NASFiC 2020: Ben Yalow, Spikecon Site Selection Area Head, reported the results of the 2020 NASFiC site selection voting held at the joint NASFiC/Westercon.
The information was shared as a courtesy at the Westercon business meeting on July 6, there being no WSFS business meeting at a NASFiC. The complete Westercon 72 Business Meeting minutes are posted here.
Columbus ran unopposed. Yalow said 100 votes were cast.
| Candidate | Thu | Fri | Total | |
| Columbus, OH | 7 | 46 | 34 | 87 |
| Grantville, WV | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Tonopah, NV | 2 | 2 | ||
| OVFF | 1 | 1 | ||
| Arcosanti | 1 | 1 | ||
| Minneapolis in ‘73 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Peggy Rae’s House | 1 | 1 | ||
| None of the Above | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total With Preference | 10 | 49 | 37 | 96 |
| No preference | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Invalid | 2 | 2 | ||
| Total votes cast | 100 |
With 87 votes, Yalow declared that Columbus had won the 2020 NASFiC.
2021 Westercon Site Selection: Ben Yalow also presented the results of the Site Selection for Westercon 74. With 140 votes cast, 68 votes were required to declare a winner.
| Candidate | Thu | Fri | Total | |
| Phoenix, AZ | 3 | 11 | 37 | 51 |
| Tonopah, NV | 9 | 32 | 41 | 82 |
| Both | 1 | 1 | ||
| None of the Above | 0 | |||
| Total With Preference | 134 | |||
| Needed to Elect (Majority) | 68 | |||
| No preference | 6 | 6 | ||
| Total votes cast | 140 |
With 82 votes, Tonopah was declared the winner of the 2021 Westercon.
A video of the Westercon business meeting is available:
[Thanks to Kevin Standlee for the story.]
Discover more from File 770
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
Thanks, Mike!
In case anyone is wondering why the two tables have slightly different formats, WSFS (NASFiC/Worldcon) and Westercon site selection voting rules are subtly different regarding how invalid ballots are counted. There were no invalid ballots cast for Westercon, so it isn’t totally obvious what the difference is; under Westercon rules, invalid ballots count toward the total with preference in the first round of voting, but are discarded with no further preference if additional rounds of tallying are required.
In the Westercon race, the winner needed a majority of the votes expressing a preference, and a majority of 134 is 68. (Not “50% plus 1,” BTW, but “the next whole number that is greater than 50%,” although in this specific case it’s the same number.)
No preference votes are equivalent to abstentions or blank ballots (or indeed, if you paid to vote and walked away without putting your ballot in the box, which happens regularly). Votes for “guest of” memberships, non-natural persons, non-humans (e.g. Kuma Bear), and votes cast on behalf of family members who couldn’t attend all get marked as No Preference.