PJSTA Voting Guidelines

P.J.S.T.A. Voting Election Guidelines and Procedures

1) All voting must be by secret ballot and take place in or near the Main Office.

2) The voting station should be set up and ready to accept ballots no less than thirty minutes before Teacher sign in time in each building.

3) Only Building Election Coordinators can distribute or collect ballots.

4) All members must vote before the start of period one in the building where they teach period one.

5) There is to be only one public address notification to alert members that the voting session is coming to an end.  This announcement will state, “The voting session will end shortly.  Please come to the Main Office to vote.”  This announcement must be made only by the Building Election Coordinator and the time the announcement is made can be at his/her discretion.  On Election Day, the official Member Voting Building List shall only be seen by the Building Election Coordinators.

6) All election guidelines will be posted on the proposed ballot sheet and the acknowledgement letters to the candidates.  

7) All prospective candidates must submit a written letter of intent to the Election Chairperson. The Election Chairperson will mail an acknowledgement letter to the candidate within three days of receiving his/her letter of intent to run.  It is the responsibility of the candidate to insure that the Election Chairperson receives his/her letter of intent to run.  If the candidate does not receive an acknowledgement letter from the Election Chairperson, he/she is to assume that the Election Chairperson did not receive his/her letter of intent to run and his/her name will not appear on the official ballot sheet.

7a) To run for an officer position (President, First, Second and Third Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer), a member must also send the election coordinator a petition signed by at least forty members in good standing, requesting that the member’s name be placed on the ballot.  This petition must be submitted to the Chairperson of the Elections Committee no later than 30 days prior to the election of officers.

7b) Since the President, by virtue of his/her office is automatically the first delegate, the ballot for the election of President shall also specify, “President (Delegate to the NYSUT Representative Assembly and its national affiliates)”.

8) These Guidelines will be posted on the PJSTA Website.  A copy of these Guidelines will be placed in every member’s mailbox and the Election Chairperson will mail a copy of these Guidelines to all members who are on leave. Beginning August 2010, a copy of these Guidelines will be given to every New Teacher at The PJSTA New Teacher Luncheon in August.

9) The Building Election Coordinators must bring the ballots to the PJSTA ballot counting location immediately after the school day ends on election day.  All counting of ballots will take place, under the supervision of the Election Chairperson, in the building where the PJSTA Union Office is located, on Election Day.  The Election Chairperson will submit the results of the election to the PJSTA President and the Executive Board upon completion of the ballot counting.    

10) By the second Monday in November, all PJSTA Senior Building Representatives must send a copy of their Building Rosters PJSTA Election Chairperson.

• The Election Chairperson will send official Member Voting Building Lists to the Senior Building Representatives by the second Monday in January.  

• The Senior Building Representatives are to post these lists in each of the Faculty Rooms.  

• It is the responsibility of each member to check these rosters and ascertain that his/her name appears on the building list where he/she will be voting.  

• After the Election Chairperson has received all requests for absentee ballots and building voting location letters, the Election Chairperson will create the official building member voting lists.  

• Only those members listed on the official building member voting lists will be permitted to vote.

11) Any member who desires to change his/her voting location must submit a written request to the Executive Board for approval before the February meeting of the Executive Board.  Upon receipt of this request, a written confirmation will be sent to the member by the PJSTA Election Chairperson.  It is the responsibility of the member to assure that the Executive Board has received his/her request.  

12) Any member who desires to vote by absentee ballot must submit a written request to the Executive Board for approval before the March meeting of the Executive Board.     Upon receipt of this request, an official absentee ballot will be sent to the member by the PJSTA Election Chairperson.  It is the responsibility of the member to assure that the Executive Board has received his/her request.  The absentee ballot must be received by the Election Chairperson no later than three days before the election.  It is recommended that the absentee ballot be returned to the PJSTA Union Office via the USPS, return receipt requested, to assure that the ballot is received by the Election Chairperson.  

13) Any member paying union dues at any time during the school year shall be eligible to vote.  

14) A member shall be eligible to run for no more than one position on the Executive Board in any election.  In addition, a member may submit no more than one petition in any election.  Incumbent officers need not file a petition for re-election.  In each election, a member shall run for only one voting elective position on the Executive Board or Representative Council.  A member shall hold only one voting position on the Representative Council.