Election by-law of the International Kodály Society
The Board of Directors, as stipulated in Art. IV-2.12 of the Statutes regulates with this by-law the conduct of the elections for the IKS Board of Directors and the Committee of Auditors.
1. Call for nominations
1.1. The Chairperson of the EC shall make a call for nominees by December 15 of the year preceding the election year.
1.2. The EC shall accept all the nominations made by the members in good standing. If more than 20 different candidates are nominated, the EC may, at its discretion, eliminate candidates receiving fewer than 3 nominations.
1.3. Then the EC shall contact the nominees and ask for their approval to become candidates for each office to be filled, making sure that no person is candidate for more than one position.
1.4. The EC may add more candidates to provide a broader choice.
1.5. The EC shall provide written information about the candidates together with the ballot.
2. Election procedure
2.1 In order to reach the whole Individual Membership of the Society, constituting the General Assembly, Postal ballots shall be sent no later than March 31 of the election year together with a small blank envelope carrying the stamp "Please do not write on this envelope".
2.2. To further enhance the communication with all members of the Society and to facilitate the voting process, from 2019 voting will predominantly be effected via a secured online platform. Where a member does not have easy access to electronic resources or requests a paper copy, ballot papers will be posted/emailed directly.
2.3. The member must fill in the ballot, marking only one candidate for each position. In case of paper ballots the marked ballot is to be placed in the small blank envelope. The small envelope is to be placed inside another envelope on which the member must write clearly his or her name and address. This is to be sent to the Chairperson of the EC at the address of the Executive Office.
2.4. Only ballots posted/sent no later than May l5, and prepared according to the provisions of this paragraph shall be accepted as valid.
3. Counting the votes.
3.1. The EC comes together as a body at a date designated by the Chairperson but not later than May 31. The Executive Secretary will act as secretary of the EC.
3.2. Upon receipt of the envelopes the Executive Secretary verifies whether the sender has voting rights and hands the valid ballots over to the Chairperson of the EC.
3.3 If any member of the EC cannot be present at the set date he/she in accordance with the Chairperson will appoint a substitute. The Executive Secretary cannot be a substitute.
3.4 If the Chairperson of the EC is not available, the Executive Secretary of the IKS appoints a substitute.
3.5 The outer envelopes shall be opened and the inner envelopes shall be removed. The outer envelopes shall be retained separately for verification purposes until the next General Assembly.
3.6 The inner envelopes shall be checked and if they bear any marking that could reveal the identity of the person voting, they will be discarded. When all valid envelopes are collected, they shall be opened and the votes counted.
3.7 The candidate receiving a plurality of the votes cast for a given position shall be declared elected. In case of a tie, the 3 members of the EC shall cast the deciding votes.
3.8 The EC shall keep minutes of the procedure and the results.
4.The Chairperson of the EC shall immediately report the results to the President. The latter shall then inform the candidates of the outcome and invite the officers-elect to be present at the first following General Assembly.
5. At the first General Assembly following the elections the Chair of the EC or its appointed representative will announce to the General Assembly the names of the newly elected officers and ask for a vote on the ratification of their election.
6. After ratification by the General Assembly the newly elected members of the Board of Directors shall assume responsibility.
7. Where under this By-law any decisions are to be made by the Board of Directors and it is not convenient to hold a meeting, the decision may be arrived at by post or any other appropriate method.