ABA Announcements
DELEGATE-AT-LARGE ELECTIONS
Pursuant to S 6.5 of the ABA Constitution, six Delegates-at-Large to the House of Delegates will be elected at the 2016 Annual Meeting for three-year terms beginning with the adjournment of that meeting and ending with the adjournment of the 2019 Annual Meeting. Candidates for election as Delegate-at-Large are to be nominated by written petition. The deadline for filing nominating petitions for the 2016 election in San Francisco, California, is Tuesday, May 17, 2016.
Under the Constitution, no more than one nominee from a particular state, territory or possession may be elected in the annual election. If more than one member accredited to the same state, territory or possession submits nominating petitions, each will be notified within ten days of the fact that there is more than one nominee.
Voting will take place adjacent to the 2016 Annual Meeting registration area at the conference headquarters hotel, the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco, California. The polls will be open during the same hours as registration, except that the polls will close on Monday, August 8, 2016, at 5:00 p.m. The votes will then be tallied and the six nominees with the highest number of votes (taking into account that no more than one may be elected from the same state, territory or possession) will be declared elected as Delegates-at-Large. In the event of a tie vote, I, as the Secretary, will determine the winner by lot. Rules that restrict campaigning for the position of Delegate-at-Large will be mailed to all nominees upon receipt of petitions.
Nominating petitions may be obtained from the Office of the Secretary, Attn: Leticia Spencer, American Bar Association, 321 N. Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois 60654. The petition must be signed by twenty-five (25) members of the American Bar Association. The signing by any member of one petition will not disqualify him/her as the signer of other petitions. Each petition must be filed electronically or by mail with my office at the above address by the close of business at 5:00 p.m. (CT), Tuesday, May 17, 2016. The filing must include the written consent of the nominee and a biographical sketch approved by the nominee consisting of not more than seventy-five (75) words. All biographical sketches will be printed and available to Association members as they register or collect their credentials at the registration desk at the 2016 Annual Meeting.
Any questions regarding the foregoing should be sent promptly to the Office of the Secretary c/o Leticia Spencer at [email protected] or 312-988-5160.
Mary T. Torres
ABA Secretary
UTAH STATE DELEGATE VACANCY ELECTION
Pursuant to S 6.3(e) of the ABA’s Constitution, the state of Utah will elect a State Delegate to fill a vacancy due to the resignation of Lawrence E. Stevens of the House of Delegates. The term commences immediately upon certification by the Board of Elections and expires at the conclusion of the 2018 Annual Meeting.
PETITIONS
Nominating petitions must be filed with the Board of Elections at Association headquarters not later than Monday, April 11, 2016. A minimum of twenty-five signatures of members of the Association is required.
While it is desirable that more than the required minimum of twenty-five names of members of the Association appear on the nominating petitions, only twenty-five names of signers of any petition will be included with the ballot. Only signatures of members of the Association will be counted. Each nominating petition must be accompanied by a typewritten list of names, addresses, and ABA member ID’s of the signers in the order in which they appear on the petition. The petition must also be accompanied by a one-hundred-word biographical sketch of the nominee and a signed Statement of Expectations must also accompany the petitions. Forms for this purpose will be provided. The biographical sketch and a list of twenty-five signers from the nominating petitions will be included in the ballot material sent to each Association member in the state of Utah.
The candidate and all signers must be members of the Association whose membership is accredited to the state of Utah. There is no limit to the number of candidates who may be nominated in any state, and the nominations are made only on the initiative of members themselves.
Each nominee for the office of State Delegate is entitled to receive one list of the names and addresses of the Association members in Utah. The list is to be made available only after the proper filing of nominating petitions and after the petition filing deadline, upon written request. The nominee should allow fourteen days from receipt of the request until delivery of the list. In addition, ABA staff will send one email on behalf of the candidates to the ABA lawyer members in Utah.
Nominating petitions may be obtained from the Board of Elections at the headquarters office of the American Bar Association, 321 N. Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois 60654, and must be filed before the close of business at 5:00 P.M., Monday, April 11, 2016.
Ballots will be sent to Association members in good standing, accredited to the state of Utah, no later than May 9, 2016.
In accordance with S 6.3(e) of the ABA Constitution, no ballots will be mailed to members when a State Delegate election is uncontested. If only one valid nominating petition is filed, the Board of Elections will certify that the sole nominee is elected.
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
Hon. Stuart Rabner, Chair
N. Kay Bridger-Riley
L. Jonathan Ross
GOAL III MEMBERS-AT-LARGE ON THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE
The ABA president will appoint one Goal III minority member-at-large and one Goal III woman member-at-large to the Nominating Committee for the 2016-2019 term. These appointments will be broadly solicited nominations from the diversity commissions, sections, divisions and forums, state and local bar associations, and the membership at large. If you are interested in submitting a nomination, or if you have any questions, please contact Leticia Spencer ([email protected]; 312.988.5160) c/o Office of the Secretary, no later than March 31, 2016.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS
The Constitution and Bylaws of the American Bar Association may be amended only at the ABA Annual Meeting upon action of the House of Delegates. The next Annual Meeting of the House of Delegates will be held August 8-9, 2016, in San Francisco, California.
Proposals to amend either the Constitution or Bylaws may be submitted by any ABA member. It is preferable that proposals be submitted in the form of a memorandum that details the purpose and effect of the proposal.
In order to be considered at the 2016 Annual Meeting, a proposed amendment must be received by the Division for Policy Administration at the American Bar Center on or before Friday, March 11, 2016. This deadline is essential in order to allow time for proposed amendments to be considered by the Standing Committee on Constitution and Bylaws.
Exact language will be drafted by the Standing Committee on Constitution and Bylaws and submitted to the sponsors for approval. This procedure will ensure that all amendments that are approved conform to style required by the rules.
Articles 12 and 13 of the Constitution require that notice of proposed amendments must be given to all ABA members at least 30 days in advance of the meeting at which the amendments are to be considered. Therefore, proposed amendments will be published in the July 2016 issue of the ABA Journal. The proponent or his or her designee must be in attendance to present the amendment for debate by the House of Delegates at the meeting at which the proposal will be considered.
Copies of Article 12, concerning amendment of the Bylaws, and Article 13, concerning amendment of the Constitution, will be provided to any member upon request to the Division for Policy Administration at the American Bar Center, 321 N. Clark Street, 21st Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60654.
Mary T. Torres
ABA Secretary
