Elections

Elections Listserv (September 8)
The Election Listserv will be set up and links to subscribe members will be emailed to the Public Listserv weekly. This will give the opportunity to those members who wish to be privy to election material and discussions which will be exclusive to the Elections Listserv. It is HIGHLY recommended that all Chapter Chairpersons, Zone Coordinators, and current Maquis Advisors subscribe themselves to the Election Listserv as discussions there will center around the individuals and discussions on the next coordinator for our organization.

Intentions (September 8 - November 7)
Candidates will announce their intention to seek the office of International Coordinator (IC) on the public listserv. They can make such an announcement only once and will not post anything further concerning their candidacy on the public listserv thereafter. The only exception to this rule will be candidate platforms and links, which can be posted to the public listserv once a week until the end of the campaign phase. A call for candidate intentions will commence the day these rules are posted to the public listserv and the start of the election listserv. The duration of this initial phase of the election will be one month.

Nominations (November 8 - November 14)
Nominations for the position of IC will be taken and forwarded to the Elections Supervisor, who shall be appointed by the CC, but shall not be a candidate for IC. A minimum of five nominations from any Commanding Officer and/or Zone Coordinator must be submitted to nominate a member of MFI in good standing to the position of IC. A nominee for IC, must have been a member of MFI for at least 3 years consecutively and is preferred to have some command experience, this need not be necessarily from MFI, but documented experience from another fan club will work.

Only qualified individuals (Chapter Chairperson, designee, and Zone Coordinators) can cast nominations and can only cast one nomination for one candidate. Only one nomination can be cast per person per capacity served within MFI (a chapter chairperson who is a zone coordinator cannot cast two nominations). The duration of this second phase of the election will be seven days starting the day after the call for candidate intentions is closed.

Nominations will be cast by way of a Moodle "Choice" polling tool which is secured by a members' userid established upon joining MFI. The Moodle "Choice" poll will only allow the user to cast ONE nomination. It is VERY important that a Chapter CO's, designees, and Zone Coordinators not allow their username and passwords to be shared with any other member to avoid someone casting their nomination without their knowledge. It is suggested that anyone concerned that their userids and password have been compromised to email the Chief of Computer Operations to have their password changed.

Elections Board
Once a candidate has been officially nominated, the candidate will forward a name to the Election Supervisor to serve as his Election Representative. Each candidate will have one Election Representative to serve on the Elections Board. The Elections Board will monitor the voting and report the progress of the election to the respective candidates and the Coordinator Council.

Campaigning and Campaign Discussion (November 15 - January 1)
Campaigning, statements, and platform updates by the candidates will be posted on the election listserv as often and as much as needed. Questions, answers, and discussions will REMAIN on the election listserv. Posting of any election material (other than the once weekly platform post by the candidates) or discussions on the public listserv is strictly forbidden. The first violation of this rule will result in a warning. The second violation will result in the particular member being placed in moderation mode. This will involve that member's posts to the public listserv requiring approval before being posted to the listserv. Discussions will remain professional, courteous, and ON TOPIC as it pertains to the candidate's positions, views, and intentions on leading MFI as IC. The first violation of this rule will result in a warning. The second violation will result in the particular member being placed in moderation mode. The Election Listserv moderator has sole authority as it pertains to violations of these policies. The duration of this third phase of the election will start the day after nominations for IC close, and up to the day before the election phase.

Voting (January 2 - January 15)
Voting will be cast by way of a Moodle "Choice" polling tool which is secured by a members' userid established upon joining MFI. The Moodle "Choice" poll will only allow the user to cast ONE vote. It is VERY important that a Chapter Chairperson, designee, and Zone Coordinators not allow their username and passwords to be shared with any other member to avoid someone casting their vote without their knowledge. It is suggested that anyone concerned that their userids and password have been compromised to email the Chief of Computer Operations to have their password changed.

Votes will be cast by the Chapter Chairperson or designee under the "One Chapter, One Vote" policy. Chapters should discuss the candidates for IC among their members to get a consensus in order to decide whom the chapter will vote for. The duration of the final state of the election will be fourteen days from the day that campaigning closes.

Declaration of Winner (January 16)
The "polls" will close at midnight EDT on the fourteenth day of voting (January 15). The Elections Board will do a final tally and verification of the votes and declare a winner via the public listserv. Before such public notification is accomplished, the Elections Supervisor will send a private email to the two candidates.