Section 1. Nominations Committee
Section 1.1 Chair and member
Immediately following the beginning of each year, the Past President shall become the Chair of the Nominations Committee. In the event of the incapacity or conflict of interest of the Chair, the most recent Past Chair of the Nominations Committee available shall be the Chair of the Nominations Committee. With extenuating circumstances, a different individual may be appointed to this position. The Nominations Committee shall consist of a Chair and three more members of the Society. At least two of the three members shall not be members of the Board of Governors. The ExCom members (Officers in this text) may not serve as members on the Nominations Committee or be members ex officio. The President and Nominations Committee Chair will prepare a slate of member appointments that must be approved by the Board of Governors. The President will fill member vacancies with the approval of the Board of Governors. The Nominations Committee shall propose an Election and Appointment schedule for the year for approval by the Board of Governors, if approved all Elections and Appointments will follow this schedule.
Section 1.2 Nomination Restrictions
The Chair of the Nominations Committee shall not be eligible for nomination or election to the Board of Governors during their term of service as Chair. A member of the Nominations Committee may be nominated and run for a position for which such member’s respective Nominations Committee is responsible for making nominations only on the following conditions: (i) the nomination is not made by a member of the same Nominations Committee and (ii) the member resigns from the Nominations Committee prior to its first meeting of the year in which the nomination shall be made.
Section 2. Principle of Efficiency
The Nominations Committee shall be guided in its selections by principle of efficiency, geographical distribution, and technical interests.
Section 3. Election and Appointment of Members of the Board of Governors
Section 3.1 Call for Nominations
The Chair of the Nominations Committee shall cause a call for nominations for members of the Board of Governors to be published and distributed to the entire Society membership, according to the approved year’s Election Schedule. For each elective office of the Society, individual voting members eligible to vote in such election may nominate candidates either by a written petition or by majority vote at a nomination meeting of the organizational unit, provided such nominations are made at least 28 days before the date of election. The number of signatures required on a petition shall be determined in accordance with IEEE Bylaws as follows. For all positions where the electorate is less than 30,000 voting members, signatures shall be required from 2% of the eligible voters. Members shall be notified of all duly made nominations prior to the election. Prior to submission of a nomination petition, the petitioner shall have determined that the nominee named in the petition is willing to serve, if elected; evidence of such willingness to serve shall be submitted with the petition. Signatures can be submitted electronically through the official IEEE society annual election website, or by signing and mailing a paper petition. The name of each member signing the paper petition shall be clearly printed or typed. For identification purposes of signatures on paper petitions, membership numbers or addresses as listed in the official IEEE membership records shall be included. Only signatures submitted electronically through the IEEE society annual elections website or original signatures on paper petitions shall be accepted. Facsimiles, or other copies of the original signature, shall not be accepted. The reception of any such valid petition shall automatically place that nominee on the slate, provided he/she is an IEEE and Society Member in good standing for at least 2 years and meets all other requirements of the Constitution and these Bylaws.
Section 3.2 Other Calls
Recommendations for all nominees shall also be solicited by a letter from the Chair of the Nominations Committee to the Chairs of all Chapters, Standing and Technical Committees of the Society. Chapter Chairs shall be asked specifically to nominate individuals to represent the interest of Chapters.
Section 3.3 Election Ballots
Prior to the annual autumn meeting of the Board of Governors, the final slate of nominations to the Board of Governors shall be prepared by the Nominations Committee and sent to the CASS Executive Office for the preparation of a ballot. The ballot shall provide the opportunity to vote for write-in candidates for the Board of Governors.
The Nominations Committee shall nominate at least nine (9) individuals from the Society membership, excluding students and affiliates, to fill member-at-large seats on the Board of Governors. During the year in which the term expires for the current Regional Members at Large, the Nominations Committee shall also nominate, for each of the expiring position(s), at least three (3) individuals from the Society members at large of the corresponding region(s), excluding students and affiliates. Each nominee shall be consulted prior to the nomination to see if he/she will serve. If any nominee declines the nomination, his/her name shall be withdrawn.
A notice shall be sent to each member of the Society, with a description of the process for casting ballots using the electronic voting website. Those members eligible to vote but who do not have registered email addresses will be provided paper ballots. Members may request paper ballots if they prefer. Only votes cast on the election website or ballots received on or before the prescribed deadline will be counted. The Society Executive Office shall transmit the results of the election to the President and Vice President - Financial Activities of the at the close of the ballot and once official results have been received.
The candidate receiving the largest number of votes by the regional membership will be elected Regional Member at Large for that specific region, vacancies in this position should be addressed first upon tallying of ballots. The remaining Member at Large seats will be assigned to the candidates receiving the largest number of votes by the global membership, so that the sum of the elected Member at Large and Regional Member at Large shall be equal to five. Any ties shall be broken by the Board of Governors in a run-off election with the candidates having equal number of votes and following the procedures of Officer elections. If an elected member fails to accept office, or disapproval is received from IEEE Headquarters, the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes will be selected. Once this procedure is completed, the candidates present in the resulting list are declared elected.
The list of candidates and votes shall be maintained to fill vacancies that may occur during the year following the elections, by taking replacement candidates from this list in order of received number of election votes. If all vacancies cannot be filled in this manner, the Board of Governors may make contingent elections.
The President shall submit the names of such elected members to the Chairman of the IEEE Technical Activities Board. Unless disapproval of such elected members is received within sixty days of such transmittal, the election becomes final.
Section 3.4 Appointment of Board of Governors Members
After the slate of candidates for the elections process described in Section 3.3 becomes final, the President, in consultation with the President-Elect and the Past President shall appoint:
- 1. one individual from the Society members who qualify for the IEEE Young Professionals Program (YP), meaning they are members who have received their first professional degree within the last fifteen years;
- 2. one individual from the Society members whose primary affiliation is in Industry; to fill a seat on the Board of Governors starting January 1st of the year following the appointment.
A request for consent shall be sent to the incumbent Board of Governors for individual ratification of the appointments. In case of disapproval, a different individual must be appointed following the same procedure until ratification approval by the incumbent Board of Governors is obtained.
An individual appointed for the YP/Industry member seat on the Board of Governors must be a YP/Industry member at the time he/she would take office.
Section 4.1 Officer Elections
Section 4.1 Call for Nominations
The Chair of the Nominations Committee shall cause a call for nominations of Officers of the Society to be published and distributed to the entire Society membership, on or before June 1 of each year. The call must carry with it a statement setting September 1 as the deadline for the submission of nominations and the specific number of signatures required for submission of nomination petitions to the Society.
Each nominee shall be consulted prior to the nomination to see if he/she will serve, if elected. If a nominee declines the nomination, his/her name shall be withdrawn.
Section 4.2 Other calls
Nomination recommendations for all nominees shall also be solicited by a letter from the Chair of the Nominations Committee to the Officers and the members of the Board of Governors, