A. Introduction

1. Elections of Directors will take place at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the British American Football Referees’ Association Limited (BAFRA) in accordance with the Articles of Association (AoA) paragraph 18

2. In accordance with the Rules of Association (RoA) paragraph 2.2 the following Directorships will be elected in even years:

• President
• General Secretary
• Director of Training
• Director without Portfolio #1

3. In accordance with the RoA paragraph 2.2 the following Directorships will be elected in odd years:

• Director of Finance
• Director of Operations
• Director of Recruitment
• Director without Portfolio #2

4. Should any Directorships become vacant in the year preceding the AGM, such Directorships will be subject to election at that AGM whether or not it is a scheduled year for the election of that post. An election will also be held if any director has announced more than 49 days prior to the AGM their intention to resign at the AGM.

5. Should a Director wish to resign, he/she shall give three months notice. Should a Director not wish to seek re-election at the end of a term of office, he/she shall give three months notice. Such notice shall be given formally to the General Secretary (or if it is the General Secretary who is resigning or not seeking re-election to the President). Notice of such resignation or intention not to seek re-election will be notified to the membership through the first available edition of Newsflash.

6. Existing Directors whose posts are subject to election in any year will, unless re-elected, cease to be Directors immediately at the conclusion of the AGM.

B. Eligibility

7. People who are “Qualified” or “Honorary – Qualified” members of BAFRA 28 days prior to the AGM shall be eligible to stand for any Directorship, or to nominate or second another such member. No other person may stand for any Directorships, neither may they nominate nor second another person.

8. People who are “Qualified” or “Honorary – Qualified” members of BAFRA on the day of the AGM shall be eligible to vote for candidates standing for the Directors’ posts. No other person may vote in the election for Directors.

9. If a candidate, once nominated, ceases to be a “Qualified” or “Honorary – Qualified” member of BAFRA between being nominated and the date of the AGM, he/she is disqualified from standing for election.

C. Nomination

Please note that from hereon; reference to the General Secretary implies the General Secretary or his/her deputy.

10. The General Secretary will invite nominations for all available posts not less than 49 days prior to the AGM. Such invitations will be sent by e-mail to all those entitled to stand in the election. Where the General Secretary is not in possession of an e-mail address for a member entitled to stand as a Director, he/she will invite nominations from that member via first class post sent on the same day as the electronic nomination requests.

11. Should anyone become a “Qualified” or “Honorary – Qualified” member of BAFRA between the date on which nominations are invited and the closing date for nominations, the General Secretary will immediately invite nominations from that person.

12. The invitation for such nominations will be sent out along with the invitation for resolutions to be submitted to the AGM.

13. It is the responsibility of anyone wishing to stand as a Director to seek appropriate people to nominate and second him/her.

14. Nomination papers shall be returned not less than 28 days prior to the date of the AGM. The nomination will contain, as a minimum, the name and BAFRA number of the person being nominated, and of those nominating and seconding him/her. It may, optionally, also contain an election address of not more that 250 words. Any words after the 250th word shall be deleted.

15. The nomination should be returned electronically and only in an exceptional circumstance where that is not possible should it be returned by post. The General Secretary will acknowledge receipt. Proof of sending a nomination is not accepted as proof of receipt.

16. The nomination shall also state for which Directorship the member is seeking election. Exceptionally, if nominations have been invited for both Directors without Portfolio, it is not necessary to specify for which of the two posts the member wishes to stand (see Section E Election Procedure below), only that the member is seeking election as a Director without Portfolio.

17. Note that the General Secretary may refuse to accept any election statement that is in his/her opinion abusive or potentially defamatory.

D. Notification of Elections

18. Notification of elections will be sent out by the General Secretary to all members eligible to vote not less than 21 days prior to the AGM. Such notifications will be sent by e-mail to all those entitled to vote in the election. Where the General Secretary is not in possession of an e-mail address for those entitled to vote, he/she will send notification to that member via first class post on the same day as the electronic notifications.

