We present here the proposed election by-laws for the AWA. These were written by our new New England Regional Director, Lee Atwood, and rewritten (adjusted slightly in style) by Kevin Slimak and George Phillies. (Robert Sacks must be thanked for reading through them; his major advice was that he thought that they were too complicated This month, we will present the election by-laws. We ale have by-Laws regulating Directorate operations (which wil replace the informal correspondence system that we have been using); these will appear in the next issue of the AW.

1 . The AWA Membership has ultimate control over the club. It determines the Association's direction, its officers, its organization, and its services. A Person becomes a member by paying the annual dues to the Treasurer . Submission of payment for membership signifies agreement -to abide by all regulations set forth in the AWA constitution. A person who has previously been expelled from the club must obtain the permission of the Directorate to rejoin.

2. For a member to bring an initiative to a vote by the club membership, the following procedure is adhered to:

a) Once a member has obtained a petition with signatures of 5% of the club membership, the petition is sent to the AW Editor. A member may alternately send his proposed initiative directly to the AW Editor for printing in. the AW; with this the member asks for letters of support from the membership. When the member has collected letters representing 5% of the membership, he send the letters to the AW.

b. The proposal is printed in the next issue of AW. Opinions on the proposal should be, sent to the, Editor, who will print a fair sampling of them in the next issue of the AW (If the author of the proposal submits a statement, it must be given priority);,

c. The next issue of the AW contains the opinions of the membership, and will also contain the ballot. The members will be directed to send their votes to the Election Officer (EO), under the rules governing elections. The EO will tabulate the results and report the exact votes to the AW Editor. He will count all ballots received within 21 days after the vote mailing of the AW and no others.

d. Results of the voting will be in the issue of the AW. If approved, the proposal will take effect one week after the date of mailing of the third AW, which date will be specified in the issue of AW.

e. An initiative signed by four members of the Directorate is voted on in the same manner as a membership initiative. In addition to the Directorate initiative specified in Article 11 of the Constitution, 4 Directorate members may simply sign a petition and submit it to the AW Editor.

3. The United States is divided into 10 regions, as defined by the ZIP Codes, except for New Jersey, which is in; Region 1 1. E.g. Connecticut (Ob) is in region 10).

a. Once a Region contains 15 AWA members, elections will be held for a Regional Director from that area. from this point onward RD will be elected according to the following schedule, regardless of changes in the membership of the Region: Nominations will be called for in the AW for. Reg 1 in Feb., 2 in March, 3 in April, 4 in May, 5 in June, 6 In July, 7 in Aug., 8 in Sept., 9 in Oct, and, 10 in Nov. Nominations for National officers will be called in January.

b, In the month of nominationt the AW (issue 'In") shall call for nominations from the membership for the offices open. Anyone may nominate or run for a national office. Only members residing in a Region for the majority of the year may run for RD in that region, although anyone may nominate. A person may nominate himself.

c. The deadline for nominations is three weeks after the AW mailing, to be specified in the AW, Nominations, which are sent to the Editor, shall be printed in AW.

d. Nominees will have until three weeks from the date of the the AW mailing to accept the nomination and submit a campaign statement. A Campaign statement constitutes a valid acceptance. Upon receiving an acceptance, the Editor will send a notice of receipL to the nominee.

e. Endorcements may also be submitted to the AW. Campaign Statements may not exceed 500 words in length. Endorcements may not exceed 100 words. All statements, and a fair sampling of all endorsements, and the names of all other nominees will be printed in the AW n+2 issue. The AW n+2 issue shall also include a list of the candidate ballots, and the voting deadline.

f. Ballots in elections will be sent to the EO. The latest date on which ballots may be postmarked is 14 days after the date of mailing of issue n+2. Ballots mailed after this date will not be counted. Ballots received by the EO more than 21 da a after the date of mailing will be ignored unless 30% of all valid ballots were received after that date, in which case the latest validly postmarked ballots will all be counted.

g. The EO will tabulate the results and report them (including exect vote) on the 21st day after the mailing of issue n+2 to all candidates. present office- holders, the President, Vice President, and the Editor. The EO shall store all ballots for six months after an election, and then destroy them. Individual votes will be kept confidential.

h. Only residents of a region may vote for that region's candidates. All members may vote for National Officer. If a member votes twice, neither vote will be counted.

i.Results will be announced in issue n+3 of the AW. Previous terms of office end and new terms of office begin 14 day after the AW n+3 mailing date, which will be announced in the issue. Transfer of office should begin as soon as the results of the election are announced.

j. To effect transfer of office:

1) The former office holder must give up all records for his office to the new office holder, acquaint the new officer with them, and inform the new officer of any systems he may have developed on present business, etc

2) The directorate may require the former officeholder to report on his procedures in office, guidelines hee would recommend for the future, and advise future officers.

3. If a person his election problems he should first "contact the Election Officer and then the Directorate. The Directorate (excluding member selected in an election being investigated) may investigate any election irregularities.It may recommend It may direct the EO to hand over ballots to direct removal of the Election Officer, expulse members, or order a new election (with the old one considered void) To void an election and cause a new one to be held, a 3/4 vote of the voting members of the Directorate is required.

4. Election Official

a) The President shall appoint an Election Officer and an assistant EO; there will-be a two month delay between the time that the appointment is announced to the Directorate and the time that the new EO may assume his title.

b) The E0 may not be a candidate for election in an election for which he is receiving ballots. He may be removed from office by membership initiative and votes. A 1/3 vote is sufficient for removal. Ballots are sent to the Vice President, or to the editor, if the Election, 0fficial is running. The EO may also be removed. c) The assistant EO will assume the duties of the EO if the Election Official vacates his post. The assistant EO must have gone through the two month- waiting period before he may perform his duties.

d) The EO must do his best to insure the fairess of the election. If he feels that something is unfair, he may ask the Directorate (less members who are candidates in the election), to take action.

The Election Official must make sure the ballots are valid before counting them; he must endure, by asking the most up-to-date membership list, that only AWA members are voting.

e) If a member voted for more than one candidate office, neither vote shall be counted.

5. All ballots will permit a space, for a write-in vote and for a "No" vote. The candtidate with a plurality of the votes is elected. If "No" receives the largest number, of 'votes, the election shall be held a second time. "No" votes will not be counted in all election run for a second time. If there is a tie for first place, a run-off will be hold between the two leading candidates. A tie between "No" and candidates for first place results in a new election being held.