As I'm writing this letter in early May, the ballot to elect the next slate of officers and a corresponding member and to approve or disapprove several minor changes to the Constitution has been sent to all members, either by mail by an email notification. I want to use this letter to strongly encourage each and every one of you to vote. It is your Society: Have a say in who is elected!

I'm hoping to spur many of you into action by reporting on the rather poor voter turnout in most Society elections. Probably not too surprisingly, our best voter turnout was on the vote to change the name of our society from the American Society of Plant Physiologists to the American Society of Plant Biologists. In that election the number of votes for the name change was 1,323, and the number of votes against the name change was 581. At the time of the vote, the Society had 5,945 members, thus 32% of the members voted. This is the best we've ever done! Last year the number of voters was much lower, only 863 of the 5,580 members voted. Over the previous three years, the percentage of ballots cast were 19%, 23%, and 23% of the membership. I'm convinced we can do better this year. I challenge each of you to vote and to ask your colleagues to vote.

In my second president's letter in the ASPB News, I reviewed the mechanism by which the Society obtains its slate of candidates for each election. At least one candidate for each of the elected positions (president-elect, secretary [every other year], and three at-large Executive Committee members [one per year]) must come from nominations by members-at-large, and the other comes from the Nominating Committee (past president, president, president-elect). Typically only a few candidates are suggested by the membership, and often many of these are people who are not eligible because they have already served in that capacity. Next year when there is a call for nominations, I urge you to look at your directory or on the web site at who the past and current officers are and think about whom you would like to see at the helm.

The Society makes it very easy to vote by clicking on the URL in the e-mail message you received if you have chosen to vote via e-mail, or by mailing in your paper ballot if that was your preference. In August, when I open the ASPB meeting in Denver, I'll be reporting on the outcome of the elections. I'm also hoping to report a dramatic increase in the number of votes cast!