Rules for Virtual and Hybrid Central Committee Meetings at Which Votes are to be Taken

Adopted by unanimous 40-0 vote at the August 26, 2023, General Membership (Central Committee) Meeting

 

1. All Central Committee meetings held wholly or in part on-line (virtually) shall provide an option whereby a virtual attendee’s face can be seen.  Members shall have their cameras on by default during the meeting, but may turn them off to attend to tasks that need to be off camera.

2. At virtual meetings voting shall be through an electronic application such as Zoom which allows a member to indicate a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ vote, as well as an ‘abstain’ option which may be a simple absence of voting on a vote.  Screen shots shall be taken of potentially close votes on Resolutions and preserved in the minutes of the Central Committee meeting.

3. All attendees at Central Committee meetings shall identify themselves by their names on the attendance screen.  Members attending by telephone shall use their best efforts to show their names, and shall orally identify themselves by name if only their telephone number is displayed.

4. No more than two members may share a screen only in the cases where one member needs assistance for full participation or where only one screen is available for the two members.  In this case, one member shall vote using the meeting application and the other shall announce their vote to the meeting.  Such oral vote shall be recorded on the voting tally.  The member voting orally shall appear on the attendance screen throughout the voting period.

5. Members are strongly encouraged to register to attend the meeting in advance, so that their eligibility to vote can be verified.  The Secretary or their delegate shall have access to a copy of the membership list as of fourteen days prior to the meeting with which they can verify membership status.

6. Polling by use of an electronic poll function shall be used when a secret ballot is required, e.g., candidate endorsements as appropriate and election of officers by PCOs.

7. At hybrid Central Committee meetings members attending in person shall have their membership verified when they register at the meeting and shall be issued such voting cards as appropriate.