WESPA Extraordinary General Meeting
On Feb 27 2021, WESPA held an Extraordinary General Meeting of its members. The motion presented at the EGM was a suite of constitutional changes, including changing references to SCRABBLE(tm) to an unbranded crossword game, and redefining the relationship between WESPA and the Scrabble(tm) trademark holders. These changes would be required to allow WESPA constitutionally to reject the lexicon changes proposed by Mattel, to remove words designated as “offensive” or “disparaging” that they do not want associated with Scrabble(tm) branded products, including the officially branded Scrabble(tm) dictionary. As with any constitutional change, the motion required 75% of votes cast in favor to pass.
Votes are allocated to members according to their class of membership as indicated below. 75% of the 328 votes cast, or 246 votes, was required to approve the motion. The final tally was 156 votes for the motion, 172 votes against the motion, 35 abstentions, and 109 not present. A member-by-member breakdown of the vote is below.
| Member | Class | Votes Allocated | Votes FOR | Votes AGAINST | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States and Canada (NASPA) | 1 | 30 | 30 | ||
| United Kingdom (ABSP) | 1 | 30 | 30 | ||
| Thailand (TCA) | 1 | 30 | Abstained | ||
| Pakistan (PSA) | 1 | 30 | 30 | ||
| Nigeria (NSF) | 1 | 30 | 30 | ||
| Australia (CASPA) | 1 | 30 | 30 | ||
| Zambia | 2 | 15 | Not Present | ||
| Uganda (SAU) | 2 | 15 | Not Present | ||
| Trinidad and Tobago (TTSA) | 2 | 15 | Not Present | ||
| Sri Lanka | 2 | 15 | 15 | ||
| South Africa (SSA) | 2 | 15 | Not Present | ||
| Singapore (SSA) | 2 | 15 | 15 | ||
| Sierra Leone | 2 | 15 | 15 | ||
| Romania | 2 | 15 | 15 | ||
| Philippines (USAPI) | 2 | 15 | 15 | Voted by Proxy | |
| New Zealand (NZASP) | 2 | 15 | 15 | Voted by Proxy | |
| Malaysia | 2 | 15 | 15 | ||
| Kenya | 2 | 15 | Not Present | ||
| Ireland (AISA) | 2 | 15 | 11 | 4 | |
| Indonesia | 2 | 15 | Not Present | ||
| India (SAI) | 2 | 15 | 15 | ||
| Hong Kong (HKSPA) | 2 | 15 | 15 | ||
| Ghana | 2 | 15 | 15 | ||
| Botswana | 2 | 15 | Not Present | ||
| Malta | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | |
| Israel | 3 | 5 | 5 | ||
| Germany | 3 | 5 | Abstained | ||
| Spain (Sayaka Kamikariya) | 4 | 1 | 1 | Voted by Proxy | |
| Qatar (Prashanti Weerawardane) | 4 | 1 | Not Present | ||
| Nepal (Keshab Prasad Parajuli) | 4 | 1 | Not Present | ||
| Sweden (Greger Nässén) | 4 | 1 | Not Present | ||
| United Arab Emirates (Eric Kinderman) | 4 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Netherlands (Anand Buddhev) | 4 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Ejike Osondu | 4 | 1 | Not Present | ||
| TOTAL | 472 | 156 | 172 | Threshold: 246/328 |