This is Post 6 of 8 and will, effectively, serve as the club’s 2023 AGM (Annual General Meeting).

10) AGM/ELECTIONS

Of particular interest to MonSFFA’s membership, we have a couple of official club reports to table, which we will now proceed with on ZOOM. That will be followed by our annual election of the club’s Executive Committee for the coming year.

For the benefit of MonSFFen and in accordance with our practice, we outline here information concerning, and procedures for the election of the club’s Executive Committee:

PRIMER: ELECTION OF CLUB’S EXECUTIVE COMMITEE

MonSFFA begins each year with the election of its Executive Committee for that upcoming 12 months. These elections always take place at our first meeting of the year, in January, and are confirmed and officially announced before or at the following meeting, in February. All MonSFFA members in good standing are encouraged to attend the January meeting and participate.

All MonSFFA members in good standing, having paid in full their annual membership fees, are eligible to cast a ballot. Members are asked to be present at the designated place and time in order to exercise their right to vote. Proxy voting is not permitted, except under special circumstance and by approval of the chief returning officer (CRO). Out-of-town members unable to attend the vote in person, for example, may have their ballots cast by the CRO in their absence. Potential candidates are encouraged to advise the CRO of their intention to run for one of the three specified offices as soon as possible in advance of the election.

This year we again find ourselves in unusual circumstances requiring that we adapt our procedures. As we are, for the moment, carrying out club meetings exclusively online, this year’s will be a cyber-election. Our 2023 Executive will be selected during today’s ZOOM session by those club members present online. The vote will be conducted by a show of hands, excepting those participating via a non-visual connection, who will be able to either verbalize or indicate in the text/comments field their choices.

For the benefit of any members taking in today’s meeting at a later time, the names of the candidates and the positions for which each is running will be posted on the club’s Web site at 6:00PM today. Check the site for this post, make your choices, and e-mail your votes to us at webmaster@monsffa.ca before the end of this month, January. Your votes will be added to the tally recorded during the Zoom session.

In the event of a candidate, or candidates running unopposed, the names of the acclaimed candidate, or candidates, will be posted. Post-Election Day voting will not, then, be necessary with regard to that candidate, or those candidates.

All votes received will be tabulated, confirmed, and the election of MonSFFA’s 2023 Executive Committee officially announced either before or, at the latest, during February’s virtual meeting.

MonSFFA elects annually a president, vice-president, and treasurer—who together form the Executive Committee—and charges them with the responsibility of running the club on behalf of the membership. These executives recruit advisors and appoint officers to assist them in carrying out this responsibility.

Our sitting Executive is as follows: Cathy Palmer-Lister, president; Keith Braithwaite, vice-president; Joe Aspler, treasurer. In addition, L. E. Moir sits as the club’s financial auditor and a member of the Executive.

Any MonSFFA member in good standing who is responsibly and reliably able to carry out the duties of office may run for any one of the Executive posts. Candidates may nominate themselves, or accept nomination from another member in good standing. Nominations are received by the CRO, usually just before the commencement of voting on Election Day.