For the March 15, 2005
Election of MVCC At-Large Directors
Election of the seven (7) “At-Large” Directors (2005, 2007, 2009) shall alternate from one year to the next with election of the six (6) “Zone Directors.” (2006, 2008, 2010)
MVCC 2005 At-Large Directors Election – March 15, 2005 5 – 9 p.m. Mar Vista Elementary School, 3330 Granville Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90066. a. Candidate Outreach and Information Sessions
i. Sunday, January 23, 2005 at 2 PM– Quarterly Stakeholder Meeting at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 11555 National Blvd., Mar Vista, CA 90066.
ii. Tuesday, February 1, 2005 at 7 PM– Mar Vista Branch Library, 12006 Venice Blvd., Mar Vista, CA 90066.
iii. Tuesday, February 22, 2005 at 7 PM - Mar Vista Elementary School, 3330 Granville Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90066.
b. Candidate Orientation Meeting – 7 p.m. Monday, February 28, 2005 at Mar Vista Elementary School, 3330 Granville Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90066.
c. Candidate Filing Deadline – 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 1, 2005. Must be received by mail or delivered to MVCC Election Committee, c/o George Chung Realtors 11671 National Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064.
d. MVCC 2005 At-Large Directors Election – March 15, 2005 5 – 9 p.m. Mar Vista Elementary School, 3330 Granville Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90066.
e. Candidate Forum – Tuesday, March 15, 2005 starts at 6:00 p.m. Mar Vista Elementary School, 3330 Granville Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90066.
Composition:
The
Mar Vista Elections Committee is composed of up to six (6) community
stakeholders. Any stakeholder that
is a candidate or plans to be a candidate must exclude themselves from the
Election Committee. Participation in the Election Committee may be a cause for
rejection as a candidate from the Election. The Election Committee meetings are
open to the public. Ken Marsh is the primary election committee contact and may
be reached by email at ken.marsh@verizon.net
or by phone at 310-966-9054. Amy Lawrence is a secondary contact and can be
reached by email at Amy@marvistacc.com
The
MVCC Bylaws indicates the Election Committee should:
Conduct
nominations for Directors,
Verify
that the nominees have met candidacy criteria,
Promote,
announce and schedule an election,
Produce
ballots for the election,
Certify
each stakeholder when the ballot is issued,
Count
ballots, determine the winners, and certify the election,
Announce
results,
And
install new Board Members.
The
definitions in Appendix A are in effect for this document.
The
Election Committee has determined that in order to guarantee a fair election
and a fair outcome that it shall have the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles
(LoWV) act as the Third Party Election Administrator. As such the LoWV shall
assist the Election Committee by, but not limited to, overseeing (or) observing
the election voting process and receipt of the ballots from the ballot boxes
and to overseeing (or) observing the ballot counting and to announce the
election results. Questions or inquiries should be made to Jerry Kvasnicka,
Election Manager, League of Women Voters of Los Angeles, 3250 Wilshire Blvd,
Suite 1005, Los Angeles, CA 90010; by phone at 323-256-6330 or e-mail at jkvas@earthlink.net
The
LA City Human Relations Commission shall act as the Final Arbitrator for the
MVCC election. Questions or inquiries should be directed to Victoria Minetta, City
of Los Angeles, Human Relations Commission, 200 North Spring St. - Rm. 1625,
Los Angeles, CA 90012 by phone at 213-978-1660 or by e-mail at vminetta@mailbox.lacity.org.
MVCC
Elections shall follow a Prepared Ballot Elections format with no Vote-by-mail
provision. No write-in candidates are permitted.
After
each annual election, once the new directors are installed, they shall conduct
an
Election
of the following officers: Chair, 1st Vice-Chair, 2nd
Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. This annual officer election shall follow
a Same Day Election format.
The
Election Committee shall prepare an Election Announcement Package, in both English
and Spanish, to announce the Board’s election process. The package shall
include the following:
Introductory information about the Mar Vista
Community Council
Election policies and procedures
Election events and times
Candidate Declaration Form
Candidate Support Form
This
package shall be submitted to DONE for printing.
