Attached are the procedures and information required for the election of the Central Vice President. Branch Executive and Facility Stewards are responsible for conducting the election in their respective units; this includes delegation of responsibility for the voters list, ballots, and ballot box required to ensure all members are afforded the opportunity to vote.
Included are: a voters’ list; a non-member report; unclaimed member report; membership cards; and ballots. Please follow the instructions below:
Highlights of new election procedure established at CATCA Convention 2010
• A Returning Officer will be appointed for the oversight of each and every election.
• Each branch will designate an Election Officer who will be responsible for enforcing the established procedure of election policy at the branch level.
• Ballots are to be counted by the Elections Officers or delegate, with one observer. With prior notification Candidates may designate an additional scrutineer to be present.
Results will be tabulated. They are not to be shared with anyone.
• For Regional Vice President Elections, the Elections Officer shall report results via email to the Returning Officer, within one hour of opening the ballot boxes. The Returning Officer shall report the results to the Elections committee.
Definitions:
Returning Officer – The Returning Officer for CATCA 5454 will be the Executive Vice President for all elections with the exception of that position. For the position of Executive Vice President, the Returning Officer will be a member of the Board of Directors appointed by the President.
The Returning Officer for this election is Doug Best, Executive Vice President. He can be contacted at dbest@catca.ca or (613) 796-5045.
Elections Officer: Elections Officer means an individual in charge of preparing and conducting all local and national elections within the Branch or Facility and who supervises the counting of votes and tabulates the results. The Elections Officer shall be appointed by a Branch or Facility.
Right to Vote
As in any matter affecting the Association, only Active Members may vote. Please refer to By-law #1, paras. 5.1; 6.2; and 6.4 which outlines the definition of an Active Member.
Non-Members may fill-out a membership card prior to voting. Membership cards are included in this package. This will be considered a membership application and should be returned to the National Office once the election has concluded.
Voting and Counting Procedure
Voting is to begin, Wednesday June 2nd, 2010. Proxy votes are not allowed. Branch Secretaries and Facility Stewards are to refer any problems to their branch Election Officer, who will in turn report the problem to the Returning Officer. Voting must be completed by 12:00 EDT, Tuesday June 15th, 2010.
During the voting period, the Elections Officer is responsible for enforcing the following rules of conduct:
1. Ballots are to be issued to the voter in a discrete environment, where the privacy of the voter will not be compromised in any way.
2. Ballot boxes are to be kept locked at all times and are not to be left unattended, tampered with, nor are they to be opened until the designated time – 12:01 EDT Tuesday June 15th, 2010. During the progress of any vote where a ballot box is opened or tampered with prior to the time established for the opening of ballot boxes, the ballots contained in that ballot box shall be declared spoiled ballots. In such cases where there was a premature opening of a ballot box the members of that unit will be deemed to have forfeited any further opportunity to vote.
3. Ballots are to be counted by the Elections officer, or designate, with at least one observer. With prior notification, candidates may designate an additional scrutineer to be present for the counting.
4. Once the results are tabulated, they are not to be shared with anyone other than the Elections Officer.
5. Results of the voting are then reported via telephone followed by an email to the Returning Officer (Doug Best, Executive Vice President: email: dbest@catca.ca, phone: (613) 796-5045), not later than 13:00 EDT. This report should contain the number of votes for each candidate, the total number of votes cast and the number of spoiled ballots (if any). The Elections Officer is responsible for reporting the Branch and Facility results from that Branch to the Returning Officer
Ballots and voters’ lists shall be retained and kept confidential on site for 60 days, at which time they shall be destroyed. Membership applications shall be mailed to CATCA national office after the election is complete.
If you have any questions, please call CATCA National Office at 613-225-3553.