Election 2013 – Announcement For Nomination

2013 OSA ELECTION AND ANNOUNCEMENT FOR NOMINATION

The OSA Election Committee as constituted by the General Body is soliciting nominations for the offices of President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer of Orissa Society of Americas for 2013-14. As per the constitution, the positions of President and Vice-President will be candidates on the same slate. A vote for a presidential candidate will imply a vote for his/her running mate. The position of the Secretary and Treasurer may be from independent slates.

The nominees and the nominators must be permanent members (life, patron or benefactor) of OSA at the time of nomination. In addition, the nominees must be at least 21 years or older as of June 30, 2013. The nomination must include a short introduction of the candidates in less than 300 words. Photocopy of driver’s license, or passport, or birth certificate or a notarized statement to the effect that the nominee is 21 years or older as of June 30, 2013 must be attached for the nominee’s age verification.

All nominations must include the contact information (address, telephone number, and email) of the nominees and the nominator. All nominations must be sent to the election committee, postmarked by February 14, 2013 at the address below with complete and correct contact information of the nominees (including other additional details) and that of the nominators. Incorrect contact information may lead to the rejection of the nomination. If the candidates wish to include their position statement with the ballot they may include it with the nomination form in a separate sheet. Please note you must nominate a candidate for President and Vice President simultaneously. Nominations for secretary and treasurer may be independent.

 

OSA 2013 Election 6565 Spindlewick Lane Cincinnati, OH.45230

Any correspondence on the election subject will be electronic (via email) only. All emails on this subject must be sent to OSA.Election2013@gmail.com.

 

Election Committee Members:

Harlal Choudhury (Chair), OSA.Election2013@gmail.com

Jay Narayan Bhuyan (Member), OSA.Election2013@gmail.com

Duryodhan Mangaraj (Member), OSA.Election2013@gmail.com

 

Election 2013 Calendar:

Deadline for the official ballot list including all members eligible to vote to be received from OSA Secretary: January 15, 2013

All nominations must be sent to the election committee postmarked by: February 14, 2013

Election ballots will be sent to eligible members on or before: March 24, 2013

Ballots must be received by the election committee with postmark no later than: April 25, 2013 (Modified per EC)

Ballot will be counted and the election results will be announced on: May 11, 2013

 

OSA Election 2013 Nomination Form

Nominee for President: ___________________________________________

Membership Status: _____________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________Email: ___________________________

Short Introduction:

Nominee for Vice President: _______________________________________

Membership Status: _____________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________Email: ___________________________

Short Introduction:

Nominee for Secretary: ___________________________________________

Membership Status: ______________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________Email: ____________________________

Short Introduction:

Nominee for Treasurer: ____________________________________________

Membership Status: _______________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________Email: _______________________

Short Introduction:

Nominator: ____________________________________

Membership Status: _____________________________

Address: ______________________________________

_____________________________________________

Phone: _______________________Email: _______________________

Nominator Signature: _______________________

Seconder: ____________________________________

Membership Status: _____________________________

Address: _________________________________________Email: ________________

Seconder Signature: _______________________

 

Relevant Articles from OSA Constitution

ARTICLE V: OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Section 1

The ultimate authority of OSA shall be vested in the membership. The members from USA and Canada shall choose the elected officers by mail ballot.

 

Section 3 (as amended on July 2, 2011)

The President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer shall be elected for a term of two years. These four executive officials must be life members or patrons or benefactors (i.e., permanent members) of OSA in good standing for at least one year before the nomination date and must be 21 years of age or over. These officials must be residents of USA or Canada. The Vice President shall be a running mate of the President. A vote for the President shall mean a vote for his/her running mate. The Secretary and Treasurer will be separately elected, but will work as a team with the President for smooth operation of the OSA. The President shall appoint the Editor of the OSA Newsletter, Public Relations Officer and other joint officials.

 

ARTICLE VI: ELECTION

Section 1

All dues paying members of OSA residing in USA and Canada have the right to vote and participate in the election.

Section 2

All elections are to be conducted by a secret ballot. The election procedures shall be described in the By-Laws.

Section 3

No two members of the Executive Committee and/or Board of Governors at any time shall be from the same immediate family (e.g. Husband & wife, parents & children, siblings).

Section 4

In case, a current office bearer such as, President, Vice President, Secretary or Treasurer, decides to run for re-election or for another position, he/she shall give up all his/her election related responsibilities as defined in the By-Laws.

 

BY-LAW III: ELECTION PROCEDURE

Section 1

A three member election committee with one as chairman shall be appointed by the Executive Committee or BOG and will be announced to the general body for approval by majority at the annual convention preceding the election year.

Section 2

No member of the Board of Governors shall be eligible to be a member of the election committee.

Section 3

The Secretary of the OSA shall prepare a list of members who have paid their dues by Dec. 31 of the year proceeding the election year. This list along with the list of life members and patrons shall be submitted to the chairman of the election committee by Jan. 15 of the election year. Only the members in this list can be able to participate in the election.

Section 4

Nominations for the various offices shall be invited by the election committee chairman through the OSA newsletter of September-December quarter, preceding the election year. In case of contests, the names of the candidates shall be announced in a special letter to be sent by the election committee along with the position statement of each contesting candidate accompanied with the ballots. All communications from the election committee regarding the nomination will be electronic. The format of invitation for nomination will be determined by the Election Committee.

Section 5

The Election Committee of OSA shall print and supply the ballots. All ballots must be sequentially numbered or coded.

Section 6

The ballots shall be mailed in the fourth weekend of March of the election year. The ballot number or code must be noted against the master membership list held by the election committee. For a returned ballot to be valid, it must be postmarked by the date on or before the 4th Monday of April of the election year.

Section 7

The election committee shall open a post office box address to which the ballots shall be mailed to by the voters. The ballots shall be counted in the presence of the election committee members and the candidates or their representatives on the second Saturday of May of the election year. The results of the election shall be announced then and there with a written statement of the results sent to the President of the OSA. All the election materials must be sealed and signed by the election committee members and the candidates or their representatives, and will be preserved by the election committee chairman for a period of six months after the election. The election committee may adopt electronic voting procedure with the approval of the BOG members. In that case, the voting and counting methods/rules must be approved by the BOG and disseminated to the members electronically by January 1st of the election year.

Section 8

The President of OSA shall submit the results to the Board of Governors for approval and for a publication in a special Newsletter by May 30th of the election year.

Section 9

The election committee shall adopt prudent ways to insure the secrecy of the voting system.

Section 10

All expenses for the election shall be reimbursed by the Treasurer of OSA upon the submission of the expense report. The committee shall caution to keep expense within the budget.

Section 11

Any charge of election irregularity or fraud shall be reported to the President and the members of the Board of Governors for resolution.

Section 12

The ruling of BOG shall be binding on all issues outside the scope of Election Committee.

 

Disclaimer: We have tried our best to present this information in accurate form. Irrespective of our careful analysis, mistakes still might remain. We sincerely request members that find any mistakes to please bring to our attention so that we can correct them as soon as possible. Thank you for your help.