At our Biennial Meeting to be held at this year’s Festival Conference, we will be voting on a change to our by-laws to enable us to use other methods of casting ballots for elections besides US Mail. These proposed changes are currently being reviewed by the National Board, and if approved, they will then be submitted to the Area 1 membership to vote on at our June meeting. The affected sections of the bylaws are included below along with the proposed changes.
Your Area 1 Board welcomes any questions on this proposed change – please do not hesitate to contact any of us with any questions or concerns about this process.
You may download a printable version of this information by clicking here. You will require software to read a PDF file, which can be downloaded for free from Adobe.
Area 1 By Law Revision Proposal
Current Area 1 Bylaws-Adopted 10/06
Note: The language that is being addressed is highlighted in Yellow.
ARTICLE III. OFFICERS
Section 1. Elected Officers and Officers by Succession
Officers elected by the Area I membership shall be the Chair-Elect, Secretary and Treasurer. These officers shall be chosen from the voting membership of Area I. The position of Area Chair is filled by accession, not by vote, and upon completion of the term of office of Chair-Elect he/she assumes the office of Chair. Elections will be held biennially, in odd-numbered years.
Section 1.1. Twelve months prior to the election, the Area Chair with the approval of the Executive Committee shall appoint a Nominating Committee Chair and a Nominating Committee of at least three members, one of which shall be the Past Chair. If the Past Chair is unable to serve on the Nominating Committee another board member may be appointed, excluding the other members of the Executive Committee. This committee shall nominate two candidates for each of the following offices: Chair-Elect, Secretary, and Treasurer. All candidates must be members in good standing of Area I and must give their consent to be nominated. Ballots containing candidates’ names and biographical material shall be mailed to the entire voting membership of Area I. All ballots must be postmarked by the date designated and returned to and counted by a person or firm independent of the Board. A majority of the votes cast shall elect. An automatic recount shall occur if the margin of victory is less than or equal to 1% of the total votes cast. In the case of a tie, the election shall be determined by the majority vote of the Area I Board.
Results of the election shall be announced to the membership in a manner determined by the Area I Executive Committee.
ARTICLE IX. BYLAWS REVISIONS
Section 1. Amendments and revisions to the Area I Bylaws may be initiated by an Area I voting member, a committee appointed by the Area Chair, or by the Area I Board.
Section 2. Bylaws revisions shall be reviewed by the Area I Board. A two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Area I Board shall be required for approval before the revisions are submitted to the AGEHR, Inc. Board of Directors.
Section 3. Amendments and revisions as approved by the Area I Board and the AGEHR, Inc. Board of Directors shall be mailed to the voting membership of Area I at least 30 days prior to ratification.
Amendments and revisions to the Bylaws shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority vote of all ballots received. All ballots must be postmarked by the date designated and returned to and counted by a person or firm independent of the Board.
Proposed Bylaw Revision
These Proposed revisions reflect
- a renumbering of Article III Section 1 for clarity
- Rewording of the voting procedures in Article III Section 1 and Article IX Section 3 to allow for online voting. This wording does not prevent paper/mailed ballots if needed.
ARTICLE III. Officers
Section 1. Elected Officers and Officers by Succession
Section 1.1. Twelve months prior to the election, the Area Chair with the approval of the Executive Committee shall appoint a Nominating Committee Chair and a Nominating Committee of at least three members, one of which shall be the Past Chair. If the Past Chair is unable to serve on the Nominating Committee another board member may be appointed, excluding the other members of the Executive Committee. This committee shall nominate two candidates for each of the following offices: Chair-Elect, Secretary, and Treasurer. All candidates must be members in good standing of Area I and must give their consent to be nominated.
Section 1.2 Ballots containing candidates’ names and biographical material shall be mailedprovided to the entire voting membership of Area I no less than 30 days prior to the end of the voting period. All ballots must be postmarked by the date designated and returned to and counted by a person or firm independent of the Board. Each Area 1 member ballot must be received by the designated independent entity by the date required as set forth on the ballot.
Section 1.3 A majority of the votes cast shall elect. An automatic recount shall occur if the margin of victory is less than or equal to 1% of the total votes cast. In the case of a tie, the election shall be determined by the majority vote of the Area I Board. Results of the election shall be announced to the membership in a manner determined by the Area I Executive Committee.
ARTICLE IX. BYLAWS REVISIONS
Section 3. Amendments and revisions as approved by the Area I Board and the AGEHR, Inc. Board of
Directors shall be mailed provided to the voting membership of Area I at least 30 days prior to ratification. Amendments and revisions to the Bylaws shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority vote of all ballots received. All ballots must be postmarked received by the designated independent entity by the designated date. and returned to and counted by a person or firm independent of the Board.
