Instructions for Nominations and Elections at the 2021 State Convention

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FLORIDA STATE COUNCIL

To: All Delegates to the 2021 Florida State Convention / Knights of Columbus
Re: Instructions for Nominations and Elections at the 2021 State Convention

Worthy Delegates to the 117th Annual Meeting of the Florida State Council,

As all of you know, the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought change on the way the Knights of Columbus conducts its operations. This year the Annual Meeting of the Florida State Council, otherwise known as the State Convention, will be conducted both in-person and as a virtual affair May 28 – 29, 2021. The Florida State Council Officers and Executive Board have been working hard to ensure that we can conduct all essential business with the elected Delegates to the Convention. The purpose of this letter is to provide you with information to prepare for and participate in that essential business.
Preparation. Preparation is straightforward:

  • You must complete online Convention Registration at the State Website as a Delegate. If you are attending the State Convention virtually, you must pay the Registration Fee ($35) in advance. If you are attending the State Convention in-person, your Registration Fee will be deducted from your travel and per diem payment.
  • You must register yourself; no one else can register for you. However, in order to register as a Delegate, your Council Financial Secretary must have completed the online Election of Delegates form on the State website, which authenticates the Delegates from the Council.
  • You must ensure that your registration includes both a valid email address and a valid phone number. The email address—and the phone number, if it is associated with a smartphone—will be used for pre-Convention Caucus nominations and elections, as described below, as well as for voting during the Annual Meeting.
  • Financial Secretaries must complete Election of Delegates Forms to authenticate Delegates no later than April 30.
  • Delegate must complete Convention Registration no later than May 7. If you have any questions or issues with Registration, please contact the State Convention Registration Chairman, Bill Sodan, at ConventionRegistration@floridakofc.org.

Nominations and Elections for Delegates to the Supreme Convention. The Supreme Convention is currently scheduled to take place in August of 2021. As of the date of this letter, it is not clear if the Supreme Convention will have the full set of activities it has had in the past; a partial set of activities on the ground, with the rest conducted remotely; or an entirely virtual affair conducted remotely. Elected Delegates and alternate Delegates to the Supreme Convention must be prepared for all possibilities.

  • Nominations and elections for Delegates to the Supreme Convention will be conducted primarily as a pre-Convention activity.
  • The Florida State Council is entitled to send eight Delegates, four of which must be Insurance members, to the Supreme Convention, in addition to the State Deputy and Immediate Past State Deputy.
  • As in the past, the Councils in the Florida are divided into four Caucuses, with each Caucus electing two Delegates, one of which must be an Insurance member, and an alternate to each.
  • The results of these Caucus elections will then be presented to the entire body during the business session (May 29) for a final approval vote.
  • Nominations and elections for the alternates for the State Deputy and Immediate Past State Deputy will be conducted at the business session on May 29.

Caucus Nominations Process. The Caucus nomination process will be conducted using the online elections service ElectionBuddy as an "open" election.

  • Delegates registered and paid as of Saturday, May 1 will receive a notice on May 2 via email and text for nominations from invitations@mail.electionbuddy.com. Those who register and pay after May 1 but on or before Friday, May 7 (the registration deadline) will be added to the voter list for nominations on May 8.
  • Each Delegate may submit up to one member for nomination, and must include nominee's name, member number, and Council number in the nomination.
  • Delegates who do not wish to nominate someone should enter an "Abstain" vote on the ballot.
  • Nominees (and nominators) will be posted on the State website daily; access instructions will be posted in the Conventions?Electronic Voting Menu on the website
  • Nominators—or nominees—may also submit a photo and short 150-word biography for inclusion on election ballots. Pictures and bios must be submitted separately from nomination ballot via email to state_elections@floridakofc.org

The nominations process will open on Sunday, May 2 and will run until 6 PM on Sunday, May 16.
Before nominees will be placed on the election ballot, each nominee will be required to agree to abide by the responsibilities of Supreme Convention Delegates, which is attached. The signed agreements must be sent via email to state_elections@floridakofc.org before the election ballots are composed on May 18.
Remember—too many nominees will make voters' choices on the election ballot exceedingly difficult. Nominees should have both the desire and the commitment to serve before seeking election.
Caucus Election Process. The Caucus election process will also be conducted using the online election service ElectionBuddy, but as a secret ballot.

  • Delegates registered and paid as of May 18 will receive a notice on Wednesday, May 19 shortly after 6:00 AM via email and text for their election ballot from invitations@mail.electionbuddy.com.
  • Each Delegate's ballot will be Caucus-specific and list all nominees for that Caucus. If submitted, ballot will include candidate photo & short bios.
  • Each Delegate will rank the candidates on the ballot in order of his preference and submit the ballot according to the instructions sent with the ballot.

Votes will be tallied by ElectionBuddy via an established preferential voting methodology. In essence, the candidates with the top two vote tallies will be the elected Delegates, as long as at least one of them is an Insurance
member; otherwise, the Insurance member candidate with the highest will be selected as one of the Delegates. The Alternate Delegates will be selected in a similar fashion from the rest of the candidate election results. The process
of ensuring that at least one Delegate and at least one Alternate Delegate from each Caucus are Insurance Members must be conducted separately from the election results tallied by ElectionBuddy and could alter those results.
The election will run until 6:00 PM on Wednesday, May 26. Election results will be announced at the business session of the State Convention on May 29 and confirmed by a vote of the entire body, after which they will be posted on the State website.
Annual Meeting Voting Procedures. The nomination and election of other positions—namely, State Officer positions and alternates to the State Deputy and Immediate Past State Deputy for the Supreme Convention—as well
as voting on motions and resolutions, will take place during the business session of the State Convention on May 28 and May 29 using a live version of the ElectionBuddy system. All Delegates, whether attending in-person or
virtually, must use the live version of ElectionBuddy for voting during the business sessions.
Separate instructions will be issued for using ElectionBuddy during the business sessions. However, Delegates should keep the following important points in mind:

  • Delegates attending the State Convention in-person must bring a smartphone with a browsing capability (Chrome, Edge, Safari, etc.)
  • Delegates attending virtually will be able to access ElectionBuddy through any computing platform connected to the internet, but it is advised that they also use a smartphone for ElectionBuddy, and view the virtual Convention on another platform (tablet, laptop, etc.)
  • All Delegates, whether attending in-person, will be required to go through a short registration process before each session on May 28 and May 29 by responding to an invitation from ElectionBuddy. Once registered, each required vote will automatically appear through the browser on your smartphone.

Again, more detailed instructions for live voting during the business session will be issued separately.

Please forward all concerns, questions, and issues to state_elections@florida.kofc.org.


Fraternally,
Scott A. O'Connor
State Deputy