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Article II—Nominations and Elections
- Section 1 Committee on Nominations
- The Board of Governors shall, not less than one hundred eighty
(180) days prior to the annual meeting of the Bar, elect a Committee
on Nominations in accordance with the procedures for the conduct of
certain elections approved by the Board on January 9, 1979, as amended
from time to time. The Committee on Nominations shall consist of seven
active members of the District of Columbia Bar who are not officers
or members of the Board of Governors. In addition to the President
who is an ex officio member with full voting rights on all committees,
the immediate past president shall be an ex officio member of the
Nominations Committee with full voting rights. No active member of
the Bar other than ex officio members shall be eligible to serve on
such committee if he or she previously served as a member of the Committee
on Nominations in any of the three prior years.
Section 2 Duties of Committee
on Nominations-
- The Committee on Nominations shall nominate at least two and
not more than three active members for each of the offices of
President-Elect, Secretary and Treasurer. In the event the office
of President-Elect is vacant, then the Committee on Nominations
shall nominate at least two and not more than three active members
for the office of President.
- The Committee on Nominations shall nominate at least two and
not more than three active members for as many vacancies on the
Board of Governors as are to be filled at the ensuing election.
- The Committee on Nominations shall also nominate at least two
more nominees than the total number of vacancies to be filled
but not more than three for each vacancy (other than two positions
which are filled by the President and President-Elect of the Bar)
as delegates to the American Bar Association to be filled at the
ensuing election. Candidates must be active members of the Bar
and also be members of the American Bar Association
Without prejudice to the nomination
of persons of any age for the other positions as delegates to
the American Bar Association, to comply with Section 6.4 of the
American Bar Association's Constitution which requires that at
least one delegate be less than thirty-five (35) years old at
the beginning of his or her term, the Committee on Nominations
shall nominate at least two and not more than three active members
of the Bar and those nominees shall be separately slotted on the
ballot and shall run against each other for one delegate position.
Candidates must be active members of the Bar and also be members
of the American Bar Association.
- Except for ex officio members of the Committee on Nominations
(the President and President-Elect) who may be nominated for ABA
delegate, the Committee on Nominations may not nominate any of
its members for any position on the ballot.
- The Committee on Nominations shall submit its report to the
Secretary not less than ninety (90) days prior to the annual meeting.
Section 3 Notifying Members of Nominations- The Secretary shall, not later than eighty-five (85)
days prior to the annual meeting, announce the list of such nominations.
Section 4 Other Nominations - Other nominations for any position, except for the office of President,
unless the office of President-Elect is vacant, may be made in writing,
over the signatures of not less than one hundred (100) active members,
by filing such nominations with the Secretary not later than fourteen
(14) calendar days after the announcement of nominations. Signatures
must be (a) handwritten; (b) transmitted as a group by the candidate
either in person, by facsimile, by email, or by mail; and (c) be certified
as authentic by the candidate.
Section 5 Voting- Voting shall be by secret ballot. The Secretary shall
prepare a formal ballot containing the names of all nominees, listed
in an order to be determined by lot, for the respective positions
and indicating the number to be voted for. The Board of Governors
shall fix a time for the Election Board to review the votes, which
time shall not be later than ten (10) days prior to the day of the
annual meeting. At least twenty-five (25) days before the time set
for reviewing the votes, the Secretary shall distribute to each active
member in good standing a ballot, voting instructions and notification
of the time set for reviewing the votes. The Secretary shall comply
with such other rules as the Board of Governors may have adopted,
including provisions to insure secrecy of the votes and to prevent
use of the ballots by persons ineligible to vote. For votes to be
valid, they must be received within the time set by the Board of Governors
for reviewing the votes and must comply with the procedures set forth
in the written instructions.
Section 6 Election Board - Not later than ninety (90) days prior to the annual meeting, the
President, with the approval of the Board of Governors, shall appoint
seven active members of the Bar who are not officers or members of
the Board of Governors, or candidates for any position, to serve as
the Election Board, and shall name one of the said seven to act as
Chairperson thereof. No person shall be eligible to serve on the Election
Board for more than three consecutive years. The Election Board shall
have charge of reviewing and counting the votes. All questions regarding
the voting and the validity of the votes shall be decided by the Election
Board, subject to a written appeal to the Board of Governors, whose
decision shall be final. There shall be a meeting of the Board of
Governors on or before the day of the annual meeting after the counting
of the votes to consider appeals, if any, from decisions of the Election
Board. The reviewing and counting the votes shall take place as the
Board of Governors may authorize or direct.
Section 7 Counting Votes- The votes shall be reviewed at the time fixed by the
Board of Governors. Prior thereto, the Secretary shall furnish to
the Election Board a list of names of active members of the Bar in
good standing and only the votes of active members in good standing
shall be counted. At least five members of the Election Board and
one member of the Board of Governors designated by the President shall
be present when the votes are reviewed. The results of the voting
shall be formally announced by the Chairperson of the Election Board
to the Bar at its annual meeting and the candidates receiving the
highest number of votes for their respective offices shall be declared
duly elected.
Section 8 Failure of an Elected Candidate to
Assume the Office of President or President-Elect- In the event of death, disability, or resignation of the candidate
with the highest number of votes for the office of President or President-Elect
prior to the time he/she assumes such office, an election shall be
held in the manner provided by Article II, Section 9, below.
Section 9 Special Elections- In the event of a special election for the office
of President or President-Elect, as required by the second paragraph
of Rule III, Section 3, or by Article II, Section 8, above, the nominating
and voting procedure shall be as otherwise provided in this Article
II but with the following exceptions.
- The Board of Governors shall select a Committee on Nominations
within fifteen (15) days of the notice of the vacancy.
- The Committee on Nominations shall submit its report to the
Secretary not more than fifteen (15) days after its selection
by the Board.
- The Secretary shall mail a list of such nominations to each
active member not more than seven (7) days after receiving the
Committee on Nominations' report.
- Petitions for other nominations shall be filed with the Secretary
not more than twenty-one (21) days after the mailing of the notice
of nominations to the membership. Election ballots shall be mailed
by the Secretary at least twenty-one (21) days prior to the time
set for reviewing the votes.
Section 10 Vacancies Arising in the Board of
Governors or in the Office of Secretary or Treasurer - Except with respect to the offices of President and President-Elect
(which are governed by Section 8, above), in the event of death, disability,
or resignation of any member of the Board of Governors or any holder
of the office of Secretary or Treasurer, or in the event of the failure
of any elected candidate for such membership or such office to assume
his or her position, the vacancy created by such death, disability,
resignation, or failure to assume membership or office shall be filled
by the non-elected candidate for that membership or office receiving
the highest number of votes, in the most recent regular annual election,
of those non-elected candidates willing and available to serve as
that replacement. The term of the replacement member or officer shall
expire on the expiration date of the term of that member or officer
whose position the non-elected candidate replaced.
Section 11 Counting of Votes in a Bar Referendum- In any referendum conducted pursuant to Rule VII of the Rules of
the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the Election Board shall
be responsible for the counting of ballots, unless the Board of Governors,
by a majority vote, otherwise directs. Policy guidelines with respect
to the voting and with respect to determining the validity or interpretation
of ballots may be provided to the Election Board by the Board of Governors;
in the absence of such policy guidance, or on matters not covered
by such guidance, questions regarding the voting and the validity
of the votes, shall be decided by the Election Board, subject to a
written appeal to the Board of Governors, whose decision shall be
final.
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