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These guidelines
were approved by the TNAI Council in January 2008.
The Executive Committee of the
TNAI State/UT Branches shall appoint an Election
Committee, a Returning Officer and a Joint Returning
Officer for starting and carrying out the election
procedure of the Branch. The Returning Officer
shall be the Chairperson of the Election Committee.
The members of the Election Committee as well
as the Returning Officer should be the life members
of TNAI and should have a minimum of 10 years
membership. The Returning Officer and the members
of the Election Committee shall not be eligible
to contest for election.
The State and UT Branch Executives
Committee shall be constituted as follows:
(i) President,
(ii) Vice President,
(iii) Secretary
(iv) Joint Secretary
(v) Treasurer
(vi) Chairperson,
Programme Committee
(vii) Chairperson,
Public Health Nursing Section
(viii) Chairperson,
Nursing Service Section
(ix) Chairperson,
Nursing Education and Research Section
(x) Chairperson,
Economic Welfare Committee
(xi) SNA Advisor
(xii) A member
of the SNA to represent the Student Nurses elected
by General Body of SNA.
(xiii) Representative
of Health Visitor League, Midwives & Auxiliary
Nurse Midwives’
Association / Health Workers.
(xiv) Immediate
Past President (Ex-officio)
1. The election
of all the offices of the Branch shall be held
at the annual or biennial meeting of the Branch.
2. The members
holding office positions in TNAI shall not hold
office positions in parallel Nursing Organizations
and vice versa. For acquiring the new post the
members will have to relinquish the former post.
3. The term
of Office of a member of a Branch Executive Committee
shall be for four years. For timely conduction
of election, the election process shall begin
six months prior to the expiry of the term of
existing office. Failing which they shall forfeit
the privileges attached to their Office.
4. The person
so selected for a particular office at branch
level shall hold the office for the full term
(four years) and shall not contest and cross to
another office prior to completion of the term
of her/his existing elected office.
5. If a member co-opted to the
council for an interim period then that period
will not be counted as regular term.
6. Outgoing
office bearers shall be eligible for re-election
for one more term. Vacancies occurring between
annual meetings shall be filled by the Branch
Executive Committee. Vacancies filled under the
interim category will only be valid for remaining
period.
7. Any full
member of TNAI may make nominations for all the
offices. All nominations shall be made from among
the members of the concerned State/UT Branch.
The nomination for the President and Secretary
shall be made only from those who have served
for one term of four years as the EC members/office
bearers of concerned State/UT Branch. A break
of four years after two consecutive terms (8 years)
is necessary for the President / Secretary of
the branch.
8. A member working / residing
in a State or Union Territory shall be the member
of that branch of TNAI. In case of temporary
change of residence e.g. study; deputation etc.
for a period of more than a year, the member
shall be given an option for changing her/his
membership to the temporary place of residence
after informing the Headquarters and the former
and latter state branches.
9. The Nominator and Nominee
should be working / residing in the same state
or Union Territory shall be eligible for contesting
election and casting the vote.
10. The members who are residing
out side the country/State shall not be eligible
for contesting election. Members who are or
had been involved in litigation with the Association
without first representing the grievances to
the grievances committee on dispute and such
members shall not be eligible to contest and
shall have no voting rights and same will be
applicable to the members who are facing disciplinary
proceedings in their work situation/sphere.
[page No. 50-51 Clause 11: Election-I (e)]
11. Nomination shall be called
on prescribed forms and the same shall be printed
in the NJI four months before the election.
A sample of Nomination can be obtained from
the TNAI Headquarters, New Delhi or it can be
referred from the different issues of the NJI.
The Nomination Sheet duly filled / completed
by the nominator i.e. complete address, TNAI
number along with the signature shall be sent
to the Returning Officer within six week of
its publication in the NJI. Both the Nominator
as well as Nominee shall be a life member of
TNAI.
12. After six weeks of the
publication of the Nomination Sheet, the Election
Committee shall process the nominations in terms
of eligibility of the nominees as well as nominators.
All the nominations received by the Returning
Officer should be kept separately and mark a
serial numbers on each envelope. After the closing
date, the Returning Officer shall call Election
Committee in which all received nominations
shall be opened and scrutinized and shall be
separated valid and invalid nominations.
The minutes of this meeting shall be recorded
and duly signed by the Returning Officer and
by the election committee members. On the basis
of the valid nominations, a Provisional Ballot
Paper to be prepared by the Returning Officer,
after getting the written consent from nominees.
For the offices of President and the Secretary;
all valid nominations shall be included in the
Provisional Ballot Paper. For other offices,
the names of three members having the highest
number of nominations or having at least five
nominations shall be included in the Ballot
Paper.
