The information below outlines the voting process for all ACB members for our 2021 convention. If you have any questions, please email Koni Sims at [email protected].
Recommendations:
- All Vote-Now procedures apply to the 2021 Conference and Convention only.
- ACB will use Vote-Now for Officers, Board, and BOP elections (13 positions) only.
- ACB plans to adhere to our current voting process as close as possible.
- Anyone registered with the National office as an ACB member before June 16th is eligible to vote; the right to vote is not tied to registering for the convention.
Vote-Now System:
You will be able to access Vote-Now using any of the following methods:
- Mac, PC, Tablets, iPhone, Android, and Landline Phone
- By phone with a toll-free number with two voting options:
- Automated system
- Operator assistance
Each member can choose which method they want to use for each election throughout the week and the voting method can vary each time.
We are asking all members to please share a valid email address with ACB so Vote-Now can email your unique voter code to you. This voter code can only be used once per election, but you will use this unique code for all elections throughout the week.
If you don’t have a valid email address, your information and code will be mailed to you in both braille and large print. No digital cartridges will be sent out.
About June 1st a unique voter code will be mailed to those who do not have an email address and those with email addresses will receive their code around July 6th.
Vote-Now will provide you the information you will need to know for voting. You will receive a log in link which can be used for voting using the internet and phone instructions for voting by phone; the same unique voter code will be used for both voting methods.
If you misplace your unique voter code, you can receive help from the Vote-Now operators to obtain your code or the Minneapolis office can assist you also. This code can only be provided to the intended ACB member.
Voting Process:
July 1st is the deadline for affiliate Presidents to submit their delegate, alternate, and representative for nominating committee to Secretary Denise Colley. Please provide name, phone number and email.
The Nominating Committee will meet Monday July 12th at 8:00 PM EDT to pick the slate of Officers, Board and BOP representatives.
The nominating committee selections will be presented on Sunday night, July 18th at opening general session of ACB’s Conference and Convention.
The voting process will begin on Sunday night with the office of the President and continue through each successive office until a contested election occurs.
If an election is not contested, then the candidate submitted by the nominating committee will be elected by acclamation.
If candidates are nominated from the floor for an election, ACB will have a contested election and the following process will be used.
The next day, each candidate will be allowed a total of five minutes to have up to two speakers endorse their candidate and explain why their candidate should be elected for the position.
Following these speeches, voting will commence. The vote count is comprised of two parts: the individual vote and the affiliate vote.
Each ACB member who received a unique voter code from Vote-Now will be eligible to vote. The voting period will be announced on ACB Radio during general session in the morning. There will not be the ability to write in candidates when voting.
Simultaneously the “affiliate vote” will commence. It is the responsibility of each affiliate to determine how a member can communicate to their affiliate delegate/alternate how they wish their affiliate to vote. The delegates will announce their votes from a separate Zoom room that will be heard during general session at the convention.
A candidate will need to receive a majority of the vote, 50 percent plus 1, to be declared the winner. If this does not happen the top two candidates will need to have a run-off election.
Only one election will be held each day Monday through Thursday. If a run-off is necessary, it will be delayed until the following day.
This process will continue for all 13 positions.
Assumptions:
As the week progresses ACB expects voting to become more efficient. By the time Friday comes, ACB expects each election process to take less time. If ACB has a lot of contested elections, then elections will continue on Saturday. On Friday and Saturday, the candidates will need to have their speakers identified and ready to present on their behalf. By Friday and Saturday (if needed) the affiliates will need to have a streamlined process in place to identify how they will apportion their votes.