2020 FHANA Board of Directors Elections

November 1, 2019-Call for Nominations

November 29, 2019-Close Nominations

December 6, 2019-Email/Mail Campaign Questions

December 12, 2019-Town Hall Session with Candidates

December 18, 2019-Return of Campaign Questions and Biographies

January 1, 2020-Mail/Email Ballots, Campaign Question Responses & Bios to Membership

January 31, 2020-Election Closes

February 5, 2020-Count Ballots and Announce Results

 

• 6.2 Number of Directors. The Board shall consist of at least five (5) but not more than seven (7) directors. The Directors need not be residents of the Commonwealth of Kentucky

• 6.3 Term of Directors. The term of office of the Directors shall be as follows:

  1. Directors shall hold office for three (3) years except as hereinafter provided;

  2. At the first Board meeting following the election of Directors, the Directors who were elected three (3) years previously shall retire from office, including any Director who was appointed to office to complete an unexpired term of a Director who had vacated his office, provided that the Director who vacated his office had been elected to office three (3) years previously.

  3. A retiring Director shall retain office until the dissolution of the first Board meeting following the election of his successor.

  4. In the event a vacancy occurs on the Board, including a vacancy resulting from an increase in the number of directors, such vacancy may be filled by the affirmative vote of the majority of the remaining directors though less than a quorum of the Board. A director elected to fill a vacancy shall be elected for the unexpired term of such director's predecessor in office. Only those members who are eligible to hold office and who are in good standing may be elected to such office.

  5. Subject to the right to vary the number of Directors, the Association shall fill the vacated offices annually by electing a like number of persons to be Directors.

  6. At a meeting of the Board called expressly for that purpose, any Director may be removed for cause by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of all the Directors. Notwithstanding the above sentence, any Director who fails to attend three (3) consecutive Board meetings, without a satisfactory excuse to the other Board members, may be removed from office. Notice of said meeting shall comply with the notice requirements for special meetings set for below. Unless the Director is also to be suspended or terminated as a member of the Association, the requirements of 5.6 are not mandated for removal of a Director for cause. Any member of the Board may resign from the Board at any time by giving written notice to the Board. A resignation shall be effective when the notice is delivered unless the notice specifies a later effective date.

  7. A member may serve as a director for no more than 9 consecutive years (3 regular terms of 3 years). After serving for 9 consecutive years, a member may run again after remaining out of office for one and a half years.
  8. A Director may be brought for removal from the Board by the membership for conduct unbecoming of a Director including, but not limited to, failure to follow FHANA bylaws or conflict of interest, provided the removal petition is submitted to the Executive Director.  The petition must name the Director for removal, state the reasons for removal, name the petitioner, and include twenty-five percent of the eligible general voting members signed with names and membership numbers.  The Executive Director has five business days to validate the petition and respond to the petitioner.  If the petition is valid and meets the requirements of removal, the Board shall call a special board meeting in accordance with 6.3.6 within seven days after responding to the petitioner.  If the petition is deemed invalid, the Executive Director will respond to the petitioner with the reasons the petition does not meet the requirements.  

• 6.4 Election of Directors.The election of the Board of Directors shall be conducted as follows:

  1. On or before January 1st of each year, the Association shall mail to each general voting member a notice that the Association will receive nomination for the office of Director. The notice shall provide a period of no less than thirty (30) days in which to return the nominations.

  2. Any two (2) general voting members, in good standing, may nominate any other member who is eligible to hold office and in good standing with the Association, other than a body corporate, for election as a Director by a written letter addressed to the Secretary at the principal office of the Association, provided that the member so nominated has endorsed his consent to such nomination in writing.

  3. All such nominations must be received by the Secretary at the office of the Association on or before the date specified for the receiving of nominations and any nomination received after such date shall be invalid.

  4. To avoid conflicts of interest, nominees for the Board of Directors shall not be board officers for any non-FHANA horse related association for a period of one (1) year prior to receiving a nomination to the Board and shall not serve as a board officer for any other FHANA or non-FHANA horse related association while serving on the Board, if elected.

  5. Shall cause one (1) email ballot form to be sent to the email address on file with the FHANA secretary with voting instructions to be emailed to all FHANA members. The ballot form includes a link to a secure site with the voter's personal registration code embedded. Once a ballot has been cast using this code, it will not work again, and will become official. For those members who still require a paper ballot, this will still be accommodated and those votes will be tallied electronically. The voting instruction will provide at least thirty (30) days to return the paper ballot, or to cast the ballot electronically

  6. A parent, child, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner of an existing officer on the Board shall not hold an office on the Board at the same time.

  7. General voting members shall vote for the election of Director by completing the ballot or electronic ballot in accordance with the voting instructions and return the ballot to the address set forth in the voting instructions or submit electronically. Ballots postmarked or certified received after the deadline specified in the voting instructions shall be invalid.

  8. The President, or Vice-President, if the President is unavailable to do so, shall appoint two (2) members who are not members of the Board to act as a jury for the counting of the ballots. If two members are not available for appointment as a jury, a disinterest non-member(s) may be appointed.

  9. Within fifteen (15) days of the deadline for ballot postmarks, or electronic submissions, the Secretary of the Association or his designee shall count all ballots duly received in the presence of the jury so appointed. The results of the election shall be certified by the Secretary, or his designee, if appointed and the jury.

  10. Should a tie vote occur, the two candidates shall be consulted by the Board to determine if one is willing to cede the position to the other. If neither candidate is willing to cede to the other, the Board shall then vote to break the tie. The candidate receiving the majority of the votes cast by the Board will thereby be chosen as the Director.

  11. The results of the election shall be announced to the general membership at the next scheduled mailing to the membership following the certification of the election.

  12. Ballots shall be retained for ninety (90) days following the announcement of the election results to the membership