Barbara Beeton
for the Elections Committee
The terms of the TUG President and of 6 members of the Board of Directors expire as of the 1997 Annual Board Meeting, which will take place in conjunction with the 18th Annual TUG meeting to be held in July 1997 in San Francisco, California. The directors whose terms expire in 1997 are Robin Fairbairns, George Greenwade, Yannis Haralambous, Alan Hoenig, Jon Radel, and Sebastian Rahtz. The election to choose the new President and Board members will be held in Spring of 1997. Nominations for these openings are now being invited.
The Bylaws provide that ``Any member may be nominated for election to the office of TUG President/to the Board by submitting a nomination petition in accordance with the TUG Election Procedures. Election ... shall be by written mail ballot of the entire membership, carried out in accordance with those same Procedures.''
A change in the Election Procedures now provides for an election to be held only every second year, rather than every year. The term of the President will remain at two (2) years; the term of a director will change to four (4) years from three (3) effective with this election. Incumbent officers may be nominated for successive terms.
In order to align existing terms to the new schedule, the names of current directors whose terms expire in 1998 will, with their consent, be placed on the ballot for confirmation for one additional year.
The name of any member may be placed in nomination for election one of these offices by submission of a petition, signed by two other current (1997) members, to the TUG office at least two weeks (14 days) prior to the mailing of ballots. (A candidate's membership dues for 1997 will be expected to be paid by the nomination deadline.) You may retrieve the nomination form in PostScript format, complete it and FAX or mail it to the TUG office; forms may also be obtained from the TUG office, and electronically from the usergrps/tug area of CTAN.
Along with a nomination form, each candidate is asked to supply a passport-size photograph, a short biography, and a statement of intent to be included with the ballot; the biography and statement of intent together may not exceed 400 words.
The deadline for receipt at the TUG office of nomination forms and ballot information is March 14, 1997 (revised date).
Ballots will be mailed to all members in March. Marked ballots must be postmarked no later than May 13, and received no later than May 27. These deadlines will be noted on the ballots, and are included in the TUG Calendar in TUGboat.
Ballots will be counted by a disinterested party not part of the TUG organization. The results of the election should be available in early June, and will be announced in a future issue of TUGboat as well as through various TeX-related electronic lists.