JOSH DAVIS/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Ocean Pines Elections Committee members last Friday discuss upcoming election dates.

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(Jan. 17, 2019) The schedule leading up to the 2019 Ocean Pines Board of Directors election was discussed during an elections advisory committee meeting on Friday, as were efforts to reduce the number of late votes received during the next ballot.

As it currently stands this year, three directors would each be elected to three-year terms. Those include the seats currently held by Slobodan Trendic, Ted Moroney and Esther Diller.

Trendic is nearing the end of his first three-year term, while Moroney and Diller were both elected last year to one-year terms, each fulfilling portions of terms by directors who resigned.

This year’s election should be more straightforward, with all three open seats being equal. Trendic, Moroney and Diller are all eligible to run again, although they have yet to announce their intentions.

The elections committee on March 1 will issue bid invitations for printing and mailing association ballots. ACE Printing & Mailing in Berlin has filled that role for several years, and committee Chairman Steve Habeger said last year the company was the only one to respond to bid requests. He said the bid ACE submitted last year was unchanged from the two prior years.

For candidates, the deadline to submit an application is May 10. The association secretary must verify candidate eligibility by May 15 and submit a list of eligible candidates to the committee by June 1. Candidates are generally publicly announced by June 1.

A candidate draw to determine ballot order is scheduled on June 7, with an informational candidate workshop also set for that date.

Candidate forums are scheduled on June 12 and June 22, both to be held in the Assateague Room of the Ocean Pines Community Center.

The cutoff for voter eligibility is July 3 and the target date to mail ballots is July 10.

Ballots must be received by Aug. 7. Votes will be counted and totals announced on Aug. 9 and results will be validated during the Ocean Pines Annual Meeting on Aug. 10.

Last year, 7,614 ballots were sent to association members and 3,119 were counted, for a 41 percent return rate, according to an elections committee report. About 2 percent of ballots were not counted because they were returned late.

Habeger said local media helped promote key election dates last year, and he praised Ocean Pines Marketing and Public Relations Director Denise Sawyer and her team for their efforts.

He added it was “The $64,000 Question” as to how many homeowners live in Ocean Pines year ‘round and how many do not.

“That’s the unknown,” he said, adding the large number of part-time residents tends to throw a wrench in committee plans to maximize voter returns.

“How do you engage people [who don’t live in the community]?” Habeger asked. “I got an email [last year] on the day ballots were due from somebody over on the western shore saying, ‘We can’t find our ballot, can you send us one?’ And I had to explain that, no, ballots are due today, here.”

For the first time last year, ballots included a highlighted box and bold type that explained voting instructions and the due date.

“I think it’s the worthy effort. I don’t know what we can do beyond what we did last year, and last year is the model we’ll build upon,” Habeger said.

Committee member Virginia Sutula noted the difference last year between the fourth-place finisher who was elected and the fifth-place finisher who was not was just 23 votes. That’s well within the margin of the 66 votes that were not counted because they were received late.

“Last year absolutely could have made a difference,” she said. “You can’t help it, but some people just don’t care. They’re here, they are happy with what they’re doing and whoever is elected is fine.”

She suggested that promotional materials going out this year stress the closeness of last year’s contest.

“There were some really close races last year and your vote does count,” she said. “For people who think that, ‘I’m only one vote,’ the difference between a winner and a nonwinner last year [was just a handful of votes].”

Committee member Mark Heintz said the percentage of people who vote has been fairly constant in Ocean Pines, but he would like to see the number of late votes reduced.

“It’s improving, but our objective is zero,” Habeger said.

The Ocean Pines Elections Committee is scheduled to meet again on Feb. 8.

For a full schedule of upcoming committee dates, times and locations, visit www.oceanpines.org/calendars.