2022 AGU Election Statistics

In AGU’s 2022 biennial election, for which voting ended on 6 October, the membership chose 59 new leaders to serve 2-year terms in 2023–2024. Union officers, Board members, section officers, student and early-career representatives to the Council, and the College of Fellows chair-elect were elected. Here the AGU Leadership Development/Governance Committee looks back at the voting in this year’s election and how it compared to prior elections.

Read more in our 2022 election announcement post about the results and an overview of the leadership transition.

Electronic Voting
Members voted electronically, and access to voting was provided to all eligible voters for a period of 30 days. All members who joined or renewed their membership by 5 August 2022 were eligible to vote in this year’s leadership election.  Anyone who joined or renewed their membership after that date and requested a ballot received one.

Survey and Ballot Systems, Inc. (SBS), which offers election planning and management services, conducted the voting and provided support services throughout the election.  Eligible voters were provided unique login links via an initial email from SBS on 7-8 September that included their ballots. The vendor sent four additional reminder emails to eligible voters who had not yet voted during the election. On 7 October, SBS certified the results, which were then reviewed by the AGU Leadership Development/Governance Committee.

Participation Rate
The total number of ballots validated in the election was 5,931. The number of eligible voters was 36,722, making the participation rate 16.15%. This is slightly lower than in AGU’s last election in 2020 in which the participation rate was 18.49%. The Leadership Development/Governance Committee will continue to analyze the voter statistics to develop approaches to better encourage participation in future elections.

SBS provided all voters the opportunity to rate their satisfaction with the 2022 voting process. In response to this election, 3,476 surveys were received. This is a good indication of voter engagement, and 89.3% of voters continue to be satisfied or very satisfied with the voting process. Voters provided many comments and suggestions, which AGU will analyze and discuss over the coming weeks. Voter feedback is very important, and comments received in 2020 were instrumental in helping the Leadership Development/Governance Committee plan for the 2022 election.

Getting the Word Out
The election was supported by From the Prow posts and other communications throughout this year. The Leadership Development/Governance Committee published the proposed slate on AGU.org on 30 June and the final slate on 9 August.

A special election webpage was created to aid members with the voting process. The election was promoted in the AGUniverse e-newsletter, Eos print ads, Eos Buzz e-newsletter ads, AGU Career Center ads, and on the AGU.org homepage, AGU Connect, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Section leaders were encouraged to promote voting as well.

Notifications
After reviewing the election report provided by SBS, the Leadership Development/Governance Committee began the process of notifying all 117 candidates before the election results were publicly announced. The College of Fellows and each of the 25 sections participating in the 2022 election provided a single point of contact to receive results and contact candidates. Leadership Development/Governance Committee members contacted Board candidates and the student and early career Council candidates. Results were released online on 26 October 2022.

The Leadership Development/Governance Committee expresses its gratitude to all candidates and to all AGU members who voted.

Leadership Development / Governance Committee—Robin Bell, AGU Past President and Chair ([email protected]); Eileen Hofmann, Vice Chair; Regupathi Angappan; Aisling Dolan; Luis A. Gonzalez; Peter Griffith; Elizabeth Johnson; Wendy Watson-Wright; Meng Zhou; Michael Manga; Randy Fiser; Janice Lachance; and Cheryl Enderlein