District Governor-Nominee Selection Procedures in India

RI Board Meeting

May 2012

Draft D-7

ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE RECOMMENDED DECISION GENERAL SECRETARY SUGGESTED DECISION

D-7.      District Governor-Nominee Selection Procedures in India

DECISION: The Board

1.  thanks Directors Das and Mehta for their report on the results of the Delhi Leadership

Conclave;

2.  effective 1 July 2012, adopts the governor election pilot project shown in Exhibit D-7 for all districts in India for a period of three years;

3.  notes the recent increase in election complaints in India and expresses its hope that this pilot will reduce the number of complaints

4.  requests the general secretary to submit a report on this pilot at its June 2014 meeting.

RI Board Meeting

May 2012

D-7

D-7.     Governor Election Pilot in India

Background: This item comes to the Board at the request of Directors Das and Mehta. President Banerjee and Directors Das and Mehta convened the Delhi Leadership Conclave for district leaders from zones 4, 5, and 6A. At that meeting, the participants agreed that an election pilot providing for uniform election procedures should be initiated for districts in India.

The terms of the pilot are shown in item D-7.

RI Board Meeting                                                                                               Exhibit D-7

May 2012

GOVERNOR NOMINEE ELECTION PILOT

All the district leaders from zone 4,5 and 6A that attended the Delhi Leadership Conclave convened by RI President Kalyan Banerjee and RIDs Yash & Shekhar agreed that a governor-nominee election pilot be initiated for districts in India providing for a uniform election procedure and encompass the following points:

1. The DGN selection shall be held through a nominating committee procedure.

2. Any challenge to the nominating committee decision shall be through a ballot-by-mail or at the district conference (under the terms of reference provided in the pilot) as decided by the district.

3. Clubs chartered during the year shall not be eligible to participate in the election process including but not limited to proposing a candidate for the DGNC/DGN, concurring to challenge or voting.

4. Club with any outstanding (previous or current period) RI dues and/or district dues and/or magazine dues shall clear the same by 30 September of the year in order to participate in the election procedure.

5. The District Governor Elect will include a session on the nominating committee procedure at PETS for orientation of incoming club officers.

6. The pilot will be applicable from 2012-13 onwards; districts that have already selected the nominating committees shall select it afresh under the terms of this pilot.

7. A district election committee shall oversee the governor-nominee election procedure including the draw of lots.

DISTRICT NOMINATING COMMITTEE

Section 1 : Terms of Reference

The District Nominating Committee shall be responsible to seek out and propose the best available candidate who is willing to serve as District Governor.

Section 2 : Composition

a) The Nominating Committee shall be constituted each year as per the time schedule adopted by the district. The nominating committee shall have (x) members, one from each of the (x) zones as provided.

b) The zones will be decided by the district as follows:

• A minimum of seven zones

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• Number of total votes in the district will be divided reasonably equally amongst the zones

• The grouping of clubs in each zone will be done by draw of lots which will take place at the same date, time and venue as for the constitution of the nominating committee members

• Only clubs represented by duly authorized representatives will be eligible to participate in the draw of lots

• At the time of draw of lots the election committee shall arrange to place the names of eligible clubs in a box and draw a lot from each group in the presence of all the candidates

c) The nominating committee shall serve during the Rotary year of its

constitution. Its term of office shall cease when the committee members elect the governor nominee, sign and submit its report through the chair to the District

Governor.

d) It shall be mandatory for all eligible clubs to send a member and an alternate member to serve in the nominating committee. If an eligible club fails to do so, that club shall not

be eligible to participate in the electoral process for nominating committee membership in the subsequent year. Additionally, the club shall not be considered for any recognition during the year.

Section 3 Qualification

a) To be eligible for selection to the membership of the nominating committee a Rotarian must fulfill the following requirements:

(i)         a Rotarian in good standing in club(s) within the district for at least five years as on July 1 of the Rotary year in which he/she offers himself/herself as a candidate.

(ii)        served as president of a Rotary Club in the district for a complete term

or

served as charter president of a club having served the full term from the date of charter to June 30, provided that the period is at least six months,

(iii)       is not a district governor, governor-elect, governor-nominee, past governor or assistant governor.

(iv)       has served in the district (any capacity) for a minimum of one year.

(v)        a certificate from the club president for fulfilling the above qualifications shall be sent along with the club’s proposal.