19. Should anyone become a “Qualified” or “Honorary – Qualified” member of BAFRA between the date on which notification of elections are sent out and the AGM, the General Secretary will immediately send notification to that person.

20. The notification will contain a list of candidates for each post scheduled to be filled at the AGM, along with details of those nominating and seconding each candidate. It will also contain the election address as supplied by each candidate (although any word after the 250th word will be deleted).

21. Notification of elections will be sent out along with notification of resolutions submitted (if any) to the AGM.

E. Election Procedure

22. Elections shall take place at the AGM. Members may vote either in person or they may appoint a proxy to vote on their behalf. The Teller for the election shall be the Returning Officer or a member appointed by the Directors to act on his/her behalf.

23. Prior to the AGM, the General Secretary will provide the Returning Officer (or Acting Returning Officer) with a list of those entitled to vote.

24. If only one nomination has been accepted for a Directorship, or only one or two nominations have been accepted for Director without Portfolio when both are up for election, that person or in the latter case persons shall be deemed elected unopposed.

25. Where two or more nominations have been accepted for any election (with the exception of the Director without Portfolio when both are up for election), the following procedure will apply.

1. Any ballot form that unambiguously signifies a preference for a candidate will be counted. Other ballot papers may be designated as spoilt by the Returning Officer/Acting Returning Officer. The Returning Officer (or Acting Returning Officer) is the sole judge of whether a ballot paper is spoilt or if the voting intention is ambiguous or unclear.
2. Where two candidates have been nominated, the candidate with the majority of votes shall be elected to the post.
3. Where more than two candidates have been nominated, the system of Alternative Vote (AV) will be used
4. For the AV system of voting, all of the first preference votes are counted. If a candidate receives 50% plus one of the votes cast, then that candidate is elected. If no candidate receives 50% plus one of the votes cast, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and his/her votes are distributed amongst the remaining candidates according to his/her second or subsequent preference. In the event of a tie amongst candidates with the fewest votes, the candidate whose votes will be redistributed will be decided by drawing lots. This process continues until someone has 50% plus one of the votes. In the event of a tie for first place after the final step in the redistribution of votes, the winner will be the candidate who was in the lead after the most recent distribution prior to the final redistribution. If candidates are still tied for first place, the winner will be decided by drawing lots.

26. Where three or more nominations have been accepted for the Director without Portfolio when both posts are up for election, the procedure will be as follows.

1. All first preference votes are counted. If a candidate receives 50% plus one of the votes cast, then that candidate is elected. If no candidate receives 50% plus one of the votes cast, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and his/her votes are distributed amongst the remaining candidates according to his/her second or subsequent preference. In the event of a tie amongst candidates with the fewest votes, the candidate whose votes will be redistributed will be decided by drawing lots. This process continues until someone has 50% plus one of the votes.
2. This process is then repeated, with the successful candidate’s votes distributed amongst the remaining candidates according to his/her second or subsequent preference, until a second person reaches 50% plus one of the available votes.

27. The first elected will be appointed to the Director without Portfolio post with two years before it is next up for election and the second elected will be appointed to the other Director without Portfolio post.

F. Proxy Voting

28. Any member who is entitled to vote will be sent a proxy voting form with his/her notification of the election.

29. A member may not vote both by proxy and in person. Proxy forms shall be completed and submitted in hard copy form only to the Returning officer to arrive with him/her a minimum of seven days prior to the AGM.

30. The proxy form will indicate who the member has agreed may vote on his/her behalf. This must be a member of BAFRA and may be a candidate standing for any of the Director posts. It is not the responsibility of the Returning Officer or Teller to ensure that the proxy votes in accordance with the member’s wishes.

G. Voting Procedure at the AGM

31. For each election, the Teller will issue one ballot paper to each person present who is entitled to vote, and one ballot paper to each nominated proxy. He/she will validate the person’s entitlement to vote against the membership list provided by the General Secretary and a list of proxy nominations sent to him/her.

32. Those entitled to vote will complete their ballot papers in secret and return them to the teller for counting. The teller will announce the outcome of the elections in the order on the agenda paper.