Alisa Krasnostein, who had been running as a Get-Up-and-over Fan Fund candidate in tandem with Alexandra Pierce, announced March 11 on Facebook that she has dropped out. Pierce remains a candidate, along with Donna Maree Hanson, Sam Hawke, and Belle McQuattie.

Krasnostein explained:

After a lot of careful consideration and discussion with Alexandra Pierce, I have withdrawn from the GUFF race. It is with a very sad heart that I realise I can’t go to Finland, after having looked forward to their Worldcon since they put in their bid. However, the world has changed since we threw our hat in the GUFF ring and I no longer feel comfortable with being so geographically separated from my kids.

World politics is becoming increasingly scary for many people and I no longer feel comfortable travelling.

Please continue to support the GUFF race. Alexandra Pierce is an awesome candidate and will be an amazing GUFF delegate. We even have talked about some Skype Galactic Suburbia interview options we can do.

The other three candidates are also awesome – and basically the GUFF race is the real winner this year. Vote and support the fan race!

GUFF exchanges delegates between Australasia and Europe. In 2017 voters are choosing the Australasian delegate to Worldcon 75 in Helsinki. In response to the news about Krasnostein, the GUFF voting deadline has been extended until April 17. Candidates’ platforms and general information about voting is here. The updated online ballot is here. A PDF version for printing is here.