Nominations for the printed ballot are open from April 2003 through June 15, 2003. Candidates may be nominated from the floor as write-in candidates. Candidates may run for only one Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council (GRVNC) office. Candidates must register as Voting Members and must be stakeholders of GRVNC.
Candidate speeches of up to one minute will be heard at the election. This may be extended to two minutes per speaker if time allows, at the discretion of the Election Manager from the League of Women Voters. Speeches will be heard in the order of offices on the ballot after nominations from the floor have been closed. Campaigning, including the distribution of campaign literature, is restricted to the designated campaigning area. Candidates or other individuals who campaign or electioneer outside of the designated campaigning area will be in violation and will be required to leave the election premises. Flagrant violators who continue improper campaigning outside the designated area as determined by the League of Women Voters (LOWV) may have their candidacy invalidated if they refuse to leave after being so requested by the LOWV.
Voting Instructions on the ballot are in English and
Spanish. Additional translation
services are available through the Los Angeles Department of Neighborhood
Empowerment (DONE) representatives at the election. Requests for translation into languages other than Spanish must
be submitted to DONE by June 13, 2003.
All registered Voting Members of the GRVNC may vote at the
elections at any time before the final collection of ballots. Pre-registered Voting Members (those who
registered before June 15) may check-in at the pre-registered voter room to
receive their ballot. Pre-registered
members must show a valid form of ID and/or their GRVNC registered voter card
to receive a ballot at any time before the final collection of ballots at 2:00
pm. Registered Voters may vote at any time
after receiving their ballot by depositing their marked ballot in the ballot
box.
Any Community Stakeholder who has not yet registered as a GRVNC member may register between 10:00am until 2:00pm election day. No voting by proxy will be allowed. Provisional ballots will be given to anyone registering on election day who claims to be a stakeholder but cannot provide proof of a Venice address where they live, work, own property or participate in a community group. Proof of stakeholdership is limited to: CA Drivers License / School ID Card / CA Residency Card / Business Card / Imprinted Check / Recent Utility Bill as per the GRVNC bylaws. Those registering on election day who cannot provide such proof will be given provisional ballots.
GRVNC Stakeholders who are unable to attend the Election Day
may vote via an Absentee Ballot.
Requests to vote with an Absentee Ballot should be sent to elections@grassrootsvenice.org
or to Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council, P.O. Box 2224, Venice, CA
90294. All Absentee Ballot requests
must be received before Sunday, June 15by
Saturday, July 5, 2003.
The Absentee Ballot request must include name, complete address, phone
number, e-mail address, fax number, and/or other contact information, and
Stakeholder status (i.e. resident, works in Venice, owns property in Venice,
participates in a community organization).
Executive Officers: Each Voting Member may cast one
vote for one candidate for each of the three executive offices (Secretary,
Treasurer and Communications Officer).
The candidate receiving the greatest number of votes for each office
will be elected. For positions with more
than two candidates running, a plurality of votes is sufficient to elect. Voting for more than one candidate for a
single office will invalidate the votes for that office.
At-Large Offices: Each Voting Member may cast up to
seven votes for seven different candidates.
A Voting Member may cast no more than one vote for a single candidate. The seven candidates receiving the most
number of votes will be elected to the At-Large positions. Voting for more than seven At-Large
candidates will invalidate all the votes for At-Large positions.
In the case of a tie, votes will be re-counted, and upon
confirmation of the tie, the independent third party (League of Women Voters)
will conduct a single coin-flip to determine the winning candidate. Any challenge to the election must be filed
in writing with DONE within 72 hours of the announcement of tentative results.
1.
Set up tables by alphabet starting at 8:00am election day.
2.
Four volunteers to attend four tables in the pre-registered
members room. Six volunteers to attend
two tables exclusively for new member registration in the new members
registration room. System to avoid
duplicate new member registration will be in place.(see below).
3.
Sufficient supplies to be brought to avoid shortage of
regular or provisional ballots or membership cards.
4. Current member registration
(pre-registered members).
a.
Current member registration tables will have 1 volunteer for each designated current
member sign-in sheet as follows: A-F, G-M, N-S, T-Z.
b. Member to
produce acceptable ID.
c.
