[TheForge] Elections

[George Dixon]

Hi,
I am curious about the decision to turn the abana election into a raffle.
This would mean signed ballots which seems antithetical to the American 
tradition of the secret ballot.

I am also curious about the issue of state by state regulations 
regarding such a raffle.
Are international members of abana eligible?  If so, does this 
'raffle'-election comport with the laws
of the nations involved?  

ABANA has gotten in trouble in the past with both state and federal 
agencies from
failure to comply with regulations.  ABANA has also had some close calls 
for similar reasons.
It would be unfortunate if this election-raffle takes us there again.

George Dixon