Jerry:
On the merits, I think it would be quite reasonable for someone to vote against the tournament, and it's certainly possible that this close vote merely reflects that. The member I was talking to, however, claimed that the opponents did more (including mailings, emails and other steps) to encourage people to vote against than the proponents did to encourage people to vote in favor. He also claimed that at least one of the communications by the opponents contained inaccurate information. Again, I think the vote could have been close strictly on the merits -- but at least some people at the club are taking a different line.