Volunteer to Check ID and have member sign in on the sign-in
sheet.
d.
Give existing member a regular ballot and a summary voter
guide and direct them to the auditorium to hear candidate speeches.
e.
If a member needs to update their information give them a
blank member/membership card to complete – verify completed card against their
valid ID and place card in the box marked “updated membership cards”.
5. New
member registration.
a.
A voter concierge will be stationed at the door with blank
membership cards, clipboards and a box of pens. This volunteer will be responsible for giving new members a blank
membership card, requesting them to have ID ready, and directing them to the
new member registration room after they complete the form.
b.
New member to complete membership card.
c.
New member registration room tables will have 4 volunteers
who will each have a roster of current registered members listed by last name
in A-Z order. If their name is not
listed they will need to complete a membership card.
d.
Volunteer to check roster of current registered members to
make sure individual is not already registered.
e.
Check membership card for stakeholder status and verify
information and address matches ID. New
Member must produce proof of Venice stakeholdership as per the bylaws (CA
Drivers License / School ID Card / CA Residency Card / Business Card /
Imprinted Check / Recent Utility Bill) to receive a regular ballot. Volunteer must place the new membership card
in the file box marked “membership cards”.
f.
New Members without proper ID will be provided a green
provisional ballot which will have a bates-stamped unique number in red in the
top right-hand corner. Volunteer will
write the number of the provisional ballot on their membership card (just below
the box in the top right corner) in order to link the provisional ballot to the
membership card. Stakeholdership to be
verified later by independent third party (League of Women Voters). Give the new member a voter guide and direct
them to the auditorium to hear candidate speeches.
6.
An individual designated by the LOWV will be present in both
registration rooms to assist volunteers with persons who may be refused
membership or a regular (non-provisional) ballot for failure to show proper ID
or prove stakeholder status. This
person should be able to demonstrate tact and diplomacy in negotiations and be
knowledgeable with GRVNC voting and member registration procedures and bylaws.
7.
If an individual’s stakeholder status is not accepted by the
registration team, the individual may file a green provisional ballot. Please see #5 above for further details.
Election
Day Procedures
The
GRVNC President will open the Elections. The GRVNC President will introduce the
Guest Speaker and then the Elections Manager from independent third party
(League of Women Voters) will call the Election to order. Following the Guest Speaker, the Elections
Manager will explain the process for the event and then proceed with the
elections, beginning with the office of Secretary. The Elections Manager should specify that Voting Members who have
received their ballot may vote at any time, deposit their ballot in a ballot
box and leave if they do not want to hear all the candidate speeches.
1.
Offices will be addressed in the order shown in the bylaws:
a.
Secretary
b.
Treasurer
c.
Communications Officer
d.
At-Large Officers (7)
2.
For each Office of Secretary, Treasurer and Communications
Officer the process shall run as follows:
a.
Elections Manager will announce the Office
b.
Elections Manager will read the names of the individual
candidates listed on the ballot
c.
Elections Manager will open up for nominations from the
floor
i.
Note: No one may run for more than one office. A nomination from the floor will not be
accepted for an individual who is already on the ballot for another position or
who has already been nominated from the floor for another office.
d.
Elections Manager will write on the whiteboard the name of
any candidates nominated from the floor (subject to the above restrictions).
e.
Once nominations from the floor appear to be complete,
Elections Manager will state: “Any more
nominations from the floor? Hearing
none, nominations from the floor are now closed.”.
f.
Elections Manager will then proceed to speeches
g.
Beginning with the first name on the ballot and continuing
through the last name on the whiteboard (nominations from the floor), the
Elections Manager will call the name of candidate and invite them to the
microphone to speak for up to one minute, or up to two minutes each if the
Elections Manager determines in their sole discretion that there is sufficient
time.
h.
The Elections Timer, also from the independent third party
or another individual as designated by the Elections Manager, shall time each
speech and shall ring a bell when the candidate’s time is up. If the candidate continues to speak beyond
the one minute limit (or two minute limit if so determined by the Elections
Manager), the Elections Timer shall ring the bell again and rise, move to the
microphone, turn off the microphone and thank the candidate for their speech.
i.
