Article VII - Election Mechanics

Article VII - Election Mechanics
  1. Eligible Voters. The Vice President shall submit an accurate list of eligible voters to the Elections Committee.
  2. Balloting Method.
    1. Statewide and Regional elections (regularly scheduled and special) shall be electronic elections.
    2. Regularly scheduled local elections and local special elections shall be electronic elections.
  3. Secret Ballot. All voting shall be by secret ballot.
  4. Ballot Security. The Elections Committee and their designees (which may include a third party vendor) shall adopt, oversee, and maintain reasonable safeguards to protect ballot integrity and confidentiality.
  5. Ballot Format.
    1. In races with fewer than five candidates, the order of names shall be varied such that, when considering all of the ballots, every name appears in each position of the list approximately the same number of times.  In races with more than four candidates, the order shall be varied as much as is practical.
    2. Incumbents and agencies shall not be designated on the ballot.
    3. When preferential balloting is not used, instructions on the ballot will state that voters will “vote for no more than” the number of positions to be filled.
  6. Tabulation of Ballots. The Elections Committee and their designees (which may include a third party vendor) shall tabulate or oversee tabulation of ballots. A majority of Elections Committee members shall make decisions concerning ballots, unless handled by a third party vendor.  Candidates shall not be present during ballot processing. MAPE staff not integral to the election process shall not be present during ballot processing. Each candidate may have an observer at all stages of ballot processing, except when ballot processing is done by a third party vendor.  Observers representing candidates shall remain silent and be seated where they can observe the markings on ballots but shall not handle or count ballots. Safeguards may include, but are not limited to, securing the assistance of an independent, non-partisan agency to observe election procedures. Ballots are valid if, in the Elections Committee's judgment, the intent of the voter is clear.
  7. Ineligible Apparent Winner. If an apparent winner is ineligible, as defined in Bylaws Article VIII, at the time vote counting is completed, the Elections Committee or local election committee, as appropriate, will declare the election for that position void, nominations for that position will be reopened, and a special election will be held.  This procedure will be followed even if the apparent winner has been seated but is found to have been ineligible when the votes were counted.

    In a multiple identical position race, if an apparent winner is ineligible at the time vote counting is completed, the election of that candidate will be declared void.  Other apparent winners are elected and will be seated in accordance with the governing documents.
  8. Election(s) Committee Report. This report will include:
    1. the percentage and actual number of final votes;
    2. the winner(s) of each race;
    3. the number of spoiled ballots; and
    4. for preferential balloting, each iteration’s results.
      This report will be posted on the MAPE website. This report is released by being sent to the members of the Board of Directors and MAPE Central (for posting and further notifications).
  9. Other Procedures. The Elections Committee may adopt other election procedures as described in the parliamentary authority or as are reasonable and necessary.
Murray Cody Fri, 09/14/2018 - 1:38pm