I could understand that happening, but twinned with the staff getting a list of members first, that wouldn't be a problem.
Very true, but wouldn't that ruin the purpose of a poll? ;O
Not at all, it would just narrow down the members to a list of people who the staff see fit for the group, but probably still too many to make them all Elites, so then all the members would vote on the few members who should get it.
That list of members could be drawn from a topic of members saying they'd like to participate, narrowing it down even further, with only active members participating. The staff could then pick out any members they don't see fit to be voted on, then the rest get voted on.
I'm up for the easy way too, just the staff deciding, but the voting on it's own, that would never do, I agree.