Section 1. Elected officers of the Section shall serve for a term of one year beginning on January 1 or until their successors are elected. At the end of the Chair-Elect’s term of office, the Chair-Elect shall succeed to the office of Chair. Officers, Councilors, and Alternate Councilors shall be elected by a ballot of those eligible to vote.
Section 2. In September of each year, the Nominating Committee shall report to the membership its nominations for each office to be filled. Prior to October 15, any member of the Section may, in writing or from the floor at a meeting, nominate additional candidates for office, if the nomination is seconded by another member. Nominations so made shall be equally valid as those from the Nominating Committee. All candidates nominated shall have indicated willingness to serve if elected.
Section 3. The candidates for each office shall be listed in an order to be selected by lot on a ballot to be distributed to each member of the Section by November 1. A paper ballot will be mailed to any member who requests it.
Section 4. The ballots shall be tabulated and validated not later than November 15. The candidate for each office receiving the largest number of votes shall be declared elected. In case of a tie vote, the Executive Committee, by ballot, shall elect from among the candidates who share the tie vote; the candidate receiving the largest number of votes shall be declared elected.
The results shall be announced by the Section Chair as soon as possible after the election, and also published in the Section’s newsletter and/or on the Section’s website soon thereafter. The results shall be certified to the Executive Director of the SOCIETY not later than December 1 in accordance with the Bylaws of the SOCIETY.
Section 5. In accordance with the SOCIETY’s Bylaws, balloting procedures should ensure fair balloting that is open to all eligible members, protection against fraudulent balloting, and the timely reporting and archiving of balloting results.