Once all candidate speeches have been heard, the Elections
Manager shall state: “Please now mark your ballot clearly for the candidate of
your choice. You may vote for one and
only one candidate for the office of ______.
Voting for more than one candidate for this office will be counted as no
vote for this office. If you wish to
vote for a write-in candidate for this office, please write in the name of the
candidate in the space provided as it appears on the whiteboard and mark the
box next to the write-in space. You must mark the box next to the write-in name
for your write-in vote to be counted.”
j.
Elections Manager states “Election speeches for ______ are
now complete. The next office for
consideration is _____”.
3.
For the At-Large Offices, the process will be as follows:
a.
For the (7) At-Large Officers, the Elections Manager shall
state “We will now hear speeches for the seven At-Large Offices. You may mark your ballots for up to seven
different At-Large candidates. You may
vote for less than seven candidates if you wish. More than one vote for a single candidate will be counted as only
one vote for the candidate. Voting for
more than seven candidates on a ballot will disqualify all votes on that ballot
for the At-Large Offices.”
b.
Elections Manager will read the names of the individual
candidates on the ballot for At-Large Officers.
c.
Elections Manager will open up for nominations from the
floor
i.
Note: No one may run for more than one office. A nomination from the floor will not be
accepted for an individual who is already on the ballot for another position or
who has already received a nomination from the floor for another office.
d.
Elections Manager will write on the whiteboard the name of
any candidates nominated from the floor (subject to the above restrictions)
e.
Once nominations from the floor appear to be complete,
Elections Manager will state “any more nominations from the floor? Hearing none, nominations from the floor are
now closed.”
f.
Elections Manager will then proceed to speeches
g.
Beginning with the first name on the ballot and continuing
through the last name on the whiteboard (nominations from the floor), the
Elections Manager will call the name of candidate and invite them to the
microphone to speak for up to one minute, or up to two minutes each if the
Elections Manager determines in their sole discretion that there is sufficient
time.
h.
The Elections Timer, also from the independent third party
or another individual as designated by the Elections Manager, shall time each
speech and shall ring a bell when the candidate’s time is up. If the candidate continues to speak beyond
the one minute limit (or two minute limit if so determined by the Elections
Manager), the Elections Timer shall ring the bell again and rise, move to the
microphone, turn off the microphone and thank the candidate for their speech.
i.
Once all candidate speeches have been heard, the Elections
Manager shall state: “Please now mark your ballot clearly for the candidates of
your choice. You may vote for up to
seven candidates for the At-Large Offices.
Voting for more than seven candidates for the At-Large Offices will be
counted as no votes for this office. If
you wish to vote for a write-in candidate for the At-Large Offices, please
write in the name or names of the candidate or candidates in the spaces
provided, as the names appear on the whiteboard, and mark the box next to the
write-in space. You must mark the box
next to the write-in name or names for your write-in vote or votes to be counted.”
j.
Elections Manager states “Speeches for At-Large Officers are
now complete”.
4.
Once all At- Large Officers are complete, the Elections
Manager will announce to the group, “Speeches are now closed. Voting will continue until 2:00 pm. Counting of the votes
will proceed and tentative election results will be announced upon completion
of the counting, which we estimate to be before 4:30 pm. Should provisional ballots have a potential
impact of the outcome of any contest, the LOWV may delay the announcement of
results until such time as it has been able to verify the stakeholdership of
those casting the provisional ballots.
The decision to delay the announcement of the results shall be at the
sole discretion of the LOWV.”
5.
The Elections Manager, Elections Timer and those counting
the ballots will be representatives from the League of Women Voters and
volunteers from other Neighborhood Councils in the area, or other volunteers
designated by the LOWV. The LOWV will designate
and/or remove these volunteers in its sole discretion.
·
A time must be published and/or announced for beginning and
final acceptance of ballots. No ballots will be accepted after 2:00pm on
Election day except for Absentee Ballots, which must be
received by July 22nd.
Voting Members may submit their marked ballots to the LOWV
representative (or their designee) at the ballot box at any time before
2:00pm on election day after receiving their
ballots.
