Standing
Election Procedures
Amended
8 March 2006 by the USGenWeb Advisory Board
Revision
of Section B, Paragraph 3.
Amended
11 September 2004 by the USGenWeb Advisory Board
Insertion
of clarify paragraphs regarding terms of EC Members and Officers.
Amended
17 April 2004 by the USGenWeb Advisory Board.
Removal
of Item "i." in Section B, Paragraph 4, Number II.
"i.
The appropriate local leadership or appointed contact person will be notified."
Amended
24 January 2004 by the USGenWeb Advisory Board.
Revision
of A, Section 1
Amended
25 November 2003 by the USGenWeb Advisory Board
Additon
of Secton G
Amended
7 November 2003 by the USGenWeb Advisory Board.
Addition
of Paragraph 2, in Section D.
Revised
31 October 2003 by the USGenWeb Advisory Board.
Standing Election
Subcommittee
The
Advisory Board shall appoint a standing Election Subcommittee (EC). This
subcommittee shall operate year round. Day-to-day operating procedures
shall be determined by the members of the EC.
1.
Composition of the Subcommittee:
The
EC shall consist of 12 members chosen from the Project-wide membership.
Eight members will serve as EC representatives for the XXGenWeb States,
two will serve as EC representatives for the Archives/Special Projects,
and two will serve as EC representatives At- Large. From these members,
the EC shall choose a Chair and a Publicist-Secretary, each to serve for
one year as defined in (3) regardless of the length of their individual
terms. The Chair of the EC shall vote only in the case of a tie. The National
Coordinator,
as ex officio member, and one other non-voting Advisory Board Representative
chosen by the Board, shall serve as advisors on the EC subcommittee. They
shall not be eligible to be either the Chair of the EC nor its Publicist-Secretary.
2.
Formation of the Subcommittee:
As
necessary to select new or replacement EC Members, the EC will publish
a Call for Volunteers on the Election Committee's Webpage, USGENWEB-Discuss,
STATE- COORD, USGENWEB-ALL, the Special Projects mailing lists, the regional
mailing lists, and any lists or other avenue appropriate to reach the most
volunteers including if necessary a personal e-mail to each project volunteer.
From
the list of volunteers, the EC shall select new or replacement members
for the EC. This list of volunteers shall then be submitted to the Advisory
Board for approval and confirmation. The Advisory Board shall not be allowed
to "pick and choose" any individual committee member. Should the Advisory
Board disapprove the slate of members in its entirety, the process shall
be repeated.
If
deemed necessary by the EC, the EC may take on additional temporary workers
(as opposed to committee members) May 1st through the final announcement
of National Election Results.
The
selection of the EC Chair and the EC Publicist- Secretary shall be made
by secret ballot sent to the two Advisory Board members for counting and
verification. The results of the voting shall be posted by both Advisory
Board members to the EC list. The current EC Secretary (or EC Chair) shall
forward the results to the Advisory Board.
EC
members may serve as Chair or Publicist/Secretary for a maximum of two
consecutive years
Any member
of the project who is eligible to vote is eligible for membership
in the EC, the exception being that no Advisory Board member may serve
as a working member of the EC. An EC member who is elected to national
office may continue to serve on the EC until seated on the AB. Current
EC members are exempt from this exception until completion of their
appointed terms."
Any
EC member or individual subscribed to the EC List, including workers and
each AB member, is required to notify the EC chair not less than one day
prior to the opening of nominations of any election conducted by the EC,
of intent to accept a nomination in said election, so he/she may be temporarily
unsubbed from the EC List. If the member does not accept a nomination,
he/she may rejoin the EC at the end of the nomination period. If the member
accepts a nomination, he/she may rejoin the EC once the election has reached
a final conclusion relative to the position he/she was seeking.
3.
Tenure of the Subcommittee:
Initially,
each pair of EC members as outlined in (2) shall have one individual serving
for one year and one individual for two years so as to stagger the turnover
in EC members. Thence forward, regular terms (not the filling of unexpired
terms) shall run for two years. Terms shall be from January 1 to December
31. EC members shall serve only one term and be ineligible for reappointment
for
one year after the expiration of a full two-year term. Those EC members
serving for only one year initially in order to stagger terms may be re-
selected for another term in the second year.
EC
members who are seated initially to fill unexpired terms may volunteer
for a full two-year term at the end of the partial term. Upon the completion
of one partial term and one full two-year term, members must sit out for
one year before reapplying for a seat. Members who first serve a full two-year
term may not apply for a replacement term without sitting out a year.
EC
Members may be removed, by a simple majority vote of the EC, for Cause
including but not limited to: failure to perform his/her duties on the
EC especially during critical election periods; disruptive, inappropriate,
or unprofessional behavior either on the EC list or publicly; public or
private breech of confidentiality of either the EC list or Project members
information; non responsiveness; and/or other actions not in keeping with
the intent and spirit of the EC which present a conflict of interest.
By
majority vote of the EC, the EC may petition the AB for removal, from the
EC, the AB Advisor to the EC for the same reasons as above, via a request
of an ex offico member or other AB member to forward said petition, including
appropriate documentation, to EXEC for timely consideration."
