REGIONAL ELECTION GUIDELINES
1. Election Committee
An Election Committee must be formed prior to September 1st of an election year. The committee may only be one member, but at least three are recommended. No member of the Election Committee may be a candidate for office.
2. Solicitation For Candidates
By October 1st of the election year the committee should have solicited for candidates for office. This is generally done through the regional newsletter. The solicitation should describe the terms of office for the positions (3 years), notify the potential candidates that they must be active members of the Association, and notify the potential candidates that they must be willing to run in the election, and if elected, serve on the region’s board. Notice should also be made that the regional president serves on the National Board which meets twice a year. A nomination must include a biography of, and a position statement by, the candidate together with a statement certifying a willingness to run in the election and to serve, if elected.
If there is no candidate for the office of President of the Region, the National President may appoint an individual to this office after January 1 of the beginning of the term pursuant to Article V, Section 6 of the National Constitution.
3. Uncontested Elections
Should there be only one nomination for each regional office, those individuals will become officers of the Region after certification of the election procedure by the Executive Board.
4. Distribution of Ballots
The Election Committee must obtain mailing labels of all current members of the Association in the region. Thereafter, a ballot packet can be mailed to the members. The ballot packet includes a mailing envelope, a ballot, a ballot envelope (a plain white envelope with the word BALLOT printed on the front), a self-addressed return envelope (which contains the name and address of the chair of the election committee or the officer designated by the chair as the addressee and two lines for the sender to provide his/her name and district) and the biographies of the candidates with their position statements.
The instructions to the voters may be placed right on the ballot. These instructions must include the following: ballots must be postmarked no later than December 1; the ballot envelope must have no indentifying information on it; the ballot must be placed in the ballot-return envelope and sealed; no more than one ballot can be placed in the ballot envelope; in the return address area of the ballot-return envelope the voter should print his/her name and district (this is to verify the voter’s active membership; once verification is made, the outer envelope will be discarded and only the ballot envelope is retained for later counting).
5. Ballot Verification and Counting
The chair of the election committee must obtain a list of active members in the region in alphabetical order from the national treasurer for use in the verification procedure.
A date should be set for ballot verification and counting about one week after the return postmark date. The site selected for this activity should not be in a district which has a candidate for office. Similarly, the ballot counting committee should not be stationed in a district which also has a candidate for office.
Before opening the ballot-return envelope, the voter’s name and district should be checked against the active membership list. A check mark should be placed against the voter’s name on the membership list both for verification of membership and to protect against multiple voting by a single officer.
Once the verification process is complete, the ballots can be removed from the ballot envelopes and the envelopes destroyed. The ballots are then to be counted and the regional president notified of the results.
An election report indicating the number of ballots submitted and the breakdown of the votes by candidates should be written and mailed to the national president so that the board can certify the election at the next spring board meeting. The ballots cannot be destroyed until the national board certifies the election.
The number of votes for each candidate should only be transmitted to the national president. The tally should not be disclosed to the membership or the candidates unless the vote is contested. If there are any objections to any aspect of the elections, the national president should be notified immediately.
Adopted by the Executive Board, March 1996.
Sample Ballot-Return Envelope (preprinted)
4 1/2” x 10 1/2”
Name:_________________
District:________________
Chair-Regional Elections Committee
Federal Probation & Pretrial Officers Assn
c/o John Jones
P.O. Box 1234
Adams, NY 16772
Sample Ballot Envelope (preprinted)
4” x 9 1/2”
Blank envelop with only the word "BALLOT" on the outside.
Sample Ballot
FEDERAL PROBATION & PRETRIAL OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
REGIONAL ELECTION BALLOT
Officers
Check or write-in one candidate for each office
President JOHN DOE – JANE JONES – _____________________ – (write-in)
| Vice-President
MARY ASTER – FRANK WRIGHT – __________________ – (write-in)
|
Secretary
WILLIAM BURNS – HARRIET MARSTON – ____________________ – (write-in) | Treasurer
DENISE DAVIES – ROBERT FULTON – ___________________ –
|
Instructions:
Fold and insert this ballot into the specially marked ballot envelope. Place only one ballot in each envelope. Put ballot envelope into preaddressed return envelope; insert identifying information on the return envelope; add postage and mail ballot so that it is not postmarked later than December 1.
Sample letter (or memo) to active members
FEDERAL PROBATION & PRETRIAL OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
NOTICE OF ELECTION AND PROCEDURES
Dear FPPOA Member:
Enclosed you will find material for our regional election. This includes a ballot, a ballot envelope, a preaddressed return envelope and biographical information about the candidates.
Please read the candidate’s biographies and position statements. Then select the candidates of your choice by checking one box for each office, or write in the name of another candidate.
Place your marked ballot inside the ballot envelope and seal it. Then place the ballot envelope in the preaddressed return envelope. Only current paid members may vote, so you must fill in the identification information on the preaddressed return envelope.
To guarantee the secrecy of your vote, the ballot envelope will be separated from the return envelope as soon as your active membership is verified by the ballot counting committee.
Affix a stamp and mail the return envelope. The return envelope must be postmarked before December 1.
Thank you.
__________________________________
Election Committee Chair
