NAFA Changes Voting Methods

PRINCETON, NJ - NAFA members will now be able to submit voting ballots via e-mail or fax, and in situations where only one candidate is running for a position, no ballots will be needed.

In November, the NAFA Board of Trustees recommended the bylaws be changed to allow NAFA to present election ballots, and for members to cast their votes on those ballots in various methods, not just via printed materials. NAFA will now be allowed to send ballots out through e-mail or fax, and members will be able to use those same methods for returning their ballots.

A second part of the recommendation eliminated the need for ballots altogether in the case of uncontested elections for the Board of Trustees positions. In situations where there is only one person running for a seat, the NAFA Secretary is now empowered to cast one vote in favor of the one candidate, rather than mailing ballots to every Member.  In NAFA's 52-year history, the Nominating Committee has never nominated more than one person for any position and, in that same time span, there has been only one Member nominated by petition.

"The changes go in to effect immediately," said NAFA Executive Director Phillip Russo, CAE. "The Nominating Committee recently developed its recommended slate of officers for the 2010-2011 term based on Candidate Consideration Forms sent in by eligible members. So, if there are no candidates who wish to run by petition, in a few weeks the NAFA Secretary will cast the one deciding vote for each of the committee's nominees." 

Nearly 700 members voted on the bylaws amendment, with 591 voting in favor of the changes; 28 opposed and 15 abstained. Sixty-three members returned blank ballots, but those returns would not have materially affected the voting outcome, according to NAFA.

NAFA's bylaws are available at www.nafa.org under the "About NAFA" tab.