·
All ballots (including the provisional and absentee ballots)
will be marked prior to the Election with a unique number (through use of a
bates stamp). This will ensure that
ballots can not be duplicated off-site.
·
A box or boxes for the collection of ballots will be
specified, and demonstrated to all to be empty prior to the start of
collection. The box(es) will then be sealed in all respects except the opening
for insertion of ballots. If there is more than one box, each box is uniquely
identified, and the list of box identifiers is announced, such as “1 through 3”
or “A, B and C”.
·
A representative from the League of Women Voters or a
designee thereof will be designated for each ballot box to monitor the ballot
box and accept ballots from voters and place each ballot in that ballot box in
the presence and view of the voter, to insure only one ballot is received from
each voter. This person may accept
ballots at any time between 10:00AM and 2:00PM.
·
The League of Women Voters representative or designee that
staffs a ballot box will refuse any ballot offered after the 'final acceptance'
time, and may ask for aid in enforcing this rule. The Elections Timer shall announce both one minute before the
'final acceptance' time and the actual 'final acceptance' time. If at “final acceptance” time a number of
voters are still completing their ballots or waiting to register or receive
their ballots, the “final acceptance” time may be extended in the sole and
absolute discretion of the Election Manager (LOWV), but in no event shall the
“final acceptance” time be extended more than 30 minutes.
·
After all ballots are collected, the box(es) is(are) sealed
in view of the meeting's members, so that no further ballots can be placed in
the box(es) and removed to the ballot counting room by the
Elections Manager. All
ballots will be held by the LOWV and will not be
counted until after the deadline for returning absentee
ballots, July 22nd.
·
The Elections Manager (LOWV) has requested at the close of
the polls the following: Total # of regular and provisions ballots distributed
and total number or regular and provisional ballots not used, Total # of
pre-registered members voting, total # of new members signed up and total
number of absentee ballots received
·
Any provisional ballots will be identified by being printed
on green paper.
·
Note: Offices and candidates for those offices need to be
'lettered' and 'numbered' on the ballots for ease of counting
·
Representatives from the League of Women Voters will manage
and administer the process of counting the ballots and announcing results. Tentative results may be announced following
the counting of the ballots. However,
the announcement of official, final results will not occur until the period for
challenges has ended. Certification of
the results and the election will come from DONE following the resolution of
election challenges.
·
The counting is done at the election
meetingafter the deadline to receive all absentee ballots,
July 22nd, in the open, at a table location
that may be observed by the voters from
a designated distance, specified at the election, and
enforced by a visible line or other boundary. , unless tThe
independent third party (League of Women Voters) shall determine the
time and location of the ballot counting and shall conduct the
ballot counting as soon as possible following
the July 22nd
deadline, but no later than July 29th. The LOWV shall inform the Rules and
Elections Committee of the time and place for the counting so interested
members of the public may observe.deems it necessary to
conduct the ballot counting off-site. Members will be designated
to enforce this boundary, so that the people counting are not interfered with
by observers.
·
Counting is done using two sets of people, the readers and
the counters.
·
Counters consists of a person designated to keep the count
(or tally) and at least one other person to observe that the count is marked to
match the votes that are read out by the readers, for each ballot box. This
count is done on a ‘tally sheet’ which will be finalized prior to elections
day.
·
Counts are summed on each tally sheet, and the summed across
all tally sheets onto a final tally sheet for all offices from the entire
election.
·
Provisional ballots: All provisional ballots will be
counted. If the validity of the
stakeholdership of those casting provisional ballots could potentially make a
difference in the outcome of any election race, then the stakeholder status of
those filing the provisional ballots will be verified by the independent third
party (League of Women Voters), whose decision will be final. The provisional ballots of those who are
determined to be legitimate stakeholders by the LOWV will be counted in the
final tally.
·
Once all ballots are counted, and all tally sheets are
summed and a total for all offices is reached, a person designated for the task
will announce the tentative results, in the order the offices are ordered on
the ballot. These results will also be published at all designated
‘announcement’ locations for Council business following the announcement of
official results by the independent third party and certification of the
election by DONE.
