Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations

Recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee on Electoral Reform as Revised and Approved at the June 2010 SHAFR Council Meeting

Nomination Process:

1. Members of SHAFR that are interested in running for any position shall be encouraged to self-nominate.
2. The Nominating Committee (NC) shall mail (to be phased out in two years) and email a call for nominations and self-nominations and post such calls on the SHAFR.org site and the H-Diplo listserv.
3. Members of the NC are encouraged to solicit candidates to run. Those solicitations, however, shall not constitute a nomination. The proposed candidate must either self-nominate or receive a nomination from a third party.
4. In each case the calls for nominations/self-nominations and solicitations shall be juxtaposed with desiderata developed by the NC. These desiderata can include record of publication and teaching, history of active service to SHAFR, commitment to SHAFR’s mission, etc. In particular, Council draws the NC’s attention to the importance of ensuring representation from international members, members at teaching institutions, etc.
5. The desiderata may also include more specific requirements, such as requiring that a graduate student member of the Council hold ABD status for at least one year prior to his/her expected graduation.
6. The current NC shall, in consultation with the 2010 president and vice president, develop these desiderata.
7. The SHAFR Council will approve these desiderata at the January 2011 meeting.
8. Desiderata can be revised by future Nominating Committees subject to the approval of the SHAFR Council. Proposed revisions must be submitted to the Council for discussion and voting at the January meeting in order to take effect in that year’s election.
9. Graduate students who seek to serve on the SHAFR Council shall submit to the NC a letter of self-nomination and one letter of support. The individual writing the letter of support need not be the graduate student’s primary advisor or a member of SHAFR.
10. The number of elected members of the Council shall expand by one with the goal of ensuring wide representation of the SHAFR membership.
11. Concurrent with the NC’s solicitation of self-nominations and call for nominations, the vice president shall send out an email soliciting volunteers for service on non-elected committees.
12. Candidates shall not be informed about whom they are running against until the ballot is complete.
13. If a SHAFR member is nominated and placed on the ballot, but fails to win election, s/he shall wait one year before being nominated again for the same or a different office.
14. Following the expiration of their tenure, Council members must wait three years before seeking nomination again.
15. The president and vice president shall not submit nominations while holding office.  SHAFR officers should not sit in on NC meetings.  They may nominate but should make no further contact with Nominating Committee.
16. SHAFR officers shall not sit in on NC meetings or have contact with NC members regarding nominees.
17. The authority for administering the election rests with the NC. In addition to soliciting nominations and constructing the ballot, the NC shall acquire from the candidates statements and biographical data; enforce all election guidelines; respond to all questions; work with the SHAFR Business Office to circulate the ballot, reminders, and other notifications; receive from the webmaster the electronic results; and transmit the results to the SHAFR Business Office.

Consideration of Nominees:

18. The NC should seek a ballot that reflects the diversity of the SHAFR membership.
19. The criteria used by the NC for selecting nominees shall be explicit and congruent with the desiderata stipulated in the call for nominations and solicitation of self-nominations.
20. The NC shall consider the number of times a candidate has previously both run for and held office (or offices).
21. The president and vice president shall be limited to one term in office.

Electoral Reform:

22. All voting shall be conducted by electronic ballot via a portal or comparable mechanism (as determined by the SHAFR webmaster) accessible by way of the SHAFR.org webpage.
23. The voting process shall be preceded by both email and snail mail notification of and instructions to all SHAFR members. These notifications and instructions shall accompany the calls for nomination/solicitation and be reinforced by reminders (see below for schedule).
24. Accompanying the announcement of the ballot, the NC shall issue a statement discouraging lobbying or campaigning for one’s own candidacy.
25. The NC shall issue two “Don’t forget to vote” reminders. Both shall be sent by email and snail mail, posted on Shafr.org and SHAFR’s Facebook fan page, distributed on H-Diplo, and to the extent possible published in appropriate issue(s) of Passport.
26. Each year, the NC shall adhere to a strict schedule that encompasses the entire process. The recommended schedule is:
    1. Call for nominations and self-nominations (accompanied by notification of and instructions for electronic balloting): May 1 (email, mail, SHAFR.org,  Facebook fan page, H-Diplo)
       1. Reminder July 1  (email, mail, H-Diplo)
    2. Close nominations: July 15
    3. Post ballot on SHAFR.org (and mail and email notification of posting along with, again, instructions): August 15
    4. End election: November 1
       1. September 15—reminder to vote (email, mail, H-Diplo)
       2. October 15—reminder to vote (email, mail, H-Diplo)
27. Each candidate shall provide the NC a “Statement of Professional Service and Interests” for inclusion on the ballot. This statement shall address his or her achievements, experience, and vision for SHAFR. So long as the statement remains within the word count limit (see below), the balance among these components shall be at the discretion of the candidates. The word limit for each office will be:
    1. VP/President: 250 words
    2. Council: 200 words
    3. Council (Graduate Student): 150 words
    4. Nominating Committee: 150 words
28. Candidates shall be encouraged to make available a C.V. (no more than three pages in length) through posting on SHAFR.org in conjunction with the ballot.

Management/Supervision:

29. SHAFR endows the Nominating Committee with full responsibility and authority for constructing the ballot and both the nominating and election process.
30. The candidates shall be responsible for adhering to the word limits of their statements. The NC will not edit the statement.
31. If a candidate exceeds the word limit, the NC shall return it to the candidate electronically with instructions to condense/abbreviate it within two days. If the candidate does not comply with the instructions, the ballot shall include his or her name without a supporting statement. Only statements of a length congruent with the word limit shall appear on the ballot.
32. The NC shall refer all disputes to the Council.
33. SHAFR Council shall propose whatever amendments or revisions to the By-Laws are required in order to implement those recommendations which it approves.
34. These recommendations will go into effect in time to guide the 2011 SHAFR election