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105TH ANNUAL STATE CONVENTION
MAY 29 THROUGH JUNE 1
WILDWOOD CONVENTION CENTER
Reminder of the change in dates due to the hotel price increase and lack of hotel rooms due to the country music festival
Tentative Schedule
Wednesday May 29: Registration 9AM to 3PM- Vendors - All American/All State Commanders & Quartermasters Luncheon. All previous and 2024 All American/All State Commanders & Quartermasters are invited. Lunch registration details to follow.
Thursday May 30: Registration 8AM to 2PM- Vendors - Memorial Service 8AM - Opening Session to follow - Business session.
Friday May 31: Registration open 8AM to elections - Vendors - Business session- Nominations & elections.
Saturday June 1: Vendors- 8AM Business session & awards- Installation - Closing Ceremony - 1PM Parade step off followed by the State Commander's Reception at the Days Inn.
Delegates (see Section 222 of the By-Laws and Manual of Procedure):
Delegates and alternates for the District Convention and Meetings, Department and National Conventions shall be elected at a regular meeting in April. Delegate strength will be based on members in good standing as of March 31st.
Delegates and alternates of each Post shall serve as delegates throughout the year provided they remain members in good standing in the respective Post within the District.
(a) Delegate strength shall be one for every thirty members or fraction thereof in good standing. Delegates and alternates shall be elected in accordance with the Manual of Procedure.
(b) Delegates elected under this section shall not be considered instructed and may exercise full authority in the duty to be performed.
(c) Each Post will pay, in accordance with its Department Bylaws, a delegate registration fee for each and every delegate to which the Post shall be entitled.
(d) Each Post will pay, in advance, a National Convention registration fee of twenty five dollars ($25) which shall entitle the Post to a packet of convention information and materials and one identified registered delegate for the National Convention. Each additional delegate attending the National Convention will pay a ten dollar ($10) delegate fee.
State, County, Municipal, School Board employee convention leave law:
Title 38 - MILITIA--SOLDIERS, SAILORS AND MARINES
Section 38:23-2 - Leave of absence for State or national conventions.
The head of every public department and of every court of this State, every superintendent or foreman on the public works of this State, the heads of the county offices of the several counties and the head of every department, bureau and office in the government of the various municipalities, shall give a leave of absence with pay to every person in the service of the State, county or municipality who is a duly authorized representative of the Veterans of Foreign Wars to attend any State or national convention of such organization.
Leave of absence shall be for a period inclusive of the duration of the convention with a reasonable time allowed for time to travel to and from the convention. No person shall be entitled to a total of more than five days' leave of absence with pay each calendar year for the purpose of attending, as authorized representative, the State or national convention of one or more of the above enumerated organizations. The leaves of absence authorized hereunder shall not be cumulative and any unused leaves shall be canceled at the end of any given year.
Link to the LAW
Any questions regarding the convention can be directed to PSC Jay Boxwell at njvfwpowmia@gmail.com
POST NOMINATIONS & ELECTIONS
Every year we receive numerous complaints of improper election conduct. Please review Sections 217 - 217 & 221 of the By-Laws and Manual of Procedure for further guidance
prior to the nominations & election.
Please also view this short video on VFW election procedures.
Nomination & Election Highlights
- All members shall be eligible to hold any office in the Post provided that proof of eligibility has been submitted and verified by the Post Commander and Adjutant prior to the installation.
- No member shall hold two elected Post offices at the same time but may hold one elected and one or more appointed offices.
- Post Trustees shall not be eligible to serve on committees or as officers having to do with the receipt and expenditure of Post funds whose records and accounts are audited by the trustees.
- Post officers shall be nominated, elected and installed as prescribed in Section 217 of the Manual of Procedure. (Nominations in March - Election in April)
- Order of nominations and elections. The order of nominations and elections shall be Commander, Senior Vice Commander, Junior Vice Commander, Quartermaster and Trustee(s).
- Nomination. Prior to the opening of nominations, the Post shall decide which form of election shall be used, unless the Post Bylaws specify the manner of election.
