On March 26, 2013, USRowing reported to the members that at its March 2nd meeting, the Board of Directors was alerted to evidence of malfeasance in the 2013 annual elections for positions on the Board of Directors and standing committees. The law firm Bryan Cave, Colorado Springs, acting in consultation with the USRowing Legal Committee, began an investigation, which has now concluded. A report was made to the Board of Directors on May 3, and the Board met on May 6 to take action on those results.
During the initial phase of the investigation, a member of the rowing community came forward and disclosed their ability to obtain login information that allowed access to VoteNet, USRowing's third-party online voting resource used successfully for the past four years, while appearing to be an authorized voter of a USRowing member organization. This individual also admitted to using these credentials while the election was underway to access most of the Mid-Atlantic organizations' voting accounts on VoteNet.
Because this individual's disclosure raised concerns about the validity of the entire annual voting process, USRowing expanded its investigation to include a review of all election ballots cast nationwide in the 2013 USRowing elections. In April, the investigator reviewed each of the 2013 elections. The investigation found no evidence of improper voting in the Midwest region, or the Vice President elections. The investigation did, however, find irregular voting patterns in the Mid-Atlantic.
Further investigation into this region's voting resulted in the determination that fraudulent ballots were cast in the Mid-Atlantic election that directly affected the outcome of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Director of the Board of Directors election only. Those responsible for the fraudulent ballots have not yet been identified.
The Board has adopted a resolution (full text below) declaring the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Regional Director election null and void. The Association will run a new Mid-Atlantic Regional Director election with updated security protocols as soon as possible. Future USRowing elections will use all practicable security protocols. The Board's Ethics Committee has been directed to investigate this incident further and report its findings to the Board. Information on the updated security protocols and instructions for the new Mid-Atlantic Regional Director election will be distributed to the membership before the end of May, 2013.
We appreciate the understanding of all USRowing Mid-Atlantic organizational members during this process, and again, encourage anyone with information concerning any misconduct in this election process to come forward to the USRowing Ethics Committee by emailing [email protected].
USROWING BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Resolution adopted by the USRowing Board of Directors, May 6, 2013: