Nominating and Voting for Our Club Directors

It is truly amazing that, less than one month after the induction ceremony of President Raffy Alunan and his team, the Rotary Club of Manila is already preparing for the elections of the succeeding set of Directors who will serve in the next Rotary year. An early election is an outstanding feature in our Constitution and By-Laws and is meant to ensure that the directors-elect (especially the new ones) will be able to better prepare (and psych) themselves to lead the Club next year.

Pursuant to our Club By-Laws, members will be nominating the candidates who will be among the choices to be voted upon on election day. Notably --

a. Nominations for candidates to the Board shall be called by the Presiding Officer at a regular meeting of the membership one month before the election [cf., RCM By-Laws Art. I -1]; and,

b. Any number of nominations may be made by the members on the floor [Ibid].

Pursuant to the above, the Club’s weekly membership meeting on August 3 will be the day that the nominations will be made. This is without prejudice to any other announcement that will be issued by the duly constituted Election Committee. This means that an Election Committee must be constituted at least a week before this date. On the matter of creating an Election Committee, we are guided by the relevant provisions of our Club By-Laws and Election Manual, viz:

a. The RCM President has the power to appoint the Chairman and members for the Committee, subject to the approval of the Board [cf., By-Laws, Article VII- Section1-C].

b. the President shall form the Elections Committee preferably with the Immediate Past President as the Chairman and two past presidents as members. One of the members shall be the Vice Chairman. [cf., RCM Election Manual, Code of Policies, July 2014].

c. The Election Committee Chairman shall supervise the nomination, voting and canvassing of votes. He shall be assisted by the Election Committee members. On Election Day, the Election Committee shall supervise the election and the Board of Canvassers shall assist in the distribution and collection of the ballots [cf., RCM Election Manual, Code of Policies, July 2014].

The election will be held on the first Thursday of September, and this year, the date is September 7. The Club will be choosing eight Directors who will compose the governing Board, and who will be modeling the way and making crucial decisions as servant-leaders. It is hoped that all members will carefully choose the nominees based on personal qualifications and track record, and select those who will best protect and promote the interest of the Club.

A modified version of our four-way test may help as a guide in choosing who to vote for as our Club Directors, thus:

1. Is he truly committed to serve as an elected Director?

2. Will he be fair in his decision-making as a Board member?

3. Will he foster better friendships and goodwill as an RCM officer?

4. Will his election to the Board be beneficial to all members?

The roster of Manila Rotarians composing this great Club will tell us that we are not lacking in exceptional choices. Let us thus discern and choose wisely!