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InternetNZ Electoral Guidelines (Version 7)

Section 1 - Managing and Scrutineering of elections

A. Managing the Election

1.      In using preferential voting for elections there is always an audit trail available from the computer logs.

2.      Throughout this document and the Constitution of InternetNZ the Returning Officer of InternetNZ is noted as the responsible Officer for managing the election process. The Returning Officer shall be nominated to, and affirmed by, the Council. Any Member may make an application to the President president@internetnz.net.nz to have a different Officer of the Society oversee the election. In such cases the President is charged with nominating an alternative Officer to be the manager of that particular election.

B. Scrutineering

1.      The first scrutineer will normally be the InternetNZ Technical Officer, who is also charged with the responsibility for the computer functions of the voting mechanisms.

2.      There will be a second independent scrutineer, and will normally be the Returning Officer, available (not involved in the election) to assist the Technical Officer if needed and to verify that in contested elections the declared results indeed are those generated by the voting software.

C. Results of Elections

1.      The general results of the elections will be published as follows:

a.      Annual General Meeting (Physical) - The results of the electoral process will be handed to the President (or other person Chairing the AGM) for formal announcement to the meeting.

b.      On-Line only - in solely electronic elections the results of the election will be handed to the Executive Director and who will publish the results to the Members-Announce mailing list.

2.      The results of the election will be posted to the InternetNZ web site:

a.      For all contested elections the full electronic details of the election will be posted to the InternetNZ web site along with the general result.

b.      In uncontested elections there will be no electronic data to be posted.

Section 2 - Elections

1.      These guidelines must always be subject to, and follow any procedures set out in, the Constitution of InternetNZ. Whilst these guidelines are binding, Council may in its discretion allow minor variations in procedure which shall not invalidate any nomination, vote or election

2.      In all elections where there are more than two candidates a form of preferential voting will be used, regardless of either number of vacancies or number of candidates for those vacancies, assuming an election is necessary.

3.      Each vacancy will have a term of office attached.

4.      In situations where mixed terms of office apply to multiple vacancies, the vacancies will be sorted in a hierarchy with the longest term at position one. The vacancies will be filled in descending sequence, with the highest polling successful candidate filling position one.

5.      The Returning Officer is permitted to put forward neutral nominations for those persons wishing to stand for election. Such nominations should be shown as "nominated by the Returning Officer" in the relevant place on the InternetNZ web site.

6.      All nominations should be sent to the Returning Officer and should be copied to the Society’s office. The Returning Officer shall liaise with the office to ensure both parties are kept current on nominations received.

7.      A list of nomination received along with the nominator will be made available on the InternetNZ web site at least 48 hours before the nomination period is closed.

8.      Following a vacancy occurring in an elected position with in InternetNZ, that does not constitute a normal termination of office, a by-election will be declared, following the procedures laid out in Section 3 below, provided that there is at least 90 days remaining in the term of office to be filled. If the remaining term of office is less than 90 days the vacancy will be filled by election at the AGM of InternetNZ following the procedures laid out in the Constitution.

9.      The term of office of a successful candidates will be until the normal termination of office of the replaced person.

10.  All listings of candidates in all elections will be shown in descending alphabetical order (i.e. A-Z) of last names.

11.  Various reserved subject lines should be used for election declarations and the Members will be requested not to use these reserved terms when writing to the InternetNZ lists. To ensure clarity, such reserved subject lines should normally be used in only uppercase characters for declarations.

12.  Any candidate wishing to complain about another member’s conduct or postings in the run-up to an election, should send such a complaint to the Returning Officer. Only complaints sent in such a manner can be considered as official complaints. The Returning Officer will be charged with determining if such a complaint is valid.

a.      In the event that the Returning Officer determines that the complaint is justified, the Returning Officer shall bring the complaint to the Executive Committee for further examination and a ruling. Notification of such action will be published to the Members-Announce mailing list.

b.      The Executive Committee must examine the complaint with 48 hours of receipt of such a complaint.

c.      In the event that the complaint is taken to the Executive Committee for a ruling election results cannot be declared until such a ruling has been made.

d.      Any such ruling by the Executive Committee will be published along with the reasoning to the Members-Announce mailing list.

