COMMUNITY COUNCIL ELECTION PROCEDURES
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COMMUNITY COUNCIL ELECTION PROCEDURES
As outlined in the Special Olympics Ontario Bylaws, Community Council positions are elected positions and no term limit can exceed two years.
Most Community Councils choose to hold their bi-annual elections in conjunction with their Annual Member’s Meeting every other year. Some councils, however, hold rotating elections where every year half of the council positions are up for election each year. This is done to avoid having all new volunteers on council at one time.
However a council chooses to hold an election, there are some basic principles which must be met:
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Elections must be held at a minimum of every 2 years
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The Program Consultant must be invited to the election and a Provincial Staff Member should be present to act as adjudicator for the election
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An election notice, outlining what positions will be up for nomination along with the logistical information regarding the election, must be sent out to the general membership at least 6 weeks prior to the date of the election (communities may choose to advertise in the local paper as well)
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The election is open to all current members of the organization and an invitation to the election should be sent out to the membership along with the election notice
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Once the Community Council has determined their timeline regarding regularly held elections this information should be adopted into the Community Policies and made available to all stakeholders
Once an election date has been set and the above principles have been met it is the responsibility of the Community Council to fulfill the following obligations:
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Receive all Declarations of Interest from interested parties and ensure they have the correct information regarding the election
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Answer any questions that potential volunteers have regarding the council positions
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Have ballots made up for the election