Transcript Best Practices for Election Procedures in ACS Local

American Chemical Society
Best Practices for Election
Procedures in ACS Local
Sections and Divisions
William H. (Jack) Breazeale, Jr., Chair
ACS Committee on Nominations and Elections
Webinar Objective
• Offer a tutorial that presents information
on best practices for election procedures
in ACS Local Sections and Divisions
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Local Section/Division Election
Procedures
Webinar Key Content Areas:
• Manner of Elections
• Balloting (paper and electronic)
• Role of Tellers
• Reporting Election Results
• Vacancies, Election Disputes
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Local Section/Division Election
Procedures
Webinar Key Content Areas:
(Candidates)
• Finding future candidates (discussion)
(Logistics)
• Follow-ups
• Acknowledgments
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Local Section/Division Election
Procedures
• “A Local Section/Division shall elect its
own officers, Councilors and Alternate
Councilors.”
(ACS Constitution - Article XII, Sec. 5b and Article XIII, Sec. 2b)
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Local Section/Division Election
Procedures
• Local Section and Division bylaws govern
the election process. Following the
bylaws and revising where appropriate,
minimizes election disputes and avoids
the possibility that an election must be rerun.
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Manner of Elections
Local Section and Division bylaws typically specify that:
• Officers, Councilors and Alternate Councilors are
elected by members for a specific term. (Neither
Society Affiliates, Local Section/Division Affiliates, may
vote, nor hold an elected position. Student members
may vote; and if the bylaws permit, they may hold an
elected office.)
• A Nominating Committee is required, and by whom and
by when the Committee is appointed.
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Manner of Election
Local Section and Division bylaws typically specify:
• How the election will be conducted for officers
and Councilors (balloting at a regular meeting,
by mail, and/or electronic balloting)
• The opportunity for nomination by petition
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Balloting
• Balloting should be fair and open to all eligible
voters.
• Ballots should include the name of candidates
in a predetermined order (bios and statements
should also be included).
• Ballots should be returned in a separate
envelope with a space for a signature.
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Balloting
• Always request a current mailing list for those members
eligible to vote. (Remember neither Society Affiliates
nor Local Section/Division Affiliates may vote.)
• Retain this list with your voting information for one year.
• Ballots should not be printed as part of a local section
or division newsletter.
• The period for distribution and return of ballots is
usually clearly stated in the bylaws and adhered to.
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Balloting
All ACS elections must be conducted
confidentially: the local section/division does not
know how an individual member voted in the
election.
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Electronic Balloting
• Check your bylaws to ensure that the bylaw election
information is current and allows for electronic balloting.
• Ensure that words like “mail”, “signature”, “envelope”,
and other similar words are removed from the local
section/division bylaws.
• If changes are needed, submit proposed changes to
the Committee on Constitution and Bylaws (C&B) at
[email protected]
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Electronic Balloting
Like mail ballots electronic balloting procedures
shall meet the requirements of:
1) Fair and open balloting
2) Balloting that is confidential
3) Protection against fraudulent balloting
4) Ballot archiving
5) Timely reporting of results
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Electronic Balloting - locating a
vendor for electronic elections
Check with:
• Other local section/divisions using an electronic
voting system
• Local college or university – they may have
electronic balloting systems for their own use to
which they may be willing to give you access
• SurveyMonkey – www.surveymonkey.com
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Electronic Balloting - locating a
vendor for electronic elections
• Survey & Ballot Systems –
– www.surveyandballotsystems.com (contact
[email protected] for details)
• The ACS national election vendor – VR
Election Services (VRES)
– www.vres.us
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Electronic Balloting
• Local Sections and Divisions that are currently
using an electronic voting system may be
totally electronic or using a hybrid much like the
ACS national election system: a combination
of paper and electronic ballots.
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Electronic Balloting
Process for electronic balloting in the ACS national
election:
• ACS national election uses an outside vendor (VRES)
to manage all aspects of the election. The vendor
mails the ballots out to all of the voting membership,
receives the ballots back at their office, and tallies the
votes.
• Immediately prior to the election period, the Society
sends the vendor the list of all current ACS members.
The list qualifies these members as eligible to vote in
the election.
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Electronic Balloting
Process for electronic balloting in the ACS national
election:
• The vendor uses the list of member numbers to
generate Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) for
each ACS member.
• The vendor tracks which PINs are used for electronic
voting and mail ballots in order to reconcile the
situations in which a member were to vote by both
methods.
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Electronic Balloting
• Solutions for resolving double voting include:
– First ballot received takes precedence
– Mail ballots take precedence
– Internet ballot takes precedence
– Both ballots denied
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Electronic Balloting
• The procedure used in ACS national elections is that
the first ballot received (either by Internet or by mail)
takes precedence and automatically prohibits the
second ballot from being counted.
• The PINs are encoded as a bar code, which allows the
vendor to accurately scan and reconcile each returned
(mail ballot).
• After the ballots have been reconciled, any record of
the association of the ACS member numbers with the
PINs will be destroyed, which ensures confidentiality for
the ACS member.
