ICJ Nomination & Elections Process

Advance Nominations Process

• The nomination period for Chair, Vice-Chair, and Treasurer opens no later than sixty (60) calendar days before the Annual Business Meeting (ABM). The National Office will notify the Commission of the nomination period and provide a description of the roles and responsibilities for each position.
• Regional Representatives and Officers will help ensure a diverse pool of candidates by encouraging members to nominate themselves or others, during scheduled meetings, via email, and/or via other communications.  
  • Only Commissioners & Full-Time Designees are eligible to be nominated and/or to make a nomination.
• Commissioners/Full-Time Designees may nominate themselves or another eligible member of the Commission. The National Office will contact nominees to advise them of the nomination and determine if they accept the nomination. Nominators will remain anonymous.
• Interested candidates are invited to submit a cover letter, resume/cv, and a Statement of Interest to the National Office.
• A candidate may be nominated for multiple offices. However, if they are elected into one office, they will not remain on the ballot for another officer position. 
• The Statement of Interest (SOI) should address how the candidate’s goals align with the ICJ Vision, Mission, Values, and Results, including racial equity.  The SOI should be approximately 100-500 words in length, although longer statements will not be excluded.  Questions to address include: 
  • Why are you running?
  • How does your candidacy align with the ICJ Vision, Mission, Values, and Results and commitment to racial equity?
• The National Office will compile and submit all documentation regarding advance nominations to Commissioners no later than thirty (30) calendar days before the Annual Business Meeting. Nominees will not be disclosed prior to this announcement.

Annual Business Meeting Process

• Regions will review the elections process and candidates.
• Regions will not vote to nominate candidates.
• Though advance nominations are encouraged, nominations from the floor will be accepted during the General Session.
• During the General Session, each candidate will address the Commission prior to voting for five (5) minutes or less.  This reduces the need for person-to-person campaigning.
• Voting is conducted electronically by anonymous ballot, without the ability to write-in a candidate.

Advance Nominations Process

• The nomination period for Regional Representatives opens no later than sixty (60) calendar days before the ABM, in years in which regional representatives are elected. The National Office will notify the Commission of the nomination period and provide a description of the roles and responsibilities for the position.
  • Only Commissioners & Full-Time Designees are eligible to be nominated.
• Commissioners/Full-Time Designees may nominate themselves or another eligible member of their region. The National Office will contact nominees to determine if they accept the nomination.
• Interested candidates are invited to submit a cover letter, resume/cv, and a Statement of Interest.
• The Statement of Interest (SOI) should address how the candidate’s goals align with the ICJ Vision, Mission Values, and Results, including racial equity.  The SOI should be approximately 100-500 words in length, although longer statements will not be excluded.  Questions to address include: 
  • Why are you running?
  • How does your candidacy align with the ICJ Vision, Mission, Values, and Results and commitment to racial equity?
• The National Office will compile and submit all nominee documentation to Commissioners no later than thirty (30) calendar days before the Annual Business Meeting.

Annual Business Meeting Process

• Regional Representatives (RR) generally lead Region Meetings, including elections, at the Annual Business Meeting.  However, if a RR leads an election in which s/he is nominated, it can raise concerns about conflict of interest.  Therefore, according to Robert’s Rules,
  • If a RR is nominated, s/he will announce whether s/he accepts nomination.
  • If the RR accepts the nomination, then the RR must recuse him/herself.
    • The RR will identify an alternate to lead the election though the alternate cannot be a nominee or nominator for the position being discussed.  Options include: an alternate RR, current Commission Officer, or National Office staff.
  • During the Regional Meeting, candidates will have up to five (5) minutes to address the region prior to voting.
  • If there is only one (1) candidate for a position, no vote is necessary.  The RR will affirm the candidate has been elected by acclamation.
  • If there is more than one (1) candidate, a vote will be conducted by paper ballot or electronically by anonymous ballot without the ability to write-in a candidate.

• Commission members who are interested in pursuing a chairperson or vice-chairperson position for one of the Commission’s existing committees are encouraged to express their interest, in writing, to the National Office.   No later than sixty (60) days prior to the Annual Business Meeting, the National Office will provide an online mechanism to be used for this purpose.
  • Only Commissioners & Full-Time Designees are eligible to serve as a chairperson or vice-chairperson.
• Committees currently include: Compliance, Finance, Information Technology, Racial Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Rules, and Training, Education, and Public Relations.
• The National Office will compile the relevant information and submit it to the recently elected officers.
• The Commission Chair will consider the submissions received when appointing the committee chairpersons.