Region 5 Bylaws

1. Purpose and Definitions
2. Eligibility, Nominations, and Campaign Rules
3. Balloting
4. Selection of Delegates and Alternate Delegates
5. Vacancies in the Regional Delegate/Alternate Delegate Positions
6. Ratification, Amendments, and Interpretation

RESOLVED, that our REGION V BYLAWS shall be amended to state that:
“in the event of a vacancy in a medical student regional delegate or regional alternate delegate position at least 30 days before an Annual or Interim meeting, the chair(s) of that region shall call a special election to fill that vacancy (for that meeting only) at their regional meeting in accordance with their bylaws; and be it further

RESOLVED, that our REGION V BYLAWS shall be amended to state that:
“in the event of a vacancy in a medical student regional delegate or regional alternate delegate position less than 30 days before an Annual or Interim meeting, the following shall be considered to be the ‘appropriate authority’ of the medical student region that is empowered to appoint a substitute delegate or alternate delegate from that region (for that meeting only) as necessary:
- first, the region chair(s);
- second, if the region chair is unavailable, the region vice-chair; and
- finally, if none of the above are available or are unable to reach a decision,  then the AMA-MSS Delegate will be asked to make the final decision.

Article 1. Purpose and Definitions

1. The purpose of these Election Bylaws is for the members of AMA-MSS Region V to choose delegates and alternate delegates in accordance to the AMA Council on Constitution and Bylaws Report Seven, ratified by the AMA House of Delegates at it's 2001 Annual meeting. Region V is defined as all AMA-MSS members and organizations within the states of Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia, the region formerly known as Section V.
2. For the purposes of these bylaws, "Regional Delegates" and "Regional Alternate Delegates" refer to those House of Delegates seats granted by CC&B Report 7. These are distinct and separate from those House of Delegates seats granted by individual state delegations, as currently granted by Michigan and Ohio.
3. For the purposes of these bylaws, 11:59:00 PM Eastern Standard Time of the day before the AMA requires submission of the names of the Regional Delegates and Alternate Delegates will be referred to as the Submission Deadline, and all other dates measured exactly from that timepoint.
4. For the purposes of these bylaws, the "Regional Chair" is defined as the individual elected as the leader of Region V, or another individual or individuals so designated by the Regional Chair to serve in his/her place, and approved of at least four of the five state chairs of Region V.

Article 2. Eligibility, Nominations, and Campaign Rules

1. Any person nominated for or holding a Regional Delegate/Alternate Delegate must (i) be a member of the AMA-MSS for the duration of his/her term, (ii) must have a letter of endorsement from his/her state medical society president, and (iii) must have a letter from a member of his/her medical school administration certifying his/her ability to attend the Annual and Interim meetings of the AMA House of Delegates. It is the responsibility of each State Chair to ensure all candidates and seat holders are so eligible.
2. Elected Regional Delegates/Alternate Delegates will be governed by the bylaws of the state medical societies from which they have been nominated, especially with regards to removal from office for misconduct and responsibilities.
3. Seven days before the Submission Deadline each state chair will submit to the Region V chair a list of all candidates from his/her state meeting these requirements. An unlimited number of candidates from each state can be submitted. Each state will establish its own rules governing choosing candidates to select, subject to these bylaws.
4. The AMA-MSS Campaign Rules as they apply to this election will be in force for campaigns for Regional Delegate/Alternate Delegate.
5. Unless otherwise stated, e-mail is an acceptable method for all communications required by these bylaws, including nominations and balloting. For purposes of meeting deadlines, the date and time that the e-mail or other communications methods was sent, not the date of receipt, shall be used as the official date of submission.

Article 3: Balloting 

1. Balloting will occur at the Regional V meeting during the MSS Assembly meeting prior to Submission Deadline.
2. Each chapter eligible for a delegate in the AMA-MSS Assembly will be eligible to receive a ballot for Regional Delegate/Alternate Delegate listing all available candidates for the positions of Regional Delegates and Alternate Delegates. Each chapter president or their designate will choose from that ballot one candidate for each Delegate and Alternate Delegate slot. No candidate may be chosen for more than one slot. Each chapter president or their designate is required to choose a candidate from the candidate list for every available Delegate and Alternate Delegate position, unless there are fewer candidates than available positions, in which case every candidate must be assigned a position on the ballot. These ballots will be collected by the Regional Chair and those the Chair designates to assist.
3. Each chapter's ballot will be worth a number of votes equal to one vote per 10 AMA-MSS members at that chapter, rounded to the nearest ten. For example, 1-14 members would equal one vote, 15-24 two votes, etc.
4. Each candidate on a chapter's ballot that is chosen by that chapter to be a Delegate will receive 2 x (that chapter's votes). Each candidate on a chapter's ballot that is chosen by that chapter to be an Alternate Delegate will receive 1 x (that chapter's votes).The Regional Chair and those the Chair designates to assist will add all the votes from all the voting chapters for each candidate and then rank all candidates by number of total votes received in a list. This list will be refereed to as the "Candidate List."

Article 4: Selection of Delegates and Alternate Delegates

1. The Region chair will use the Candidate List and the system codified in these bylaws to fill the available Regional Delegate and Alternate Delegate positions. The Region Chair will be required to fill the Delegate positions first, and then only after all Delegate positions are filled will candidates be put into Alternate Delegate positions.
2. The candidate that obtains the highest number of votes will be awarded the first available Regional Delegate position. Immediately, all other candidates on the Candidate List from the first winner's home state will be temporarily removed from the Candidate List and put into the Wait List. The new Candidate List will be resorted re-ranking remaining candidates by number of votes.
3. The candidate that has the highest number of votes on the new Candidate List will be awarded the next available Delegate/Alternate Delegate position. Again, all other candidates from the same home state as the winner in Article c will be temporarily removed from the Candidate List and put into the Wait List. The new Candidate List will be resorted re-ranking remaining candidates by number of votes.
4. Article 4c will be repeated until either the Candidate List is empty or all positions are filled. If the Candidate List is empty, then all candidates previously set aside into the Wait list will be returned to the Candidate List, and Article 4c repeated.

Article 5: Vacancies in the Regional Delegate/Alternate Delegate Positions

1. In the event of a vacancy in a Regional Delegate seat, the empty seat will be filled by the Regional Alternate Delegates in the order they were chosen by the mechanism of Article IV.

Article 6. Ratification, Amendments, and Interpretation

1. These Election Bylaws will enter force when approved by at least four of the five AMA-MSS state chairs of Region V (Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia).
2. Amendments to these Bylaws can be approved by approval of at least four of the five AMA-MSS state chairs of Region V.
3. Disputes in interpretation of these Bylaws will be decided by a majority vote of the five state chairs of Region V, all five chairs being required to vote within two weeks of the question being called.