Elections

The Nomination and Election process is an opportunity to ensure that members with the necessary competencies are leading the Association and providing governance that will secure the future of the organization. These policies must be and remain consistent with Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 82.

For questions about the nominations process, you can contact ASHE Executive Director Jason P. Guilbeau, PhD, CAE at jason@ashe.ws or the chair of any nominations committee.

Nominations Committees

The board of directors nominations committee requirements are prescribed in the bylaws:

The nominations committee shall manage elections to the board, including soliciting nominations annually and making recommendations and recommending a slate of candidates. The committee shall be chaired by the immediate past president and consist of three additional members.

 Entity nominations committees may have a similar formation. Entity nomination committees must include at least three qualified and conflict-free members of the entity. These names of these committee members must be submitted to the Executive Director to ensure they meet qualifications and for recording in the volunteer database.

Members of all nominations committees must uphold the Association Conflict of Interest Policy, including annual review and agreement. If any committee members knows or thinks that any nominee, potential nominee, and/or nominator would cause you to be in violation of the ASHE Conflict of Interest Policy, alert the Executive Director as soon as possible.

Members of all nominations committees must uphold the Association Ethics Policies, including annual review, agreement, and disclosure. All nominations committee members must uphold and enact the Association’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy: “ASHE will work to ensure diverse representation among leadership."

Nominations Policies

From the ASHE Bylaws, Article IV, Section 3: “No later than six months before the annual meeting, the nominations committee shall submit to the president a slate of not fewer than a sufficient number of persons plus one for each elected office for approval by the executive committee.”

1. The nominations committees, members of the board of directors, and relevant entity elected leaders shall be responsible for the recruitment of interested and qualified persons to run for office.

2. Nominations committees are responsible for ensuring the pool of candidates for each position is as diverse and representative as possible, consistent with the Inclusion, Equity, and Organizational Diversity Policy.

3. The Executive Director must receive all nominations from the membership by the stated deadline. Nominations must be submitted in writing through the process prescribed by the Executive Director. The person nominated must be a member at the time of nomination; if they are not, the Executive Director shall notify the nominator and provide a chance for the nominee to join the Association.

4. The nominations process is intended to create a transparent process whereby members are able to self-nominate. However, this does not preclude nominations committees from slating members who were not nominated through this process so long as there are no conflicts of interests and nominees are verified by the Executive Director as qualified.

5. In the event that an individual is nominated for multiple positions, the individual may only run for one position. If a member is nominated for more than one position, the Executive Director shall confirm with the nominee for which position they want to be considered.

6. The Executive Director will provide the list of nominees and relevant nomination materials to the chair of each nominations committee.

7. Each nominations committee shall create a slate of candidates for each vacant office. Consistent with the requirements of the Board of Directors as stated in the bylaws, nominations committees must submit a slate of no fewer than a sufficient number of persons plus one for each open office. When this isn’t possible, a write in option will be placed on the ballot for the number of positions available.

Election Policies

From the ASHE Bylaws, Article IV, Section 3: “The election, conducted by the executive director under the supervision of the nominations committee and ultimately the board of directors, shall be by electronic ballot or as otherwise determined by the nominations committee, subject to review by the board, with balloting to close no later than three months prior to the annual conference of the association.”

1. The Executive Director shall be responsible for ensuring the final ballot conforms to the requirements of the Bylaws, including candidate eligibility.

2. The Executive Director will collect from all candidates the following information and statements, which will be made available with the ballot:

   • involvement with ASHE

   • vision for the position / the Association

   • personal/professional bio

   • position/title and institution/organization

3. To be compliant with NRS 82.286, 82.391, and 82.326, the ballot shall contain the following information:

   • Each proposed candidate;

   • Provide an opportunity to vote for or against each proposed candidate;

   •   Indicate the number of responses needed to meet the requirement of a quorum (which is 10% of the membership per NRS 82.291); and

   • Specify the time by which a ballot must be received in order to be counted.

4. The Executive Director will send the electronic link that will enable members in good standing to vote. The initial voting period shall no less than 30 days and must conclude no later than three months prior to the annual conference of the association.

5. Consistent with NRS 29.296, “Only members of record on that day are entitled to notice or to vote….” To promote an equitable process, during the election period, candidates and their colleagues are discouraged from “campaigning” or asking others to advocate on their behalf via social media, email, and similar means. Candidates are encouraged to make their case for election in their candidate statements.

6. Once the ballots have been received and tabulated, the Executive Director will confirm the election results:

   • For positions with a single vacancy (e.g., President-Elect), a majority is required for election.

   • For positions with multiple vacancies (e.g., members at large), the candidates with the two highest vote counts will prevail.

   • In the case of a tie or where a person in (a) above does not receive a majority of the vote, there will be a run-off election between the two candidates who received the highest number of votes or who were otherwise tied (i.e., if there is a tie for the second highest votes for a position with two spots open). The run-off period shall be no less than seven days and shall conclude no later two months prior to the annual conference of the association

7. Once the election results have been confirmed, the nominations committee chairs shall notify the candidates of the results of the election.

8. If an individual declines a position after receiving the top number of votes, the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes for the position will be offered the position.

9. The results shall be announced to the membership no sooner than the candidates themselves are notified, and no later than the annual conference of the Association.

10.  Any person who believes that an election was conducted unfairly or otherwise wishes to challenge the legitimacy of an election result must submit the concerns in writing to the Nominations Committee Chair and Executive Director no later than thirty days after the membership at large is notified of the results. 

    • The Executive Director is then responsible for conducting an investigation and notifying the board of directors, who shall decide upon a course of action no later than sixty days following the submission of the challenge.

    • If the Executive Director and/or Nominations Committee Chair is accused of wrongdoing, the issue shall be raised to the Association President, another elected member of the board of directors, and/or the Chair and/or Vice Chair of the Ethics Committee, who will follow the same procedures outlined in (a) above. 

Dates and Deadlines

• Early April: Nominations Open

• Late April: Nominations Close

• Early May: Committees create slates of candidates

• Late May: Nominations Committee Chairs to inform those slated and not slated

• Early July: Elections Open

• Early August: Election Close

• Mid-August: Notification of election results to candidates by Nomination Chairs

• Early September: Announcement of election results sent out to ASHE membership