BPC Board of Trustees Nomination and Election Procedures

(Adopted November 2020)

In accordance with current bylaws, BPC trustee elections will be held at the March general membership meeting, traditionally the fourth Wednesday in March. Trustees serve for two-year terms. In even-numbered years, the membership will vote for Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, and three at-large trustees. In odd-numbered years, the members will vote for Vice Chair, Assistant Treasurer, Assistant Secretary, and three at-large trustees. This may be modified in the event of any bylaw amendment that changes the number or composition of the Board of Trustees.

Nominating Committee

Shall consist of 3-5 BPC members, appointed by the Chair and approved by the Board
Shall consist of at least one trustee and one non-trustee; by current bylaw, neither the Chair nor Vice Chair can serve on the Committee
Shall receive nominations for open positions, ascertain candidate eligibility, vet potential candidates, and may require written statements and/or interviews from candidates as needed.
May disqualify candidates who are ineligible or who violate nomination or election procedures. Anyone so disqualified has the right to immediately appeal to the full Board of Trustees.
Shall nominate a slate of candidates for open Board of Trustees positions.
Shall nominate only one candidate for each open position.
May choose to leave an open trustee position vacant, with the Board’s approval.

Candidates

Must meet all Trustee eligibility requirements as stated in the bylaws and any nomination procedures or requirements set by the Nominating Committee (deadlines, candidate statements, interviews, etc.).

Must be current with membership dues by the time of election or, if a new member, must have paid dues at least two months prior to the election.
May self-nominate for a position or be nominated by another. All nominations must be in writing/email to the Nominating Committee. Nominations made by another must be accepted in writing/email by the proposed candidate.
Ideally, all nominations should go through the Nominating Committee, however bylaws allow that additional nominations may also be made from the floor during the General Membership Meeting and Election. All Trustee eligibility requirements still apply. From-the-floor candidates may self-nominate or be nominated by another. From-the-floor nominees must accept the nomination and be in attendance at the election meeting. They may be required to speak to the membership on behalf of their candidacy in place of a written candidate statement.

Election

Shall be conducted during March General Membership meeting; quorum rules apply.
All participants in the election must be current with membership dues or, if a new member, must have paid dues at least two months prior to the election. The Treasurer and Secretary will have a list of BPC members eligible to vote at the election.
Nominating Committee will present their recommended slate to the membership.
Chair will ask for additional nominations from the floor.
Chair will open the floor for any discussion of the candidates.
After discussion is closed, the Chair will call for a vote.
If the slate proposed by the Nominating Committee is not contested, the Chair may call for approval of the entire slate by acclamation in a single vote.
If any positions are contested, the Chair may call for approval by acclamation for the uncontested portion of the slate and then hold separate votes (show of hands or written) for the contested positions or the Chair can choose to hold separate votes for each position regardless.
Any candidate or voting member can object to a vote of acclamation and request a show of hands or written vote instead.

Special Situations

In the event the March General Membership Meeting and Election cannot be held in person, the meeting and election can be held online in March. Quorum rules still apply.
If the March General Membership Meeting and Election does not achieve quorum, then within one month of the original election date, the Board must either schedule and hold another in-person meeting and election, schedule and hold an online meeting and election, or send email ballots to all eligible BPC voting members and allow one week for votes to be returned. Trustees whose terms technically expired in March may choose to continue in their roles until their replacements are elected.
If a current Trustee is nominated for another Trustee position (i.e., a Vice Chair in the middle of their term runs for Chair) and the Nominating Committee chooses that person for their slate, then the Nominating Committee will add the potentially to-be-vacated position (in this example, Vice Chair) to that year’s election. The availability of the additional position will be announced to the membership as soon after it is known as practical. Whomever is elected will fulfill the one year unexpired portion of that Trustee’s term.

Nomination Calendar

On or before…

December 15th - Chair nominates and the Board approves the members of Nominating Committee
December 20th – Board notifies BPC membership of election date, available Trustee positions, nominating process and deadlines, and contact information for the Nominating Committee.
January 30th – Nominations and candidate statements due to Nominating Committee
February 20th - Nominating Committee presents its recommended slate to the Board.
February 28th – Board circulates list of nominees and candidate statements to the membership
March – General Membership Meeting and Election is held, traditionally on the last Wednesday in March.