The
Mar Vista Community Council, the MVCC Election Committee, the MVCC Outreach
Committee and, also, any volunteers shall:
·
make
presentations to community groups;
·
ensure
that information about the Council and the election shall be published in
community newsletters, church bulletins, flyers for neighborhood distribution;
·
create
posters and flyers, and make arrangements to display them in local businesses,
community centers;
·
send
e-mail messages to all stakeholders (where possible), inviting them to run for
election and informing them of election processes;
·
post
election information on the MVCC website, and at least 5 locations where the
information is accessible to
public view;
·
and
post candidate statement forms on the MVCC website.
The Mar Vista Community Council shall be
composed of, and made available to, all stakeholders within the stated
boundaries. Stakeholders include individuals living, working, or owning
property within the boundaries, as indicated in MVCC Bylaws, Article I.
Only stakeholders 18 years of age or older may vote.
Provisional
ballots shall be issued to voters whose stakeholder status cannot be
immediately determined and the ballot shall be accepted and sealed for
provisional counting.
Stakeholders
who wish to vote must complete a Stakeholder Registration Form (SRF).
All
stakeholders, at the designated time on Election Day, must register as a
stakeholder by submitting the completed SRF attesting their stakeholder status
to an election official.
SRFs
must be completed by stakeholders on Election Day and submitted to an election
official to receive a ballot.
After
completing a stakeholder registration form and receiving a valid ballot all
stakeholders may vote in the election subject to the following:
Zone-Director Elections occur during even years:
2004, 2006, 2008.
Each voter may vote for no more than one
candidate on the ballot.
At-Large Director Elections occur during odd years: 2005, 2007, 2009.
Each voter may vote for no more than 7
candidates
The Board is composed of thirteen (13) Directors, including five officers (Chairperson
(Chair), Vice Chairperson (First Vice Chair), Second Vice Chairperson (Second
Vice Chair), Secretary, and Treasurer). Of the thirteen (13) Directors, seven
(7) shall be elected “At-large” and six (6) shall be
“Zone” Directors, with each of the six (6) geographic zones
electing its own “Zone” Director. The term of office for Directors
shall be two (2) years. A Director may serve for no more than four (4)
consecutive terms. After being out of office for one full term, a former
Director is again eligible to run for office. A Director may not be a candidate
for more than one director seat or occupy more than one office. Election of the
seven (7) “At-Large” Directors shall alternate from one year to the
next with election of the six (6) “Zone Directors.”
Candidate
applications for the MVCC Board of Directors must be received by 9 A.M.
Tuesday, March 1, 2005. In order to be a valid candidate for the election,
candidates can mail or hand deliver their completed application materials to
MVCC Election Committee, c/o George Chung Realtors 11671 National Blvd. Los
Angeles, CA 90064. Candidates are
asked to electronically submit a qualifying statement (not to exceed 300 words)
and a vision statement for the Council (not to exceed 300 words) for publication
on the MVCC website, Candidates may email their statements to elections@marvistacc.com or enclose a
floppy disk with their candidate materials. These statements shall be available for voter review outside
of the voting site on election day. Combined statements shall be truncated to 600
words.
At-Large
Directors must be MVCC stakeholders. Zone-Director Candidates (not applicable
to the 2005 MVCC election) must be registered and verified as stakeholders
within their respective Zone’s boundaries. Candidate’s eligibility
shall be verified and approved by the Election Committee. Acceptable proof of
Stakeholder status includes but is not limited to a California Drivers
License or ID Card, passport, credit card containing person’s photograph,
utility bills, business card, imprinted checks or postmarked US mail. Only the
Election Administrator has the authority to determine if other documents that
are not identified herein are acceptable.
There
shall be no late candidate filing allowed.
Candidate
Disqualification:
1.
