To: DRC County Chairs and State Committee Members
The NYS Democratic Rural Conference(DRC) is holding its annual conference on April 26 and 27 at the Desmond Hotel outside Albany, NY. At this conference, the membership will fill the 2 Officer positions (Secretary and Treasurer), 4 Regional Vice Chair positions, and 5 Director-at-Large positions.
To run for any of these positions and/or vote in the election, you must be from a DRC county that has paid its 2024 DRC dues and be a county chair or state committee member. The term of office for these positions is 2 years except for the Secretary and Treasurer’s position. The individual who becomes the Secretary and Treasurer will have a one-year term. If there is a tie, there will be a coin toss to determine who gets the one-year term.
Individuals who are interested in running for any of these positions are encouraged to email Phil Jones, Chair of the Nominating Committee, at paj12147@gmail.com by Midnight April 20, 2024, to appear on the virtual ballot. Write-in candidates will be accommodated on the ballot.
The following people have declared their candidacy:
- John Hurley (Ontario County) is running for the position of Treasurer. He was appointed Treasurer by the Board in January due to a sudden vacancy.
- William Thickstun (Oneida County) is running for Secretary. The board appointed him in January due to a sudden vacancy.
The election
Voting will be conducted virtually using “Electionbuddy” software. You may vote from your computer or cell phone using either email or text. You are NOT required to attend the conference or the business meeting to vote, but we will need to have an accurate email and/or cell phone number and you will only have a limited time to vote on Saturday, April 27, approximately 120 minutes.
If you are not attending the conference or the Business Meeting:
- You will receive your Ballot at @ 10 AM on Saturday, April 27, 2024. It will go to your e-mail and text if you have provided us with your cell phone number and email address.
- While you may receive the ballots on both your email and phone, you can vote at only one place.
- You will have until 12:00 PM on Saturday, April 27 to cast your ballot.
- The ballot will come from “Electionbuddy” NOT the DRC or me!!
- If you add invitations@mail.electionbuddy.com to your contact list, you will significantly decrease the probability that the ballot will end up in SPAM.
- Ballots will only be sent to individuals from Counties that have paid their dues.
If you are attending the conference:
- Stop by the Credentials desk and verify that we have the correct e-mail and/or cell phone number.
- Read the bullet points above as they will all apply to you, as well.
The ballots:
- The DRC Board Elections: Each voter may receive 3 ballots.
- At-Large Director positions: There are 5 vacant positions, and we have ___ declared candidates. Nominations will be accepted from the floor. Ballots will allow the voter to abstain or write in a candidate.
- The 4 Regional Vice Chair positions: There are 4 vacant positions, and we have _____ declared candidates. Attendees at the Saturday Business meeting will be able to nominate candidates from the floor. Ballots will allow the voter to abstain or write-in a candidate. Ballots will only be sent to County Chairs and SCMs within each Region
- 1 Officer ballot for Secretary and Treasurer and we have __2__ declared candidates as of 218/24. Nominations will be accepted from the floor. Ballots will allow the voter to abstain or write-in a candidate.
- Exceptions:
- If a contest is not contested and the individual is elected by acclamation of the people present at the Business Meeting, that ballot will not be sent out.
- If someone is nominated from the floor at the Business Meeting, I will notify remote voters by email of that fact prior to sending the ballots out.
Proxies: Since this is virtual voting, there is no need for proxies.
If you have any questions, please contact Phil Jones by e-mail prior to the conference at paj12147@gmail.com. I will be at the conference credentials table on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
The Nominating Committee
- Phil Jones, Chair – Livingston County
- Michael Schell, Jefferson County
- Doris Kirsch, Wyoming County
- Mitch Ford, Oneida County
- Karen Ash, Allegany County
The link below is a map of NY State showing where the current board members reside:
State%20Map%20as%20of%20March%202024.pdf