13. Election Venue should
be decided in the EC meeting of the State while
appointing the Returning Officer and other members
of Election Committee. Majority or consensus
to be taken into account while deciding the
venue. Minutes of this meeting to be recorded.
14. The Election Committee
shall ascertain from nominees whether they are
willing to contest the election. They shall
give their consent in writing and the choice
of the office in case they are nominated for
more than one office. A nominee shall contest
election for and hold one office only at a time.
15. The Provisional Ballot
Paper shall be submitted to the TNAI Headquarters
for publication in the NJI six weeks prior to
election date. It should be organized in such
a manner that request for publication is received
in the TNAI Headquarters in advance (e.g. if
the Ballot Paper is required to be published
in the NJI in June, the material should positively
reach latest by the 30th of April). A specimen
of Ballot Paper can be obtained from the TNAI
Headquarters or can be referred in different
issues of the NJI.
16. It is mandatory to note
that the Provisional Ballot Paper should be
published in the NJI at least 2 to 3 weeks prior
to the election date. It should also carry the
date, time and venue of the General Body Meeting
in which the election is to be held. As per
Byelaws, the Election should be conducted within
a period of four months of the publication of
the Nomination Sheet. If the Branch has any
functional difficulty in getting the Provisional
Ballot Paper printed in The Nursing Journal
of India, then the Provisional Ballot Paper
shall be circulated to individual members of
the Branch at least 15 days prior to the holding
of the election.
17. On the basis of the Provisional
Ballot Paper, the Election Committee shall prepare
the Final Ballot Paper for distribution among
the voters on the day of elections. It is NOT
necessary to publish it in the NJI.
18. Any contesting candidate
whose name has appeared in the Provisional Ballot
paper may, by giving in writing to the Returning
Officer, withdraw from the contest at least
20 days before the conduct of election. The
name of such a candidate shall be deleted from
final Ballot Paper
19. No addition of the contestants
shall be made to the final Ballot Paper.
Eligible Voters
A member working / residing in a State or Union
Territory shall be the member of that branch of
TNAI. In case of temporary change of residence
e.g. study; deputation etc. for a period of more
than a year, the member shall be given option
for changing her/his membership to the temporary
place of residence after informing the Headquarters
and the old and new state branches.
(a) The member
present in the General Body shall be the eligible
voters.(as decided by the State Branch Executive
committee)
Or
Branches shall have a House of Representatives
consisting of TNAI Branch Executive members and
one representative for every 25 members from Zone/District/Institution.
For fraction of 10 and above, there shall be one
representative. (The Zone / District / Institution
shall submit the list of House of Representatives
with their addresses and TNAI numbers at least
two months before the election to the Election
Officer. The list shall also include and equal
numbers of additional names of eligible voters
to replace the House of Representatives in case
of dropout.
Election Venue
The venue should be decided in the Executive Committee
meeting of the State in the presence of the Returning
Officer and Joint Returning Officer and Election
Committee members. Consensus to be taken into
account while deciding the venue. Minutes of these
meetings to be recorded.
Voting Procedure
At the time of elections, the Returning Officer
shall appoint the Supervisors, Polling Officers
and Tellers for voting. She/he shall also ascertain
the names of the representatives of the contestants
and their consent in writing (if not already received
before the commencement of voting). Returning
Officer should explain the voting procedure to
the General Body.
(b) No canvassing
shall be permitted on the day of election. On
the day of election, no person other than the
voters shall be permitted within the area of the
polling booth. The Returning Officer and Supervisor
must keep vigil and ensure that no canvassing
is done on the day of election.
(c) The voters
shall queue up at the polling counters and shall
indicate their names and show their TNAI membership
cards to the polling officers along with photo
identity (Election identity card, PAN card, Driving
License ) before entering the hall.
(d) The Polling
Officer shall check the name and TNAI Membership
No. of eligible voters from the Voters list. Each
Voter shall sign against her/his name in the Voters
list. The Polling Officer shall provide a copy
of the Ballot Paper and put an identity mark on
the left hand forefinger of the voter with indelible
ink, and score off the voter’s name in red
from the Voters List and authenticate it by putting
her/his signature, send him/her to election hall.
(e) Ballot
papers shall be printed with counter-foils which
will bear no identity of the voters except that
they will have the same serial number.
(f) The empty
ballot boxes shall be inspected by the polling
officers, tellers, supervisors and representatives
of the contestants. The boxes shall then he locked
and sealed before placing these in different polling
booths in the same venue.
