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Abdel Salem and Donald Alperstein Win At-Large Positions on USA Fencing Board of Directors

05/22/2021, 3:00pm CDT
By Nicole Jomantas

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – USA Fencing is pleased to announce the winners of the Board of Directors Election which concluded on May 21.

Abdel Salem (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Front Range Fencing Club) and Donald Alperstein (Denver, Colo. / Denver Fencing Center) each will serve two-year terms on the board as At-Large Directors beginning on Sept. 1.

This will be the first term on the board for Salem who retired in 2019 after 22 years coaching at the United States Air Force Academy. Salem, who also serves as a referee, was a 1984 Olympian for Egypt and previously served as president of the United States Fencing Coaches Association.

Alperstein, served as USA Fencing’s board president from 1996-2000 and was elected to his third straight term as an At-Large Director. A national and international referee, Alperstein also served as the organization’s legal counsel for nearly 20 years.

Salem and Alperstein were elected to the roles by USA Fencing voting members – more than 5,000 individuals who held current USA Fencing memberships of supporting level or higher and were 18 years or older as of Feb. 1, 2021.

A record 25.28% of eligible voters participated in the election – the highest percentage of eligible individuals casting a vote in a board election since the launch of electronic voting for the election in 2011, eclipsing the 2020 presidential turnout of 23.92% of eligible voters.

In total, 1,332 individuals cast ballots in the At-Large race that included eight candidates. Votes were cast utilizing a preferential voting system, which awards points to each candidate based on how they are ranked by each voter.  A rank of No. 1 awards the candidate 8 points, rank No. 2 awards 7 points, and so on with rank No. 8 awarding 1 point.  The grand total of points earned from all ballots was used to determine the winners.

Candidate Total Rank Points
Abdel Salem 6029
Donald Alperstein 5865
Ann Marsh 4791
Vickie Miller 3947
Jeff Kim 3934
Dawn Wilson 3912
Patrick Durkan 3129
Scott Webb 2905
Points
Candidate Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 4 Rank 5 Rank 6 Rank 7 Rank 8 Total
Abdel Salem 294 269 135 79 67 61 52 34 6029
Donald Alperstein 339 221 109 86 50 57 51 49 5865
Ann Marsh 201 177 130 95 79 60 66 61 4791
Vickie Miller 113 130 125 110 99 80 72 53 3947
Jeff Kim 99 129 122 110 119 107 61 38 3934
Dawn Wilson 92 120 141 123 104 71 98 50 3912
Patrick Durkan 152 89 53 53 45 57 66 224 3129
Scott Webb 42 70 82 111 95 120 122 48 2905
Points 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Tag(s): 2021 Election