Announcements!
electronic voting
The Questers organization has moved to a new form of voting, ELECTRONIC voting. We will no longer be using paper ballots, mailing out ballots, receiving return ballots by mail, and tallying by hand. We have researched various methods to automate the voting process and have selected ELECTION BUDDY as our preferred method of voting.
Election Buddy provides an automated method of voting, is hundreds of dollars less expensive, shorter preparation time, faster tallying time, and very secure. Currently, we are conducting our IEB election and By-Laws election using Election Buddy.
By now you should have received the Electronic ballot to vote for new IEB Board members:
· Sally Bertellotti for President
· J. Lee Hensley for 1st VP
· Joed Hill for Corresponding Secretary
A few questions have been asked, so I thought I’d send out an email to clarify the questions being asked for all voters:
· The email looks like a spam email
o You will receive an email from Election Buddy that says the election is from The Questers. This is a legitimate email, and you should go ahead and open the email. There is a typo in the opening paragraph that may cause someone to think it is spam. It is not. It is a spelling mistake I made and missed when I proofed the email. The mistake was spelling SUBMIT as SUMMIT. I apologize for the error.
· I don’t see the ballot to vote
o The ballot will be presented to you to vote AFTER you select the LINK to the ballot in the Election Buddy email. The link is in BLUE and approximately in the middle of the email text. Select this link and the ballot will be presented.
· I need more information about the candidates
o Information about the candidates has been uploaded to the ballot and you can see the information by clicking on the word “Information” in orange under the candidate’s name. This is all the information provided by the nominating committee. You can review this prior to your YES or NO vote.
· Do I need to do anything after I have voted for each candidate
o YES, after you have voted for the last candidate (Joed Hill), scroll down and click on CONTINUE. This will take you to a page where you can review your vote. If everything is in order, click on SUBMIT. Once you have selected SUBMIT you will see a confirmation message as well as receive a confirmation email.
I hope this clears up everything for you. If you do have questions, call or email Carole Strick, Election Administrator (carolestrick9212@gmail.com 217-494-9212).
Gary Mertz
Treasurer
proposed international by laws changes
Make it stand out
thank you from the university of delaware to the questers
THE FOUNDER'S AWARD TOPIC FOR 2026
The 2026 Founder's Award topic is “Abraham Lincoln: the Man and the Legend.”
The Founder's Award is given at the International Convention each year in honor of Jessie Elizabeth Bardens. This is the highest honor for research conferred on Questers members by their fellow members.
Founder's Award papers are prepared following the same guidelines as study papers.
The Quester author's name and address, chapter name and number should appear only on the title page. Submissions should be at least 12-point type, for ease of reading.
Entries should be sent to International Headquarters, postmarked by March 1, if sent via USPS, or received by 11:59 p.m. EST on March 1, if emailed. Entries that are sent hard copy (via mail) should be addressed to: Founder's Award Entry, The Questers, 210 Quince Street, Philadelphia, PA 10107-5534. Electronic copies (.docx or .pdf format) can be attached to an email and submitted to the Headquarters Administrator at questers210@questers1944.org. The Headquarters Administrator will review each entry, remove all indications of the author's identity, and give each entry a code before sending it to the Founder's Award Committee Chairman. The Reading Committee (a group of anonymous members) then begins the task of selecting the winning papers under the direction of the Founder's Award Chairman, who is appointed by the International President and ratified by the Board.
The winners are kept secret until they are announced at the International Convention. Besides the framed certificate and engraved silver plate, the author’s name and the title of the winning paper is entered (in calligraphy) in a leather-bound book at Headquarters for all visitors to see.