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Electronic Balloting
• For more information on local section and
division elections, please visit
www.acs.org/elections and view the document
“Protocols for Conducting Elections in Divisions
and Local Sections.”
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Role of Tellers
• The appointment of tellers and their roles should be
identified in the bylaws.
• Tellers should count ballots, tally votes, determine
invalid ballots based on the local section/division
guidelines.
• A method for handling tie votes should be clearly stated
in the bylaws and adhered to.
• Tellers should report the vote tally, including rejected
ballots to the local section or division secretary or other
officer as specified in the bylaws. The report should
reach the secretary as soon as possible.
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Reporting Election Results
• The secretary or designated officer of the local section
or division reports the election results as soon as
possible.
• Following the report to the local section or division, the
secretary should report results to the ACS Executive
Director ([email protected]) for certification. The
deadline, as designated in the bylaws, is December 1.
• Following the announcement of election results, ballots
and a copy of the ballot mailing list should be archived
for a period to be specified in the bylaws. The
recommended period is one year.
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Vacancies and Election Disputes
• In the event of a vacancy by an officer or Councilor of a
local section or division, a provision should exist in the
bylaws calling for selection of an officer either by
succession of an officer, appointment of an officer, or
special election.
• Provisions for election disputes should be clearly stated
in the bylaws. However, if the dispute cannot be
settled, it should be reported to the ACS Committee on
Nominations and Elections for resolution.
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Vacancies and Election Disputes
• If in a local section or division election the
Committee on Nominations and Elections
(N&E) finds a significant violation of the
Constitution and Bylaws provision regulating
procedures, which appears to benefit the
winning candidate, the committee may declare
the election void and order a new election to fill
the vacancy.
• N&E contact: ([email protected])
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Local Section/Division Election
Procedures
• Challenges Local Sections and Divisions Face
– Identifying candidates to run for office
– Following their election bylaw
– Reporting election results by the December 1
deadline
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Local Section/Division Election
Procedures
• Suggestions for identifying candidates for office:
– Have the nominating committee maintain a list of
possible candidates that are carried over each year
– Develop a leadership succession plan
– Encourage current officers to mentor members who
could possibly become leaders
– Recognize current officers for their volunteer efforts
– Consider enrolling in the ACS Leadership Development
System Course: “Engaging and Motivating Volunteers”
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Local Section/Division Election
Procedures
• The four-hour ACS Leadership Development System
course, “Engaging and Motivating Volunteers” offers
the following:
– How to ask others to step-up and volunteer
– How to delegate and share responsibility for projects
– How to keep projects moving
– Understand what form of motivation will excite and
commit volunteers
• Visit www.acs.org/leaders for more details.
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Local Section/Division Election
Procedures
• How have you identified candidates for
local section/division offices?
• What suggestion can you offer others?
(discussion)
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Other Challenges – Updating the
Election Bylaw
• When considering unit bylaw changes, the Committee
on Constitution and Bylaws (C&B) offers two
documents on the ACS website:
– Quick guide for making proposed bylaw changes for
C&B Preliminary Review
– Bylaw guidelines and MODEL BYLAWS
• They are located at www.acs.org/bulletin5 - then click
Constitution and Bylaws, or contact [email protected]
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Other Challenges
• Reporting Election Results by the December deadline
– Officers should be listed in the Yellow Book
– Committee appointments delayed (Councilor/Alternate
Councilor results critical to the process)
– Can’t access FORMS, if election results are not in
• Important: Report Election Results by December 1
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Frequently Asked Questions
• Can letters of endorsement be included in
the official ballot mailing?
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Frequently Asked Questions
• Can the nominating committee be chosen
by someone other than the local section
or division chair or the executive
committee?
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Frequently Asked Questions
• What are the steps in certifying the local
section/division election?
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Frequently Asked Questions
• “If I suspect an election violation in my
local section or division, what is my
recourse?”
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Follow-ups
• Refer to the frequently asked questions (FAQ)
document and the slide presentation “A Tutorial
on Best Practices for Election Procedures in
ACS Local Section and Divisions posted at
www.acs.org/elections
• Follow your bylaws as they pertain to elections
in the local section or division. Always review
the bylaws prior to the beginning of the election
process.
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Follow-ups
• Update your bylaws as needed by contacting
the Committee on Constitution and Bylaws at
[email protected] or 202-872-4071.
• For election questions, please contact
[email protected] or call 202-872-4461.
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Reminder
• Closely following the bylaws helps ensure
that officers are properly in place, and are
authorized to act on behalf of your local
section or division!
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Questions/Discussion
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Acknowledgements
• The Committee on Nominations and Elections thanks the
following for their contributions to this webinar:
– Mitchell R. M. Bruce, Chair, Committee on Local Section
Activities
– Michael Morello, Chair, Committee on Divisional Activities
– Harmon Abrahamson, Chair, Committee on Constitution and
Bylaws
– Flint Lewis, ACS Secretary and General Counsel
Staff Liaison, Committee on Nominations and Elections
– Yvonne Curry, Assistant Secretary for Governance Affairs,
Assistant Staff Liaison, Committee on Nominations and
Elections
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