The Illinois Hockey Officials Association Board of Directors recognizes IHOA and the officiating community depend on the dedicated efforts of its members and Directors for the orderly and efficient operation of IHOA’s mission. As such, the Board encourages each and every eligible IHOA member to participate to their greatest ability, including as a member of the IHOA Board of Directors.

While encouraging officials to become Board Members, the IHOA Board is also cognizant of the need for a set of policies and procedures to guide the Nomination Committee for purposes of fulfilling its functions regarding the election of Board Members at the Annual Meeting.

Therefore, the IHOA Nominating Committee shall heretofore utilize the following policies and procedures for the nomination, acceptance, confirmation and election of eligible IHOA members to the IHOA Board of Directors. As used throughout these Policies and Procedures, the Nominating Committee may be referred to as “Committee”, and the Nominating Chairman may be substituted for as “or his/her designate”.

1. In accordance with the IHOA By-Laws, at least thirty (30) days prior to the Annual Meeting, a notice shall be published on the IHOA website indicating the date and time of the IHOA Annual Meeting.

2. Pursuant to the IHOA By-Laws, any IHOA member in good standing as of November 30 of the current playing year is eligible to nominate a similarly eligible IHOA member for election to the Board of Directors. The nominator shall provide a written email communication to the Nominating Committee Chairman nominating a member for election to the IHOA Board of Directors. No nominations may be accepted earlier than 30 days preceding the Annual Meeting date.

3. Upon receipt of the nomination, the Nominating Committee shall send the nominee an email outlining these policies and procedures and requesting the nominee provide written email confirmation of his/her acceptance of the nomination.

4. The Nominee shall provide a written communication via email to the Chairman of the Nominating Committee accepting his/her nomination for election to the IHOA Board of Directors.

5. The time for completing the nomination and acceptance procedure outlined above shall be on or before 5:00 p.m. on May 1 of the year in which the Annual Meeting is occurring. Any nomination or acceptance email received after 5:00 p.m. on May 1 shall be determined as not timely and the nominee shall not be certified as a candidate for the current election. The time stamp on any email received by the Nominating Committee Chairman shall be conclusive proof of the time in which the email was received by the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall send email notice to any nominee determined as ineligible or not timely notifying the nominee of same.

6. At the conclusion of the nomination and acceptance period outlined above, the Nominating Committee shall certify the list of confirmed candidates for placement on the Board of Directors election ballot. Further, the Nominating Committee shall send email notice to all confirmed candidates identifying the list of certified candidates and requesting confirmation from the candidates as to the spelling and appearance of the candidates’ name on the election ballot. No candidates name on the ballot may include nicknames or other non-legal names. The Nominating Committee may permit an exception to this restriction and it may be to permit the shortened version of a name, i.e. Michael may be shortened to Mike, William may be shortened to Bill, etc.

7. At the discretion of the Nominating Committee, each candidate may provide a biography to the Nominating Committee for dissemination to the membership during the Annual Meeting. The Nominating Committee, in its absolute discretion, may determine whether to provide the biographies of the providing candidates to the membership during the Annual Meeting. The Nominating Committee may, in its absolute discretion, decline to provide any biographies of the providing candidates to the membership during the Annual Meeting. The Nominating Committee may consider, among other items, the cost of providing copies of the biographies to the membership. The purpose of this paragraph is to treat each candidate equally. If the Nominating Committee determines it will provide copies of the biographies to the membership for one candidate it shall provide copies of the biographies for all candidates. If the Nominating Committee determines it will not provide copies of the biographies to the membership then it shall provide no biographies of the candidates to the membership. The Nominating Committee, in its absolute discretion, may decline to provide a biography to the membership if the biography contains language or issues which are contrary to the purposes, rules and regulations of IHOA, AHAI or USA Hockey.

8. The Nominating Committee shall prepare election ballots and election results forms for the Annual Meeting election. The Nominating Committee may, in its absolute discretion, prepare the election ballots and may use any or all of the following as information on the ballot: a) Candidate Name; b) Candidate’s Nominator(s); and Placement of the Candidates’ Names in Alphabetical Order or as determined by the Committee.

9. The Nominating Committee shall conduct the Annual Meeting election in accordance with the IHOA By-Laws and the procedures outlined in the Illinois Not for Profit Corporations Act, as amended from time to time. The IHOA Registrar (or the Registrar’s designate if the Board Member occupying the Registrar position is up for election) shall present each eligible IHOA member present at the Annual Meeting with an election ballot prepared by the Nominating Committee. The ballot must be completed and returned to the designated Nominating Committee member during the Annual Meeting in order for the member’s vote to be tabulated in the election.

10. In the event a member returns a ballot which is not in conformity with these policies and procedures, or in some other manner does not conform to the IHOA By-Laws or the Illinois Not for Profit Corporations Act, the Nominating Committee Chairman may, in his/her absolute discretion, determine a ballot is “spoiled” and disregard the ballot for counting purposes.

11. The Nominating Committee may request assistance from any IHOA member with any portion of the election, provided the IHOA member is not a candidate for the current election.

12. At the conclusion of the election at the Annual Meeting, the Nominating Committee shall prepare and certify the Election Results Form for presentation to the membership and the IHOA Board of Directors and its Officers. Upon election of the Officers for the upcoming year, the Nominating Committee shall present the certified Election Results Form to the Secretary for his/her certification and placement in the corporate records.