Section 3 - By-election Procedures to be Followed

1.      Within seven days of a vacancy occurring on InternetNZ Council, the Returning Officer shall open nominations for candidates to fill the vacancy. The declaration will be made to the mandatory Members-Announce mailing list using the reserved subject line "CALL FOR NOMINATIONS". The declaration must state the following detail:

a.      Positions to be filled

b.      Number of vacancies

c.      Opening and closing times and dates of the nomination period

d.      Date of opening and closing of voting

2.      The nomination period shall be for a minimum of seven and a maximum of fourteen days.

3.      A reminder notice that nominations for candidates are open may be sent to the same mailing list by the Returning Officer after the mid-point of the nomination period.

4.      Members of the Society may forward nominations directly to the Returning Officer of InternetNZ during the nomination period using the reserved subject line "NOMINATION".

5.      At the close of the nomination period the Returning Officer will send a note to the Members-Announce mailing list declaring the nomination period closed and will include a provisional list of the names of persons nominated for election.

6.      Following close of the nomination period there will be a period of three to five days before the election period will open. This period will be used to

a.      satisfy the Society that the candidates have fulfilled the necessary requirements to stand for election

b.      permit all nominated persons to formally accept nomination by e-mail to the Returning Officer. N.B. acceptances are NOT required to be made within the nomination period, only prior to the opening of voting

c.      permit the candidates to forward any pictures, biographies and election statements to the Society's office for inclusion on the InternetNZ web site, and

d.      permit the technical requirements for the voting page to be completed.

7.      The voting period shall be for a minimum of five and a maximum of ten days.

8.      Voting in by-elections will be via a web page on the InternetNZ web site.

9.      The voting period will open at the appointed time and the Members will be notified by posting a declaration to the registered e-mail address of each financial Member using the reserved subject line "ELECTION VOTING OPENS". The declaration will contain the following detail

a.      The opening and closing times and dates of the voting period

b.      The reason for the vote

c.      the URL to the candidates’ information page and may also contain a list of the candidates standing for election in descending alphabetical order, (Section 2 para 10)

d.      The URL of the InternetNZ voting page

e.      The username and password of the individual Member for that election.

10.  The voting page on the InternetNZ web site will be de-activated at the close of the election period.

11.  Once the results of the election are known the Returning Officer will post a declaration to the Members-Announce mailing list, using the reserved subject line "ELECTION RESULTS", giving the results of the election and giving the closing of the term of office of each successful candidate.

12.  In the event that there is only one nomination received during a nomination period

a.      the candidate shall be declared as elected unopposed

b.      the candidate will be placed in the top position of multi- vacancies as noted in Section 2 paras 3, 4 and 9.

13.  If insufficient candidates are nominated for the number of vacancies to be filled all procedures will be carried out and a second complete round of elections will be undertaken following the same procedures set out here within seven days of the close of voting.

14.  In the event that no nominations are received during the normal nomination period the election will be declared void and a new set of election procedures will be started within seven days of such a declaration. This cycle may be used twice sequentially. Following two such declarations any open vacancies will normally remain unfilled until the next AGM of InternetNZ when such vacancies will be added to the pool of vacancies to be filled by election as laid out in the Constitution of InternetNZ.

15.  If, after following the procedures in Section 3 para 14, OR the remaining term of office is less than 90 days, and the vacancy is that of an Officer the Council may designate a Councillor to be acting Officer for the remaining term of office of the vacancy.

16.  Any Councillor, designated by Council as acting Officer under the procedures in Section 3 para 15, will not be required to forfeit any remaining normal term of office in their capacity as a Councillor once their term as acting Officer is complete.

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