Reston Association reveals results of Board of Directors election

Reston Association has elected two new members and re-elected one to their Board of Directors.

The board’s two open at-large seats went to Sarah Selvaraj-D’Souza, who won a second three-year term with 4,275 votes, and Timothy J. Dowling, who was elected for his first three-year term with 3,987 votes.

They both bested John Farrell by a relatively slim margin. The former RA Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee member received 3,719 votes, while 26-year-old software engineer Vincent Dory received 1,221 votes. There were 647 votes to abstain.

Voters could vote for one or two candidates on their ballots.

In the South Lakes District, Jennifer Jushchuk ran unopposed, though about 12% of the votes cast were abstentions.

The results were announced last night (April 13) at RA’s annual members’ meeting. Full results, including vote count and turnout, are publicly available.

The board candidates were announced in February. Voting opened on March 1 and closed on April 2.

RA Election Committee Chair Ed Abbott tells Reston Now that the election ran smoothly and was free of the technical glitches that cropped up last year.

“The Election Committee did not encounter any major issues in the election process,” he said by email. “The use of Zoom for the Candidate Forums and Meet and Greet Sessions went well thanks to the technical support of the RA staff and the cooperation of the candidates.”

Voter turnout also actually went up this year to about 19%, a roughly 5% increase from last year, Abbott notes.

Nonetheless, it remains low, something that the Elections Committee hopes to look into for next year.

“The Elections Committee will evaluate this year’s election process in the coming months and report to the Board of Directors,” Abbott said. “The evaluation will consider, among other things, increasing member participation, reducing costs and improving the overall election process.”

Voters could use either paper or online ballots, though nearly two-thirds of the votes came through online ballots.

The new board will select their officers at their first board meeting tonight (Wednesday). The officer positions include president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer.

Reston Association’s outgoing president Julie Bitzer was first elected to the Board in 2015 and was president for the last year.

Image via Reston Association/YouTube