This document shall
prescribe the procedures used to govern elections for the Lincolns of
Distinction car club. This document may
only be amended by a 2/3 majority vote of the Board of Directors of Lincolns of
Distinction.
The Active Members
shall elect by ballot the Directors and Officers of the club. The total number
of director positions is 4. The election
process shall involve 4 people, the Secretary, a person to count the votes, and
two people to verify the votes. The Board of Directors prior to the beginning
of the election must approve all except the Secretary. Those counting or
verifying the votes may not be running for election or re-election.
Eligibility
In
order to run for a position as a Director or an Officer of Lincolns of
Distinction, one must be an active club member.
Candidates for the position of President or Treasurer must be active
members for no less than 1 year prior to their candidacy.
Procedure
The Secretary shall
prepare a blanket ballot containing the names and biographies of all nominees
and mail ballots to all Active Members. Preferably, the ballots should be
included in the mailing of the club newsletter. A means of voting online shall
also be provided, only if practical and secure. Each Active Member may vote
once, either online or by mail.
The Secretary shall
assign each member of the club a number, and shall keep a record of which
number was assigned to each member. The secretary shall forward a list of the
valid numbers, without the associated names, to each verifier, but not the
person responsible for counting the votes. All ballots should be submitted
directly to the person responsible for counting the votes. Each voter must
include their assigned number on their ballot when it is submitted. When a
ballot is counted, the votes on that ballot shall be tabulated and associated
with the number on the ballot. When all the ballots have been tabulated, the
table containing the ballot numbers and their associated votes will be forwarded
to each verifier, who will check the numbers from the ballots against the list
of valid numbers. Any invalid votes will then be set aside. Once it has been determined that all the
votes are valid, each person shall count the votes and the results shall be
compared. Once a correct count is agreed upon between the verifiers and the
person counting the votes, the results will be finalized. The person counting the votes shall retain
all ballots for one year following the election. Under no circumstances will an election be
redone.
If a member is
found to have submitted more than one ballot, their votes will be invalidated,
unless both ballots contain identical votes, in which case the selections will
be considered as one ballot.
Nominations
Nominations must be
submitted to the Secretary or President. Active club membership is required of
all nominees, and all nominees must renew their membership for the term of
office for which they are running before their nomination is accepted by the
Secretary or President. A minimum of one full year of active club membership
prior to the start of the term of office is required of nominees for Officer positions. Members may nominate themselves or other members.
If a person nominates another member, the nominee has the option to accept or
decline the nomination. Nominations must include a relevant biography.
Election
of Officers
A President, a Vice
President, a Secretary, a Membership Secretary, and a Treasurer shall be chosen
from the nominees on the ballot each year. For each office, whichever nominee
receives the greatest number of votes shall win the office.
Election
of Directors
The Active Members
shall elect by ballot the Directors. Each member can vote for a number of
nominees on the ballot equal to the number of Director positions
available. If there are no vacant Director positions, and none of the current
Directors have reached the end of their term, then no nominees for Director positions will be on the ballot.
For a nominee to be
elected as a Director, he or she must receive a vote from at least fifty
percent of those members casting votes. If more
nominees than the available number of seats receive the required votes, a
number of nominees, equal to the number of available Director seats, with the most votes will have been elected Directors.
If no more nominees than the number of available Director seats
have received the required votes, each nominee with the required votes will
have been elected to the Board of Directors.
Timeline
All nominations
must be received no later than October 20. Ballots must be mailed no later than
November 15. All votes must be received no later than December 15. The counting
of the votes shall be complete, and the results released, no later than
December 25. Those who are elected will begin their term on January 1.
Removal
of BOD members and Officers
If
the conduct of a BOD member or a club Officer is found to be not in keeping
with the best interests of the club, he may be removed from his or her BOD or
Officer position by a two-thirds majority vote of the
Board of Directors. The Officer or
Director to be removed shall not vote on the question of his removal. If the President is removed in such a
fashion, the Vice-president shall be promoted to President.
Necessity
of an Election
If none of the officer positions are contested, an election need not
take place. In such a case, any members
wishing to run for the Board of Directors may be appointed for a one-year term
by a two-thirds vote of the existing BOD and officers, after a comment period
during which members have the opportunity to voice any objections they may have
to the appointment of a particular member.