NssCampaignRules

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**UNOFFICIAL** The official copy is maintained by the Secretary (Josh Powers, mailto:joshpowers@cox.net)

NSS NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEES RULES (This section last revised August 2000)

1. Any voting member of the Board of Directors is eligible to serve as a voting member of the Nominations Committee or the Elections Committee, but not both. However, no member of the Nominations Committee or the Elections Committee may be nominated for or run for election to the Board of Directors in the relevant election year.

2. The Secretary or the Secretary’s delegate shall request volunteers for the Nominations and Elections Committees by February 1st of the year prior to the Board of Directors election. In order to serve as a voting member of a Nominations Committee or Elections Committee for a given election, a Board member must volunteer by delivering a communication of his/her desire to serve to the Secretary or the Secretary’s delegate by February 21st of the year prior to the Board of Directors election. No one may volunteer for both Committees.

3. The Nominations and Elections Committees may consist of up to seven voting members. If more than this number volunteer, there shall be an election to select among the volunteers during the month of March in the year prior to the election. In this election, only those voting members of the Board of Directors who are not eligible for re-election may vote to determine who shall serve as voting members on these Committees. Each such Director may vote for a maximum of seven persons for each Committee (but may not vote more than once for a given person). Those volunteers who receive the most votes shall be elected to serve as the voting members of the respective Committee. If there is a relevant tie vote, the winner shall be chosen by random lot.

4. The Chairpersons of the Nominations and Elections Committees shall be selected in the following manner: If there is an election to determine the membership of either the nominations committee or the Elections Committee, there shall also be a vote for the Chairperson of each committee. Eligibility to vote in this election shall be the same as in paragraph 3. If there is a relevant tie vote, the winner shall be chosen by random lot. If there is no election to determine the membership of either committee, then each committee shall choose its own chairperson.

5. Meetings of the Nominations or the Elections Committees may be called by the Committee Chairman or by a majority of the Committee. A majority vote is required for the Nominations Committee or the Elections Committee to act.

6. The Nominations Committee shall select its nominees by February 3 of the year of the election. Acceptance of nomination by an individual is required for the nomination to be complete, and such acceptance must be obtained by the deadline date. Nominations cannot be made after the deadline date. The Nominations Committee is urged to nominate one candidate for each position available.

7. The ballot for the Board of Directors election shall normally be contained in a special election mailing to all members of the Society, to be postmarked in May of the year of the election. However, the Elections Committee may choose, by majority vote no later than February 10, to issue the ballot in (or with) the May issue of the Society’s primary magazine.

8. The Elections Committee shall, subject to the restrictions stated below, be responsible for all statements concerning the election which appear in the special election mailing or in (or with) the May issue of the Society’s primary publication. These statements shall include: a ballot, directions concerning how to vote, rules concerning who is eligible to vote, an explanation of what it means to be nominated by petition and by the Nominations Committee, a description of how the Nominations Committee was selected, who its members and chairperson were, and a statement of when and how the results will be announced. The Elections Committee shall also have responsibility over candidate statements as detailed in the Society document “Campaign Rules”.

9. The ballot itself (1) shall include instructions regarding the maximum number of candidates to vote for and the deadline for returning the ballot, (2) shall list candidates alphabetically, (3) shall not allow block voting for more than one candidate simultaneously, (4) shall have a “p” next to those candidates who were nominated by petition, an “n” next to those candidates who were nominated by the Nominations Committee, a “pn” next to those candidates who were nominated by both procedures, and an indication of the meaning of these letter designations.

10. The candidate statements accompanying the ballot shall be listed alphabetically. A sentence stating how each candidate was nominated shall be placed at the beginning of each candidate statement. This sentence shall not count as part of the word count of the candidate statement, and shall be worded as follows: “This candidate was nominated by petition” or “This candidate was nominated by the Nominations Committee of the Board of Directors” or “This candidate was nominated by petition and by the Nominations Committee of the Board of Directors”.

11. No other material accompanying the ballot shall give any preferential treatment (such as typestyles or other indicators) to any candidate on the basis of how a candidate was nominated, or on any other basis.

12. The Nominations or Elections Committees may delegate all or part of their authority.

NSS CAMPAIGN RULES (This section last revised June 2000)

1. Petitions for nomination for At-Large or Regional seats on the Board of Directors are subject to the following rules:

A. Nominees must be members of the Society (pursuant to Article V Section 2 of the Bylaws).

B. Nominees for Regional Board seats must be residents of the Region in question (pursuant to Article V Section 2 of the Bylaws).

C. Petitions for At-Large Board seats must have original signatures of at least forty (40) members of the Society with at least five (5) signatories from each of any three Regions of the Society (pursuant to Article XI Section 1 of the Bylaws).

D. Petitions for Regional Board seats must have original signatures of at least five (5) members of the Society who reside in that Region (pursuant to Article XI Section 2 of the Bylaws).

E. Petitions must be delivered to the Secretary of the Society by January 15 of the year of the election (pursuant to Article XI Sections 1 and 2 of the Bylaws). Petitions delivered to Society headquarters shall be considered delivered to the Secretary.

F. Signers of petitions must include their printed names and addresses so their membership can be verified. Membership numbers are requested but not required. Only one candidate’s name may appear on a given petition, but members may sign separate petitions for more than one candidate.

G. Petitions must include, or be accompanied by, the name, address, and phone number of the nominee.

H. Petitions must include, or be accompanied by, a written statement from the nominee stating that he or she wishes to run for the Board, or is willing to accept the nomination, or other words to that effect. Persons may not be nominated without their consent.

