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(As Amended June 7,
2002)
I.
PREAMBLE
Inasmuch as the majority of Bailli elections are uncontested, the purpose of these Procedural Rules are threefold: (1) To simplify the election process for those bailliages which have only a single candidate for the office of Bailli; (2) To insure fairness where there are contested elections by providing a secret absentee voting procedure and by prohibiting premature solicitation of votes; and (3) By providing a more expeditious method for the national Board of Directors to deal with unexpected election problems and make corrective changes in the rules.
II. TIMETABLE
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In early January of each election year, a letter shall issue from the National Office to each Bailli inquiring whether the Bailli intends to run again or whether he/she intends to nominate another. Responses must be sent to the respective Bailli Provincial within 14 days, naming the nominee, if any, in which case it must be with the nominee's consent. The Bailli Provincial shall then promptly notify the National Office of the local Bailli's decision.
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In early February of the election year, the National Office shall notify all members of a bailliage of their Bailli's intent and
shall advise them that any of them can nominate another (with that other's consent), which nomination must be in writing, signed by the one proposing the nomination, and sent to the Bailli Provincial no later than February 20. The Bailli Provincial shall then promptly notify the National Office of all nominations or whether there are no additional nominations.
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As of March 1st of the election year:
1.
If there is only one candidate for Bailli, a letter shall issue from the National Office notifying all the members of a bailliage of that fact and advising them that no formal election will take place in the
bailliage, the single candidate being deemed elected.
2. If there are two or more candidates, the National Office will notify all the members of the bailliage of the names of the candidates and the fact that a formal election will take place in April, and further that solicitation of votes are prohibited until the members solicited are made aware of all candidates.
III.
ELECTION PROCEDURE
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Promptly after notification that there will be a formal election, the Bailli Provincial and Bailli, with the consent of each candidate, will select the date, time and place of the election. In absence of an agreement the Bailli Provincial shall make the determination.
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Each candidate shall promptly appoint one Inspector of Election.
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Approximately March 15th of the election year, the National Office shall notify all members of the date, time and place of their bailliage's election, enclosing the official forms of proxy/absentee ballot (to comply with NY law) and appropriate special envelopes. Only the official forms of proxy/absentee ballot which are duly returned to the National Office will be valid. They may not be returned by other means to the site of the election.
The notification from the National
Office shall advise the members of the deadline for receipt by the
National Office of the official forms of proxy/absentee ballot. For
voting purposes, the date for determining National membership in good
standing shall coincide with the date the proxy/absentee ballots are
mailed from the National Office to the members of the Bailliage. Any
proxy/absentee ballots received by the National Office after the
deadline shall be invalid as proxy votes, the members' sole recourse
being to vote in person at the place of the election, provided that they
were members in good standing on the aforesaid membership determination
date. The deadline for receipt by the National Office of the completed
proxy/absentee ballots shall be set at approximately seven (7) days
prior to the date of the election. All special mailing envelopes,
containing completed proxy/absentee ballots, received on or before the
stated deadline will be sent by the National Office, still sealed, by
overnight delivery to the appropriate Bailli Provincial, who shall have
the responsibility for delivering the sealed mailing envelopes to the
Inspectors of Election at the site of the election. If the Bailli
Provincial cannot personally deliver the sealed mailing envelopes to the
site of the election, he/she may delegate this responsibility to another
National Officer or Regional Officer in his/her region. The sealed
mailing envelopes are to remain unopened when they are delivered to the
Inspectors of Election at the site of the election. To the extent
practicable, the National Office should assemble and send the sealed
mailing envelopes to the Bailli Provincial immediately after receipt by
the stated deadline.
1.
It should be pointed out that, under New York law, in a New York Not-For-Profit Corporation, members may vote only in person or by proxy. Therefore, an absentee ballot may not be voted by a member not attending the election in person unless structured as a proxy (here naming the Inspectors of Election as proxies). The completed ballot is placed in a special Ballot Envelope and sealed. The sealed Ballot Envelope, together with a separate restricted proxy form signed by the member, is then placed in an outer envelope addressed and mailed to the National Office. The restricted proxy requires the proxies to cast the member's vote according to his or her choice as indicated in the sealed Ballot Envelope.
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At the formal election, after all persons voting in person have cast their ballots and deposited them in the ballot box, the
Inspectors of Election shall open the outer envelopes, checking to make sure that the absentee ballot is not from one who has voted in person. The proxy form with the voting member's signature is then set aside to evidence the fact that his or her vote is being cast as instructed by the proxy form. The special Ballot Envelopes, still sealed, are then placed in the ballot box. The Inspectors of Election open the ballot box, remove the ballots from their Ballot Envelopes and count the absentee votes together with votes cast in person. When all votes have been tallied, the Inspectors
of Election announce the results of the election.
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Immediately following the election of the Bailli, the Inspectors of Election, together with one other bailliage officer, shall file with the Argentier des Etats-Unis and with the pertinent Bailli Provincial a certificate designating the elected Bailli and confirming that the election was held in accordance with these Procedural Rules.
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