Candidates who do not meet eligibility requirements by the final deadline shall
not be considered candidates for the 2005 election.
2.
Disqualified candidates will be notified by way of a letter within five (5)
business days after the close of the Nomination Period (by March 8, 2005).
Notification shall include the specific reason why the Candidate has been
disqualified.
3. If the
Election Committee and the Independent Election Administrator rejects a
candidate’s filing application, that candidate may request that the
Election Arbitrator review their candidate filing application by filing a
challenge under the provisions of the Election Challenge section. Subsequent to
their review, the Election Arbitrator will issue a final determination as to
whether the candidate will be allowed to run for office.
At
least one Candidate orientation program shall be held prior to Election Day to
brief candidates on election procedures, expectations and responsibilities of a
Board Member. Participation in the Candidate Orientation is required.
Candidates must appear in person.
Information for Candidates shall be available from the Election
Committee and the MVCC web site.
Starting
at 6 p.m. on Election Day, a Candidate Forum shall be held for the Mar Vista
Community Stakeholders. Candidates
shall be asked to present a two-minute presentation regarding their
candidacy. In the interest of time
and to ensure that all candidates are given sufficient time, no questions shall
be taken from the audience until all of the candidate presentations are completed. Participation in the forum is mandatory
for all candidates. Candidates that fail to appear before the stakeholders in
person will be removed from the candidate list.
Candidates must be stakeholders in the Mar Vista Community
Council. Stakeholders include individuals living, working, or
owning property within the MVCC boundaries. Only stakeholders 18 years of age or older may vote.
Instructions
shall be provided to each registered stakeholder voter in either English or
Spanish on how to use the ballots.
Votes
must be cast only on the official ballot, and voting must be based upon the
instructions given to the stakeholder with the ballot.
All
ballots shall be numbered to avoid duplicate votes. Any ballots that are duplicated or otherwise altered shall
not be counted. Ballots that do not conform to the voting instructions shall
not be counted.
Provisional
ballots shall be issued to voters whose stakeholder status cannot be
immediately determined and the ballot shall be accepted and sealed for
provisional counting.
No
candidate shall be allowed to handle or count the ballots once they are cast.
Each candidate or their designated representative may observe, but not handle
the ballot(s) and must not interfere with the counting process.
Five
minutes before closing the polls, an election official shall declare that the
polls shall close in 5 minutes.
After this declaration, no ballots shall be put into the ballot boxes
except for the ballots of voters still in the process of check-in, or
completing their ballots at the time the election is declared
‘closed.’ The election
area shall then be closed, and no one except the person or person (s) assigned
to handle the ballots shall be allowed to enter.
Ballots
shall then be secured by the election official and counting shall proceed in
accordance with the Election Committee’s schedule.
An
electronic optical mark reader/”Scantron” type of machine shall be
used to count the ballots. Primary and secondary machines shall be identified.
In the unlikely event that those systems are unable to provide a tally, then a
tertiary source of counting machine shall be utilized. Ballot counting shall be
completed within ten (10) business days. The Election Committee and The League
of Women Voters shall observe the ballot count.
Provisional
Ballot: Provisional ballots shall be counted and identified separately.
Absentee
Ballot: No absentee ballots may be cast.
Members
of Mar Vista Community Council or Election Committee who are not candidates and
other volunteers shall conduct voter and candidate check-in, distribution of
ballots and related activities during election hours.
Each
registration area shall have binders holding a list of candidates, copies of
candidates’ statement forms, MVCC Bylaws, and MVCC Election Procedures.
Registered
stakeholders shall be directed by election-day volunteers to the check-in
table. They shall be asked for
their name and stakeholder basis.
When the stakeholder is verified by the election official the
stakeholder shall receive a ballot and be directed to the voting area.
No
proxy votes shall be allowed.
Tie
votes shall be decided by a toss of a coin conducted by the Third Party Election Administrator.
