AITA for rage-quitting after I lost an election?

A Redditor recounts a dramatic fallout after losing a close election for president within a volunteer organization. Despite years of dedication and discovering a voting error that technically made her the rightful winner, the organization refused to overturn the results. Feeling sidelined and frustrated, she chose to step away from all leadership roles, leaving some to question her loyalty. Read the full story below to decide for yourself.

‘ AITA for rage-quitting after I lost an election?’

I (28f) have been a member of a large volunteer organization for several years. I am one of the longest-standing members, I have spent hundreds of hours on various aspects of it, I’ve held small leadership positions in almost every area, and I have a large amount of experience being the president of another organization as well. When I first joined, things were not doing well, so I (with others) worked our asses off to improve that, and we did.

In fact, we did so well with improving the atmosphere that we had a massive amount of incoming members, who quickly became very close with each other (something we specifically encouraged) and have absolutely no idea how bad things used to be, or how much behind-the-scenes work it takes to maintain the way things are now.

I ran for president in the most recent election. I ran against five other candidates. Four of us had years of experience and had been preparing our campaign for months/years. One person (let’s call them Alex) was extremely new (a few weeks), had zero experience at all, decided to run at the last minute, and had a very large friend group with other new members. Alex was barely allowed to run due to how new they were, but made the cut by a handful of days.

You can see where this is going. It was extremely close between me and Alex, and I lost by one vote. The rest of the elected officials were all new members, of the same friend group, also without experience. Then, it was discovered that 9-10 votes, specifically the votes of other people in leadership positions who worked closely with me, were not counted. This was not intentional or malicious, simply a computer error.

Apparently every single one of them voted for me. I technically won. They tried to get the election results overturned because of it, but higher ups would not allow it, because they feared it would look like favoritism. At the end of the day, I was told to keep quiet and not let anyone know about this.

That brings me to my current situation. Because nobody on the new executive team has any experience, I started facing a lot of pressure to take on a lower leadership position solely to guide them and ensure our hard work doesn’t go to hell. I absolutely refused. In fact, I’ve decided to drop all leadership roles and do absolutely nothing this year.

This has lead to multiple people telling me that I don’t truly care about the organization, that I’ll be responsible if it falls apart, etc. I feel like it’s a slap in the face to expect me to do what a president does without the title to show it. Am I the a**hole for dropping all leadership positions and letting the new team do whatever the hell they want to do?

Here’s what Redditors had to say:

Middle-Accountant-49 −  First things first. Is there a paper trail where someone admits to the vote thing? Like that’s proveable? I wouldn’t try to use it to overturn the decision but i would absolutely publicly tell them that is the reason i’m quitting.. And then quit.

Marzipan_civil −  NTA if you do an actual handover. Give them a document or spreadsheet noting what things need to be done for the position you’ve just vacated. Point them in the direction of where previous meeting minutes, financial details/requirements, etc can be found.

Maybe schedule of events that are typically run through the year. Then you can leave with a clear conscience. I’d recommend leaving the organisation entirely, and finding something else to spend your energy on.

Affectionate_Taro876 −  I was promised the next promotion was mine and coming soon. I had been operating in a “temporary” role for almost a year, and had 8 years with the company. The next opening came up, and a woman that had been with the company for 2 months in another district put in a transfer and was given the role. At my location, working for my mentor.. I was asked to train her. That night I put in applications for other companies. By the end of the week I put in my notice. Transfer girl lasted 4 months.

NTA. They can reap what they’ve sown. I personally would make it clear that all the votes were not counted, you were asked to stay quiet, and asked to essentially do the work of the position behind the scenes with no recognition.
Editing to Add: We don’t know what the organization is, but there are often several organizations to join with similar missions and several ways to be in service of that mission. Op could also start her own non-profit, and she may find others from her past are willing to follow

DesperateCrayon −  Are you a woman? Keeping quiet about injustice is something people expect from woman.

kharmatika −  NTA. Fair elections matter, and if the organization will “Fall Apart” because of one person stepping back, that’s not the fault of the person, it’s the fault of the organization. Classic Schrodingers Employee. Not valuable enough to defend as the rightful elected president of the institution, while simultaneously too valuable to have step down because you are integral to the very fiber and existence of the organiztion. HMMMMMMM

mysteresc −  NTA. A mentor of mine was fond of saying, “volunteering is optional. Doing the job is not.” You are well within your right to step back, at any time, for any reason. And if the organization falls apart, that’s on the elected leaders.

These_Economist3523 −  What kind of organization? I think the importance of what you’re doing matters. If this is a chess club, they can go f**k themselves.

DJ_Too_Supreme_AITA −  NTA. This is very similar to a very experienced worker who has done everything for a company and deserved a promotion only for someone with far less experience to get it; also while expecting the experienced employee to train the less experienced one. Why should you have to put in more work to help in experienced people do their job? You had to work your way up, it should be expected the new executive do the same thing.

CeeceeATL −  I was prepared to say you are the ah. However after reading through your story, you are NTA. They cannot have their cake and eat it too. They elected (even if unfair) another person to the role. That person needs to do it. If that person cannot do it – maybe they need to have an emergency meeting to discuss their incompetence.

ChiquitaBananaKush −  highers up would not allow it. So they want you to do the work and get zero credit? The organization has already fallen apart if they didn’t elect the person who won in the first place.