Like the other polling Orders of the Kingdom of Lochac, the Order of Defense meets (either online or in person) to discuss our art, and the people around the Kingdom who practise it.

The Order typically meets at the Kingdom events (Crown Tournaments and Coronations) as well as at Canterbury Faire, Rowany Festival, and any other time there are enough of us in one place or we have something in particular to talk about. If you're the steward of one of these events, please get in touch with the Order Clerk (defenseclerk@lochac.sca.org) about scheduling a meeting. The Order also conducts a lot of business online: Lochac is a very big Kingdom, so it's rare to get all of the Order together at once. 

As with the other polling Orders, we keep several lists of people that we're talking about - we have a Watch list for people we're keeping an eye on but who don't need any extra attention from the Order at this time. We have a Discuss list for those who we're talking about in more detail, and we conduct Polls of the Order before making a recommendation to elevate to the Crown. Ultimately though, the Order only advises the Crown - the decision to offer someone elevation to the Order is Theirs alone.

To give a consistent approach to polling, the Order has agreed on some guidelines. These may change at some point (e.g. if the Order grows to the stage where these guidelines don't work well, or if any Crown wants things done differently during Their reign).

• Quorum is a simple majority of the order (50.1%) - i.e. if there are 12 members of the Order, a poll requires 7 people to cast a vote for the vote to be considered representative.
• A simple majority of votes cast will be considered to be the answer of the Order.
• Their Majesties will be informed of the numbers (voting, non-voting, for and against) and have the final say in any case.
• Polls can be held at or initiated at a meeting if requested by the Crown (a post-meeting poll would be likely if insufficient members of the Order were present or had submitted proxies)
• Informal polls can be initiated by the Order online or at other times, but serve primarily to gather proxies to be presented at the next meeting with the Crown. 

So who's on our current Watch and Discuss lists? If you're not a member of the Order (or the current Crown), then that's confidential. If you do hear a rumour, or accidentally overhear a conversation about who the Order might be discussing, please let the Clerk (defenseclerk@lochac.sca.org) know and otherwise keep the information to yourself. If, on the other hand, you would like to let either the Crown or the Order of Defense know about a fencer who should be recognised for their efforts, then please let us know!