Election Procedure
5.1 Council Elections
a) Every member shall have the right to vote by secret ballot in the election of the representatives to the Council. No member shall be entitled to vote more than once at the election.
b) Any member who may be employed in more than one electoral unit shall vote only in one (1) electoral unit.
c) Substitute teacher representatives to Council shall be selected at a general meeting.
d) The Executive shall appoint the Deputy Returning Officer in each electoral unit. Each Deputy Returning Officer shall be responsible for the proper conduct of an election. Arrangements for the election of representatives to the Council shall be made by the Deputy Returning Officer in each electoral unit. Those elections will take place in September prior to a deadline set by the Executive. In the event that no representative is named or a representative is unable to complete a term, it will be the responsibility of a Deputy Returning Officer to hold a by‑election within two weeks after the President has received notice of the vacancy. In the event that no representative is elected, it will be the responsibility of the Chair of the Association Elections Officer, through the Executive, to name a representative.
5.2 Executive Elections
The Executive shall be elected in accordance with the following procedure:
(a) On or before November 1st of each year the Council shall elect an Executive Nominating and Elections Committee to consist of a minimum of six (6) members, and a maximum of ten (10) members of the Council. It shall be chaired by the Immediate Past‑President or, in the event that this person is unable to act, by another Past‑President or other member appointed by the Executive. The Chairperson shall not be a voting member of the Committee.
(b) The Chairperson of the Executive Nominating and Elections Committee shall be the Association Elections Officer for the election.
(c) The Executive Nominating and Elections Committee may nominate to hold Executive office only members who are in good standing in The Manitoba Teachers’ Society. For the office of President, it shall submit at least one (1) name. For each of the offices of Vice‑President, and Secretary and Treasurer, it shall endeavor to submit at least two (2) names. For the nine (9) additional executive positions it shall endeavor to submit at least fifteen (13) names. A member may be a candidate for only one of President, Vice‑President, Secretary or Treasurer. In addition, a member may be a candidate for one of the additional executive positions.
(d) On or before January 15 of each year, the incumbent Executive will have opportunity to declare their intentions for office. As of the same date, Members of the Local may forward their nomination to the Committee Chair.
(e) The campaign period for the election of the Members of the Executive shall begin February 1 of the School Year.
(f) An interim slate of candidates for Executive office will be presented to the Council at the February meeting. On March 1st of each school year, the Executive Nominating and Elections Committee shall report the slate of all candidates to the members of the Association, and shall indicate that each nominee has accepted nomination for each respective executive office.
(g) Incumbent Members of the Executive seeking re-election shall not utilize the benefits of their current office to campaign for re-election. A dispute about whether this prohibition has been violated, and the consequences of the violation, shall be referred to the Chief Electoral Officer of the Society.
(h) The Executive shall set a date for the election, and inform Members of this date prior to January 1, such date to be between April 10th and April 20th of each year. Paper ballots will be distributed to the Returning Officers in each of the electoral units and each member, including the Returning Officer, shall be entitled to cast a secret ballot. It shall be the duty of the Returning Officer in each school to return the ballots to the Association Returning Officer or a designated place, within five school days of the closing of the election. The counting of the ballots shall be between the 5th and the 8th school day following the election, at a date determined by the Association Returning Officer. The opening of the ballot box and the counting of the ballots shall be supervised by the Association Returning Officer. A ballot form shall be provided listing the candidates for President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and the nominees for the additional nine (9) members. The ballot shall instruct the members to vote by indicating a single preference for President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and up to but not exceeding nine (9) candidates for other executive positions.
(i) In a situation that an Executive election cannot be conducted by the procedures listed in section 5.2 (h), the Association Returning Officer may make temporary provisions for an electronic vote.
(j) Any candidate or a designated stand‑in may attend upon the counting of ballots provided prior written notice has been given to the Association Returning Officer. Candidates, or designated stand‑ins may not touch or handle ballots or other election material used by scrutineers. Any communication regarding objections with respect to election procedure shall be with the Association Returning Officer only. A successful candidate wins for each Executive position by the greatest number of votes. Should a candidate wish to request a recount, a written request by the candidate must be made to the Chief Electoral Officer of the Society within three days following the report to the Executive.
(k) In the event of a resignation from the WTA Executive, excluding Table Officers, that the position be filled by that person who was not elected in the last annual general election but who received the next largest number of votes to those who were elected.
Furthermore, in the case of a vacancy occurring in the position of President, the Vice‑President will assume the office of President. To fill the resulting vacancy in the Vice‑Presidency, or any other Table Officer vacancy, the Council shall elect a replacement from the present Executive members.
(l) Failing to achieve maximum executive membership after following procedures outlined in 5.2 (h), nominations to fill vacant positions will take place at the first Council meeting in September. The nominations will be open to all WTA members. Nominations will close at 4:00 PM the day prior to the October Council meeting.
October Council will provide time for brief speeches from each candidate and then a vote of the WTA Council Representatives present at the meeting will occur.
In the event there are further resignations from the Executive, Section 5.2 (k) would apply to the results of the October Council executive election.
If further resignations occur:
(i) nominations can open in October for a November election
(ii) nominations can open in November for a December election.
(m) In the event there are no candidates willing to run for the vacant positions, or resignations take place after the November Council meeting, the executive positions will remain vacant until the next general election of the WTA Executive.
(n) The President shall provide the Executive Director of the Society a list of the Members of the Executive within ten (10) days of their election.