Democrats Abroad Denmark (DADK) seeks qualified candidates to serve for a two-year term on our Executive Committee. If you are a member of Democrats Abroad Denmark (if not, you can join now) and want to contribute your talents, time, and energy to a leadership position in DADK, please email the Nominations and Elections Committee (NEC) at [email protected]. We ask that you send us a candidate statement (max 150 words) in which you let us know why you think you would make a great addition to our Executive Committee.
We will be electing members to fill seven different roles. The positions include the five officers of the Executive Committee: Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Counsel, and two additional Members at Large to sit on the board. In addition, we expect to elect two Voting Representatives who will vote on behalf of Democrats Abroad Denmark at the global level. We hope to have multiple candidates for all positions. Please be aware that the Democrats Abroad bylaws require the Chair and Vice Chair to be of different genders. The two Voting Representatives must also be of different genders. Therefore, candidates for Chair, Vice Chair, and Voting Representative must declare their gender to the Nominations Committee. You can read more about the different positions in Article IV of our bylaws, which can be found here.
Any DADK member can announce their candidacy via email to the NEC by noon on Saturday, March 11th. It will be possible to vote in person at the Annual General Meeting on Saturday, March 25th. It will also be possible to vote electronically before the meeting. The ballot link and all of the candidate statements will be sent out to all members by email no fewer than 10 days before the Annual General Meeting.
Serving on the Executive Committee of DADK is a wonderful, rewarding, and challenging opportunity to be part of the American political process while living abroad. You can influence what is happening back in the States. We need your help to elect Democratic candidates in 2024.
2023 DA Denmark Election Rules and Procedures
- Nominations for the 2023 Democrats Abroad Denmark Executive Committee and Voting Representative elections must be submitted to the Nominations and Elections Committee by 8 pm on Monday, 20 February, and The Nominations and Elections Committee (NEC) will send its recommendations to the membership by Thursday, 23 February. Any Democrats Abroad Denmark member who is not recommended by the Nominations Committee may announce their candidacy via email to the NEC by noon on Saturday, 11 March. Nominations will not be allowed from the floor unless there is no declared candidate for the position, or if there is no candidate for Vice Chair or Voting Representative who is of a different sex than the already-elected Chair and Voting Representative (see definition below).
- In order to vote in the 2023 Democrats Abroad Denmark election, one must be registered as a member of Democrats Abroad Denmark by Saturday, 11 March, which is 14 days before the Annual General Meeting to be held on Saturday, 25 March 2023.
- Voting in-person, electronically, and via proxy is allowed.
- The link to the electronic ballot and all candidate statements will be sent by email no more than 13 days and no less than 10 days before the Annual General Meeting, that is between Sunday, 12 March and Wednesday, 15 March. Electronic voting will close at 8 pm on Friday, 24 March. Any electronic votes received after 8 pm will be considered invalid. Those members who miss the cutoff time for electronic voting will still be allowed to vote at the Annual General Meeting, or by sending a proxy to a member attending the meeting.
- All votes, including AGM, by proxy, and electronic, will be tallied by tellers at the Annual General Meeting, and the results will be announced at the Annual General Meeting as well as via email.
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The Chair and the Vice Chair must be of different sex, according to the following, which is based on Democrats Abroad Denmark Bylaws Section 4.1, and which is in accordance with the Democrats Abroad Charter:
The Chair and Vice Chair shall be of different sex, as declared by each candidate to the Nominations Committee at the time of declaring candidacy for office. For the purposes of this Section, the term “sex” is defined as male, female, intersex, or any other classification of sex or gender that is legally recognized by any state or federal jurisdiction within the United States of America.
- For the position of Member-at-Large, the candidates with the highest and second highest number of votes will be elected as the two Members-at-Large.
- There must also be gender balance among the elected Voting Representatives (as defined in Rule 6 above). The candidate for voting representative who receives the highest number of votes will be elected. The election of the second Voting Representative will be limited to candidates of a different sex than the person already elected. The candidate with the highest number of votes in this group will fill the second slot. If a third slot is available, candidates of any sex will be considered, with a fourth slot limited to candidates of a different sex than the third, and so on.
- Proxies on paper or via email may be given to members who will be attending the Annual General Meeting, up to the time of the meeting. No member may carry more than two proxies alongside the member’s own vote. Proxies sent to the Secretary must be received via email no later than 8 pm on Friday, 24 March. Any proxies received by the Secretary after 8 pm will not be accepted, yet may instead be sent to individual members attending the Annual General Meeting. More information about voting by proxy can be found in the Democrats Abroad Denmark Bylaws Section 11.9.
- If there is a tie for an elected position, the Nominations Committee shall call an immediate, on-the-spot runoff election by secret ballot with the participation of those present at the Annual General Meeting.
- Challenges to an election process may be made to the Nominations Committee prior to and no later than 7 days after the election. Challenges to an election result may be made to the Nominations Committee within 7 days after the election. Any challenges shall be adjudicated by the NEC in consultation with the Chair, who will consult with the Executive Committee.