a small number of the entire 1200+ membership of the APUO (around 9% of the total) voted last April in favour of the BDS motion.
But like in my beloved and tortured country Venezuela, where voting results opacity has reached its peak, we, the members of the APUO, cannot have access to the details of the votes approving resolutions, including the very problematic one about BDS. This does not bode well for democratic principles within the union.
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