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This article is designed to give a simple overview of how the Board election process at denhac works. If there are any places where the bylaws or official policies disagree with this article, then this article should be updated. The bylaws and official policies are the source of truth.
Denhac has a 7 person board who each serve a 1 year term. We hold bi-yearly elections, in April and in October. For elections, 4 seats are up in April and 3 seats are up in October. The election process concludes on the night of the board meeting in April and October at 8 PM. This means the current board, i.e. not the ones who may be elected to the board next, run the April and October board meetings.
The first step in the process is nominations. The chair will send out an email requesting nominations a few weeks before the board meeting. This email will have additional details such as the time window for nominations and voting. Pay attention to this! We try to be consistent, but you wouldn’t want to get a deadline wrong and miss a nomination or your chance to vote.
Any member can nominate another member; however it is important to note that in order to be eligible for nomination, a member must be in good standing for the previous 3 months before the date they would be elected on (It is also good form to talk to the members you are considering nominating instead of surprising them). A member who is nominated “declines by default”, meaning the nominated member MUST accept their nomination. If you do not wish to run, please politely decline in the email thread (Note, if you know you are not eligible, you can say that as well to save an awkward situation where someone has to pull your acceptance after the fact). If you want to accept, please reply that you are accepting your nomination and a little “about me”. Incumbent members are not automatically nominated either.
After nominations end, voting will begin. As specified above, it will end at 8 PM on the night of the next board meeting. Members who were nominated should be available in the classroom by 8 PM in case they are elected. The voting results will be announced in the classroom at 8 PM, and the new board will adjourn to executive session.
In the executive session, the current chair will call for nominations amongst the new board for a new chair among the members of the board. The same person may be nominated and elected as chair or someone else may be elected. This (and the following) are all simple majority votes of the board itself. The new chair then calls for nominations and voting for vice-chair and secretary.
Please see the bylaws for more descriptions about those 3 board positions. In general, the chair runs meetings and tries to direct the space to be successful for its members. The vice chair can help handle various duties that need to be addressed but is there for backup in case the chair cannot attend to their duties. The secretary handles taking meeting minutes during board meetings.