Voting at the AILG annual meeting

The AILG holds an annual meeting, usually in early June. During that meeting, the AILG votes to:

• Approve the annual budget
• Elect members of the Board of Directors
• Elect ombudspeople

The Corporation President or designated voting representative from each AILG member house present may vote.

The annual budget is usually approved with a voice vote, after it is presented by the AILG Treasurer and members have opportunities for questions and discussion.

Typically, members of the Board of Directors are elected by paper ballot. There are always two open seats for three year terms. There may also be additional open seats to finish the remaining terms of any Board of Directors members who resign. Candidate nominations are solicited from the floor. If there is more than one type of open position (e.g. terms of different lengths), nominations and elections for each type of open position would typically be held separately. If the number of candidates is not greater than the number of open positions, the AILG may be asked for unanimous consent to dispense with elections. Otherwise, each voter can cast their ballot for as many candidates as there are open positions, by listing the names of the candidates on the inside of the folded ballot. For example, if there are two open positions, each voter can vote for either one or two different candidates. A candidate is elected during the first round of voting if they receive a number of votes greater than or equal to one half plus one the number of ballots cast. If there are any empty positions after the first round of voting, another round of voting is conducted, removing any candidate(s) who have already been elected, and removing the candidate with the least votes from the first round.

Typically, ombudspeople are elected by paper ballot. Candidate nominations are solicited from the floor. There are three simultaneous elections to fill the positions of fraternity ombudsperson, sorority ombudsperson, and independent living group ombudsperson. Any candidate for the position of ombudsperson is considered a candidate for all three positions. Voters cast their ballot for a single candidate for the ombudsperson position corresponding to their organization affiliation (e.g. a sorority voter will vote in the sorority ombudsperson election). An individual candidate thus may be elected to more than one ombudsperson of the positions; an ombudsperson need not have affiliation with the type of organization they will be serving.

Typically, voters are asked to mark the name of their organization on the ballot, so that it is possible to check that a house doesn’t accidentally vote twice due to miscommunication between attendees.