CedarLight Grove Election Procedure:
Witan Positions are elected every two years during the annual Witan Meeting in December. The newly elected Witan starts their term of service after Yule of that year. The next upcoming election is in December 2013.
Nominations during an election year start on the day after Samhain and run until Thanksgiving. This gives me time to verify with the nominees that they are actually interested in running for the position they were nominated for.
From December 1st until the annual Witan meeting, ballots are mailed to all members by the Scribe who are not able to vote electronically, and are counted and announced during the annual Witan meeting in December by an appointed team to count ballots. We strongly recommend everyone who can vote electronically do so in order to save paper. There will be paper ballots available at the Grove during the December Witan meeting.
Qualifying voting members must have reached all membership requirements in the CedarLight Grove, ADF bylaws as well as established by the Witan of CedarLight Grove.
The requirements to vote are as follows:
1. Voting members must have paid the $50 membership fee, completed their volunteer hours, or be granted a compassionate membership by the Witan.
2. Voting members must have attended 3 high rites and 2 business meetings between Samhain of the prior year and Samhain of that election year.
3. Voting members voting for ADF specific positions (including Senior Druid, Pursewarden, and Scribe) must have maintained their ADF membership requirements established by ADF. Compassionate and Volunteer memberships must also be ADF members to vote. ADF does allow for compassionate membership as well for those that need it.
4. Voting members must not have any overdue fees towards CedarLight Grove, including overdue books in the CedarLight Grove Library, overdue money from events/auctions/workshops etc.
5. Members not reaching all these requirements are still considered Acorn members of CedarLight Grove if the membership fee is paid, but do not have voting rights in the elections.
6. Only members who have been a member for the Grove for 1 year can be nominated for a Witan position.
7. Members must meet the requirements set forth by the Witan for specific positions in the Job Description documents. Most of which you have all already read through, even though the kinks are still being worked out for them. The main stipulation right now is the Senior Druid must have completed the Dedicant's Program.
8. Members currently only get one vote, no matter how many years they've been a dedicated member.
9. After 3 months of membership lapse, your membership starts over.
Members qualifying to vote in CedarLight Grove elections can do so by filling out the ballot mailed to their address on file, and mailing it to the Grove. They can also vote by emailing elections@cedarlightgrove.org from their e-mail address on file. If the members mailing address and e-mail address are not up to date in the Membership Coordinator’s files, it is the responsibility of the voting member to get this information updated as soon as possible. Members can inquire whether their information is up to date by contacting the Membership Coordinator.
Ballots can also be brought to the annual Witan Meeting by the voting member to be counted. If the voting member is unable to mail or email their vote for counting, they can assign their proxy vote to someone else, but must inform the Witan by email at witan@cedarlightgrove.org, who has their proxy vote. Paper ballots cannot be given to someone else to bring to the annual Witan meeting to prevent wrongful voting.
A Review of How You Can Nominate:
1. Email nominations@cedarlightgrove.org from the day after Samhain till Thanksgiving stating who you would like to nominate and for what position. You will receive an email confirmation that your nomination has been received. (They must be a voting and eligible member of CedarLight Grove). You may also post your nominations publicly on the forum.
A Review of How You Can Vote:
1. When your ballot is received after December 1st, mail it back to the Grove at the address specified on the ballot. If you are unsure if your address on file is up to date, contact the Membership Coordinator to verify.
OR
2. Email elections@cedarlightgrove.org with your vote for the open positions that accepted their nominations. This email must be received from your email address on file. You will receive an email confirmation that your vote has been received. If you are unsure whether your email address is up-to-date, email the Membership Coordinator at crystal@cedarlightgrove.org
OR
3. Give your proxy vote to a voting member of the Grove and inform the Witan that this person has the right to vote for you by emailing them at witan@cedarlightgrove.org
ALL VOTES MUST BE SUBMITTED BY OR AT THE BEGINNING OF THE DECEMBER WITAN MEETING.
This years ballot counters:
We will need volunteers for this who are not running for a position. These will be decided/picked by the Witan by December 1st. We need 3 volunteers.
Who May Be Nominated (have met all of the above requirements to run for office)
Ashley (SD)
Caryn (SD)
Crystal (SD) (Will be eligible if owed funds are paid) PAID
Amy (SD)
Debbie (SD)
Aurora
Zuki (if she renews)
Lynda
Michael (SD)
MJ (will be eligible as of Dec 2nd)
Scott
Shelly
Taryn (SD) (Will be eligible if owed funds are paid) PAID
Wayne (SD)
Kelly (Will be eligible if owed funds are paid) PAID
Tivis (if he renews)
Starrla (if she renews)
Remember, if your membership expires by the time voting occurs, your nomination will be forfeited. If you owe money to the Grove, you cannot be nominated. Those marked with the (SD) can be nominated for Senior Druid.
Who May Vote and Nominate: (have met all of the above requirements for voting)
Ashley
Caryn
Crystal (Will be eligible if owed funds are paid) PAID
Amy
Debbie
Donald
Aurora
Jessica W
John W
Zuki (if she renews)
Lynda
Michael
MJ
Scott
Shelly
Taryn (Will be eligible if owed funds are paid)PAID
Wayne
Kelly (Will be eligible if owed funds are paid)PAID
Tivis (if he renews)
Starrla (if she renews)
If your name is not on this list and you feel that it should be, you can email witan@cedarlightgrove.org. If you owe money or books to the Grove, you will be unable to nominate or vote until the books are returned or the fees have been paid.
Again this is JUST FOR NOMINATIONS. Voting does not take place until December 1st. I will be making another post then highlighting this information again.
The positions opening up are:
Senior Druid
Vice Senior Druid
Scribe
Pursewarden
Members Advocate
Two appointed positions will also be available to be appointed by the new Witan once it is in place:
Senior Druid Emeritus (if available)
Public Relations
These two positions cannot be nominated, but you can certainly give your suggestion on who you feel the Witan should appoint to these positions in your nomination email.