Replacement
of EC members shall be handled in the same manner as 3) above.
B.
Duties of the Subcommittee:
1.
The EC's primary responsibility shall be to conduct the USGenWeb Project's
Annual Election. The EC may conduct other polls or elections within the
Project, as appropriate.
2.
The EC shall be responsible for maintaining a Project wide Membership List.
I. Such Membership List shall be kept updated on a continuing basis through
the following:
a. Solicitation of the appropriate local leadership or appointed contact
person for updates to the State or Special Project's membership list on
a quarterly or as needed basis.
b. Maintaining a site and means for the appropriate local leadership or
appointed contact person within each state and special project to notify
the EC of changes within their membership.
c. Harvesting of members names from State or Special Project web sites
when necessary.
d. Maintaining a site and means for members to register, change, or delete
their own personal membership information.
e. Other such means as the EC shall deem necessary from time to time.
II. Use of the Membership List:
a. The Membership List may be used for broadcast mailings from time to
time as necessary to notify the entire membership of items of interest
to the whole membership.
b. Other such uses as may be deemed necessary and appropriate in the future
by the AB or EC.
3.
The EC shall also be responsible for maintaining an up-to-date Registered
Voter List:
I. All Project members who are eligible to vote, shall also be eligible
to Register to vote.
II. Such Registered Voter List shall be kept updated on a continuing basis
through the following:
a. Maintaining a site and means for members to register to vote, to change
their membership participation or email address, or to remove their name
from the Registered Voter List.
b. The notification of availability of registration through postings to
all appropriate Project lists, broadcast messages to the entire membership
through use of the Membership List, and by whatever means the EC shall
deem necessary and helpful from time to time.
c. Registrations shall be accepted throughout the year, with the exception
of 30 days before the National Election begins, continuing through the
end of that election.
i. Registrations shall be actively solicited during the months of April
and May.
ii. For Polls and other appropriate elections, a period of not less than
two weeks shall be provided for Registrations.
iii. Registration is necessary for all elections conducted by the EC.
d. Verification of all voter registrations shall be determined by:
i. Checking State and Special Project web site listing of members.
ii. Cross checking against the Membership List
iii. Other means as the EC shall deem necessary from time to time.
e. Though members may use various email addresses for the projects they
are associated with, only one name and e-mail address will be maintained
on the voter list. Each member should register once using one name and
one email address. Multiple registrations under multiple names and/or email
addresses will be handled as a discrepancy.
(1) All names and e-mail addresses used for registering will be screened
for possible discrepancies.
f. Any discrepancy not able to be resolved between the voter and the EC,
unless the discrepancy is possible fraudulent registration, shall be directed
to the appropriate local leadership or appointed contact person within
the voter's state or special project, for resolution. In the event the
appropriate person does not respond in a timely fashion, or resolution
has not occurred, the matter shall be forwarded to the Advisory Board for
resolution.
g. In the event the EC discovers possible fraudulent registration, the
AB shall be privately advised.
h. No names associated with a possible fraudulent registration will be
removed from the Registered Voter List until such time as the EC receives
a final determination/disposition from the AB.
III. Use of Registered Voter List;
a. The confidentiality of the Registered Voter List, as a whole, shall
be maintained by the EC at all times. Individual information from the voter
list will be released or shared as directed by the Election Committee's
current guidelines.
b. Voting Passwords shall be sent to only those members on the Registered
Voter List.
4.
Upon adoption of these amended procedures, the Master Voter List held by
the EC at time of adoption shall become the Membership List.
I. At time of adoption, all members on the Membership List, shall be considered
Registered, and be placed on the Registered Voter List.
II. Members shall be removed from the Registered Voter List under the following
circumstances:
a. Bounced email address
b. Request for removal by the member.
i. Follow-up by confirmation email to member.
c. Notice from appropriate leadership or appointed contact person that
member is no longer with that particular project.
i. Member will be notified
III. All unresolved discrepancies shall be referred to the AB Regional
Representative for resolution.
5.
The Membership List and the Registered Voter List will be maintained regionally
by the two EC members representing the region, and by the Archives/Special
Project EC members representing the Archives and Special Projects.
I. If a regional or special project seat is vacant, the EC Chair shall
appoint an EC member to maintain the lists.
II. The regional and archives/special project EC members shall manage communications
with the state and special projects.
III. The Publicist Secretary or the EC Chair shall manage communications
to the Advisory Board and to the project as a whole via appropriate project
lists, and any other avenues deemed appropriate during day to day operations
of the Committee.
IV. The Publicist Secretary or the EC Chair shall be responsible for writing
quarterly and post-election reports for submission to the Board and the
Project.
C.
Eligibility of voters
All
members of the Project (as defined in USGenWeb By-Laws ARTICLE IV. MEMBERSHIP)
shall be eligible to register to vote and to vote in any election or poll
in which they are a qualified voter.