I. Candidates are strongly urged to submit all petitions and accompanying material at one time in the same package.

J. No particular form for the petitions is required, as long as they are unambiguously identified as nominating petitions and the above information is included.

K. Candidates are requested to notify NSS Headquarters by January 1 of the year of the election of their intention to run, so that the Nominations Committee can consider them for nomination.

2. Nominees for the Board of Directors election may choose to submit a candidate statement to the Secretary which shall accompany the ballot which will be mailed to all eligible voters. Such candidate statements shall be subject to the following conditions:

A. Candidate statements must be received no later than February 17 of the year of the election.

B. The statement by the candidate may include his or her qualifications, previous service to the Society and other pro-space organizations, endorsements, the qualifications of the endorsers, views on Society issues, and what the nominee intends to do if elected.

C. Candidate statements may claim only those endorsements which are unambiguously for the position of Director and which unambiguously grant permission to use the endorser’s name as an endorser in the candidate’s statement. Any such endorsements must be submitted in writing (but may not be obtained on a nominating petition). Candidates are strongly urged to submit their statement and all endorsements at one time in the same package. Endorsements may be used only for the election for which they are originally given.

D. Statements may not include negative remarks about any Society member.

E. Candidate statements shall have a maximum length of four hundred (400) words.

F. Nominees are encouraged, but not required, to submit an additional copy of their statement either on disk or by e-mail. Appropriate formats should be obtained from the Secretary or Elections Committee chair.

G. The Elections Committee may edit candidate statements for the following reasons only: to correct errors of fact, to correct inconsistencies with the election rules of the Society, to correct statements which may incur legal liability to the Society, or to make minor editorial modifications such as correcting spelling or grammar errors. The Elections Committee shall take particular care to prevent any statement from including negative remarks about any Society member. A reasonable effort shall be made to discuss any changes with the candidate in question and obtain his or her approval of these changes. If agreement cannot be reached, the views of the Elections Committee shall be followed.

H. No other campaign statements by or on the behalf of a nominee may be included in a special election mailing or published in any issue of any publication of the Society whether paid for (i.e., an advertisement) or not, except as discussed in rule #4 below.

I. Any candidate may withdraw from nomination up until the printing deadline for candidate statements.

3. Notification responsibilities:

A. Notification of when petitions for nomination to the Board of Directors are due, notification of how members may obtain copies of the Campaign Rules, and an invitation to members to suggest nominees to the Nominations Committee, shall be provided to the members either by publication in the Society’s primary magazine or by inclusion with a separate mailing to the members.

B. A copy of the Campaign Rules shall be sent to any member who submits a request to Society headquarters along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

C. Nominees are responsible for ascertaining deadline dates, current rules and requirements, and if materials have been received. Nominees may include a self-addressed, stamped postcard or envelope with their submissions to determine that they have been received.

D. Failure of the Society to meet any of these notification responsibilities shall not invalidate an election.

4. The Society membership list (including but not limited to phone tree lists, other lists distributed to Chapters, and mailing lists of multi-Chapter publications) may not be used in campaigns (including campaign-related telephone calls) except as follows:

A. Campaign material may appear in regular Chapter or multi-Chapter publications. However, such publications may not be distributed outside normal distribution channels or in numbers larger than normal circulation.

B. Lists of the addresses of the Chapters may be used for Society election campaigns.

C. Lists of dues-paying Chapter members may be used in Society election campaigns provided the Chapter in question approves of such use. Dues-paying members of a Chapter are defined to be those who have paid annual dues of at least five dollars.

D. Chapters are strongly urged to avoid personal attacks on any member of the Society in publications and mailings under their control.

5. Employees of the Society may not donate money, goods in kind, or volunteer labor to, or make endorsements regarding, any Society campaign. Paid campaign workers may not be used in any Society campaign.

6. Significant violations of the Society election rules shall be considered to be cause for the revocation of membership (as provided for in Article III Section 6 of the Bylaws) or the expulsion of a Chapter (as provided for in Section 14 of the NSS Chapter Rules).

7. Once the Elections Committee has been selected for a particular Board of Directors election, any person or Chapter affected by these rules may request that the Committee or its appropriate delegate(s) provide advice as to whether particular actions are, or are not, in accordance with the Society’s Bylaws and this document.

8. The above rules 4 through 7 shall also apply to campaigns in favor of or opposed to a proposed Bylaw amendment (or amendment to the Articles of Incorporation, or plan for merger, consolidation, or voluntary dissolution) which is sent to the membership for vote.

9. In accordance with Article XI Section 5 of the Bylaws, the Elections Committee by majority vote may recommend disqualification of a candidate for the Board of Directors because of violations of campaign rules.

10. Each of the eight Regional Board members of the Board of Directors shall represent one of the eight Regions of the Society. These Regions are defined by the following list:

(1) Asia/Pacific: Asia (including all of Turkey, Israel, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, but not Russia), Australia, Antarctica, Southern California (California zip code areas 93499 and below), Hawaii, and islands in the Pacific, Indian, and Antarctic Oceans.

(2) Northwest North America: Northern California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and islands in the Arctic Ocean.

(3) Southwest United States/Latin America: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Mexico, Central America, South America, and islands in the Caribbean Sea.

(4) Central North America: Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

(5) Southern United States: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Kentucky.

(6) Midwest United States: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

(7) Mid-Atlantic North America: Virginia, West Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

(8) Afro-Europe/Atlantic: New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Europe (including all of Russia and Ukraine), Africa, and islands in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Atlantic Ocean excluding the Caribbean Sea.