COVID-19 JOI ELECTION PROCEDURES
As stated in the Policy for Governance of Junior Optimist International (JOI), the JOI Clubs program of Optimist International, Policy VII, Section 3, the President and JOI Board of Directors shall be elected by the delegates at the annual convention.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Optimist International Convention and the 2020 Junior Optimist International Convention will take place as virtual meetings on June 27-28 . The 2020 – 2021 JOI President and JOI Board will be elected at the 2020 Junior Optimist International Convention.  

All potential candidates shall submit their application, a clear, reproducible photograph and a video of their speech to Optimist International -Junior Optimist Department by June 15, 2020 . Speeches shall be no longer than 4 minutes. No application will be accepted after June 15, 2020. There will be no nomination of candidates from the floor during elections.  

The JOI Committee will review all applications to ensure that candidates meet all the requirements. If a candidate does not meet the requirements, the Committee will contact the candidate and the advisor to inform them of such by June 22 .


Policy For Governance
Qualifications for Candidates
SECTION 3: Qualifications. The President and JOI Board of Directors shall be elected by the delegates at the annual convention. They shall take office October 1, following their election. No more than two candidates per District will be eligible to run for the International JOI Board of Directors. Those eligible for the office of Director shall be a member in good standing belonging to a Club in good standing, shall have served a term as Club president or a District officer and shall be the age of 14 by October 1. Those eligible for the office of President must have served as an International Director or District Governor, must be 16 by October 1, and meet the requirements for an International Director. In order to be listed on the ballot, potential candidates for the International JOI Board of Directors must submit an official application and a signed letter from their school principal or equivalent, for those applicants who are still in high school or its equivalent, to the International Office by June 1 prior to convention.
*Please note in the Policy for Governance the deadline to submit applications states June 1, but it has been extended to June 15 due to COVID-19. There will be no nominations from the floor for the 2020 year.