Policy on Runoff Election Voting Procedures

Adopted: 18 October 2005

Preamble: The Constitution and Bylaws of the WCOARA require that a candidate for a WCOARA office receive a majority, that is, greater than 50%, of the votes cast in an election to be officially recognized as having been elected to a WCOARA office. The Constitution and Bylaws, however, offer no guidance on how to proceed with a runoff election, when none of the candidates for an office receive the required majority of votes cast, by the members casting ballots in an election. To address this lack of procedural direction, the following Runoff Election Voting Procedures shall be employed.

1. Members casting ballots either in person, or absentee, at the annual November WCOARA election, shall hold a runoff election when no single candidate for an office receives a majority of the votes cast.

2. If the tallied results of casting ballots, for any office, at the annual November WCOARA election are inconclusive, that is, no candidate won by a majority of the votes cast, then a runoff election shall be held for the said office(s). Runoff election voting will commence immediately following the announcement of the inconclusive vote result(s). Voting shall be by written ballots, by members in attendance at the election meeting.

3. The runoff election at the annual November WCOARA meeting shall include only the two, or, possibly more candidates, receiving the highest number of votes for a particular office. Examples of a runoff election, between more than two candidates, include the following: voting to break a tie between three or more first place finishers, or, where two or more candidates tied, as second place finishers, and a first place finisher failed to receive a majority of the votes cast. Consequently, no third or lower place finisher would be included in a runoff election.

4. The candidate receiving the highest number of votes cast in the runoff election, by the members present at the meeting, shall be considered elected to the office. A tie vote encountered while using the runoff election voting procedure shall be resolved by, the toss of a fair coin shall be used to select the winner.

This Policy on Runoff Election Voting Procedures shall become effective as of the November 2005 annual election meeting of the West Central Ohio Amateur Radio Association, and shall apply to all elections, held thereafter, unless rescinded or modified by a subsequent vote of the membership.