Election Update

By Dave “Twit” Linberg

Looking at the ABATE of Wisconsin Corporate Election, the District Director selection, which we just completed, is only the first step, we now go on to the General State Election. The election process for the Board of Directors at Large and the state offices of Executive Director, Deputy Director, Recording Secretary, Business Agent, and Membership Director is at hand. Any two-year member of ABATE of Wisconsin is welcomed to run for any of the positions. The more candidates, the better the gene-pool will be for our members to choose from. Positions up for election are Executive Director, Deputy Director, Recording Secretary, Business Agent, Membership Director, and Board of Directors at Large. If you would like to see a “job description” of any of the positions, they are described in the By-laws. Contact the State Office for the appropriate section to be mailed to you, or ask a regional officer to see the By-laws in their Officer’s Manual (there is also more information in the policy and procedures section of the same manual.)

Candidacy papers for this election should be sent to the State Office by July 15, 2020. The Candidacy Form is printed on page 17 for your use. Feel free to make a copy of the form if you do not want to cut up your newsletter. The profiles will be run in the August and September issues of the newsletter, and a ballot for the election will run in the September and October issues. The general election will be finalized at this year’s State Meeting in October in Green Bay.

As a reminder, ABATE of Wisconsin is asking that all of our regions hold their Regional Rep elections this year prior to the State Meeting. I hope that your region is making plans to “go with the flow” and play along. The reason we are asking that the regional elections be scheduled like this is to make the transition easier for the administration and primary goals of your organization. This will allow the newly elected Regional Reps to begin their training of the ins-and-outs of the organization at the State Meeting in October. It will also allow them to make selections to have their “team” in place for Officers’ Training in February.

Please remember that for an ABATE of Wisconsin Regional Election to be official the membership of your region needs to have been given a minimum of three weeks’ notice of the date and location of the election meeting. It is sufficient for this notice to be included in your region’s report in this newsletter but you need to plan ahead to make sure it gets into an issue that will be delivered in time to allow for the “three weeks’ notice.” Regional elections also need an elected officer at them to “oversee” the election process. This can be any of the state officers or a Regional Rep from a neighboring region.

As for who can vote at a Regional Election: any current ABATE member, no matter where they live can vote. Voting in a regional election is not limited by county lines. Any member attending the meeting that is a current member on the day of the meeting (even if they purchased a membership that day and it is not yet processed) may vote in any ABATE of Wisconsin election. If your region is planning an election meeting and you have any questions, please give one of the state officers a call for assistance.

Our members also need to remember that in addition to elections within our organization, they are happening in the world around us. Keep your eyes and ears open to prepare an informed vote in November. Use these summer months to invite politicians and candidates for the political offices to your regional meetings. Always remember… if you think you aren’t involved in the political process, you are completely wrong. Every day the governmental processes all around you are making decisions that can make your life better, and many others that can make your life worse. Be a part of those decisions by getting more involved and better informed. If you don’t, the freedom you lose today may well be the one you find yourself really, really missing tomorrow.

And hey – welcome to all the new and returning members out there including all the new members who are receiving this newsletter for the first time this month – our strength is in our numbers and we thank you for your support!