(1) (a) A nomination for director on the board of directors of a cooperative electric association may be made by written petition signed by at least fifteen members of such association, and filed with the board of directors of such association no later than forty-five days prior to the date of the election. Any petition so filed shall designate the name of the nominee and the term for which nominated. The name of a nominee shall appear on the ballot if the nominating petition is in apparent conformity with this section as determined by the secretary of the board. Nomination and election of directors by districts, if provided for in the bylaws of the association, shall be permitted.
Candidates for positions on the board of directors shall be entitled to receive membership lists, in a usable format, on the same basis and at the same time as such lists are made available to incumbent directors running for reelection. Candidates shall use such lists only for purposes of the election and shall return or destroy them immediately after the election.
All board members shall make available to association members some means fordirect contact, whether by telephone, electronic mail, or regular mail. Information on how to contact each board member by one or more of these methods shall be available on the association website.
(2) (a) (I) Each member of the association is entitled to vote in the election of directors on the board of directors either at a meeting held for such purpose or by mail, but not both. A member who has voted by mail is not entitled to vote at the meeting.
Mail voting must be in writing on ballots provided by the association. The mailballot shall be voted by the member, placed in a special secrecy sleeve or inner envelope provided for the purpose so as to conceal the marking on the ballot, deposited in a return envelope, which must be signed by the voting member, and mailed back to the association or to an independent third party with whom the association has contracted for the storage and counting of ballots in accordance with paragraph (c) of this subsection (2).
A mail ballot received in a signed return envelope but without a secrecy sleeve orinner envelope is nonetheless valid and shall be counted.
The order of names on the ballot shall be determined randomly in a manner that doesnot automatically assign the top line to the incumbent.
The board of directors shall, when practicable, arrange for an independent third partyto oversee the storage and counting of ballots. If this is not practicable, then ballots shall be collected and stored in a manner that protects the privacy of their content. All candidates for the board of directors shall be given the opportunity to be present to observe the counting of the ballots; except that, if the association has contracted with an independent third party to collect and count ballots, the ballots must be delivered to the association under seal promptly after the count and, upon the request of any candidate, made available to the candidate for inspection.
Voting for directors on the board of directors by proxy or cumulative voting is prohibited.
Neither the association nor the board of directors shall endorse or oppose the candidacy of an incumbent board member or other candidate for a position on the board. During the two months immediately preceding the election, board members shall not send individual newsletters using the association's resources.
Source: L. 83: Entire article added, p. 1571, § 1, effective July 1. L. 85: (2) amended, p. 1302, § 4, effective April 5. L. 2010: Entire section amended, (HB 10-1098), ch. 424, p. 2195, § 3, effective August 11. L. 2016: (2)(a) and (2)(c) amended, (SB 16-055), ch. 46, p. 109, § 1, effective August 10.