·
In the case of a tie, votes will be re-counted, and upon
confirmation of the tie, a coin-flip will be conducted by the independent third
party (League of Women Voters) to determine the winner.
Any challenge to the election must
be filed in writing with DONE within 72 hours of the announcement of tentative
results. DONE shall be the Final
Arbitrator of any challenge to the
election and will certify the
election results.
Absentee Voting
GRVNC Stakeholders who are unable to attend the Election Day
may vote via an Absentee Ballot.
Requests to vote with an Absentee Ballot should be sent to elections@grassrootsvenice.org
or to Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council, P.O. Box 2224, Venice, CA
90294. All Absentee Ballot requests
must be received before June 15by July 5th,
2003. No further requests will be
accepted after June 15July 5th,
2003.
1. The Absentee
Ballot Request must include:
·
Name
·
Address
·
Phone number, e-mail address, fax number, and/or other
contact information
·
Stakeholder status (i.e. resident, works in Venice, owns
property in Venice, participates in a community organization). The stakeholder must state how they are a
stakeholder in Venice.
2. The Election
Committee shall compile a Absentee Voter Tracking Log, which shall include:
·
Name
·
Address
·
Telephone Number
·
Email address
·
Date Absentee Ballot Request was received
·
Date Absentee Ballot is mailed to stakeholder
·
Date Absentee Ballot is returned from stakeholder
3.
All Absentee Ballots should be returned to Grass Roots
Venice Neighborhood Council, P.O. Box 2224, Venice, CA 90294 and must be
received by June 27July 22nd,
2003. All Absentee
Ballots shall be delivered to the LOWV Elections Manager in their sealed
envelopes along with a copy of the Tracking Log prior to the final
collection of ballots on Election Dayimmediately following
their collection from the PO Box listed above and shall be held sealed
and uncounted by the LOWV until after the July 22nd
deadline.
4.
The Election Committee shall verify the validity of each
Absentee Ballot Request and shall mail the Absentee Ballot to each valid
stakeholder. If the stakeholder
requesting the ballot is determined not to be valid or the information provided
with the request was not sufficient to determine stakeholder status, the
Election Committee shall notify the stakeholder by phone/e-mail and/or US Post
that their request will be processed as a provisional ballot and a provisional
Absentee Ballot shall be sent along with a GRVNC membership form, to be
completed and returned with the Absentee Ballot.
5. All
Absentee Ballots shall be mailed to stakeholders no later than June
20July 19th,
2003. A copy of these Absentee Voting
rules shall be included with the Absentee Ballot.
6.
The Absentee Ballot shall include notification that
additional candidates may be nominated from the floor on election day, and that
by using the vote by mail option the voter is recognizing that they may not
have the opportunity to vote for all the candidates.
7.
Absentee Ballots shall be uniquely numbered with a
bates-stamp and mailed to stakeholders with an official self-addressed stamped
envelope and shall have a space on the envelope for the stakeholder to print
and sign their name and date the envelope.
8.
Absentee Ballots received after June 27July
22nd,
2003 will not be counted and will be destroyed.
9.
Only Absentee Ballots received from the person who requested
the Absentee Ballot will be counted.
10.
Only Absentee Ballots enclosed in an official sealed and
signed envelope will be counted.
11.
Absentee Ballots will not be opened and counted until Election
Day after July 22nd
when all other ballots are being counted.
12.
Submission of an Absentee Ballot disqualifies a stakeholder
from voting in person on the day of the election.
13.
Prior to Election Day, volunteers will check the Tracking
Log and note on the registered voter sign-in sheet all stakeholders who were
mailed Absentee Ballots. If any
stakeholder who was mailed an Absentee Ballot shows up to vote on Election Day,
then the volunteer will request the stakeholder relinquish the Absentee Ballot,
which will then be voided prior to the issuance of a regular ballot. If the stakeholder does not have the Absentee
Ballot, the stakeholder will be given a provisional ballot and the provisional
ballot issuance will be noted on the sign-in sheet next to the stake holder’s
name. Prior to counting the Absentee
Ballots, if the Absentee Ballot envelope was returned by the stakeholder to
whom the provisional ballot was issued, it will be destroyed and the
provisional ballot will be counted.