The United States Australian Shepherd Association

The Club Year, Voting, Nominations, Elections

Section 1. Club Year. The Club's fiscal year shall begin on the 1st day of January and end on the 31st day of December. The Club's official year shall begin January 1st and shall continue until December 31st. The elected officers and directors shall take office on January 1st and each retiring officer shall turn over to his successor in office all properties and records relating to that office within 30 days after the results of the election are known.

Section 2. Voting. At the annual meeting or at a special meeting of the club voting shall be limited to those members in good standing who are present at the meeting, except for the annual election of officers and directors and amendments to the constitution and bylaws and the standard for the breed which shall be decided by written ballot cast by mail. Voting by proxy shall not be permitted. The Board of Directors may decide to submit other specific questions for decision of the members by written ballot cast by mail.

Section 3. Annual Election. For the election of officers, directors, and delegate to The American Kennel Club, (who may, but need not be a director or officer of the Club), the vote shall be conducted by secret ballot. Ballots to be valid must be received by December 15th. Ballots shall be counted by three inspectors who are members in good standing and neither members of the current Board nor candidates on the ballot and who shall be chosen in advance by the Board; or by an independent professional firm chosen by the Board to send, receive and count the ballots. The person receiving the largest number of votes for each position shall be declared elected. If any nominee is unable to serve for any reason, such nominee shall not be elected and the vacancy so created shall be filled by the new Board of Directors in the manner provided by Article III, Section 3.

Section 4. Nominations and Ballots. No person may be a candidate in a Club election who had not been nominated in accordance with these bylaws. A Nominating Committee shall be chosen by the Board of Directors before July 15th. The committee shall consist of three members from different areas of the USA, and two alternates, all members in good standing, no more than one of whom may be a member of the current Board of Directors. The Board shall name a chairman for the committee. The Nominating Committee may conduct its business by mail, telephone or fax machine.

(a) The Nominating Committee shall nominate from among the eligible members of the Club, one candidate for each office and for each other position on the Board of Directors and shall procure the acceptance of each nominee so chosen. The committee should consider geographical representation of the membership on the Board to the extent that it is practicable to do so. The Committee shall then submit its slate of candidates to the Secretary who shall mail the list, including the full name of each candidate and the name of the state in which he resides to each member of the club on or before August 15th, so that additional nominations may be made by the members if they so desire.

(b) Additional nominations of eligible members may be made by written petition addressed to the Secretary and received at his/her regular address on or before October 15th, signed by five members and accompanied by the written acceptance of each additional nominee signifying his willingness to be a candidate. With the exception of the AKC Delegate, no person shall be a candidate for more than one position.

(c) If no valid additional nominations are received by the Secretary on or before October 15th, the Nominating Committee's slate shall be declared elected and no balloting will be required.

(d) If one or more valid additional nominations are received by the Secretary on or before October 15th, he/she (or an independent professional firm designated by the Board) shall, on or before November 1st, mail to each member in good standing a ballot listing all of the nominees for each position in alphabetical order, with names of the states in which they reside, together with a blank envelope and a return envelope addressed to the Secretary (or designated professional firm) marked "Ballot" and bearing the name of the member to whom it was sent. So that the ballots may remain secret, each voter after marking his ballot shall seal it in the blank envelope which in turn shall be placed in the second envelope addressed to the Secretary (or designated professional firm). The inspectors of election (or designated professional firm) shall check the returns against the list of members whose dues are paid for the current year prior to opening the outer envelopes and removing the blank envelopes, and shall certify the eligibility of the voters as well as the results of the voting which shall be announced by mail.

(e) Nominations cannot be made in any manner other than as provided above.