The purpose of the Nominations-Elections Committee (NEC), a standing committee, is to plan and manage the membership’s election of directors and the directors’ election of its officers. As stated in Article 5 of the bylaws, six or more members of the Nominations-Elections Committee shall be appointed by the president as soon as possible after the annual CGJA election of directors, subject to ratification by the board of directors. NEC members shall serve one-year terms. The committee shall include at least one committee member per region from the directors and at least one committee member per region from the voting membership. The chair of this committee shall be one of the CGJA directors. Neither the chair nor any member of NEC may be a candidate for director that year.
NEC’s primary duty is to seek out the most competent CGJA members to serve as directors. NEC is responsible for all aspects of the annual election of directors, which shall be conducted electronically or by regular mail at the direction of the board. NEC shall be in charge of publicity, seeking out potential candidates, producing and delivering ballots with supporting materials to all eligible voters, observing the vote tally process, and safeguarding returned ballots. NEC is also responsible for sending the proposed annual ballot to the president and secretary for inclusion in the agenda packet of the board of directors meeting that precedes the mailing of the ballots so that the ballot can be approved by the board.
As provided in Article 5, Section (d) of the CGJA Bylaws, the president will appoint three tellers (the “Tellers’ Committee”) who will count or observe the counting of the votes, and, at the annual meeting, verify and report the results of the election. During the annual meeting, all of the directors will be administered the oath of office. NEC shall recommend to the board whether to use an independent counter such as the League of Women Voters to count the ballots, with observation by the Tellers’ Committee, or have the Tellers’ Committee count the ballots.
NEC is also responsible for nominating a candidate for each officer position on the board of directors and conducting the biannual election of officers at the special meeting of the newly formed CGJA Board of Directors during the CGJA Annual Membership Meeting held in even numbered years. The slate of officers shall be chosen from both the continuing and incoming directors. Directors may not serve in more than one officer position concurrently. As required by CGJA Bylaws Article 5(f), the board shall vote on individual officer positions separately, rather than in one vote on the entire slate.