Candidate Statements. Initial
statements will be accepted
by Corporate Activities from each
candidate for elective
office who submits a typed,
double-spaced manuscript on or
before the date specified by the Board
of Directors each year,
provided that the manuscript contains no
more than the specified
number of words.
Statements for Referendums.
One statement will be
accepted by Corporate Activities from
the principal initiator of
each referendum proposal that will
appear on the current IEEE
general election ballot, provided that
the statement is typed,
double-spaced, received on or before the
specified date, and contains no more
than the specified number of
words. The statement must be
accompanied by the exact text of
the proposed amendment. Proposed
amendments shall be
published unless the President
determines that it would be
impractical to do so.
Comment by a
responsible opponent to each proposed
amendment that will appear
on the ballot will be accepted by
Corporate Activities,
provided it meets the length
requirements and is received by the
specified date.
In the case of an
amendment proposed by the IEEE Board of
Directors, potential opponents are
encouraged to agree on a
principal spokesman who will forward a
joint opposition statement
to Corporate Activities. The
individual chosen as principal
spokesman will receive a copy of the
Board of Directors' initial
statement favoring the amendment and
coordinate a joint rebuttal statement.
In the event that
agreement cannot be reached among the
opponents in choosing a
principal spokesman, the IEEE will
publish more than one
opposition statement and rebuttal
providing each represents a
substantially difference point of view,
meets length requirements,
and is received by the specified
date. In cases of
disagreement between the Corporate
Activities staff and an opponent
whose statement or rebuttal has been
rejected because its content
was deemed not to add something
substantive to the debate, the
President will decide whether or not to
publish the submission.
In the case of a
member-initiated amendment, the above
rules apply with the
addition that the Board may declare
itself to be an opponent of
the proposed amendment. It would
then submit to Corporate
Activities an opposition statement and
subsequent rebuttal which
would be published if each meets length
requirements and is received
by the specified date.
Rebuttals. Initiators and
opponents of amendment
proposals may forego rebuttal.
Content and Format. Statements
received will be date
stamped and reviewed by the staff.
Statements may not include
illustrations or tabular matter. If the
staff believes there are
erroneous or legally actionable
statements in a candidate's
statement, or determines that the word
limit has been exceeded, it
will notify the candidate immediately,
so that the candidate can
submit modifications within a period of
48 hours. If no
modifications are received, the
statement will be referred to
the President for adjudication. The
President will decide whether
or not to place the statement on the
ballot, and in what form it
shall be published in this case and in
disagreements between the
staff and the originator of a statement.
On acceptance of the
candidates’ statements, they will
be distributed without
possibility of further changes. With the
exception of typographical errors, which
the staff will correct,
candidates’ statements will be
published verbatim, even when
statements may contain errors in syntax.
Word Count. All statements
from candidates, and from
initiators and opponents of amendment
proposals shall be written in standard
English and must not exceed
the maximum word length
requirement. To determine number
of words:
precede IEEE by
an article and count both as one word;
count an
acronym as one word;
count a
discrete alphanumeric as one
word—for example,
21st in
21st Century counts
as one word;
titles and
other properly hyphenated words
shall be counted as
one word.
The IEEE Executive
Director or his/her designee is
authorized to make final
decisions on related questions.
Statements exceeding
the maximum length shall be returned to
authors for editing. Typed, edited
copies will be mailed to
those who submitted them for their
comments. If the decision
is to publish a statement in a form not
satisfactory to the
candidate or initiator, the candidate or
initiator shall have the
option of asking that no statement be published.
Statements by petition
candidates and by referendum proposal
initiators accepted by Corporate
Activities will be placed on the
ballot, together with other election
statements, provided that the
corresponding petitions have been
validated. These statements
will appear on the ballot without
change. Statements received
by staff after the statement deadline
dates cannot be guaranteed
placement on the ballot.
Statement Lengths
Initial Statement
Rebuttal
Candidates for:
IEEE
President-Elect
250
IEEE
SA
President-Elect
200
IEEE-USA
President-Elect
200
Vice
President-Elect,
Technical
Activities
200
Region
Delegate/Director
175
Division
Delegate/Director
175
Region
Delegate-Elect/Director-
Elect
175
Division
Delegate-Elect/Director-
Elect
175
Vice
Chair
175
Major
Board
Member(s)-at-Large
150
Referendum
Initiator’s
Statements
200
100
Referendum
Opponent’s Statements
200
100
Photographs; Biographies; IEEE Election
Website.
Candidates shall submit to
Corporate Activities, by the date specified,
the following information:
(a)
A
candidate photograph which shall
have been made within two
years of the mailing deadline of the
election materials in which
the photograph will appear, as
attested to by the candidate (See
also, IEEE Policy 13.3.A.).
Photograph requirements shall be
specified by the IEEE Tellers Committee.
(b)
A factual
summary of past service to the IEEE.
(c)
A
personal biography not to exceed 150
words, that rounds out the
profile of the candidate's
experience outside IEEE activities.
