Policies and Procedures for Nomination and Election of Board of Directors
1. Voting policies and procedures are established according to the Charter for the American Chamber of Commerce
of Afghanistan and in accord with guidelines for U.S. Chamber accreditation and membership.
2. AmCham/Af members must be up-‐to-‐date to participate in the election as voters, nominees, or candidates. Members will be able to participate as voters and candidates if their memberships are brought to current status prior to the voting process.
3. NGOs and Individual Members are not eligible to be candidates to the Board.
4. Members may nominate up to three (3) eligible candidate(s) for the Board of Directors; the official Nominating Ballot is required to submit nominations. Only eligible candidates for the Board may be nominated. Members may nominate themselves.
5. Electronic nominations must originate at the email address on file with the AmCham/Af.
6. The nomination period shall be determined by the outgoing board. The nomination process shall not be less than 2 weeks and may be extended by the outgoing board.
7. Nominees will be vetted for valid membership by the Executive Director who will submit the slate of nominations to the membership. In the event that the number of eligible nominees exceeds 300% of the number of available Board seats, the Board at its discretion may call for a two-round election procedure, and, after the first round, eliminate 50% of the candidates who received the fewest number of votes in the first round of voting. In the event of a tie in the first round of a two round election process, the outgoing Board of Directors shall use its judgment in determining the slate for the second round. In the event of a tie in the second round of a two round election process, or a tie in a one round election process, the outgoing Board of Directors may, at its discretion, call for a runoff election or expand the number of Board seats, with the provision that the expanded board must be an odd number.
8. There is a minimum of 7 open seats on the Board of Directors. There must be an odd number of Board members. Two seats are open for Non-‐US members that possess Elite memberships or above. All other Board seats must be occupied by representatives of American companies.
9. Candidates will have no fewer than five days to campaign. A campaign event will be held prior to the election to provide candidates the opportunity to speak to assembled AmCham/ Af members. A proxy may speak for the nominee if approved by the Executive Director prior to the event.
10. Voting will occur over a 72 hour period; votes must be recorded on an official, electronic Voting Ballot; vote counting will be audited by a representative of the U.S. Department of Commerce and another objective third party designated by the Board. No electronic ballots will be accepted after the closing date and time, unless the outgoing board determines that circumstances warrant an extension, in which case (i) notice of the extension shall be made to all members and (ii) the outgoing board may know the number of votes received, but not the identity of the candidates receiving votes. In case of ties, the final decision will be made by the outgoing Board.
11. Each voting member will cast up to a number of votes to the number of seats up for election as determined by the outgoing board. Each voting member may cast only one vote per candidate, and need not cast all of their votes. The Votes will be tallied and accorded weight relative to the membership level of the Voter, with Charter and Trustee members’ votes counting as three; Elite members’ votes counting as two, and Corporate and Small Business members’ votes counting as one.
12. Notification of the names of newly elected Board members will be provided as soon as is practical after the vote counting is finalized and any ties are resolved.
13. The outgoing Board will meet with the newly elected members as soon as is practical after the vote counting finalized and any ties are resolved. The new Board will elect its New Chair and Vice Chair.