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b) Any candidate for membership of the Committee whether selected, or not, or one who is selected and subsequently resigns from the Committee, shall not be eligible to be nominated as Governor-nominee in the year the committee serves.

c) A Rotarian who has previously served as a member of the Nominating Committee shall not be eligible for re-selection to the Committee in the subsequent year.

d) Any immediate relative (spouse, father, mother, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter- in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother or sister) or close business associate (partner or director in the same firm) of any candidate for District

Governor Nominee will be ineligible to participate in the draw of lots for selecting the members of the Nominating Committee.

e) A club which has a candidate for District Governor Nominee shall not be eligible to propose a candidate as a member of the Nominating Committee.

Section 4 : Selection of Member of Nominating Committee.

a) The clubs in the district shall be invited by the district governor through a written communication individually to each club to submit the name of the proposed candidate from their club for membership on the nominating committee.

b) The proposal for membership of the nominating committee shall be submitted to the

District Governor along with:

1)  a resolution adopted at a regular meeting of the club, held after the invitation for the nomination proposals under point b above naming the proposed candidate duly certified by the club President and Secretary.

2)  candidate’s consent in writing.

c) After the scrutiny of the proposals by the district election committee the District

Governor shall inform the concerned clubs about the validity of the proposals.

d) The district election committee shall organize an orientation meeting of all the valid candidates prior to the draw of lots.

f) At the time of draw of lots the district election committee shall arrange to place the names of eligible candidates and their club name in each of the (x) zones in a box and draw a lot from each group in the presence of all the candidates.

Section 5 Functioning of the Nominating Committee

a) A majority of members of the Nominating Committee shall constitute a quorum. b) A candidate receiving 50%+1 votes shall be selected and recommended as District

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Governor Nominee. In the event of the Nominating Committee failing to

come to a valid conclusion, all the candidates will  be proposed for election through a ballot-by-mail/district conference (as chosen by the district earlier).

c) The nominating committee shall not influence, recommend, or commit the succeeding committee by recording/minuting any impression of the candidates apart from the one

selected by it.

d) The nominating committee meeting will convene immediately at the same venue after draw of lots. Nominating committee members are prohibited to indulge in discussion(s) before the formal start of the proceedings. Any such discussion(s) shall render them ineligible (decision of election committee) to participate in the nominating committee meeting.

e) Each member of the Nominating Committee shall be bound to keep the deliberations of the Committee, and the information supplied to him/her, strictly confidential.

f) Use of mobile phones in the nominating committee room shall not be permitted. The members will deposit their mobile phone(s) with the chair who will return the same after completion of the nominating committee procedure.

Section 6 Selection procedure to be followed by the nominating committee

a) The members of the Nominating Committee shall carefully read and understand the duties and qualifications of the District Governor as given in Rotary International by- laws before selecting a candidate in the meeting of the committee.

b) At its meeting the Nominating Committee must keep in mind the following criteria to be able to select the best candidate :

(i)         Qualifications as described in the R.I. bylaws.

(ii)        Ability, physical and otherwise, to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of the District Governor.

(iii)       Rotary career and actual work done by the candidate at the club level. (iv)            Rotary career and the actual work done by the candidate at the district

level.

(iv)       Candidate's knowledge of Rotary.

(vi)       Candidate's civic and vocational achievements.

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c. In making the selection, the Nominating Committee shall not limit its selection to the proposals submitted by the clubs, but may consider other Rotarians and shall nominate the best qualified Rotarian to serve as District Governor as provided in RI bylaws. However, his/her consent shall be obtained prior to such nomination.

d. The business of the Committee shall be completed at one sitting only

Section 7: Activities in Support of Candidate for District Governor

a) No Rotarian or club shall canvass or campaign, or allow campaigning on his/her behalf to influence selection in accordance with RI policies.

b) Any candidate for governor-nominee election in the coming year shall not accept any distict  assignment(s).  Any  such  candidates  will  not  be  eligible  for  the  governor- nominee election. However, RI/TRF assignments are exempt from this provision.

c) Any individual who is invited to serve in any capacity at the district level will give an undertaking to the DGE that he/she will refrain from contesting the governor-nominee election next year and that he/she understands the provisions of point (b) above.

d) No candidate shall be considered for governor nominee selection if his/her spouse is serving as Assistant Governor.