(d)
A factual
summary of IEEE accomplishments not
to exceed 200 words,
that rounds out the
candidate’s IEEE volunteer work.
Copy will be edited by
Corporate Activities staff and the candidate
will have the opportunity to review the final
copy before it is printed.
The IEEE shall maintain a public
annual election website. The website
shall be launched no later than fifteen (15)
working days after materials are
received from, the first (nominated or petition)
candidate for an office which appears on the
IEEE annual ballot, and all criteria
have been met as required. (See also, IEEE
Policy 13.7.1.E.) The website shall
include information on both nominated and
petition candidates, including potential
petition candidates who are in the
process of circulating petitions. The existence
of the website shall be announced in
several electronic mail and INSTITUTE
announcements. The website shall allow eligible
voting members to sign petitions either
electronically or by printing petitions for
mailing to IEEE headquarters.
Petitions and Signature Requirements.
General Petition Information.
In accordance with
IEEE Bylaw I-308.9, individual voting
members may propose, by
petition, names to be added to the
ballot for the offices that
appear on the IEEE annual election
ballot.
Individual voting members who wish
to circulate a petition shall
submit a petition draft to the Board
of Directors no earlier than
1 May of the year preceding the
election and no later than 15
April of the year of the
election. The petition draft
(whose text shall follow the text
proposed in Section 13.8.3.B.)
must be accompanied by a statement
by the proposed candidate that
he or she is willing to serve if
elected.
IEEE staff shall
advise the petitioner of any
required changes in
the petition’s
text. If there are
disagreements between
staff and the petitioner about
revision requirements the
President will adjudicate the
disagreement. Once the
petition’s text
is finalized, but not earlier than
15 May of the year
preceding the election, the
petitioner may circulate the
petition and collect
signatures.
The complete petition
shall be submitted in a letter to
the Board of
Directors, to be received at IEEE
Headquarters no later than
twelve o'clock noon on the Friday
preceding 15 June of the year
of the election.
Corporate Activities
staff shall provide to any
petitioner, upon
request, documentation on collection
of petition signatures. The
documentation shall include relevant
IEEE Bylaws, Policies, and
sample petition signature forms.
Verification that a
petition has fulfilled the
conditions of Bylaw
I-308.9 and Policy 13.8 and that the
petition candidate
meets the qualifications of the
office for which he or she is
being nominated shall be confirmed
by the Tellers
Committee. Certification of
the petition candidate by the
Tellers Committee shall be made
known to the Board of Directors promptly.
Petition Text for Candidates and
Referendum Petitions.
A nominating petition
shall, at the time it is signed by
the petitioner, set
forth the office, the term of the
office (expressed in
date form), and the name of the
proposed
candidate.
Following are examples
of appropriate statements for
petition candidates
and petitions for Constitutional
Amendments,
respectively:
Endorsement for
Candidate Petition:
I (We), the
undersigned, petition to add (Name
of Petition Candidate)
to the (Year) IEEE annual election
ballot for the
position of (Position) for the term
(Years). I (We) certify
that to the best of my (our)
knowledge, I (we) am (are) eligible
to vote for this position in the
next IEEE annual election.
Note: This petition is
not being signed nor circulated any
earlier than as specified in IEEE
Policy 13.8 and will only be
accepted if received by IEEE
Headquarters by the date and time
specified by the same policy.
All members who sign this
petition must be voting members in
good standing at the time
their signatures are received by
IEEE Headquarters.
Endorsement for
Referendum Petition:
I (We), the
undersigned, petition to add to the
(Year) IEEE annual
election ballot the following
amendment to the IEEE
Constitution: (Statement of
Amendment).
Signature Requirements.
Signatures can be
submitted electronically through the
official IEEE annual
election website, or by signing and
mailing a paper
petition. The name of each member
signing the petition shall be
clearly printed or typed. For
identification purposes of
signatures on paper petitions,
Membership numbers or addresses as
listed in the official IEEE
membership records shall be
included. Only
signatures submitted electronically
through the IEEE annual
election website or original
signatures on paper petitions shall
be accepted.
The number of
signatures required on a petition
shall depend on the
number of eligible voters, as listed
in the official IEEE
membership records at the end of the
year preceding the election.
Information on the
exact number of signatures required for
a specific petition may
normally be obtained from IEEE
Headquarters by 15 March of
the year of the election. As signatures
are obtained, they shall be
submitted to the Corporate Activities
Department, in advance of the deadline
date for petitions, in order
for staff to begin the verification
process. A signature shall be
considered valid if the signer is
eligible to vote for the office
sought by the proposed candidate at the
time the signature is
submitted to IEEE Headquarters.
Otherwise, the signature shall be
considered invalid.
For all positions
where the electorate is less than 30,000
voting members, signatures
shall be required from 2% of the
eligible voters.
For all positions
where the electorate is more than 30,000
voting members, 600
signatures of eligible voters plus 1% of
the difference between the
number of eligible voters and 30,000
shall be required.
