I've been a BMWCCA member for about 20 years now, pretty active in DE, casually follow club racing, love the magazine, hear a little bit of politics in the background, but mostly keep my head down. I just read a stat that mentioned single digit percentage voter turnout in the club's last national election, and there's definitely increased awareness about this current election... which brings me here. I received 2 emails directly to my inbox urging me to vote (fine), and both sharing clear support for the non-incumbent (not as fine). The tone of both these emails was a little off-putting, as if there was some mild desperation to squeeze the incumbent out for the good of the chapter/club. One of the emails was followed up with an apology stating that the original email should not have been sent out to the membership with a clear backing for one of the candidates. In both cases, I felt the initial emails to be inappropriate in their messaging. Now I've just cracked open my new issue of Roundel for 2024 and there are 3 letters showing clear support for the incumbent, with one of those letters being from a chapter president who not only makes it clear that Eddy needs to retain the position, but also states "a last minute party has decided to throw their hat in the ring and for reasons unexplained: this worries me." So while some chapter presidents have been chastised for their actions of tactfully showing support for a candidate (I guess), another gets a published letter that details who they support, but also expresses concern over the competition! This all reads as "slimy" to me!! Let me be clear, I hold no allegiance to anyone, but this obvious mixed messaging and apparent "picking of sides" by some of the leadership is a really big reason to kill any motivation for the average member to vote.
