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Click here for information regarding the Director positions and the 2009 candidates.

Society Board of Directors Election Rules

Approved by the Board of Directors 8/7/08

Introduction & Timeline
This is to explain what the Board of Directors is, what their duties are and how they are elected. A term for a member of the Board of Directors is two years in length, with a training period beginning after the elections (held in the winter) through the end of the post mortem process for the following convention (usually the beginning of August). The term officially begins at the first Directors Meeting after the completion of the post-mortem process. Once a person is elected to a Board position, they are required to attend and participate in all MISFITS/CONvergence affairs appropriate to the position-elect during their training period. However, they have no voting rights until their term officially begins.

A member of the Board of Directors has dual duties: Overseeing the running and visioning of the overall Society and the hands on work of running either the CONvergence Convention or the day to day running of MISFITS and other events throughout the year.

Director positions available in even-numbered years (determined by the year in which the January voting meeting is held) are: CONvergence Events Director, CONvergence Administration & Communications Director, CONvergence Community Relations Director, MISFITS Web & Print Publications Director, MISFITS Events Director, and MISFITS Finance Director.

Director positions available in odd-numbered years (also determined by the year in which the January voting meeting is held) are: CONvergence Publications Director, CONvergence Finance Director, CONvergence Facilities Director, CONvergence Membership and Revenue Director, MISFITS Clubs and Community Relations Director, and MISFITS Administration & Communication Director.

Eligibility and Running for Office
The following are requirements for running for a position on the Board of Directors:

1. The candidate must be a voting member of MISFITS/CONvergence.

2. The candidate must be 18 years of age or older at the time of the election.

3. Only self-nominations are accepted.

4. Midnight of November 1st of each year is the deadline for candidacy announcement. Declaration must be made to the current Society Secretary via written notice; electronic notice is acceptable.

5. When stating intent to run, the candidate must specify which of the available Board of Directors positions he or she is applying for.

6. If the candidate is deemed ineligible to run for office (by failing to meet any of the above requirements), he or she will be informed of their ineligibly no later than November 15th of the same year. A protest may be filed by November 21st if the candidate wishes to contest that decision. A final decree on the matter would then be made by November 31st by the Board of Directors.

Informing the Constituency
All eligible candidates will be listed on The Society website. Candidates have the opportunity to post a current photograph, submit a mini-bio of no more than 300 words, and include a link to a personal website if they so choose. If the candidate exercises this option, they must submit all information no later than 30 days prior to the election. Information will be posted as it is received and any late information will be posted at the convenience of the webmaster. If the candidate chooses not to submit information, the website will still list his or her name with the words "declined to submit."

Election Committee
Three Society voting members shall comprise the Election Committee and serve as judges at the election.

Members of the Board of Directors, candidates, their spouses, romantic partners, or family members are ineligible to serve on the Election Committee. The Committee will be unanimously appointed by the
Board of Directors and approved by a majority hand-vote at the November meeting. The Board of Directors can also select alternate judges at their discretion.

Election Procedure
The first order of business of the January meeting is the election. Other business may be conducted while votes are being tallied or after election results are announced. The election committee will review the ballots for accuracy at least one week prior to the election.

1. Ballot Requirements

1. Judges will have the exclusive responsibility of handing out the ballots to eligible voters, determining the validity of and counting the ballots. Only judges will be permitted to announce election results.

2. All ballots must contain:

1. Directions on how to properly fill out and submit the ballot.

1. No write-in candidates are allowed.

2. Statement that non-legible votes will be considered invalid.

2. Name of open positions will be listed in alphabetical order.

3. A brief description of the duties performed by each position.

4. Candidates for each office listed in alphabetical order under each position by last name.

2. Meeting the Candidates

1. The meeting Chair shall describe each open position and then introduce candidates for that
   position to the constituency.

2. Each candidate, or an appointed representative of that candidate (if the candidate cannot attend), will be given up to two minutes to describe their qualifications.

3. Each candidate, or an appointed representative of the candidate, will be given up to five minutes to answer questions from the present constituency.

1. If, at the end of the 5 minutes, the membership still has questions to ask, it is up to the Chair of the meeting to determine whether the time will be extended.

3. Voting Member Eligibility

1. Voting membership requirements are defined in the Society Bylaws.

2. The election committee is responsible for obtaining two separate membership lists (one from the MISFITS Admin/Comm Director and one from the CONvergence Admin/Comm Director.)

1. Each Admin/Comm Director is responsible for keeping record throughout the year of membership for their respective group.

3. The election committee then combines the CONvergence and MISFITS lists into a single master list, which is used at the election to determine voter eligibility.

4. The election committee must bring a minimum of three copies of this master list to the election to voting meeting.

1. Ideally, a preliminary version of this master list will be prepared by the November meeting preceding the election for the voting membership to review for accuracy.

5. Members may check in with an election judge immediately prior to or during the meeting (with the exception of candidate introduction/question time) to receive a token, which can then be exchanged for a ballot once voting commences.

6. At the January meeting, if a member believes they are eligible to vote (after being denied a token), that member may petition the judges to verify their status with Board of Director members who are not up for election.

7. No tokens will be distributed more than 15 minutes after voting commences (with an exception for those already in queue for a token.)

8. Neither absentee or proxy voting is allowed. Only eligible members present at the election meeting will be permitted to vote.

4. Determining Results

1. Completed ballots shall be collected by the Election Committee, who will then retire to count them.

2. The winner shall be determined by a simple majority of the votes cast.

1. If a section of a ballot is not marked in a manner defined as acceptable by a majority of judges, it will be ruled a non-vote and will not be counted. This includes a section of a ballot that is not marked.

3. The results will be announced before the close of the election meeting.

4. In the event of a tie vote between two candidates, those two candidates will be given the opportunity to once again express why they feel that they are best qualified for the position and a second vote of all eligible members will immediately be conducted.

1. If the second vote again results in a tie, all sitting directors (excluding any incumbent running for the position in question) will deliberate and vote until a decision is made.

5. If three or more candidates run for one office and none of the candidates receive more than half of the votes cast, a run off election will be held immediately between the top two candidates.

6. Ballots will be archived in the Society Office for a minimum of six months by the Society Secretary.

2008 Regents Election Results

Thank you to all those involved in the election process!

93 ballots were cast at the Regents election on 1/20/08.
Here are the results of the 2008 election:

MISFITS Coordinators:
Events:	Dave Benhart (93 votes)
Finance:	Elliott James (93 votes)
Web & Print Publications:	Jodie Gustafson (91 votes)
CONvergence Coordinators:
Communications:	Windy Bowlsby (49 votes) Ann Roubik (43 votes)
Community Relations	Perrin Klumpp (85 votes)
Events	Michael Lee (57 votes) Jon Olsen (36 votes)

2007 Regents Election Results

68 ballots were cast at the Regents election on 1/21/07. The following coordinators were elected:

MISFITS Coordinators:
Communications: Matt Savelkoul (63 votes)
Clubs and Fan Relations: Peter Verrant (63 votes)

CONvergence Coordinators:
Facilities: Ishmael Williams (65 votes)
Finance: Pat Wick (46 votes)
Marketing: Jeremy Stomberg (63 votes)
Publications: Chris Jones (67 votes)

Revised: 11.04.2008
 

Copyright © 2008 MISFITS
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