From the Office of General Governor
David A. Chambers

> Why do Lodges elect officers? Every Lodge is incorporated and required to have corporate officers. The corporate officers: President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer are the elected Governor, Junior Governor, Administrator and Treasurer, respectively. The election of officers is important because Lodge members are simultaneously electing both the fraternal and corporate officers of the Lodge. The corporate officers are legally responsible for the corporation and have a fiduciary responsibility to protect and preserve corporate assets.

Sometimes members ask questions about the election of officers only to learn it is too late to do anything until the following year. A common misconception concerning the election of Lodge officers is that all notices, nominations, etc., must be posted in the Lodge, or published in the Lodge newsletter. Although full disclosure of information to the Lodge membership by posting and publishing is encouraged, there is no requirement to do so. Members know when Lodge meetings are held and if they desire to remain informed, they should attend Lodge meetings.

The annual election process begins no later than February. The Governor of the Lodge first appoints a Nominating Committee of eighteen members. The committee consists of the eight elected officers of the Lodge, five Past Governors (in their order of juniority by service in the Lodge) and five additional members who are either appointed officers, committee chairmen, or Past Governors (honorary or by service) in that Lodge. The appointment, time and place of Nominating Committee meetings must be given verbally during the last Lodge meeting in February. In addition, a written copy of the committee's report is given to the Lodge Administrator for inclusion in the Lodge minutes.

Who are eligible to be officers in a Lodge? The only requirement for the offices of Treasurer and Trustee is that the member be a good-standing member of the Lodge. Membership in the Lodge for at least six (6) months is required for the offices of Prelate, Junior Governor, and Governor. In addition, to be eligible for the office of Governor, the member must have served in another elected office of that Lodge for a full 12-month term (not combination of offices).

Members who desire to be considered for nomination to an elected office of the Lodge must submit their name to the Nominating Committee no later than one week prior to the report of the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee conducts meetings and considers the members whose names have been submitted. The committee may also on its own consider and recommend qualified candidates. The committee should interview all members desiring to be nominated prior to deciding who will be nominated. Nominating Committee meetings and matters discussed in committee meetings are confidential! The committee must report at the last Lodge meeting in March. A written copy of the committee's report is provided to the Administrator for attachment to the Lodge minutes.

A qualified member who requested to be nominated for a particular office and was not nominated may begin the petition process. To run on petition, a member must be qualified and have submitted his name for a specific office no later than one week before the report of the Nominating Committee to the Lodge. If the Nominating Committee did not nominate that member for the specific office sought, he may run by petition for that office only.

The petition process may not start until after the report of the Nominating Committee. A member seeking office, but not nominated may obtain a petition from the Administrator after the Lodge meeting at which the Nominating Committee made its report of its nominees. The completed petition must be returned to the Administrator no later than one week before the day of the election. If the required numbers of signatures are obtained, the member qualifies to have his name placed on the ballot.

Occasionally, members running by petition are unsuccessful because they do not read the instructions. Members signing a petition must also print their name, Moose identification number and the date they signed the petition. Legibility is very important, so the Administrator can verify that al the members signing the petition are good standing members of the Lodge. The required number of signatures on the petition depends upon the number of good standing members in the Lodge. For Lodges having 500 or less good standing members, ten (10) percent is the number of signatures required. For Lodges having a membership in excess of 500, the required number of signatures is ten (10) percent of the first 500 and five (5) percent of the number of members in excess of 500. For example, to qualify to have his name placed on the ballot, a petitioner in a Lodge having 800 good standing members must have 65 signatures on a petition. The Administrator is prohibited from giving the petitioner a list of Lodge members.

Unless the Lodge is utilizing the Australian ballot, the election must be held during the first Lodge meeting in the month of April, but no less than two weeks after the report of the Nominating Committee. Generally, the election is the first order of business during the Lodge meeting. Due to shift workers or other reasons, some Lodges conduct the annual election using the Australian ballot. This is permissible if the membership votes at least two weeks prior to the election date to conduct the election in this manner. The election must still take place on the day of the regular general meeting. It is illegal to conduct the election on a day other than the day of the first regular Lodge meeting in April and doing so will result in the election being overturned and another election being conducted.

The Governor appoints an Election Committee of three (3) good-standing members who are not officers or candidates for elective office. The Election Committee is responsible for the conduct of the election, counting of the ballots and safeguarding the ballots for 48 hours after the election in case of a written challenge. After tallying the votes, the Election Committee prepares a report to be read by the Chairman of the Election Committee or the Governor prior to completion of the Lodge meeting. A written copy of the report must be given to the Administrator for attachment to the Lodge minutes.

The "Election of Lodge Officers Handbook" and Chapter 35 of the "General Laws" explain the election process in much greater detail and are available at www.mooseintl.org, Members Only, General Governor, Lodge Election Guidelines and General Laws.

Why do we ask you to be aware of the election process? Because, an informed member who knows the correct process will be a more supportive member, and is more likely to submit his name and become involved in the direction and success of his Lodge. Electing qualified leaders is crucial to the success of the Lodge.