Sears Vote Rules

BIOGRAPHIES Narrative biographies of the three nominees will be posted on the blog on Thursday 5 May 2011. The bios will be emailed to the community on Friday 6 May 2001.

VOTE SYSTEM This year we will be using ranked voting. Ranked voting is relatively unknown in America, but many countries use ranked voting as their primary system. Ranked voting means that you rank each candidate according to your preference. So for the three nominees, you will rank each as your first choice, your second choice and your third choice. This system allows us to have a single vote and still arrive at a majority candidate. There is no need for a run-off as we have done in previous years. The system is more work for me, but it's less work for you.

VOTING Voting starts on Friday 6 May and ends on Monday 9 May 2011. To vote, read the biographies, rank the nominees in order of your preference (1, 2, 3), and send me an email with your vote and your duty station if I do not know you.

CONFIDENTIALITY All votes are confidential. Only I see your vote, and I will never reveal how you voted. All voting records are destroyed once the vote is over.

WHO CAN VOTE All active duty resident and staff psychiatrists are eligible to vote. Reserve staff psychiatrists are eligible to vote if they were mobilized on active duty in the last year. Interns are not eligible to vote. Last year two Army psychiatrists submitted votes along with rationales about why their votes should count. I allowed their votes. It's a sad commentary to think that only 60 percent of the Navy Psychiatry community bothers to vote, when I have Army psychiatrists banging on my door trying to vote in a Navy election.

RESIDENTS Residents are strongly encouraged to vote. We agreed several years ago to allow residents to vote as a way to encourage resident participation in the Navy Psychiatry community. Residents, please, read the bios, rank the nominees and vote. Don't be like the resident who told me once that he didn't vote because he didn't know any of the nominees. Personal knowledge of nominees is not a reason to avoid voting. Read the bios. They awe me. Pick the one you think deserves the award, rank the other two, then email me. Residents have the power to sway the vote. Every vote counts.

RESERVE PSYCHIATRISTS We want reserve psychiatrists to participate if they have mobilized in the last year. If you are not sure if your vote will be allowed, vote anyway. The worst that can happen is that you get a reply from me, and that is not always bad.