One Member One Vote FAQ

Transcription

1 s on the One Member One Vote Election of International Secretary GOAL: The goal of the One Member One Vote task force committee is to review the consideration for One Member One Vote via an electronic method for the election of the International Secretary prior to the International Convention. If approved by the membership at the 2016 International Convention, the electronic voting of the International Secretary would take place prior to the IAIP annual meeting of Why One Member One Vote Election of International Secretary? Three concurrent topics have evolved in recent months that support advancing the issue of One Member One Vote for the election of the International Secretary. First, During the January 2015 Board of Directors Meeting, the topic of voting body, including when and how elections for the International Secretary are held, was discussed. The International Convention is the best opportunity for the full incoming board to meet and start the preparation for the new term. This opportunity is missed due to the election of the International Secretary position being held at the annual meeting after the Board Meeting. For the full board to take advantage of a meeting at the Convention, election of the International Secretary needs to take place prior to the annual meeting. Second, Feedback has indicated that members want to have a voice in the association. Rarely is there a situation when an entire membership decides, supports or votes the same. Even at the local level, there can be membership diversity. With One Member One Vote there will be a better representation of the majority.. Third, With the technology available to us today, and supporting the direction of limiting the business portion of our meetings to allow us to focus on education, building careers and networking, the electronic voting of the International Secretary before the annual meeting helps accomplish this goal. Electronic voting, allowing for One Member One Vote, was considered and determined as the method to allow for voting on the International Secretary before the International Convention. Electronic voting will allow the local association that either chooses not to send a delegate or is not able to send a delegate to the International meeting to still participate in voting for the International Secretary. One Member One Vote Roadmap 1. Where we are today? o Our current voting body consists of one delegate from each local association and one elected representative of a Member At Large in each region. o An initiative requiring a vote by the voting body must first be approved at regional meetings. If approved, a vote is required at the annual International meeting. o The initiative voted upon by the voting body is passed with a majority vote of registered delegates. 1

2 2. What issues require a vote by delegates? o Name Change of the Association o Dues Structure o Realignment of Regions o Changes in the Composition of the Voting Body o Election of the International Secretary 3. What issue is under consideration for One Member One Vote? o The focus is only for election of the International Secretary. 4. Why are we only considering One Member One Vote for the election of the International Secretary and not for other matters that come before the association? o The heart of parliamentary procedure is to allow an organized approach to debate on a topic. By keeping our traditional voting method for other matters that come before the association, members can hear all thoughts and ideas on a topic before a vote occurs. At this time, the One Member One Vote Task Force believes the association is poised to transition to electronic vote of the International Secretary but that the technology capabilities are not currently available to enable debate on the other potential topics requiring a delegate vote. 5. What is the Task Force doing, and what has been done to date? o Task Force Launch: The Task Force was appointed at the January 2015 Board of Directors Meeting in Atlanta. The first Task Force meeting was held on March 24, 2015 and two subsequent meetings have since been held. o Task Force Research: Review of the methods, procedure and software available to accomplish the task of electronic voting. Discussion of the member s concerns from the first time the One Member One Vote was considered. Identify valid reasons that help support One Member One Vote. Completion of this document to help answer questions regarding procedure, process and technical issues surrounding One Member One Vote implementation. 6. What is the timeline? o The Task Force will develop a presentation for leadership to deliver at the 2015 Council Meetings and 2016 Regional Meetings to explain the One Member One Vote initiative and how the voting will be accomplished. o Ongoing Q & A to address concerns and issues of the initiatives as they come up. o If approved by majority at the 2016 Regional Meetings, the final vote will be held at the 2016 International Convention by the registered delegates. o If approved at convention, the first electronic vote for International Secretary to be held for the election of the secretary. 2

3 Processes and Procedures to be Addressed 7. Would a change to the International Bylaws be required? o Current Bylaws would be changed for all references of elections of the International Secretary and the voting body of the association and any reference thereto. o Changes would be made accordingly once approved by vote at the annual international meeting. The Board of Directors would adopt the changes at their first meeting in The Task Force is now reviewing the Bylaws, candidate applications and international candidate information forms for compliance. Changes to each of these document are required if One Member One Vote for International Secretary is passed. 8. Would a Nominating Committee be necessary if the One Member One Vote is approved? Would they still make recommendations for one candidate? o The International Nominating Committee would still be required. The Nominating Committee would review all candidates qualifications, association activities, involvement and recognition. o The Nominating Committee would still interview all of the candidates for the office of Secretary and endorse one candidate. o The Meet the Candidates would still be held via webinar giving all members the opportunity to learn more about each candidate and ask questions. o All candidates going through this process would be asked to agree to the terms of commitment and pledge their willingness to serve. These candidates will make up the slate of individuals running for the office of Secretary. This slate of candidates is what the members will vote on. 9. How would nominations from the floor be handled? o There would not be nominations from the floor for additional candidates for International Secretary who have not participated in the Nominating Committee interview or Meet the Candidates webinar. Nominations from the floor are part of the delegate voting process currently used at the annual meetings. Voting for the International Secretary would take place prior to the international annual meeting. The electronic ballot would include all candidates running for the position of Secretary that have accepted the terms of commitment and pledge to serve. 10. What will be the opportunities for campaigning for International Secretary, if election is prior to annual conference? o The only changes to the current Policy 1.A.18 Campaign Procedures would be no campaigning opportunities at annual conference, as voting would take place prior to annual conference. Opportunities for campaigning available to the candidate would be as follows: Mailings of Qualifications with or without a letter(s) of endorsement and/or postcards are permitted Distribution of campaign literature at regional conferences is permitted method is at the discretion of the RVP Use of electronic media is acceptable. Use of bulk e mail function through the IAIP website is not permitted. Distribution is limited to your personal e mail contact list 3

