Bylaws of the International Bank Note Society

Members

Article V. Elections

Section 1 - Term of Office

The elected Officers of the IBNS (President, Vice-Presidents, and Directors) will serve for a term of two (2) years, with biennial elections held during each even-numbered calendar year. All elections will be by mail ballot. Elected Officers will hold office until the close of business at the Annual General Meeting held in an election year, at which time their successors, to include those Directors subsequently appointed in accordance with Article IV, Section 1, will assume, or be deemed to assume, their offices and the responsibility for the affairs of the IBNS. Persons occupying appointed positions will continue in office at the pleasure of the Executive Board.

Section 2 - Nominating Committee

The President, at least twelve (12) months prior to an election, will appoint a Nominating Committee of at least three (3) members in good standing, one (1) of whom will be a member of the Executive Board. The Nominating Committee’s duties will be to seek nominations and to insure that at least one (1) nomination for each office will be received and that such nominees are members who are likely to work for the betterment of the IBNS; also to receive and publish the names of nominations received from the general membership.

Section 3 - Call for Nominations

A call for nominations must be made in the next issue of the IBNS Journal following the appointment of the Nominating Committee. Such call must include the names, and both mailing and email addresses of the committee members. In addition, this information will be posted on the IBNS website as soon as practicable, with an additional call for nominees. To the maximum extent possible, biographical information on each member nominated is to be made available to the membership prior to the voting date. This biographical information will be solicited from each nominee at the time he is requested to accept nomination and to agree to serve in the event of election.

Section 4 - Election Committee

An Election Committee appointed by the President, consisting of three (3) members, at least one (1) of whom will be the General Secretary, will be responsible for managing the election. In order to avoid any potential conflict of interest, or the appearance of undue influence or other impropriety, no candidate for office nor any person who serves on the Nominating Committee for the same election, may serve on this committee (in the event the General Secretary is running for an elected office, his place on the committee will be taken by another member of the Executive Board who is not a candidate and who was not a member of the Nominating Committee). Ballots in a form described below (Section 5) are to be furnished to each voting member of the IBNS at least one-hundred and twenty (120) days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting occurring in an election year. Each ballot will include the voting date beyond which, if the Chair of the Election Committee does not receive them, they will no longer be eligible to be counted. The voting date will be no earlier than thirty (30) days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting. The ballots will be returned to the Chair of the Election Committee.

They will be opened by the Election Committee, which will record their countries of origin and compile the number of votes for each candidate. An election report shall be prepared for submission to the Annual General Meeting. In order to allow for the President-elect to make recommendations for appointments to the Executive Board, the results of the election shall be sent to all candidates for office and current Executive Board Members a minimum of fourteen (14) days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting held in the election year. The ballots shall be carried or shipped to the Annual General Meeting where the results will be announced and will be available for inspection by the membership upon request. The ballots shall be retained by the General Secretary or a person designated by him for six (6) months and then destroyed.

Section 5 - Ballot

Each ballot will show all candidates for the Presidential, Vice-Presidential, Regional, and At-Large Director races. All candidates’ names will be randomized separately (within office) for each contested position.

Section 6 - Vacant Regional Director Position

In the event the Nominating Committee is unable to present a nominee for a Regional Director position (assumed to be because no potential nominee in a given region will agree to serve), the number of elected At-Large Directors will be increased by the number of such un-covered regions. For example: if two (2) Regional Director positions receive no nominations, the Director nominees achieving the top eight (8) vote totals who are not winners of regional seats will be certified as elected to At-Large seats, with an additional six (6) to be appointed by the Board under the provisions of Article IV Section 1.

Section 7 - Regional and At-Large Voting

Even though nominees for Regional Directorships will receive votes only from members living in their regions, it is possible that a losing candidate for a regional seat could achieve a higher vote count than the trailing nominees for the At-Large positions. Accordingly, the vote counts of the losing Regional Director races will be ranked with the vote counts of the At-Large nominees, and the top six (6) (or more, if the provisions of Section 6 above are exercised) nominees will be declared winners of At-Large seats.

Section 8 - Tied Vote

In the event of a tied vote for any position being elected in the biennial elections, the winner will be decided by the drawing of lots at the Annual General Meeting prior to the results of the election being announced. The winner shall then be announced as the winner for the contested position.