Convergence Events Board of Directors Election Rules

Election Rules Effective 11/1/2010

Introduction & Timeline
This is to explain what the Board of Directors is, what their duties are and how they are elected.A term for a member of the Board of Directors is two years in length, with a training period beginning after the elections (held in the winter) through the end of the post mortem process for the following convention, and not later than August 15.  The term officially begins at the first Directors Meeting after the completion of the post-mortem process.  Once a person is elected to a Board position, they are required to attend and participate in all Convergence Events/CONvergence affairs appropriate to the position-elect during their training period.  However, they have no voting rights until their term officially begins.

A member of the Board of Directors has multiple duties: Overseeing the overall operation and visioning of Convergence Events, hands on work of working with the volunteers who create and operate the CONvergence Convention and other events, and serving as community ambassadors to our partners, our attendee communities, and the civic community at large. Director positions available in even-numbered years (determined by the year in which the January voting meeting is held) are: Activities Director, Administration & Communications Director, Community Relations Director.

Director positions available in odd-numbered years (also determined by the year in which the January voting meeting is held) are: Hospitality and Member Experience Director, Development Director, Finance Director, Director At-Large.

Eligibility and Running for Office
The following are requirements for running for a position on the Board of Directors:

  1. The candidate must be a voting member of Convergence Events/CONvergence.
  2. The candidate must be 18 years of age or older at the time of the election.
  3. Only self-nominations are accepted.
  4. The deadline for candidacy announcement is 11:59 PM, November 15 of each year.  Declaration must be made to the current Convergence Events Secretary via written notice; electronic notice is acceptable.
  5. When stating intent to run, the candidate must specify which of the available Board of Directors positions he or she is seeking.
  6. If the candidate is deemed ineligible to run for office (by failing to meet any of the above requirements), he or she will be informed of their ineligibility no later than December 15th of the same year.  A protest may be filed by December 31st if the candidate wishes to contest that decision.  A final decree on the matter would then be made by January 5th by the Board of Directors.
Informing the Constituency
All eligible candidates will be listed on the Convergence Events website.
Candidates have the opportunity to post a current photograph, submit a bio and respond to a questionnaire created by the Election Committee (Current questionnaire is in Appendix A), and include a link to a personal website if they so choose.  If the candidate exercises this option, they must submit all information no later than 30 days prior to the election.  Information will be posted as it is received and any late information will be posted at the convenience of the webmaster.  If the candidate chooses not to submit information, the website will still list his or her name with the words “declined to submit.”

Election Committee
Three Convergence Events voting members shall comprise the Election Committee and serve as judges at the election.  Members of the Board of Directors, candidates, their spouses, romantic partners, or family members are ineligible to serve on the Election Committee.  The Committee will be unanimously appointed by the Board of Directors and approved by a majority hand-vote at the November meeting.  The Board of Directors can also select alternate judges at their discretion.

Election Procedure
The first order of business of the January meeting is the election. Other business may be conducted while votes are being tallied or after election results are announced.  The election committee will review the ballots for accuracy at least one week prior to the election.

Ballot Requirements
  1. Judges will have the exclusive responsibility of handing out the ballots to eligible voters, determining the validity of and counting the ballots.  Only judges will be permitted to announce election results.
  2. All ballots must contain:
    1. Directions on how to properly fill out and submit the ballot.
      • No write-in candidates are allowed.
      • Statement that non-legible votes will be considered invalid.
    2. Name of open positions will be listed in alphabetical order.
      • To include a choice for voter to decline to vote for listed candidate(s). In uncontested elections this choice will be considered a vote of “No confidence.”
    3. A brief description of the duties performed by each position.
    4. Candidates for each office listed in alphabetical order under each position by last name.

Meeting the Candidates

  1. The meeting Chair shall describe each open position and then introduce candidates for that position to the constituency.
  2. Each candidate, or an appointed representative of that candidate (if the candidate cannot attend), will be given up to three minutes to describe their qualifications.
  3. If the candidate does not use the entirety of their time, the time shall not be extended to the other candidates.
  4. Each candidate, or an appointed representative of the candidate, will be given up to eight minutes to answer questions from the present constituency.
    • If, at the end of the 8 minutes, the membership still has questions to ask, it is up to the Chair of the meeting to determine whether the time will be extended.

Voting Member Eligibility

  1. Voting membership requirements are defined in the Convergence Events Bylaws.
  2. The election committee must bring a minimum of three copies of the master list of eligible voting members to the election to voting meeting.
    • Ideally, a preliminary version of this master list will be prepared by November 15th  preceding the election for the voting membership to review for accuracy.
  3. Members may check in with an election judge immediately prior to or during the meeting (with the exception of candidate introduction/question time) to receive a token, which can then be exchanged for a ballot once voting commences.
  4. At the January meeting, if a member believes they are eligible to vote (after being denied a token), that member may petition the judges to verify their status with Board of Director members who are not up for election.
  5. No tokens will be distributed more than 15 minutes after voting commences (with an exception for those already in queue for a token.)
  6. Neither absentee or proxy voting is allowed.  Only eligible members present at the election meeting will be permitted to vote.

Determining Results

  1. Completed ballots shall be collected by the Election Committee, who will then retire to count them.
  2. The winner shall be determined by a simple majority of the votes cast.
    • If a section of a ballot is not marked in a manner defined as acceptable by a majority of judges, it will be ruled a non-vote and will not be counted.  This includes a section of a ballot that is not marked.
  3. The results will be announced before the close of the election meeting.
  4. In the event of a tie vote between two candidates, those two candidates will be given the opportunity to once again express why they feel that they are best qualified for the position and a second vote of all eligible members will immediately be conducted.
    • If the second vote again results in a tie, all sitting Directors (excluding any incumbent running for the position in question) will deliberate and vote until a decision is made.
  5. If three or more candidates run for one office and none of the candidates receive more than half of the votes cast, a run off election will be held immediately between the top two candidates.
  6. Ballots will be archived in the Convergence Events Office for a minimum of six months by the Convergence Events Secretary.

Appendix A: Candidate Questionnaire (sample)

  1. Why do you want to be on the Board of Directors?
  2. What would you like to do as a Board member?
  3. What is your understanding of the duties for this position?
  4. What, if anything, would you change about how the organization is run?
  5. How would you describe your communication style?
  6. How would you describe your conflict resolution style?
  7. What skills/strengths do you have that make you well-suited for this position?
  8. What do you bring to the Board  that it doesn’t already have?
  9. What excites you about being a Board Member?
  10. What if anything, would you change about the director position and divisional responsibilities you are seeking?
  11. How do you plan to manage these changes to policy and procedure?
  12. If you aren’t elected, what are your future plans? Are there any other divisional roles you might be interested in and why?
  13. How do you handle disagreement, especially when you feel you are right?
  14. A volunteer reporting to you has not been doing the job – how would you go about making a change in the staff?

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