4 11. What would be the timeline for the nomination and election process? o Dates are subject to change with moderate fluctuations around this suggested timeline and based on the annual calendar. Exact dates for each year will be posted in mid November. Date November 15 December first Friday December 15 January 1 15 January February 15 March 1 March 5 March 25 April 10 April 25 May 1 Electronic Voting Process & Capabilities Activity International Nominating Committee Applications Due (earlier due date beginning in 2016) International Officer Candidate Form Due Nominating Committee slated at December Board of Directors meeting Nominating Committee meets to identify questions for candidate interviews Nominating Committee interviews with candidates Nominating Committee meets to select recommended candidate Meet the Candidate Webinar Meet the Candidate Webinar Recording available. A link to the recording to be ed to entire membership with notice of the date that the vote for International Secretary will be distributed. Candidate articles published in Spring issue of Today s Insurance Professionals Electronic Vote launched and distributed to the membership via including the Candidate recommended by the International Nominating Committee. Ongoing monitoring of response rate while the election is open with adjustments to the communication plan as needed to ensure quorum is met. Electronic Vote closes and results confirmed Announcement of elected International Secretary 12. How will a majority be determined? o Minimum of 10% of total membership (voting body) would qualify as a quorum. Of the number of votes cast, 51% is considered majority. 13. How will votes be tabulated? o Survey Monkey would be the software solution utilized as the electronic voting system. Members will select the candidate of their choice from the list of candidates presented. The candidate receiving a majority of the votes cast will be declared the International Secretary. 14. Will voting be anonymous? Who will confirm that the individual voting is a current member and that each member is only submitting one vote? o In order to ensure that all votes are cast by current, active members in good standing, and that each member only votes once, members would need to provide their name with their vote. The names provided in the ballot would be compared with the membership roster. This information would only be seen by Corporate Centre staff to verify the legitimacy of votes cast. 4

5 15. How long will the voting be active? o Voting would be open for a period of two (2) weeks. Regular monitoring of the response rate would occur and the communications to the entire membership with reminders to vote would be adjusted accordingly to ensure the quorum is met. 16. How long between when the voting process is conducted and the international annual meeting is held? o Voting would be held in April. The international annual meeting is held in June. 17. Would each Local Association have an option to give a vote collectively? o A Local Association could collectively decide on a candidate and all vote in the same manner, but each individual member would need to cast their own electronic vote. 18. How will members that do not have access to a computer participate in the voting process? o Computers are available at local libraries and could be used to access the electronic voting system. o A Local Association could have a computer available at a meeting where members could sign on and cast their vote. General 19. If Local Associations no longer need to send delegates and alternates to the international annual meeting, will this lower our attendance at the International Convention? o Local Associations would be encouraged to send their incoming officers to participate in association training, meet the leaders at all levels of the organization and to better understand the future direction of the association. o As we are heading in the direction of limited business meetings with more education, networking and career building, we believe this would still entice members to attend the International Convention. o Delegates and alternates would still be required to vote on any of the other items outlined in Question #2 that may be presented before the voting body at the International Convention. 20. Will One Member One Vote take away from the voting strength that larger regions have because they have more Local Associations and hence more delegates? o This theory is also true of One Member One Vote. Regions larger in the number of Local Associations have more members thus still giving them a greater voting strength if all members participate in the process and vote in a similar manner. Transitional Timeline 21. How will we engage the membership to be active participants in the voting process? o February/March Article introducing candidates in Todays Insurance Professionals, The Connections enewsletter and Leadership enewsletter. o March/April Announcements at regional meetings of the candidates running for office of secretary. blasts advertising the Meet the Candidates webinar. o March Meet the Candidates Webinar o April Electronic vote 5

6 o May Announcement of the elected International Secretary 22. How long would the Meet the Candidates webinar recording be available for members to view? o Meet the Candidates would be recorded in March with voting in May. The recording would be available to members for review from the date of Meet the Candidates to the closing date of the voting. 23. Can recordings such as Meet the Candidates be mailed to members for review? o No, we would not mail the webinar recording to the membership via USPS. Information about the candidates will be shared in publications, s and on the website as an opportunity for the members to get to know the candidates. It is the members responsibility to educate themselves on the candidates through the various channels of communications i.e. publications, announcements, and Meet the Candidates webinar. 24. How and when will members be notified of winner? o Final results of the International Secretary will be announced within one week of closing the election to allow time to verify the accuracy of all votes cast. The results will be announced via blast to the membership and posted on the IAIP website. Task Force Representatives 25. Who served on the One Member One Vote Task Force? o Angie Sullivan Region VII, Chair o Donna Church Region I o Betty Curry Region III o Danny Douglas Region V o Brenda Lawhorn Region II o Beth Walters Region VI o Debbi Kuhne Region I, Executive Committee Representative o Beth Chitnis Executive Director, Staff Representative 6