NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORTS AND ELECTIONS
Every year, PTAs elect officers for the following year at an Association meeting. The timing of your annual election meeting is dictated in your bylaws (Article V, Section 7) and should be no later than the second week of April. You may wonder why elections are held so early in the spring. This date helps ensure a smooth transition for incoming board members, giving them time to meet with their predecessors and receive materials. It also allows the president-elect, and members of the new board, time to attend the California State PTA Convention and First District PTA training.
Hopefully, your Nominating Committees have been hard at work selecting the best candidates for each of the offices in your PTA. Once the slate has been completed, a nominating committee report is signed by each member of the committee and provided to the association at least 28 days in advance of the election meeting.
The annual election meeting is planned and run by the president. The president should give 30 days’ written notice of the election meeting, as stated in the bylaws. The president should add “Election of Officers” on the agenda under “New Business.” Make sure to have the secretary bring a current membership list to the meeting to verify eligibility to vote and to be nominated. Only members who attend the meeting and have been members for at least 30 days, and whose dues are paid, are eligible to vote at the election or to hold office.
To hold the election, the president first asks the parliamentarian to read the parts of the Bylaws pertaining to Nominations and Elections (Article V, Sections 1, 2, 4a, 4e, 5 to 8, and 11). Next, the president asks the chair of the Nominating Committee to give the Report of the Nominating Committee. The chairperson of the Nominating Committee reads the report and notes any changes to the publicized slate. The president then restates the slate and asks each person to stand as their name is called. Next, the president calls for nominations from the floor. The president should restate the nominee for each office, and then ask for nominations from the floor. After asking for nominations from the floor, the president closes the nominations.
If there is only one nominee for each board position, the president then calls for a voice vote stating “The bylaws state that if there is one nominee for an office, a ballot may be dispensed with and the election held by voice vote. Is there any objection to this procedure? Hearing none, the following are presented for election” and re-reads the slate. Then the president calls for the vote for the slate, saying “All those in favor say ‘aye,’ those opposed say ‘no.’”
If there are two or more nominees for an office, the election must be held by ballot. The president appoints a tellers committee with a chairperson and at least two tellers. Tellers distribute, collect, and count the ballots. The results are reported in writing to the president by the tellers committee with the following information:
- Total eligible voters
- Total votes cast
- Number needed to elect (majority vote – ½ + 1)
- Number of votes received by each nominee.
The president announces the voting results and who is elected, but the number of votes cast for each nominee is not announced unless requested. The complete tellers report is recorded in the minutes. The chairperson of the tellers committee then makes a motion to destroy the ballots.
All PTA officers, including the parliamentarian, have the same voting privileges as other members. To protect the impartiality of the chair of the meeting, the president should only vote when the vote is by ballot.
For more information about elections, check out the First District PTA website bylaws and parliamentary procedure page, the CAPTA toolkit, the CAPTA nominations and elections page, the CAPTA leadership website pages on nominations and elections), and this script for conducting elections.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding elections.
Karin Graver, Parliamentarian
[email protected]
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