Proportional Representation Society of Australia
	Tel +61429176725	www.prsa.org.au	info@prsa.org.au	2019-09-10

PRSA Regulation No. 2: "Election of PRSA National Officers"

1. Postal ballot for electing PRSA National Officers: This Regulation gives effect to Sections 11 and 12 of the PRSA Constitution, which prescribe that, every two years, each of the four PRSA National Officers is to be elected at a secret optional preferential ballot, and that any committee formed by the officers shall have no powers or standing in the affairs of the Society. The elections are held in the odd-numbered years.

2. Returning Officer: The Returning Officer shall in accordance with Section 12 of the PRSA Constitution be, each two years in turn, one of the Secretaries or equivalent nominees of the PRSA Branches excluding at the time any who may be candidates, or otherwise be unavailable. The order, commencing in 2017, shall be Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria-Tasmania, New South Wales and South Australia.

The Returning Officer or relevant PRSA Branch may take whatever action consistent with the Constitution is necessary to continue the election process in the event that the Returning Officer is temporarily unavailable to attend to specified duties, or is unable to preside over the remainder of the election process.

The National President shall, in August of each odd-numbered year, arrange for a PRSA National Officers Election Page for that year to be placed on the PRSA website, with

· a hyperlink to it, under that title, appearing on the home page;

· that Elections Page displaying, beginning in that month, the name and contact details of the Returning Officer that the President has established has accepted appointment to that position,

· hyperlinks to a copy of the provisions of the PRSA Constitution regarding elections to national offices and this Regulation;

· the name of each candidate for each office once his or her valid nominations have been received; and

· all other information the Returning Officer considers reasonably needed by PRSA members in relation to the election.

3. Call for nominations: The Returning Officer shall

· obtain - solely for the purposes of this election - the postal addresses and email addresses of PRSA members from Branch Secretaries; and

· normally in the first two weeks of September, call in writing for nominations of PRSA National Officers, for the two-year period beginning on the first day of January next, from PRSA members

The call for nominations shall include advice to members that nominations in writing must be received by the Returning Officer, at a specified postal or email address, by a date specified for the close of nominations in the call for nominations. That date shall normally be five weeks after the call for nominations has been sent; the candidate must specify whichever one office is nominated for, and indicate the date of the nomination if that will not automatically be known when the communication is despatched.

4. Receipt of Nominations: The Returning Officer shall, on receiving a candidate’s nomination, promptly arrange for the details of that nomination to be posted on the PRSA National Officers Elections Page, and

· if a poll is required, any candidate involved may submit by a time specified by the Returning Officer, a statement of up to one hundred words for inclusion with the ballot papers; and

· for any office where there is only one candidate, the Returning Officer shall declare that candidate elected to that office at the close of nominations, and shall inform the candidate as soon as is practicable and, subsequently on the Election Page, PRSA members.

A candidate may withdraw his or her nomination by notifying the Returning Officer of that wish before the close of nominations. In that event the Elections Page shall be amended to reflect this development.

5. Postal ballot if required: If there is more than one nomination for any office, the Returning Officer shall, after the close of nominations:

· prepare ballot papers for each contested office in the general form of the specimen ballot papers shown on the PRSA website, and with a clear indication of when the poll closes, normally five weeks after the close of nominations; and

· post to PRSA members normally in the first two weeks of November those ballot papers and one or more envelopes designed to ensure that votes are admitted to the scrutiny without the identity of the sender being discernible thereafter.

If the Returning Officer has not received postal particulars for a Branch’s members by the time specified, no further efforts shall be made to secure their participation in the poll.

6. Scrutiny and declaration of the poll: Where a poll is required, the Returning Officer shall invite each candidate to nominate one scrutineer, who shall not be a candidate for any of the offices being filled, to be present at the scrutiny at a specified venue, date and time.

Where the instructions for marking a ballot paper have not been followed but the voter’s order of preference is clear, the Returning Officer shall accept that as a formal vote.

The Returning Officer shall declare the result of the poll at the close of the scrutiny, and shall post a declaration and associated counting sheets on the Elections Page.

In accordance with Section 20 of the Constitution of the Proportional Representation Society of Australia, we the undersigned make the above PRSA Regulation No. 2 “Election of PRSA National Officers”.

…………………….….. Bogey Musidlak President

………………….…….. Stephen Morey Secretary

4 March 2017

To see a signed PDF version of PRSA Regulation No. 2, for printing, click here.