AGA Board Elections
Elections Overview
According to the AGA By-Laws, broad authority for organizational decisions and management throughout the year resides with an elected Board of Directors, who select the President. The ultimate authority for guiding the organization through the creation and modification of Bylaws as well as the selection of board members rests with the AGA Chapters and AGA Members before and during an annual National Assembly.
Seven Directors
There are seven directors total: one At-Large Director, and six Regional Directors representing the three AGA Regions -- two each from the Eastern, Central and Western regions. The Regional Directors are elected by proportional vote of the chapters. Each chapter with at least two members has one vote: 2-4 members = 1 vote; 5-9 members = 2 votes; 10+ members gain an additional vote for each ten members. The At-Large Director is elected directly by vote of the members.
Elections How and When
Elections are conducted annually. Board members are elected for two year terms on an alternating schedule, so around half of the board members are up for election every year. Three regional directors stand for election in odd numbered years; the other three, as well as the At-Large director, are elected in even numbered years.
Regional candidates are elected by online ballot; the ballots are opened and counted and the results are announced at the US Go Congress. The At-Large director is elected by electronic ballot, sent out by e-mail; paper ballots are mailed to members for whom we do not have an e-mail address.
Elections Procedures
Nominations are now being accepted and will close on the fifteenth (15th) of June. Nominations may be made only by current AGA members. Any member affiliated with an AGA Chapter may nominate any full AGA member to be a director to represent the region in which that chapter is located. Members not affiliated with a chapter may nominate a regional director for the region in which they reside. There are no location restrictions for the At-Large position. The nominee must meet the criteria below and confirm in writing that he/she has read the by-laws and Articles of Incorporation and is willing to serve. A member must specify a single chapter affiliation for AGA regional voting purposes, even if the member belongs to more than one chapter. Nominations need to specify the position for which the nomination is made.
Nominations must be sent via e-mail to elections@usgo.org
Online Voting Procedure
Voters: You will receive an email from aga.elections@gmail.com. Click on the enclosed link to take you to the Election Runner to vote for the candidate.
If you have any questions email elections@usgo.org
Who Can Vote
All full AGA Members can vote for the At-Large Director. All AGA chapters with two or more members can vote for the director in their region in the yearly elections. Chapters with 2-4 members get one vote; 5-9 members get two votes; and chapters get an additional vote for each ten members (see bylaws Article II, Section 7). Ballots are mailed to all eligible chapters in the summer, and the results are traditionally announced at the US Go Congress in late July/early August.
A list of full current members by chapter and region can be found here. The listing totals the members affiliated with each chapter and shows how many votes each chapter has. Members who are not affiliated with a chapter or whose membership has expired are not listed. The list is updated daily.
For your chapter vote to count, make sure your club is an official AGA Chapter and has at least two affiliated members. All full AGA Members may participate in the vote for the At-Large Director.
Further information is available in the Official AGA Election Committee Protocols (effective June, 2006).
Board Member Qualifications
Nominations may be made in writing or email and only by current AGA members. Any member affiliated with an AGA Chapter may nominate any full AGA member to be a director to represent the region in which that chapter is located. There are no location restrictions on the nominator or nominee for the At-Large seat. Nominees must meet the criteria below and confirm in writing that he/she has read the by-laws and is willing to serve. A member must specify a single chapter affiliation for AGA regional voting purposes, even if the member belongs to more than one chapter. Nominations need to specify the position for which the nomination is made.
To be eligible for election, by the calendar deadline for making nominations, each candidate must meet all of the following criteria:
Be at least 21 years of age.
Be a full member in good standing for a period of at least one year.
Have been resident in the USA for at least six of the last twelve months. Residence offshore as a member of a US Military service will be regarded as US residence.
Declare in writing a willingness to run and perform the duties of office.
Declare in writing that they have read the Article of Incorporation and Bylaws of the AGA.
For regional directors, a candidate must be a resident of the region they wish to represent.