Elections Rules and Procedures

To be eligible for election to the Governing Council, one must meet the following criteria:

• Under 40 years of age or within the first eight (8) years of professional practice after residency and fellowship training and not eligible to serve as a representative to the Resident and Fellows Section; and 
• A member in good standing of the American Medical Association.

If any council member's eligibility to complete his/her term terminates prior to the conclusion of an Annual meeting, he/she shall be permitted to serve in office until the conclusion of the Annual meeting in the calendar year in which he/she ceases to meet the criteria for AMA-YPS membership. As always, a candidate may declare for office even if he/she is ineligible to serve the entire term so long as that fact is disclosed. 

Nominations

• Nominations for Governing Council positions may be received in advance of the Annual meeting or from the floor of the AMA-YPS Assembly meeting.
• All candidates must complete an AMA-YPS Nomination Form. (PDF, 55KB)
• Each candidate can offer his or her name for only one position per ballot.
• All candidates will have their names placed in nomination at a time during the Assembly meeting and under conditions determined by the Chair.
• Candidates who declare their candidacy in advance are encouraged to submit materials that can be included in the AMA-YPS Handbook and posted on the Web site.
• Candidates who declare their candidacy in advance of the meeting shall be given contact information for registered AMA-YPS Assembly members, should they opt to campaign in advance by phone, letter or e-mail. 
• Each candidate will be given an opportunity to present a campaign speech. The AMA-YPS Chair will notify each candidate in advance of the Assembly meeting as to the number of minutes available, as well as the scheduled time.
• Campaigning for positions is limited to campaign speeches, other "conversational" campaigning, and printed material which delineates the candidate's experience and expertise. Other campaign promotional material (including buttons, flags, pins, leaflets, posters, etc.) is discouraged.
• If a member of the Governing Council is elected to another position on the Council, nominations then will be taken from the floor for the vacated position.

Balloting

• Only credentialed AMA-YPS delegates may vote.
• Where there is no contest, a majority vote without ballot shall elect. All other elections will be by ballot.
• There will be separate ballots for each open position.
• The Credentials Committee will distribute the ballots. Credentialing badges must be clearly visible during this process. The number of ballots issued shall be monitored.
• Each voter must mark the ballot exactly as directed by the printed instructions on the ballot. Verbal instructions also will be given by the Chair (or designee).
• All nominees for each office will be listed alphabetically on a single ballot. Each elector will have as many votes as the number of candidates to be elected to each position, and each vote must be cast for a different nominee. No ballot will be counted if it contains fewer or more votes than the number of individuals to be elected to any position, or if the ballot contains more than one vote for any nominee. A nominee will be elected if he or she has received a vote on a majority of the legal ballots cast. If no nominee receives a majority of the legal ballots cast, there will be a subsequent ballot.
• If all vacancies are not filled on the first ballot, the number of nominees on subsequent ballots will be reduced to no more than twice the number of remaining vacancies less one. The nominees on subsequent ballots will be determined by retaining those who received the greater number of votes on the preceding ballot and eliminating the nominee(s) who received the fewest votes on the preceding ballot, except where there is a tie. In elections for a single position, the effect of this is that the two receiving the highest votes will participate in one subsequent ballot.
• A run-off election will be held to fill any vacancy not filled because of a tie vote. The AMA-YPS Chair has the right to vote in case of a tie.
• All ballots must be turned in, whether or not you choose to vote in every race.

• The Credentials Committee shall collect, count and record the total number of ballots received in the presence of AMA-YPS staff. If more ballots are received than were distributed, the process shall be halted and the results invalidated. The Credentials Committee Chair shall notify the Chair of this fact. Staff shall immediately begin to print new ballots.
• The Credentials Committee shall examine each ballot to determine if there is only one designated candidate for each office. The Credentials Committee will draw a single contrasting-colored line (that does not interfere with the legibility of the voter's markings) through the area of any ballot marked improperly for a given office indicating a void ballot for that race.
• The Credentials Committee Chair shall certify the results to the AMA-YPS Chair after all races have been decided. The sum of all candidates' votes plus the voided ballots for each race plus other voided ballots must equal the number of ballots received by the Credentials Committee prior to certifying a winner.
• Vote totals will be available on request to members of the AMA-YPS Assembly. 
• No candidate for office is permitted to handle ballots at any time (except when voting if he/she is eligible to vote).