N.D. Policyholders Confused on Vote to Move Farmers Union Mutual

Some Farmers Union Mutual Insurance policyholders are confused about whether they can vote on moving the state Farmers Union headquarters to Mandan from Jamestown.

The insurance company is separate from the farm organization, with different bylaws and requirements, Farmers Union President Robert Carlson said. That means the proposal will require two votes by delegates at the Farmers Union convention Dec. 8-9 in Williston.

Farmers Union Mutual Insurance policyholders received a postcard late last week telling them they could request a ballot on the move or download one from the Web.

Policyholders also can vote in person or by proxy at the state convention. Any individual vote will be subtracted from those carried by convention delegates, who represent a certain number of votes in their membership area. Stutsman County, for example, has 35 delegates with up to 50 votes each to cast. Each signed ballot cast from a policyholder in Stutsman County would be subtracted from the delegates’ votes.

The process has confused some potential voters.

“I think the whole thing has been handled poorly,” said Joe Detmer, a Farmers Union member and insurance company policyholder.

Pat Nygaard, an insurance company policyholder but not a regular member of the farm organization, said he was bewildered by the postcard.

“For a decision this huge there’s a lot of chaos,” said Nygaard, the business development specialist at the Jamestown-Stutsman Development Corp.

Nygaard said he called the person named on the postcard who was available to answer questions, and was told that person was on vacation all week.

“It’s all very confusing. No wonder people are suspicious,” he said.

There also is some confusion over who can vote on what as a convention delegate.

For Carlson, the situation is not an issue.

“The insurance bylaws provide for a paper ballot,” he said. “This isn’t new; we’ve been doing this for 80 years

Topics Agribusiness