Section 8 Procedure for Proposal of District Governor Nominee

a) The clubs in the District shall be invited by the District Governor by (date) to submit the name of the proposed candidate from their club for governor-nominee with last date for receipt of proposals to be (date).

b) The proposal shall be submitted to the District Governor in the form of a resolution adopted at a regular meeting of the club naming the suggested candidate, and certified by the club president and secretary. The proposal should enclose (x) copies of the form

H as provided by RI and the written consent of the candidate. A club shall suggest only one of its own members as a governor-nominee candidate.

c) The District Governor shall keep the copies of Form H of all the candidates for the District Governor Nominee ready and hand over the same to the members of the Nominating Committee immediately on its formation.

d) The Nominating Committee shall meet immediately after its formation to consider the proposals before them, and the committee chair shall convey the decision in writing to the

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District Governor immediately after the adjournment of the meeting. This communication from the committee chair to the District Governor shall also include the original Form H (duly signed by the members of the nominating committee) of the selected candidate.

e) In the event of the Nominating Committee being unable to meet or declare a Nominee for the District Governor for any reason whatsoever, the names of all the candidates proposed for District Governor Nominee will be elected at district conference/ballot-by-

mail.

f) The District Governor shall communicate in writing the decision of the Nominating

Committee to all the clubs in the district within three days of its receipt.

CHALLENGE

a) Any club in the district which has been in existence for at least one year as of the beginning of that year can propose a challenging candidate provided this club has previously suggested such candidate to the nominating committee. The name shall be submitted pursuant to a resolution by the club adopted at a regular meeting duly certified by club president and secretary; along with written consent of the candidate. This shall be submitted by the date announced by the governor which shall not be more than 14 days after the publication of results.

b) In the event a challenge is proposed as specified above, the District Governor shall inform all the clubs through a form prescribed by Rotary International of the name of the challenging candidate/s and enquire whether any club wishes to concur with the challenge. To do so the club shall submit a resolution adopted by the club at a regular

meeting, and certified by the club president and secretary, confirming concurrence of the challenge, to the District Governor. The resolution must be adopted at a regular meeting of the club for which notice of such a resolution has been given mentioning this as a special business of the meeting. No club can concur with more than one candidate.

c) No candidate or anybody on his/her behalf shall solicit or seek concurrences from clubs.

BALLOT-BY-MAIL

a) Club voting entitlement shall be the minimum of :

number of paid members (excluding pro-rata members) in the club as of 30 June of the previous Rotary year

or

number of paid members (excluding pro-rata members) in the club as of most recent semi-annual dues.

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b) The voting entitlement of clubs shall be frozen 30 days prior to balloting and no subsequent changes (for election purpose) will be recorded. Clubs with any (previous or current period) outstanding RI, district and magazine dues beyond this cut-off date shall not be eligible to vote.

c) A clubs decision as to how it will exercise its vote should be carried out at the General Body meeting of a Club after the bio-data of the contesting candidates are presented and discussed. However, club may mandate its Board to carry out the selection process and present their choice, for endorsement by the club.

d) The district governor will notify the clubs in the district at least 15 days prior to the balloting regarding the number of votes to which the club is entitled. The DG will send the ballot (in the format provided by RI) to clubs along with this notification. Only 1 ballot

will be issued listing the total number of votes of the club. The ballot will be countersigned – apart from the club president and secretary-by another duly authorized member of the club.

e) A zonal three member balloting committee will be appointed by the Director for the balloting.

f) The ballots shall be returned to the South Asia Office by a date fixed by the governor. Such date shall not be less than 15 days or more than 30 days following the mailing of ballots to clubs.

g) The balloting committee will meet at South Asia Office (at a date determined by the

Director of the zone) for validating and counting the ballots.

h) The balloting committee chair will notify the DG the results of the ballot within 24 hours of the counting.

CONFERENCE BALLOTING

a) Club voting entitlement shall be the minimum of:

number of paid members (excluding pro-rata members) in the club as of 30 June of the previous Rotary year

or

number of paid members (excluding pro-rata members) in the club as of most recent semi-annual dues

b) The voting entitlement of clubs shall be frozen 30 days prior to balloting and no subsequent changes (for election purpose) will be recorded. Clubs with any (previous or current period) outstanding RI, district and magazine dues beyond this cut-off date shall not be eligible to vote.

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c) The district governor will notify the clubs in the district at least 15 days prior to the balloting regarding the number of votes to which the club is entitled. The DG will also send the credential forms to clubs along with this notification.

d) Only one ballot (in the RI prescribed format) will be issued listing the total number of votes of the club. The ballot will be issued to one authorized elector to be cast.

e) Proxy voting requests should be provided to DGs 10 days before the elections for his/her review and permission.

DISTRICT ELECTION COMMITTEE

The districts shall constitute a four member election committee for the governor-nominee elections. The Committee shall consist of 3 past district governors, each serving a staggered 3-year term with the possibility of reappointment. District Governor will be the chair of the committee.