Votes for and against OMOV at the 1999 Reno USCF meeting

by Sam Sloan

For the first time ever, an up or down vote was taken on the proposal for One Member One Vote at the USCF delegates meetings held in connection with the US Open Chess Chess Championship in Reno.

(In 1998, in a day which shall live in infamy, the anti-OMOV gang voted to table the amendment without allowing any debate at all).

For the sake of convenience and ease of understanding, we shall divide the voters into two groups: "The Good Guys", those who voted in favor of OMOV, and "the Bad Guys", those who voted against OMOV.

The Good Guys lost by 36-45 with one abstention. Here are the votes:

The Good Guys: Kenneth Sloan (AL), Myron Lieberman (AZ), Rachel Lieberman (AZ), Jerome Hanken (CA/S), Michael Nagaran (CA/S), Richard Buchanan (CO), Robert Milardo (CT), Don Schultz (FL), Arnold Denker (FL), Bob Smith (FL), Ralph Bowman (FL), Lawrence Reifurth (HI), Roger Gotschall (IA), Stewart Sutton (ID), Garrett Scott (IL), Neil Andrews (KS), Harold Dondis (MA), Jay Carr (MI), Sylvester Robes (MI), Sam Sloan (NC), Henry Terrie (NH), Joesph Ippolito (NJ), Ken Horne (NV), Bill Goichberg (NY), Martin Merado (NY), Walter Buehl (NY), Phyllis Benjamin (NY), Brenda Goichberg (NY), James Manella (NY), Steve Shutt (PA), Eric Johnson (PA), Larry Evans (PA), Luis Salinas (TX), Robert Tanner (UT), Marvin Hayami (WA), Ollie La Freniere (WA).

The Bad Guys: Walter Schaetzle (AL), Denis Barry (AZ), Richard Peterson (AZ), Steve Kamp (AZ), Tom Dorsch (CA/N), Jim Eade (CA/N), Richard Koepcke (CA/N), Carolyn Withgitt (CA/N), John McCumiskey (CA/N), Hans Poschmann (CA/N), Randall Hough (CA/S), John Surlow (CA/S), Michael Carr (CA/S), Frank Camaratta (FL), Tim Just (IL), Helen Warren (IL), Harold Winston (IL), James Warren (IL), Al Losoff (IL), Thomas Fineberg (IL), Peter Nixon (MI), David Kuhns (MN), William H. Wright (MO), Jim Jirousek (NE), Mike Somers (NJ), Roger Inglis (NJ), Doris Barry (NJ), Al Lawrence (NY), Harold Stenzel (NY), Sunil Weeramantry (NY), Jim Pechac (OH), John McCrary (SC), William Orgain (TN), Harold Sabine (TN), Mallory (TN), Tim Redman (TX), Gary Gaiffe (TX), Selby Andeson (TX), Forrest Marler (TX), George C. John (TX), Albert Woolum (TX), Woodrow Harris (VA), Mike Neitman (WI), Guy Hoffman (WI), James Meyer (WV)

Lawrence Cohen (IL) abstained from the voting.

Note that there tended to be block voting against OMOV, whereas single individuals voted in favor of OMOV. For example, the Northern California delegation voted as a block 6-0 against OMOV. Similarly, Texas voted 6-1 against OMOV. Had Northern California and Texas split their votes evenly, OMOV would have passed by 42 to 39 instead of failing by 36 to 45.

Harold Winston and several members of the scholastic group introduced amendments to the OMOV resolution and then voted against it.

Sam Sloan


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