The Election Committee
may engage an independent third party (Third Party Election Administrator),
such as the League of Women Voters, which shall be responsible for overseeing
the election process. Further, the Election Committee may engage an independent
third party to determine the resolution of any issues that arise through the
election process (Final Arbitrator). The Final Arbitrator shall verify the
candidate status in the event of a challenge.
All challenges to the election must be submitted in writing no
later than 5 p.m. five working days after the posting of the election results to
the Final Arbitrator. Every effort shall be made to provide a determination
within 30 working days. Decisions of the Final Arbitrator shall be final.
All challenges to the election must be submitted in writing no
later than 5 p.m. five working days after the posting of the election results
to the Final Arbitrator. The Final Arbitrator is Gary de la Rosa, City of
Los Angeles, Human Relations Commission. He may be contacted at 200 North
Spring St. - Rm. 1625, Los Angeles, CA 90012 or by e-mail at gdelaros@mailbox.lacity.org. Every
effort shall be made to provide a determination within 30 working days.
Decisions shall be final. All stakeholders, candidates and their representative
agree to be bound by the decisions of the arbitrator.
The
Election Committee shall transfer the ballots and voting tabulation materials
to a secure location in accordance with the Third Party Election Administrator.
Election
results shall be posted on the MVCC website, through newsletters, newspapers
and other public organs.
Results
of the election shall be posted at the 5 or more selected sites accessible to
the public.
Newly
elected Board Members shall be installed at the next meeting of the MVCC Board
of Directors by the Election Committee.
Sometime
between 30-60 days following the election, and in accordance with the City
Attorney, the MVCC Board of Directors shall determine the need to retain in
storage the ballots and other election materials.
Election Timeline
|
ELECTION
DATE Mar Vista Elementary School,3330 Granville Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90066. |
March
15, 2005 (5:00-9:00 PM) |
|
*Mass Distribution#1:
Election Announcement |
January
15,2005 |
|
Candidate
Filing Begins |
January
15, 2005 |
|
Candidate
Information Session St.
Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 11555
National Blvd., Mar Vista, CA 90066. |
January
23, 2005 at 2:00 PM |
|
Candidate
Information Session Mar
Vista Branch Library, 12006
Venice Blvd., Mar Vista, CA 90066. |
February
1, 2005 at 7:00 PM |
|
Candidate
Information Session Mar Vista Elementary School, 3330 Granville Blvd., Mar Vista, CA, 90066. |
February
22, 2005 at 7:00 PM |
|
Candidate
Orientation Session Mar Vista Elementary School, 3330 Granville Blvd., Mar Vista, CA, 90066. |
February
28, 2005 at 7:00 PM |
|
Candidate
Filing Deadline MVCC
Election Committee, c/o George Chung Realtors 11671 National Blvd. Los
Angeles, CA 90064. |
March
1, 2005 at 9:00 AM |
|
Completion
of candidate verification |
March
8, 2005 |
|
Mass
Distribution # 2: Election Reminder |
March
10, 2005 |
|
Candidate
Forum Mar Vista Elementary School,
3330
Granville Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90066. |
March
15, 2005 at 6:00 PM |
|
Close
of Challenge Period |
March
22, 2005 at 5:00 PM |
|
Ballot
Count |
No
later than 5:00 PM, March 29, 2005 |
|
Provisional
Election Results |
No
later than 5:00 PM, March 29, 2005 |
|
Settlement
of Challenges |
No
later than 5:00 PM, April 26, 2005 |
|
Final
Election Results Transmitted to DONE |
Within
a reasonable timeframe |
Note:
These are general definitions, developed by DONE. They are included for
reference only and some may not apply to a specific election.
“Absent Voter” means any voter casting a ballot in any
way other than at the polling place.
“All Vote By Mail Election” means an election
conducted in which the only voting option is using a ballot that is voted and
placed in a sealed envelope, which is then delivered to the election official
via the U.S. mail, private courier or hand delivery.
“Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC)” means the
seven (7) member appointed commission responsible for policy setting and
policy oversight, including the approval of contracts and leases and the
promulgation of rules and regulations, but not the day to day management of the
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment or the neighborhood councils.
“Campaigning” means a series of actions conducted by a
candidate(s) or person(s) on behalf of a candidate(s) intended to influence
voters to vote a certain way. Such actions may include, but are not limited to,
the distribution of printed or electronic material, making of telephone calls,
giving of speeches in a public setting, discussions with individuals or small
groups of voters, placement of signs, etc. (see Electioneering below.)
“Challenge” means a written complaint
filed by a stakeholder that the election was improperly conducted and the
results should be set aside or overturned.
“Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE)” means
the City department responsible to implement and oversee the ordinances and
regulations creating the system of neighborhood councils enacted pursuant to
City Charter Section 905 including: preparing a plan for the creation of a
system of neighborhood councils, assisting neighborhood councils in the
certification process and in the election/selection of their governing board
members, arranging Congress of Neighborhoods meetings as requested by
neighborhood councils, arranging for the provision of training to neighborhood
councils, and assisting neighborhood councils in operational and logistical
areas.
“Electioneering”
means to solicit a vote or speak to a voter on the subject of marking his or
her ballot; to place a sign(s) relating to any candidate or other matter to be
voted on; to distribute material relating to any candidate or other matter to
be voted on; or to place a sign(s), distribute material, or converse with a
voter on the subject of the voter’s qualifications to vote. Electioneering
is an aspect of campaigning but is generally understood to mean the activities
targeted at voters when they are engaged in arriving
to the polling place or in the actual act of voting.
“Third Party Arbitrator” means the person(s) or
organization selected to review and issue final findings relative to a
Challenge filed against the election. This person(s) or organization shall not
be the Third Party Election Administrator.
“Third Party Election Administrator” means the
person(s) or organization responsible for
conducting the actual
election. Duties include, but are not limited to, setting up and managing the
polling location(s), checking in voters, distributing and receiving ballots,
tabulating the votes, announcing the election results, and securing the
election materials.
“Election Procedures” mean the written procedures
and methods adopted by a Neighborhood Council, consistent with their by- laws
and approved by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, that are used to
conduct the Neighborhood Council’s governing board member elections.
“Person” means an individual human being.
“Pre-Prepared Ballot Election” means an election in
which the candidates file prior to the election and are included on a printed
ballot that is distributed to the voters at the polling location(s) on election
day.
“Pre-Prepared Ballot Election with the Vote By Mail
Component” means an election in which the candidates file prior to the
election and are included on a printed ballot that is distributed to and voted
by the voters either at: 1) the polling location(s) on election day or 2) or
via the U.S. mail or alternative delivery service.
“Provisional Ballot” means a ballot cast by a voter
whose eligibility to vote in the election cannot be determined at the time the
vote is cast. The voter’s eligibility shall be verified at a later date
pursuant to methods specified in the Election Procedures and the ballot shall
be processed subject to the outcome of the verification process.
“Proxy” voting means the written or verbal authorizing
of one person to act (vote) for another as an agent or substitute, (e.g.”
I hereby authorize ______ to cast a vote for _____ in my place.”)
“Recount” means counting the votes cast again for a
particular contest or for the entire election to determine if the original vote
tally is accurate.
“Same Day Election Format” means an election in which
the candidates are nominated and the voting takes place on the same day and at
the same general location.
“Stakeholder” means a person who, pursuant to the
Neighborhood Council’s by- laws is eligible to be a candidate and/or vote
in the Neighborhood Council’s governing board election.
“Vote-By-Mail
Ballot” means a ballot that is voted and placed in a sealed envelope,
which is then delivered to the election official via the U.S. mail, private
courier or hand delivery
“Write-In Candidate” means a candidate who is not
included on the pre-prepared printed ballot but for whom voters may cast a vote
by writing in the candidate’s name in the appropriate space provided on
the ballot.