(g) The voter shall cast her/his
vote by putting the seal (X) carefully against
the name of the contestant of her/his choice.
The seal should be put in the proper space provided
in the ballot paper. Putting the seal in improper
space, over-stamping and any writing on the
ballot paper shall be treated as invalid vote.
After casting the vote the voter shall leave
the hall quietly and participate in the proceedings
of the ongoing Branch General Body Meeting.
(h) If the Returning Officer
could not be present on the day of election
due to extreme unavoidable circumstances, he/she
shall inform the TNAI Headquarters immediately.
Under such circumstances a Joint Returning Officer
will oversee the smooth conduction of the election.
Election Results
1. Immediately after the voting
is over, the Ballot Boxes shall be sealed and
shall be opened by the Returning Officer in the
presence of Supervisors, Polling Officers, Tellers
and Representatives of the contestants. Each member
present at the time of counting shall keep a separate
count of votes as each Ballot Paper shall be accounted
it will be scored off and signed by the Returning
Officer. From time to time, the count of ballot
papers shall be counter verified and preserved
properly.
2. Counting
shall be non-stop till all the votes are counted.
3. The valid
and invalid votes shall be counted, accounted
and be kept in separate covers. After all the
votes have been counted and tallied ballot papers
shall be placed in a cloth bag and sealed in the
presence of all the officers concerned. The minutes
of the entire process should be recorded and signed
by the Returning Officer, Election Committee members
and Representatives present at the time of counting.
4. The Returning
Officer shall declare the results immediately
after the counting procedure is completed. The
Returning Officer shall submit a copy of the election
result to the existing President of the Branch
who shall make a note that the elections are held
and declared valid in her/his presence and authenticate
by signing it.
5. The election
result of elected office bearers, prepared by
the Returning Officer, shall be sent to the TNAI
Headquarters immediately under her/his signature
for publishing in the NJI which will be published
after completion of 30 days from the date of election.
6. The ballot
paper shall be destroyed after 30 days from the
election, if there is no dispute.
7. The newly
elected office bearers can execute the functions
of the concerned office to which they are elected
in the Branch according to the directions of the
Executive Committee/Branch Byelaws/TNAI Rules
& Regulations for a 4 year term after 30 days
of election from the declaration of the result.
Election Dispute
1. Any objections on the election
may be raised in writing within 30 days from the
declaration of the results to the dispute &
grievances of Headquarters rooted through Returning
Officer of State.
2. All disputes
shall be settled by a Election Dispute Committee
constituted by the TNAI Headquarters.
3. The decision
of this Committee shall be final. An appeal regarding
the decision, if any, shall be made to the Council,
TNAI within 30 days of conveying the decision
of the Dispute Committee to the candidate. The
President shall call a special meeting of the
Council for hearing of the appeal. A member who
has not followed this procedure shall not be entitled
to take the matter to the court directly.
Notes for Voters
(i) The Returning Officer should
be approached for any query or doubt about the
elections.
(ii) It is
expected that the voters/members are well versed
with the TNAI Rules and Regulations
and Byelaws. A copy of the same shall be available
with Returning Officer for ready reference.
(iii) The voters must have
their TNAI Membership Card along with Photo
identity of Election Card, PAN Card or Driving
License.
(iv) No one shall be allowed
to vote before or after the scheduled time of
voting.
Notes for Returning Officer
and Election committee members
(a) All correspondence with the
TNAI Headquarters pertaining to the elections
should be routed through the Returning Officer
of State designated for the election.
(b) The Returning
Officer should obtain the voters’ list in
advance from the TNAI Headquarters.
(c) Returning
Officer should organize the meeting of Elections
Committee members to delegate the responsibility
pertaining to election process on the day of election.
(d) Returning
Officer and the Election committee members should
inspect the venue and for arrangements etc. prior
to the election.
(e) Returning
Officer along with her/his team should ensure
the availability of all items needed for the election.
Stationery required for election procedure and
counting of votes should be kept ready in advance:
Ballot Paper, Sealing Wax, Cloth, Paper, Pen,
Pencil, Scale, Rubber, Stapler, Punching Machine,
Tags, Common Pin, Gum paste, Seal, Ballot Box,
Marking ink, Candle, Match box, cloth bag, lock
& key, red pen, water etc.
(f) No electronics
gadgets (Mobile phone, camera) should be allowed
during voting and counting procedure except Returning
Officer and Observers from the TNAI Headquarters
till the counting is over.
(g) The Returning
Officer should keep all the minutes pertaining
to the election process from the beginning to
the end of the election. Returning Officer and
Election Committee members should maintain necessary
confidentiality of the entire election process.
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