Policy and Procedures on SIG Elections

Policy

It is the policy of the SIG Governing Board (SGB) that procedures be in place to ensure SIG elections are run and completed in accordance with Bylaw 6 of the ACM Constitution and individual SIG bylaws. In particular, the procedures outlined below were developed to ensure that any SIG elections held would be completed by the date specified in Bylaw 6 and that members of those SIGs holding elections would be given an opportunity to petition to run for a SIG office. It is the intention of the SGB that all elections for SIG Office adhere to these procedures; elections via SIG Newsletters are discouraged.

Procedures

1. Nominating Committee

By no later than 10th October of the year preceding an election, each SIG Chair is to appoint a Nominating Committee Chair. When the appointment is made, the SIG Chair should notify ACM Headquarters, and the SIG Viability Advisor of the appointment and provide the name, and electronic mail address of the Nominating Committee Chair.

The Nominating Committee Chair is responsible for seeing that a slate of candidates exists by the date specified in the procedures below. The Nominating Committee Chair and/or the SIG Chair typically appoint other SIG members to the Nominating Committee. The Chair of the Nominating Committee should be someone knowledgeable in affairs of the SIG as well as the technical area that is the focus of the SIG's activities. Past SIG Chairs are frequently appointed to be Nominating Committee Chairs since they usually meet the above criteria and are typically not planning to run for another office.

2. Candidate Slates

Each SIG Nominating Committee is to complete their work and submit a slate of candidates by no later than 2nd December of the year preceding an election. There must be at least two candidates for each elected office. Offices to which more than one individual is elected must have at least one more candidate than the number of elected positions. For example, if a SIG has a five-member Board of Directors, then there must be at least six candidates for the Board of Director positions. All candidates must be members of the SIG and Professional Members of ACM.

The Nominating Committee submits its slate of candidates to the SIG Viability Advisor and to the Department of Policy and Administration at ACM Headquarters. The slate should contain the candidate's name, email address and the office for which the individual is a candidate.

3. Candidate Slate Announcement

All SIG candidate slates along with a description of the procedure for nomination by petition will be announced via email to the SIG members. A self-mailer announcing the slate and their right to petition will be sent via post mail to those SIG members who do not have an email address on their member record.  After 15th January 2025 SIGs should also plan to publish this information in their Newsletters. However, all members of those SIGs holding elections must be informed of the slate and their right to petition by no later than 14th March. If necessary, a direct mailing to a SIG's membership (at the SIG's expense) will be made to ensure that all members are notified.

4. Nomination Via Petition

Each SIG's bylaws indicate the number of signatures a SIG member must obtain to become a candidate for an office by petition. SIG members who wish to petition must inform ACM Headquarters, the SIG Viability Advisor, and the Secretary of the SIG of their intention by 14th March. Petitions must be submitted to ACM Headquarters for verification by 1st April.

5. Biographical Information and Candidate Statements

ACM Headquarters wil provide each candidate with a link to the biographical sketch form (https://services.acm.org/public/sig_elections/bio_sketch.cfm) where thed candidate can provide us with his/her biographical information and a platform statement.  All platform statements are limited to 200 words. Candidate statements are subject to the same editorial constraints as candidate statements in ACM general elections.

Biographical information forms must be returned by the date specified. If the form is not returned prior to printing election material, the candidate's name will appear in election backup with the statement:
"No biographical information or election statement submitted."

If a candidate's platform statement exceeds the 200 word limit, the candidate will be notified and given one week to edit the statement to conform to the 200 word limit. If an edited statement is not received, the original statement will be truncated at 200 words and printed with the phrase "... statement truncated by the Election's Advisor because it exceeded the 200 word limit."

6. Preparation of Election Material

A draft of the ballot and election backup will be sent to the SIG Chair, the Nominating Committee Chair, and the SIG Viability Advisor for proof reading. There will be one week to inform ACM Headquarters of needed corrections.

7. Notification of Results

After a SIG election is completed, the election results as well as the number of votes for each candidate will be sent to the SIG's Nominating Committee Chair.  Once all the candidates have been notified of the election results, an email message announcing the winners will be sent to each candidate, the SIG Viability Advisor, and the Headquarters SIG Liaison.

8. SIG Elections Schedule