Section 1: Nomination of Election officer:
Executive committee and Board of Trustees will nominate two members to the Board of Elections (Election Board or “EB”) from the list of Life members, Founding Members to conduct the election no later than October 31 of each alternative years.
Section 2: Members ineligible for nomination as Election officials
i) Current elected official.
ii) Any member standing for election to any office
iii) Any person nominating a candidate for election to any office.
If any EB members wish to either stand for the election to any office or nominate a candidate for election to any office shall first resign from the position of election officer
Upon appointment as election officials the EB shall then conduct the elections as prescribed in these bylaws.
Section 3: Duties and responsibilities of EB:
a) To announce the schedule of the election process;
b) To solicit nominations for the Executive Committee, Board of Trustee and Donor Member
c) To verify the eligibility of the nominees, nominators, and persons seconding, and to compile the nominations and prepare the ballots; and
d) To certify the election results, submit the same, in writing, to the SFWDC President and the Board of Trustees and to SFWDC Secretary for official record and post the results on the SFWDC web site.
Section 4; Disputes:
Disputes in the election result or election process shall be referred to and decided by the Board of Trustees, whose decision shall be final. The Board of Trustees shall have the power to make any adjustments to the composition of EB and the procedure to be followed by EB.
Section 5 : Mode of Election
a) Elections shall be in person and mail ballot or other reliable medium.
b) All election related communications should be in writing.
Section 6 : Eligibility to vote in the election
Life Members, annual paid members in good standing shall be eligible to nominate or second any nomination, or to vote in SFWDC elections.
Section 7: Eligibility to become a candidate
To be eligible to be nominated for the positions of President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer of Executive Committee, Board of Trustees, there is a requirement of history of demonstrable service to SFWDC by:
i) Served at least two years as a current or past member of SFWDC Executive Committee, or Board of Trustees,
ii) All founding members listed in the Articles of Incorporation
iii) Served at least two years as a Director of Coordinate committees, Treasurer, or Secretary of SFWDC Annual Conferences.
b) To be eligible to be nominated for the positions of President, the period of cumulative demonstrable service to SFWDC shall be four (4) years.
c) To be eligible to be nominated for the position of Secretary or Treasurer of Executive Committee, the period of demonstrable service to SFWDC shall be two (2) years, of which one (1) year shall be as a member of SFWDC.
d) No candidates shall be nominated for the same position more than two (2) consecutive terms. If any member wishes to be nominated for same position, they have to wait for four (4) years to contest election for the same position. If a candidate holding an office wish to be nominated for a different position in the new committee he/she can do so.
Any person nominated for office who accepts such nomination shall be deemed, by virtue of such acceptance, to have agreed to strictly comply with the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws of SFWDC and abide by the decisions of the Executive Committee, and the Board of Trustees.
Section 7: Preparation of Eligible Voter List. The SFWDC Vice President shall provide a list of the eligible voters to the Chairperson of the EB no later than August 31 of the Even Numbered Year.
Section 8: Publication of Schedule. The EB shall publish a election schedule in the SFWDC website and/or by email communication to all members no later than November 10 with the following information
a) Announcement inviting nominations.
b) The applicable nomination fee, set by Executive Committee, for each office,
c) Last date for receipt of nominations.
d) Approval of nominations and notification to candidates.
e) Last date for withdrawal of nominations.
f) Mailing of ballots to eligible voters who are not able to attend live voting.
g) Last date by which ballots must be received to be counted.
h) Completion of counting of ballots and publication of election results.
Section 9: Nomination
a) Eligibility. Bonafile life, annual, founding members in good standing may nominate or second a candidate for office. Same person cannot nominate or second more than one candidate for the same office.
b) One Office Only. A candidate shall not be eligible to run for more than one office in any election.
c) Form of Nominations. Nominations shall be in writing and filed in the format prescribed by the EB which format shall include, at a minimum, the full name, address, telephone number, current email address for each nominee and for each person nominating or seconding such nomination.
d) Return Receipt Required. The Nomination form, along with nomination fee, shall be sent to reach the EB Committee on or before the last date for receipt of nominations by any form of mail or in person requiring a signed return receipt.
e) Late Nominations Rejected. The EB shall not accept nominations received after the last date for receipt of nominations.
f) Verification of Nominations. The EB shall verify the nominations and notify the nominees of its decision to accept or reject the nominations with reasons for its actions in writing, which may be done by electronic mail.
g) Preparation and Transmission of Final List of Candidates. The EB shall accept withdrawals, compile a final list of nominations, and notify the nominees, the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees by electronic mail.
Section 10: Withdrawal of Candidate. A candidate can withdraw from contesting for the position which the candidate was nominated for by informing the withdrawal to the Chairperson or the designee of the EB in writing, through electronic mail,US Mail or in person .
i) If there remains more than one candidate for the office, the election shall proceed,
ii) if there remains only one other candidate for that office, that remaining candidate shall be deemed elected, otherwise,
iii) if there is no other candidate for that office, the incoming Board of Trustees shall fill the vacancy, after discussion with Executive committee.
Section 11. Ballot Process.
i) Voting: : Voting can be either by mail or in person or any reliable fool proof method. If for any reason if a voter not able to vote in person, he/she can send the paper ballots by mail that should reach EB at the assigned address before the date of counting. Postal ballots received after the deadline set by EB will not be counted.
ii) Counting of Ballots. Within two (2) days of the date set, the EB shall commence counting the ballots. Within 6 hours of the commencement of the count, the EB shall complete the counting and tabulation of the ballots. The EB shall certify the results of the election and communicate them to the Board of Trustee and publish the election results on the website. If paper ballots are used, each candidate shall have the right to designate up to a representative (in addition to the candidate) to be present at the counting of ballots.
iii) Challenges. A candidate losing an election may, for sufficient cause, challenge the result of the specific election that the candidate contested within forty-eight hours of the publication of the election results by submitting the challenge via electronic mail to the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees with a copy to the Chairperson of the EB. The Chairperson of the Board of Trustees will call for a meeting of the Board of Trustees within three (3) days to review the merits of the challenge and decide further course of action. The decision of the Board of Trustees is final and conclusive.
iv) Absence of Challenge. If no challenge is received within the prescribed time frame, the ballots shall be destroyed. If a challenge is received within the prescribed time frame, the ballots shall be preserved for as long as necessary to resolve the challenge, but, in no event, longer than thirty days after the publication of the election results.
Section 11: Duty to Timely Complete Election Process. The EB shall be responsible for completing the election process within the time frame prescribed.
Section 12: Campaigning in Elections.
a) The EB will release list of eligible voters 30 days before the deadline for nomination without phone number and email address.
b) EB will release the list of eligible candidates for each position within 7 days from the last date for submission of nominations submitted in a prescribed format.
Section 13: Incoming Officers: Immediately following election to office each Incoming Officers of the Executive Committee and Trustee Board shall take all steps necessary to become familiar with all of the terms and provisions of these Bylaws, including but not limited to the procedure that needs to be followed during the course of holding their office.
Section 13: Outgoing Officeholders. Each Outgoing Officeholder shall:
i. provide whatever assistance is necessary to acquaint the Incoming Officeholder with all of the information necessary to enable the Incoming Officeholder to carry out and fulfill the duties and responsibilities of their office, and
ii. transfer all books and records of its accounts and transactions that the Outgoing Office Holder has access to along with any other documents or things necessary to carry out such office to the Incoming Officeholder not later than fifteen (15) days following the Installation of the Incoming Officeholder.