A
requirement that one be a member for at least 30 days prior to the start
of an election is acceptable purely on an administrative basis. State-level
or Special Project-level voting restrictions shall not affect a member's
right to register to vote, and as a registered voter to vote in any national
level election or poll.
Challenges
to a member's eligibility to vote shall in no circumstances be addressed
by the EC. The Project Coordinator or XXGenWeb State Coordinator shall
address the challenge in a timely fashion so as to allow the person to
vote in the current election. If they do not, the person shall be given
the benefit of the doubt and allowed to vote. If a Local Coordinator continues
to challenge the decision of the State Coordinator, then the matter shall
be referred to the regional Advisory Board rep. If the Local Coordinator
continues to challenge the decision made by the Regional Advisory Board
Representative, then the matter shall be referred to the entire AB. The
decision of the entire Advisory Board shall be final. However, should the
matter fail to be decided before the end of any election or voting issue,
the person shall be given the right to vote by default.
Eligible
registered voters may vote once for each region or special project position
for which they are eligible, once for national positions including NC and
RAL, and once for any national issue that may be placed on a ballot, including
but not limited to bylaws amendments. The ability to change a vote will
depend on the capability of the voting software used at the time of the
election.
D.
Nominations
1.
When nominations are made, the EC shall be responsible for obtaining verification
that the nominees are eligible to run for and hold the office for which
they are nominated, by contacting the appropriate project leadership, and
based solely on the criteria in Article VI, Section 9 of the Bylaws. No
determination of eligibility shall be made by the EC, including that of
good standing. Nominees shall be assumed to be in good standing unless
determined otherwise by the Advisory Board or State Coordinators or Special
Projects leadership.
2.
It is consistent with the spirit of Bylaws Article VI, Section 9 that Assistant
State Coordinators and State Co-Coordinators shall have the same right
and privilege as State Coordinators to run for and hold office.
3.
Contact persons for eligibility verification:
County
Coordinator Representative nominee - The State Coordinator
State
Coordinator Representative nominee - The AB Representative At Large, or
the National Coordinator.
National
Coordinator or Representative At Large nominee - The State Coordinator
and the seated AB
Rep
for the region in which the individual serves.
4.
In the event the appropriate project leadership does not respond in a timely
fashion, the NC or an available AB Representative will be contacted.
5.
If the nominee or member challenges a finding that they are ineligible
to run for and hold office, or to vote, the EC shall in no circumstances
make a ruling on the challenge. It shall be incumbent upon The Advisory
Board to address the challenge in a timely fashion. In the case of a nominee,
not later than two days after the close of nominations; in the case of
voting, not later than one week prior to the voting period.
6.
Nominees shall have not less than 48 hours from the time that they are
notified of their nomination, to inform the EC of their decision.
7.
In the event there are two AB seats available in a region (one to fill
an early vacated seat, the other to fill a full term seat), each seat shall
be handled as a separate race. Members shall be nominated for either the
two year term, or the one year term. Voting will be accomplished as in
any individual race.
E.
Voting Mechanism
The
voting mechanism selected should be confidential and secure, accept votes
according to member participation and eligibility to vote for an individual
position, give notice either online or via personal email that the vote
or votes were recorded, count votes and return reliable results within
a short period. It should also be flexible, and free.
The
EC shall also look into forming a supporting group to work on producing
election software that meets our requirements. Should the Project decide
that the development of its own voting software is desirable, a working
group of programmers be shall formed who shall address the requirements
and design a suitable program. This working group shall operate independently
of the EC but shall report to it regularly so that reports on development
progress may be included in the EC's reports to the Project.
F.
EC Website
a.
The EC shall be responsible for maintaining a web site for the EC that
shall include but is not limited to:
I. A page or pages easily accessible from the Home page containing a form
(or forms) to allow members to Register, make changes to their individual
information including changes in Project participation and email address,
and the ability to remove their names from Registration;
II. A page or pages easily accessible from the Home page containing a form
(or forms) to allow local project leadership or appointed contact persons
to inform the EC of changes within their membership.
III. A page easily accessible from the Home page detailing eligibility
guidelines including how and who to contact regarding problems or questions;
IV. A Contact page easily accessible from the Home page detailing who on
the EC to contact, listing all EC members with emails both clickable and
written out, their region of responsibility including the listing of the
states in each region, as well as noting the names and email addresses
of the current Chair and Publicist-Secretary;
V. A general page about how the election mechanism functions in general
(nominations, voting process, result release) to be replaced at an actual
election time with a similar page detailing the specifics of that election
including clickable and written out URLs to where each region voter goes,
where to vote for national level, a listing of states in each region, alternative
voting mechanisms for those who for any reason have a problem using the
chosen voting mechanism, etc.;
VI. A page linking to all quarterly election committee reports to date;
VII. During an election period a page listing all candidates with URLs
to their campaign pages both clickable and written out.
VIII. A page containing information on past members of the Advisory Board.
b.
Content and design, including forms, may change from time to time according
to need and technology changes.
G.
Election Schedule
The
voting period for elections shall be July 1 through July 31, with any necessary
run-off elections scheduled to begin as soon as possible after July 31.
