By Sherry Harriman,
Maine State Grange President/Master
207 490-1029
I hope to see many of you at one of the Information/Instruction meetings I have scheduled. Or invite me to your Grange or Pomona area if you are interested.
- May 15, Evening Star in Washington, 6:00 pm refreshments; 7:00pm meeting
- May 17, Winthrop, 5:30 pm
- May 21, Harraseeket in Freeport 1:00 pm
- June 17, Arbutus in Surry 1:00 pm
- June 22, Paugus in Fryeburg 6:30 pm
- June 27, Granite in Searsport 1:00 pm, Also Conferring the Fifth Degree Obligation Ceremony
- Victor in Fairfield has invited me, we are working on a date.
RESOLUTIONS are due to the State Grange office by August 15 — email or standard mail.
PROCEDURE FOR ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Yes, Maine still uses paper ballots for each officer, and should be held in June. The committees are named by the elected Master.
The Master will appoint tellers to count the ballots, and a table or place to count the ballots is set up for them. Paper ballots are passed out to all members of that Grange. Count the members that are eligible to vote. Yes, the tellers may ballot, if they are from that Grange.
Then the Master will say: “The Chair awaits presentations of names for the office of….” Any member of that Grange may present or suggest a name, the proper words are…“I present or suggest the name of… ” (nominate is not the proper term). The Master will repeat the name presented and ask, “Are there any others?”, asking a total of three times, repeating the list of names for that office each time they ask, “Are there any others?”. Anyone’s name may be presented for any office by any member.
A person may decline or withdraw their name for the office, if they wish to, at the time their name is presented. The person declining does not have to give a reason for declining. (Something to remember, if you are not willing to accept the office that your name has been presented for, it is best to decline at this time rather than after the election.)
The Master will repeat the names and say, “You will prepare your ballots for the office of….” After a brief pause, the Master will instruct the Assistants to collect the ballots and may excuse the Assistants from carrying their staves. Paper ballots are cast by the members, writing the name of the person you wish to elect to that office. You may write anyone’s name even if their name was not presented.
You do not have to ballot if you do not wish to. You must write the word “Blank” on the ballot if you want to cast your ballot but do not want to vote for one of those names presented or any other name, but want your ballot to count in the “total ballots cast”. (A plain ballot may have been stuck to another and not intended to be put in the ballot count, plain ballots will not be counted in the total of ballots cast.)
Once the Assistants have collected the ballots, the Master asks, “Have all balloted who desire to do so?” Hearing no one speak up, the Master will say, “I declare the ballot closed.” The ballot is then given to the tellers, and the Assistants return to their seats.
The tellers will count the ballots and make the report. Reporting as follows each time: “WM, there were… total ballots cast for the office of…, necessary for choice… (majority, one more than half of the ballots cast), then will list the number of ballots cast for each person or name on the ballots. The ballot is then thrown away after the result is given by the Master.
The final choice is announced by the Master, “By your ballot, you have elected ___________ to the office of ____________.” and the results are recorded. Once a majority has been reached, the Master will ask the person, “Brother or Sister _______________, do you accept the office of ______________? If they decline or there is no majority of the ballots cast, the Master will say, “Since we have no majority, you will prepare your ballot for the office of _____________,” repeating all names listed. You will proceed to ballot once again on the same office until a majority is reached. The same procedure is followed for each office.
Upon completion of the election, the tellers are excused with thanks.
After the election, the Subordinate or Pomona, the Secretary will provide Officer (Master, Lecturer & Secretary name, address, phone & email) and the same for the Committee Chairs, plus meeting day and time, and Grange address, to the State Grange as soon as possible for the new Roster.