Article V: Elections

Section 1: Election Procedures (1) Election of officers shall be conducted biannually in the fall of the year, in accordance with provisions stated in the Constitution of the North American Saxophone Alliance, Article VI, Section 1, "Elected Officers." (2) The biennial election process shall commence with the formulation and action of the Nominating Committee, in accordance with the Bylaws, Article III, Section 1. The initiation of the election process shall be primarily the responsibility of the President, or may be initiated by any other executive officer or member of the Executive Committee in consultation with the President. (3) Following completion of the nominating process, as provided for in Article III, Section I, Paragraph 5 of these Bylaws, the remainder of the election process shall be conducted by the Membership Director, The NASA Update Editor, the Nominating Committee Chairman, and the Secretary or President-Elect. These officers shall function as follows, operating within the prescribed deadlines: (a) The NASA Update Editor shall publish prominently in the newsletter a description of the slate of offices due for election, as well as the biographical and photographic materials on each candidate as received from the candidates or from the Nominating Committee Chairman. (Biographical material shall be submitted in paragraph form, typed double-spaced, and limited to 300 words maximum. The NASA Update Editor shall have the right to shorten materials of excessive length and to reduce or eliminate photos that are not of sufficient quality to sustain quality offset reproduction.) (b) The Membership Director shall prepare and print paper ballots. These ballots shall contain the slate of nominees and instruction as to how the ballots are to be marked. Each office listed shall also have a space provide for "write-in votes." The ballots shall contain the name and address of the individual to who they are to be returned (see item C), and the ballots shall also be consecutively numbered. A deadline notice shall be provided on the ballots, with a line imprinted as follows: "Must be postmarked no later than December 5, (year), in order to be counted." The ballots shall be inserted into envelopes, one ballot each to all active members of the Alliance, and mailed no later than November 5 by first-class mail. (the Alliance shall not take the responsibility of providing return postage or return envelopes; this shall be the responsibility of the individual voting members.) Also by November 5, the Membership Director shall forward to the Nominating Committee Chairman a printout (or other copy) of all active members who are receiving ballots as confirmation of the number of ballots sent and the numerical range of the ballots’ consecutive numbering. (No record shall be made as to which ballot numbers went to which members.) (c) The Nominating Committee Chairman shall be charged with the responsibility of receiving and counting the returned ballots. He shall adhere strictly to the deadline for returns, and no individual or group extensions of the deadline shall be granted. The Nominating Committee Chairman shall save all the envelopes, with postmarks identifiable, that were used for returning ballots; separately, he shall assemble the ballots and tabulate the votes. After allowing reasonable and sufficient time for the return of ballots, but not later than December 15, the Nominating Committee Chairman shall telephone the President with the tentative results of the election and shall also send the ballots and return envelopes to the Secretary or President-Elect, whichever office is not being filled through, the current election, for confirmation of the results. (d) The Secretary or President-Elect shall receive the ballot materials from the Nominating Committee Chairman for the purpose of double checking the tabulation. In the event a discrepancy is found, this executive office shall contact the Nominating Committee Chairman at once concerning the discrepancy. Otherwise, the vote shall be confirmed and the ballot materials shall be forward without delay to the NASA Update Editor (to be received not later than January 20th). The Secretary or President-Elect shall be responsible for contacting the election winners by telephone, the other candidates by mail, and the balance of the Executive Committee by mail with the official election results. (e) The NASA Update Editor shall receive the ballot materials, confirm the accuracy of the tabulation, check and discard the postmarked envelopes, and arrange for printing the news of the election results as well as listing of the numbers of the returned ballots in the winter issue of the newsletter, in order to provide the general membership with a means of confirming that their individually numbered ballots were received by the Nominating Committee Chairman and tabulated. (4) Endorsements of candidates for elected office shall not be published in the journal or newsletter, nor shall endorsements be published and/or distributed in any other form by the Alliance and/or at Alliance expense. (5) In the event there is a tie vote between two leading candidates in a three-way race, a runoff election shall be held between the two candidates following publication of this news in the winter issue of the newsletter. In the event there is a tie vote between two candidates in a two-way race, a second election shall be held following publication of this news in the newsletter. The procedures for these special elections shall follow the format as prescribed in Article V, Section 3 of these Bylaws, except the November deadline dates shall become March dates respectively and the December deadline dates shall become April dates respectively. Section 2: Removal of Elected Officers Any executive officer may initiate procedures for the removal of an elected officer by filing such recommendation in writing, and including specific grounds for the action, to the highest ranking elected officer who is not the subject of the complaint. Reasons for such action should be of very serious nature, such as inadequate attention to performing the responsibilities of the office, inappropriate performance of responsibilities, conduct detrimental to the aims and purposes of the Alliance, or similar unacceptable posture and/or conduct. The ranking officer receiving such a complaint shall immediately notify the balance of the executive officers of the action and shall request an answer to the complaint from the officer who is the subject of the complaint, to be returned within a two-week period. In the event that the officer in question does not answer the complaint, removal shall be accomplished with a majority vote of the Executive Committee. In the event that the complaint is answered in the prescribed time, the response shall also be copied and forwarded by the ranking officer to all executive officers, who shall then respond individually with their votes of confidence or removal, to be received by the ranking officer within two weeks of his final correspondence on the matter. In this circumstance, a two-thirds majority vote of the Executive Committee shall be required for removal of an elected officer.