Illustration by Lucas Rate

Our chance to actively practice local, grassroots democracy has finally arrived. During the whole month of March, the ballot for our Board of Directors' election will be available online or by mail with the paper ballot in this newsletter. We have four candidates for only two open seats on the Co-op board. If you are an eligible Co-op voter, please take the time – it won’t take long – to exercise this most important right.

Last month, we printed pictures of the candidates with their candidate statements. This month, you can read even more from the candidates, who have kindly answered questions submitted to them by our members.

Please note that if you prefer not to vote electronically, you can use the paper ballot inside this newsletter, with instructions included.

Only one vote is allowed per membership. Therefore, if you share a membership with another person, you’ll have to decide between you who gets the honors.

Voters will log in to the electronic ballot using the 12-digit member number as the username, and the first four (or fewer) letters of the last name as the password. More instructions will be available with the ballot, or at the voting terminal here in the store. And if you need more help, just ask!

We’ll post the election results in the store as soon as they’re tallied on April 1. Let the election begin!