The Election committee

ACG Election Policies and Procedures

I. The Election committee

-Election committee consists of 3 members, the election committee chairperson and two appointed members. In the ACG’s inaugural year the Election Committee Chairperson will be appointed by the ACG governors thereafter will be elected by annual popular vote. The election committee chair will appoint the other members of the committee.

II. Responsibilities of the Election Committee Chairperson

The Election Committee Chairperson will appoint the two other members of the committee.

The Election Committee Chairperson will oversee the execution of the election process.

The Election Chairperson is solely responsible for the safekeeping of the ballot box, ballots and voter registry.

III. Responsibilities of the Election Committee

The election committee will work to ensure an unbiased and fair election. It is the Committee’s responsibility to ensure that the Election policies and procedures are strictly enforced.

The review and amend election policies and procedures during a contested election where the policies and procedures are suspect.

- To accept and review any petitions that contest election results.

- To determine the eligibility for voting rights of any community member.

- The election committee will recruit election volunteers to help run the election.

- The Election committee and election volunteers will run the election.

The Election committee is responsible for compiling a voter registry of all eligible voters.

The Election committee members are responsible for counting the ballots.

The Election committee will review candidate nominations and notify nominees of his/her nomination.

IV. Responsibilities of the Election Volunteers

Election Volunteers will assist in running the polls, counting the votes, and with any recounts.

V. Eligible voters

Eligible voters shall include each parent or legal guardian of every child currently enrolled and attending OCS, all fulltime and part time staff members and members of the community deemed to have exhibited an vested interest in the well being of the school. Each eligible voter will have one vote regardless of the number of children enrolled in the school.

All Community members who are not parents, legal guardians, faculty or staff but wish to vote must satisfy the following requirements in order to demonstrate a vested interest in the well being of the school. The registry of parents and guardians will come from the OCS database Parent/Guardian1 and Parent/Guardian2 compiled from each child’s enrollment packet information.

Attendance at 2 ACG meetings, by April of the current school year.
Four hours of volunteer service to OCS, by April of the current school year
Attendance at the April ACG meeting
Submit a written request for voting privileges to the Election Committee. This request must be submitted to the Committee two weeks prior to the April ACG meeting.
The Election Committee Chairperson will grant voting eligibility to any community member who requests voting rights and fulfills the aforementioned requirements. It is the community member’s responsibility to ensure that meeting attendance and volunteer hours are officially recorded on his/her behalf. The Election Committee assumes no responsibility for inaccurately maintain records and will only grant voting rights to applicants whose contribution is recorded in the usual manner.

VI. Absentee voting

-Any eligible voter who is unable to be present during polling hours may request an absentee ballot. The responsibility of requesting an absentee ballot lies solely with the voter.

-Absentee voting is available to any community member eligible to vote by April 18, 2005

VII. Procedure for requesting and casting an absentee ballot

-Request for an absentee ballot must be made in writing to the Election Committee Chairperson by April 18, 2005. Request may be mailed in care of the Election Committee Chairperson at the school’s address, e-mailed or hand delivered to the Election Committee Chairperson. The request must state the voter’s name, address, phone number, reason for request and name of child/children at school or current OCS employment position.

-When requesting an absentee ballot voter must state whether the ballot will be returned to the Election Committee by mail, deposited in the ballot box located in the school office.

-Absentee ballots will be mailed to all eligible voters on April 18, 2005.

-Deadline for submitting an absentee ballot is April 26, 2005 by 8:00 p.m.

- All absentee ballots will be placed in the locked ballot box upon receipt. These ballots will be counted when the polls close on April 27, 2005.

-Any absentee ballot returned by mail, postmarked between from April 20^th - 26^th, received by the closing of the polls on April 27th, will be counted.

-Any absentee ballot received after the final close of the polls on April 27, 2005 will not be counted.

-It is the responsibility of the absentee voter to ensure his/her ballot is received on time.

VIII. Nominations

Any eligible community member may be nominated as a candidate during the nomination week in the beginning of April. Any community members including themselves may make nominations.

At the end of the nomination period the election committee will notify all nominees of their nomination. All nominees have until April 15th to accept or decline the nomination. Nominees accept by submitting a candidate statement to the Election Committee Chair by 8:00pm April 15^th.

IX. Election Process

Elections will take place over 5 business days beginning the third week of April, following the April ACG meeting.

Election polls will be set up on OCS campus.

Polls will be open for voting from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on voting days. If a voting day falls on a Wednesday or short school day the morning polling time will remain the same and the afternoon polling time will commence at 1:00 p.m. ending at 2:00 p.m.

Voters will check in with election volunteers, present identification and sign the voter registry.

Voters will be given an official ballot.

Voters will place completed ballots in a locked ballot box.

X. Counting of Ballots

The ballots will be counted at the end of the five-day voting period.

1 ACG election committee member and 1 poll volunteer will count the ballots independently. If the numbers match the ballots will be placed in a manila envelope, sealed, wax sealed and signed by the counters with the number of ballots listed.

The ACG election committee chair will keep the sealed envelope.

If there is a discrepancy in the counting, the committee member re-counts and a second poll volunteer counts.

If unresolved the ballots will be locked up until all three ACG election committee members can be present for a re-count.

XI. Notice of Election Results

Results based on actual votes cast with no minimum requirements for registered voter participation.

Results announced 2 business days after the election ends.

Election Results will be posted, by noon, on the OCS-families yahoo group,

the ACG bulletin board and in the Current.

XII. Procedure for a tie in election results

- If there is a tie the results will be announced within 24 hours after poll closes.

A tiebreaker election will take place Mon. following the election

Tiebreaker polls will be open for one day only at 7:30am-9: 30am, 2pm-4pm and 7pm-8pm on OCS campus.

Results of the tiebreaker will be announced within 24 hrs.

XIII. Contesting election results

-Any election result can be contested by submitting a petition to the election committee chairperson within 3 business days following the announcement of election results. The petition must be signed by 40% of the eligible voting population. The petition must state which election results are being contested and reasons for objecting to the posted results.

-A new election will be held 30 days from the receipt of the petition.

-The new election will follow the same procedures as the contested election unless the election procedure is being contested.

Contesting the election procedure will cause the Election Committee will hold a community meeting to discuss the issues. Then the election committee will create a new election procedure designed to address the objected aspects of the election process. The community will be given twenty-four notice in regard to the place and time of the meeting.

The community meeting must be held within fourteen business days from receipt of the petition.

The new election procedures will be available to the community 72 hours prior to the new election. The new election procedures will be posted on the ACG announcement board and on the OCS yahoo group.