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Any member of IFCA present at the General Meeting is eligible for nomination.
During the General Meeting, the President will present a list of vacant Board of Director positions (including Board members whose terms are expiring) and the current Board's nominations for those positions, which will appear on the list of candidates.
Any IFCA member in attendance at the General Meeting may nominate a current IFCA member, also in attendance, during that General Meeting. Self nominations are permitted. A member may not nominate more than one nominee until all other IFCA members present have had the opportunity to nominate a candidate. Floor nominations must be seconded to be added to the list of nominees (hereinafter ``the candidates'').
After the nomination process has closed, the candidates will each be given an opportunity to present statements to the floor not to exceed five minutes per candidate.
All members of IFCA in attendance at the General Meeting are eligible to vote in the election of Board members.
The Tellers' Committee shall consist of a Chairman and two tellers.
The Vice President shall be the Chairman of the Tellers' Committee unless the Vice President is a candidate in the current election. In that event, the Secretary shall serve as the Chairman of the Tellers' Committee. In the event that both the Vice President and the Secretary are candidates for vacant Board positions, the President shall appoint a non-candidate Officer or Director, if available, and otherwise a non-candidate member in attendance, to serve as the Chairman of the Tellers' Committee.
The Chairman of the Tellers' Committee shall select two volunteers from the attendees of the General Meeting who are not candidates in the current election to serve as tellers during the election.
The Tellers' Committee shall provide blank sheets of paper upon which Members may mark their candidate selection(s). However, any single sheet of paper upon which a Member writes a valid selection of candidate(s) may be properly used.
Voters should write the name of the candidate whom they would like to elect on their ballot. In the event that more than one Board position is vacant, voters may designate up to as many names as there are vacancies.
A voter need not select a candidate for each open Board position. However, any ballot with more selections than open Board positions will be considered an illegal ballot. If a voter submits more than one ballot, no ballots from that voter shall be counted.
The Tellers' Committee shall collect the marked ballots from the Assembly.
Ballots will be counted and voter eligibility will be verified by the Tellers' Committee. Any IFCA member present who so desires may witness the counting of the ballots.
The Tellers' Committee Chairman shall provide the tellers with a sheet of paper to help them tally the ballots. A sample Tellers' Sheet is provided as Appendix A to these Guidelines.
The Tellers' Committee shall separate the ballots into three piles according to the following categories: blank, legal, and illegal. A ballot is blank if contains no names. A legal ballot must only contain names from the list of candidates and may contain up to as many names as there are Board vacancies. Furthermore, all names on a legal ballot must be clearly readable. Any other ballot is an illegal one. Illegal ballots include, but are not limited to: (1) a ballot containing more names than vacancies; (2) a ballot which contains at least one name which is not clearly readable, even if other names on that ballot are clearly readable; (3) a ballot which contains multiple votes for the same candidate; (4) a ballot that shows signs of tampering.
Blank ballots are discarded since they are not counted towards the total number of votes cast. The Chairman shall count the legal ballots and write the total number of those ballots on each of the Tellers' Sheets on the line marked ``Number of Votes Cast.'' Any illegal ballots shall be counted and the number of those ballots shall be written on the line marked ``Number of Illegal Votes Cast.''
The Chairman shall then calculate the ``Number of Votes Required to Elect'' by performing the following steps: (1) sum the Number of Votes Cast and the Number of Illegal Votes Cast; (2) perform an integer division by two on that total; (3) add one to that result. This can be represented by the following formula:
| Number of Votes to Elect= | |
Number of Votes Cast + Number of Illegal Votes Cast 2 |
|
+ 1 |
The Number of Votes to Elect shall then be entered by the Chairman on the appropriate line of each of the Tellers' Sheets. Next, the list of candidates' names shall be entered under the ``Names'' column on each of the Tellers' Sheets. The Chairman shall then read aloud the names written on each of the legal ballots. As the names are read, the two tellers shall mark a tally in the appropriate cell on their Sheets.
When all of the ballots have been counted, the tellers shall total the votes for each candidate and mark the result under the ``Total'' column on their respective Tellers' Sheets. The tellers shall then confirm that their totals agree. If there is a discrepancy in the totals, the committee shall begin the vote count anew, on fresh copies of the Tellers' Sheet.
Once the totals have been confirmed, the Chairman shall make one or more of the following designations on both of the Tellers' Sheets. ``Majority'' shall be marked next to each candidate receiving a total of votes equal to or greater than the Number of Votes to Elect. If no one receives a majority vote, the phrase, ``no election,'' is written on the Tellers' Sheets. If more candidates receive a majority vote than there are positions open ("N"), the N candidates receiving the highest number of votes among the majority candidates are considered elected. Should a tie prevent determination of who shall be elected, a run-off election between the tied candidates shall be held pursuant to these Election Guidelines. When the candidates receiving the highest number of votes have been determined, the committee Chairman shall mark ``elected'' next to each of the appropriate candidates' names. Finally, each member of the Tellers' Committee signs both copies of the Tellers' Report.
In the event that an insufficient number of candidates are elected to fill all of the open positions, a run-off election shall be held pursuant to these Guidelines. For purposes of the run-off, the list of candidates shall contain only the names of those candidates not elected. If no majority emerges from the first round of the run-off, each candidate's name shall be written on a separate slip of paper and placed in an opaque container, from which the Chairman of the Tellers' Committee will draw once per vacant position, and the drawn candidate shall be deemed elected.
The Chairman of the Tellers' Committee shall file all of the ballots and one of the Tellers' Sheets with the Secretary.
The Tellers' Report shall consist of the following items of information: (1) Number of Votes Cast; (2) Number of Illegal Votes; (3) Number of Votes to Elect; (4) All names and vote totals for each candidate, including those who are not elected. The Chairman of the Tellers' Committee shall orally present the Tellers' Report, followed by an announcement of the newly-elected Board members. Newly-elected Board members shall take office immediately.
Number
of Votes Cast: _______________
Number of Votes to Elect: _______________
Number of Illegal Votes: _______________
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Tellers' Committee Signatures:
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