1. Preparing for Electronic Voting Southwest Sections Ninety-Nines

2. Background Information The information presented here is relevant to any section or chapter that is considering changing voting procedures. SWS 99s have 1400 members, which makes paper balloting, to the standards set by Ninety-Nines Inc., cumbersome and costly. Over the past year, we (the previous nominating committee) have crafted suggested changes to our by-laws and standing rules that we believe will provide a foundation for paper ballots, electronic ballots and unanticipated other balloting processes. We submitted the proposed changes to our section by-laws chairperson, for a language check to be sure we had worded our changes correctly. We also submitted it to our Ninety-nines Inc. counsel. The response from both parties was a statement that our by-laws and standing rules changes were premature because we had not yet outlined procedures for electronic voting. In response to this criticism, we undertook a review of election procedures changes that would relate to electronic voting. The results are presented here.

3. Process Define Goals Define Imperatives (Policies) Review existing documents Recommend changes that implement goals and policies Outline the Process of change Outline the New SOPs View Electronic Voting Examples

4. Important Considerations Electronic Voting: Must be available to all members with email addresses. Must be available by mail to all members without email addresses. Must be secure so that voting is anonymous. Must be secure so that no one can vote more than once. As in all elections, must have write-in privileges. Must have a way to tally votes to protect the integrity of final count. Must hold elections whether or not there is only one candidate for each office. Must be in Section or Chapter By-Laws and Standing Rules.

5. SWS By-Laws - Current ARTICLE VIII – NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS Section 1. The elective officers shall consist of a Governor, Vice Governor, Secretary, Treasurer, two Directors, and five Nominating Committee members. The Chairman of the Nominating Committee shall be the one receiving the greatest number of votes. Section 2. Any nominee for a member of the Nominating Committee, Secretary, Treasurer or two Directors shall have been a member of The Ninety-Nines, Inc. for a period of two years by the date of Declaration of Intent to Run and must be an active member (as defined in the International Bylaws of the organization at the time of filing her Declaration). Any nominee for Governor or Vice Governor shall, in addition, have been a Chapter Chairman, a member of the Section Board of Directors, or a Section Committee Chairman. Section 3. The elective officers shall be elected by a plurality vote of mailed ballots received by the Tellers Committee by the published deadline. Section 4. All vacancies shall be filled by selection and vote of the Board of Directors, excepting the office of Governor, to which the Vice Governor shall succeed. Any officer may be removed from office for neglect of duty, by the Board of Directors on the demand of two-thirds of the chapters of the Southwest Section. Section 5. A term shall be for two years and shall commence July 1 of the election year. All officers shall serve no more than two (2) consecutive terms in that office. The immediate Past Governor shall be a member of the Board of Directors and serve one (1) term.

6. SWS By-Law Changes - Suggested ARTICLE VIII – NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS Section 3. The elective officers shall be elected by a plurality vote of mailed ballots received by the Tellers Committee by the published deadline. Note: Terry Carbonell suggested that the word mailed be changed to delivered.

7. SWS Standing Rules - Current On or before March 1 the Nominating Committee shall have mailed to the membership a ballot with the names of all eligible nominees with a biography of each candidate. The date for the return of the ballot shall be April 1 and shall be so indicated on the ballot. Ballots postmarked after this date shall be considered void. The ballots shall be opened and counted before April 15. The Governor shall appoint a Teller’s Committee to receive and count the ballots. The nominee receiving the highest number of votes for each office shall be elected. The Governor will notify the candidates of the election results

8. SWS Standing Rules - Suggested NOMINATION AND ELECTION PROCEDURES … On or before March 1 the Nominating Committee shall have mailed provided to the membership a ballot with the names of all eligible nominees. A with a biography of each candidate shall be posted on the SWS website. The date for the return of the ballot shall be April 1 and shall be so indicated on the ballot. Ballots postmarked received after this date shall be considered void. The ballots shall be opened and counted before April 15. The Governor shall appoint a Teller’s Committee to receive and count the ballots. The nominee receiving the highest number of votes for each office shall be elected. The Governor will notify the candidates of the election results. The winning candidates shall be installed at the end of the Spring Section business meeting.

