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Acceptance of Nomination

 

The Retiree Elections Code, Section 2, Sub-section E, provides:

"Those nominated shall be afforded the opportunity to decline, and the name of any nominee who declines shall not appear on the ballot."

Note that it is "the opportunity to decline," not "the opportunity to accept" that is guaranteed. If a nominee is eligible for the office and if he or she does not take the positive action of declining, his or her name must go on the ballot.

If he or she declines, he or she is not a candidate.

If he or she accepts, he or she is a candidate.

If he or she does neither, he or she is assumed to be a candidate.

Ordinarily, the nominee is offered the opportunity to decline at the same meeting at which he or she is nominated. If he or she is present at the meeting, the chairperson simply asks: "Do you accept the nomination?" and the answer is entered in the minutes of the meeting. If the person is not present, he or she must be contacted later and asked to indicate acceptance or declination in writing to the Election Committee.

No member may be a candidate for more than one Sub-Chapter office at the same time. If a member is nominated for two or more offices in the same election, he or she must decline all except one such nomination. If the nominee fails to indicate which office he or she wishes to seek, the Election Committee should assume the nominee is running for the first office for which he or she was nominated and assume he or she has declined all other nominations.

Some Sub-Chapters may attempt to permit running for more than one office in the same election by holding the nominations and the election for a single office at a time, then moving to the next office, and continuing the procedure until all offices have been filled. While such a procedure is legal—if spelled out in the Sub-Chapter's constitution—it is awkward and cumbersome and is not recommended.

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