Check your bylaws to see how the election process is suppose to take place..We have a nomination committee of 7 people 5 from Exec board and 2 from general mebership they are elected at the feb mtg (a minimum of 30 days beofre the election they must be formed per our bylaws). We do it in Feb because it gives ample time for us to send out nominee forms to our membership asking them for recommendations. These forms are due back by a certain date- they can bring them to a pta mtg where they can drop it off in a sealed locked box, or send it in a sealed envelope att to nominating committee- At each PTA mtg prior to the election the recording sec announces received and shows # of sealed envelopes for the nominating committee and places them in the sealed box that the chair of the nominating ommittee holds. The committee meets and looks over the recomenndations and comes up with their slate. At our elections in April the slate is presented. As we start the election process we ask for additional nominations from the floor. If none then all in favor for the "slate person" say I. Now if another person(s) is nominated for hte one position then a ballot vote is held. All cadidates for the psotion stand up. Their names are written on the chalk board. then the recording secretary hands out to each member in the crwod a piece of paper. The membership is given the following instructions.Only 1 name can appear on the piece of paper. Any ballot that has 2 names will be invalid, and any ballot with a name crossed out will be invalid. If they make a mistake please ask for a new piece of paper and we destroy the other one right there during the exchange. We then ask the prinicipal or someone from administration, an Exec board member and a member from general membership to be the offical tally counters.When the papers are handed out we announce no more nominations will be accepted for this position since it is now going to ballot vote. Then the papers are handed out, collected and counted in the back of the room. the rest of the elcetion is put on hold until the 3 counters return since they are entitled to vote also for the other psoitions. The results of the count are confirmed and verified by the 3 counters who sign the sheet that has the names of the nominees and the # of votes each received. This is then filed with the minutes for the meeting.
I experienced a rigged election also 2 years ago. I was on the end that got the shaft--they slanted the meeting by having members who had never ever attended a meeting before come, and then there was a question over if someone was a member, and could you believe they forgot to bring the memership list with them for that mtg. That is why we know require a copy of the membership list to be filed with the recording secretary in her book. But looking back it turned out all right- i did not say a bad thing about it to anyone about what had happened. poeple knew and they had the distaste of what occuurred. I supported my PTA , gave advice, and input from the trianing I was taken advantage of getting, and appling it to every situation at every meeting. the result the old board wasoutsed this past year i was overwjhelmingly elected and got a brand new board of people who are concerned for all the children ¬ just their children and having a title.
Well, that sounds good except for one thing. They send the ballots home with the child in an envelope. They are returned the same way. You see, we only get maybe 2 parents at each meeting. They changed the meeting time to 5:00 p.m. so that the past president could come and still make it to church. She also decided on no baby-sitting this year. Which means if you work, you can't come, and if you don't have your own baby-sitter, you can't come. That is the number one complaint I get from parents. It is bad enough trying to have a meeting with the kids from the board parents there. (I have 2 kids, the president has one,the treasurer has 4 and last years president has 3). Believe me,on some days when my husband works until 6, I don't even want to come. I want to suggest that the teachers give the votes directly to the principal. There are no guidelines as to how to actually vote in our by-laws. So to be honest, the people that will vote for me can't make it, or she has offended them and they won't come to the meetings. So this way of voting is sort of better for me, except there is no guarantee that the votes will not be lost as the past president works at the school and is there off and on all day to where she could check the PTO box or if they were put into her box instead. I really believe something fishy was going on during that vote 3 years ago. That was the last time someone ran for president opposed. Oh! that reminds me the past president I have been complaining about was vice-president and became president when the president at that time was kicked out for taking PTO funds.(She repaid them)So you understand why there is some suspicion.
Our school went through this nastiness a few years back as well...Do you count your votes the night of the election?? Maybe you could suggest that the principal or teacher be present when the votes are counted...they do not want to be caught in any silly scandals. When we have our elections the members vote on paper and when they are through the box is taken into the next room to be counted. The principal and the pto secretary tally the votes. The ballots are immediatly placed in a sealed envelope and the pto secretary keeps them until the next election.
When approaching your principal or teacher be straight with them about why you want them to be present...let them know that after what happened a few years ago you would appreciate their help in keeping everything fair and above board...because you wouldn't want any bad publicity going around about your pto or school.
Hi guys!! You won't beleive the stuff going on around our school now. I am nominated for president this year.The person in charge of the nominating and election committee is the same person that was in charge of the election 3 years ago. This is the president from 3 years ago, the one I have been telling you guys about.(Anyone lost go to "president offending parents" in the day-to-day PTO!!) I recently received a phone call from the woman who was nominated for president 3 years ago. She lost and demanded a recount, but the key to the box was mysteriously "lost". She is pretty sure it was fixed.I know that most of my friends and I voted for her. She told me that the past president is also going to do what she can to make sure the current president wins this years election. She is pretty sure that votes for me will be "lost". I am 75% sure that with a fair vote, I will win. How do I explain this to the principal as to why I would like her removed from the election committee? You see, the past president is two faced and she can seem like the sweetest person while she is stabbing you in your back. She calls the principal by his first name and is always the first to volunteer for everything. Yet she managed to get all of my jobs, even the some of the ones listed in the by-laws. She even went so far as to promise the current president that once her jobs at the school are vacated(3 of them),(her daughter will be in middle school next year)she would make sure the current president is on the payroll and gets those jobs.(I thought that was a conflict of interest)What to do.........what to do.......