9. SWS SOPs - Current January - Chair: Send copies of all applications to all Committee members for validation. Retain all originals, as you must retain all original signatures. Seek best printer’s quote for the job. (This task may be delegated.) All Committee Members: Immediately review all applications by the following criteria: Intent to Seek Election forms must arrive at Committee chair’s address on or before Jan. 15. Use the International Online Directory to verify: Candidates’ membership status is Current. She has been an Active member for a minimum of 2 years prior to Jan. 15, 2012. Original endorsement signature agrees with online officer listing. Use the SWS Bylaws requirements to verify eligibility for office sought. In cases which may merit additional inspection, you may verify a candidate’s past service experience (officer, committee chairs held) in your Chapter Chair’s Handbook, or by requesting these files from the SWS Secretary. Note that HQ, Oklahoma City has files of Chapter Information Forms that you may request be scanned and sent. Designated Committee Member: On January 15, or the first day following, order labels from Headquarters (or download from International Website). Check current SWS Bylaws to make sure which categories of membership are eligible to vote. When ordering the labels from Headquarters, specify the exact categories of membership to be included. Note: Do include members whose Status is listed as Current, Hold, or Standby, as this is a grace period and they have not yet been dropped from the membership rolls. On January 15, or the first day following, prepare a Spreadsheet of all eligible voters to be used during ballot stuffing. Designated Committee Member: Finalize Ballot and Candidate Statement pages. Check word count of all Candidate Statements, cutting off at 150 words any that may exceed the limit. Send out to Chair and other Committee members before printing.

10. SWS SOPs - Current February Committee Chair: Update Governor on ballot progress. Purchase postage according to Database. Plan for extra postage for out-of- country members. Designated Committee Member: Send ballots, envelopes and Candidate Statement pages to the printer. Have print shop prefold them as well. Committee Members (and volunteers) who are not running for office: Stuff and label envelopes with Teller’s envelope, ballot, and Candidate Statements inserted. Check labels against Jan. 15 Spreadsheet. Stamp and mail on or before Mar. 1 deadline, as several members reside out-of-country. (SWS Standing Rules item 7d). Committee Chair: Confirm April 1 ballot return deadline with a note to each Chapter chair for publication in their March newsletters. March - Nominating Committee Chair: Review SOP’s and revised forms, send to all members of Committee for agreement. Send to current Governor/Board for approval. AprilBallot return deadline April 1 st (SWS Standing Rule 7e). Ballots postmarked after April 1 st shall be considered void. (SWS Standing Rule 7e). Ballots will be opened by Teller and counted by April 15 th (SWS Standing Rule 7e).

11. SWS SOPs - Suggested ADD - November 1. Announce the election, rules, and dates using the Southwesterly and the SWS website. NO SUGGESTED CHANGES BEFORE January 15. By January 15 of the election year, review the Election Application options to ensure that the selected application meets the requirements of the SOPs and By-Laws. January 15 – Publish the election slate and candidate biographies on the SWS website. Send a broadcast email to SWS membership with this information. On January 15, or the first day following, download list of SWS members from international Website. Request contact information for SWS members whose information is not published in the directory. Check current SWS Bylaws to make sure which categories of membership are eligible to vote. Create a spreadsheet with two lists: Section members who have verified email addresses Section members who do not have email addresses and so will automatically receive a paper ballot. Before March 1, prepare mailing labels for US Postal ballots Prepare letter with voting instructions for the mailed ballots. Include instructions for online voting, should the recipient choose to vote online. Prepare envelopes for mailing and return mailing of ballots. These ballots should be returned to the teller. The teller will record the paper ballots in the election application. Use the unique number id provided by the election application when preparing the return envelopes. This will ensure that no duplicate voting occurs. The entire list will be uploaded to the online election application. March 1 - Follow the Election Application instructions for releasing the ballots to the membership. March 1 – Mail the US postal ballots to the membership. March 15 – Send follow-up email to remind membership to vote. This can be limited to those members who have not yet voted. NOTE: When the member logs in to vote, a flag is set so that no additional votes can be processed for that email address. NOTE: Each vote is recorded, but is in no way associated with the voter. NO SUGGESTED CHANGES to SOPs beyond March 15.

12. SWS Recommendations After careful review of several online election programs, I recommend use of ElectionBuddy. See comparison of programs on next page. https://www.electionbuddy.com/ San Diego Chapter has tested this option and was satisfied with the process and security.

13. Survey of Online Elections Programs Recommended ElectionBuddy.com Reviewed SystemsSurveyMonkeyElection BuddyBallotBinSimplyVoting 1 vote per member By ip address (someone could vote on multiple computers) By voter key Anonymity yes Secure yes One vote per position yes Multiple votes per position yes Provides space for write-ins yes Unlisted voters can voteNo Editable InstructionsyesSort of? noyes Add voters by csv fileYes Send out voter key so that mailed ballots can be voted online, or returned by US mail Send url – limit by IP address Yes yes Candidate Biosnoyes Managed electionsNonoNoYes, additional charge Cost (based on 1100 emails)$300$110free$540 Test resultsOk Doesn’t work wellOk

14. Electronic Voting Examples SES 99s Survey Monkey Security = unique IP - one vote per electronic device planning change to by-laws East Canada Section e-mail process Member number as unique identifier – eliminates ability to vote multiple times by-law change to delete “mail” San Diego Chapter, SWS Election Buddy Email address and unique identifier – eliminates ability to vote multiple times by-law change to delete “mail” NWS 99s Have developed by-laws change Plan to vote on it in September New England 99s Are preparing for electronic voting