- Any nominee shall have the opportunity to decline nomination for the office to which they have been nominated before nominations are closed.
- A member making the nomination of an absentee for any office shall have presented to the Adjutant, in writing, the consent of the member being nominated prior to the opening of nominations. (An email or electronic message would suffice)
- Nominations of Post Officers shall open in March and remain open until the Post is ready to vote, provided, however, that when a poll system is used, as hereinafter described, nominations must be closed at the meeting prior to the election to allow the Adjutant to prepare a printed ballot.
- Election. Post officers shall be elected in April. Balloting for Post officers may be conducted by open vote or written secret ballot (handwritten or printed) at a regular Post meeting, or, if required by Post Bylaws or authorized by Post vote prior to the opening of nominations, by a poll system.
- Absentee ballots and proxy votes are prohibited.
- A majority vote of all votes cast, except where otherwise designated, shall be necessary to elect. If there be no election on the first ballot, the name of the comrade receiving the lowest number of votes shall be dropped and so on in successive ballots until an election is made.
- Challenging Election Results. If irregularities are claimed with respect to the election to any office, such challenge must be made prior to the close of the meeting. If the challenge is not resolved, any member has the right to appeal to the State Commander under Section 109 of the By-Laws and Manual of Procedure.
A written, signed appeal shall:
- Describe the act or decision from which the appeal is taken and the manner in which the matter at issue has been handled.
- State all facts known to the member concerning the matter at issue.
- Specify the provision or provisions of the Charter, Bylaws, Manual of Procedure, Ritual or the laws or usages of Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States which the act or decision violates or contradicts.
- State the relief requested by the member.
Appeals to the Department Commander from the acts or decisions of the Post or District Commander shall be made within thirty (30) days of the act or decision from which the appeal is taken.
All appeals shall be made in writing and shall be mailed by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the Department Commander at Department Headquarters.
ELECTION REPORTS
- Should be filed immediately after the election but no later than June 1.
- The Quartermaster should file the report on the VFW Online Membership System.
- Please verify the officer's information prior to submitting the report. The information on your post roster could 30 + years old and inaccurate due to subsequent moves and changes in phone or email information after joining the organization.
- Under no circumstances should an election report be filed containing the names of members who were not duly nominated, elected and installed. Every year we receive reports with deceased members listed as post officers or persons we later find out to have never consented to a nomination or even know they were listed as a post officer. Please note that submitting fraudulent elections reports will most likely result in disciplinary charges. A Past State Commander in his capacity as a Post Q/M and several other Post CMDRs and Q/Ms have had their memberships terminated for filing a false election report.
- If you cannot fill the chairs, please give the State HQ and your District Commander a call and we will assist in revitalizing the post to encourage current and newly recruited members to take positions.
MEMBERSHIP
To build a strong VFW into the future to ensure a strong organization that can fight for an improved Veterans Administration and other rights veterans are entitled to, our Commander in Chief has made a membership goal of 102% to grow our numbers.
- There are still WW II and Korean War veterans that are not yet members and should be recruited into your posts and honored.
- Vietnam veterans encompass our largest single cohort of members and the largest cohort of veterans out there that are not yet members. We should be actively recruiting these veterans and let them know we are not the same VFW that may have disrespected their service in the past.
- The Desert Storm/GWOT veteran groups combined number is 33,775, and these are veterans we will have to build the future of the VFW upon.
- The average age of a NJ VFW member is 69 with 30 Posts having an average member age of 65 or younger. The youngest Post average age is 53.
Below is a list of the number of VFW eligible veterans residing in NJ we know deployed during these wars. The data shows that we have only recruited 27.69% of those veterans. There are other veterans from Expeditionary Conflicts and Post War Korean Peninsula Service who are also eligible but because we don't have data for those veterans, are not included in these numbers. There are plenty of veterans out there-we just need to spend more time out in the community to bring them home to the VFW.
Please reach out to the State Adjutant adjutant@njvfw.com for a list of eligible veterans in your area. Include the zip codes of the areas you wish to recruit from.
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