Leadership

Back to Leadership Index
Click here for a printable copy
of this page in word format

how to hold an Election

1.)  Review your local unit’s bylaws to determine the date for the election of officers.

2.)  Send out a notice to the membership with the slate of candidates at least 10 days prior to the general membership meeting that the elections will occur. ( See Article VI: Officers and their elections section 3 c.)

3.)  Only those individuals who are current members of the PTA may be considered for election for a     

      position on the PTA (Article VI section 3 d.)

4.)  Individuals may join the PTA on the date of the election prior to the start of the election portion of the   

      meeting.

5.) Remember that our bylaws # Article IV: Relationship with National PTA and Maryland PTA section 8: The bylaws of this local PTA/PTSA shall prohibit voting by proxy, mail (including electronic communications), or absentee.

6.)  Choose the members who will act as the Tellers for the elections. There should be at least 3 Tellers who will count the ballots, if they are necessary, prior to the elections.

7.)  Must have flip chart/chalk board available to list all candidates. 

Procedure for presenting slate of candidates and nominations from the floor

Report of the nominating committee: The chair of the committee is called upon by the president to present the slate of candidates to the membership. Once this is done, the work of this committee is complete.

The president (or chair of the meeting) rereads the slate of candidates and opens the floor for nominations for each office.

 There are two ways to call for nominations:

     a. Nominations from the floor are completed and nominations are closed for each office before voting  

         for any office.

     b. Nominations for one office are completed and votes are cast for that office and the result is   

         announced before the chair calls for nominations for the next office.

 The decision on how to do the nominations and proceed with the voting is up to the unit but should be decided on prior to the meeting.

 The wording for opening nominations for either choice is:

a. “For the office of President, John Wayne, is nominated by the nominating committee. Are there any further nominations for the office of President (if there is a person nominated from the floor, the chair repeats the name of the nominee) Betty White is nominated. Are there any further nominations?”

 When it appears that no one else wishes to make a nomination, the chair should ask if there are any further nominations, and if there is no response, the chair would then declare the nomination (for the office of ____) are closed and the wording would be:

 “Are there any further nominations for President (pause) If not (pause) nominations are closed (Or, Without objections, nominations are closed)”

 If you choose to hold elections after each office, you would move to the vote for president at this time.        

If your unit decides to complete all nominations, you would move to the next office of Vice President. The wording remains the same inserting that office that is being open for nominations.

A member does not need to be present to be nominated from the floor. They must however, have given in writing their consent to run for the office they are nominated for.

A member may be nominated for more than one position, however if they receive the majority vote for both positions, they must resign from one position.

A member may nominate themselves for a position.

Voting and Counting Procedures

1) Upon completion of the nominations, you will proceed to the voting.

2) Prior to the elections, the candidates should be given the opportunity to address the members. They are given a predetermined amount of time that should be decided on prior to the meeting by the Board of Directors (usually no more than 5 minutes).

3) If only one person is nominated for a position, a voice vote is all that is required.

4) If more than one person is nominated for a position, a ballot vote is used. Below are some different ways that this can be conducted:

a. If no member is running for more than one position, one ballot can be used for all positions.

b. All names are placed on the ballot and the member is instructed to circle (or mark) the candidate they are voting for.

c. If a person is running for more than one position, you should use separate ballots for each position.

d. In the event that a member is running for more than one position and they receive the majority vote in at    

    least 2 of the positions, the person will have to determine which office they will accept.

        i. For example: Mr. A and Mr. B are running for president and Mr. B is also on the ballot for Vice    

           President with Mr. C.

        ii. If Mr. B receives the majority of votes cast for both positions, he will have to determine which  

           position  he will accept. If he accepts the office of President and if no one else is on the ballot for     

           Vice President, then Mr. C would be elected to the office of Vice President. However, if there is 

           another person on the ballot for Vice President, the elections would have to be done again with the   

           two remaining names. (in order to receive a majority vote).

5) The ballots are collected by the Tellers. The tellers will move to a separate area in

the meeting room or another room to count the votes. The tellers will decide who

will be the chair and give the report to the chair of the meeting once the votes are

counted.

6) The Tellers report is as follow:

a. Number of votes cast______

b. Necessary for election_______ (This must be a majority of the votes cast)

c. Mr. A received_________

d. Mr. B received_________

e. Illegal votes__________ (These are ballots that do not have anyone marked, more than one candidate marked, name written in that was not nominated from the floor) The illegal votes count towards the number of votes cast.

f. The number of votes cast may not match the number of members present as some may decide not to vote.

7) If no candidate receives a majority vote, the elections are held again until one candidate receives a majority vote. If there are more than two people on the ballot, the candidate with the lowest amount of votes is not removed from the ballot. They may withdraw, but they are not dropped from the voting.

8) Majority is 1/2 plus 1.

9) The head teller presents the report to the president. The president declares the winner of the elections.

10) The Tellers report is entered in full in the minutes, becoming a part of the official records of the organization.

11) Upon completion of an election, if there is no possibility that the assembly may order a recount (which requires a majority vote), the ballots can be ordered to be destroyed or to be filed for a certain length of time with the secretary (such as a month) before being destroyed.

After Elections

1) The chair would invite all the newly elected officers to the front to be sworn into office. The choice of the induction is left up to each unit.

2) The newly elected officers should meet briefly with the current officers to set up a transition meeting which should occur prior to the start of their term as determined by your bylaws.

3) At the transitional meeting, all material must be handed over to the new officers, except for the banking records and statements. It is the responsibility of the outgoing board to arrange for an audit to be done of the books prior to the start date of the new board.

4) The new officers who will have check signing authority will need to make a date to go to the bank and change the signatures on the bank cards with the previous signers.

 

 

Back to Leadership Index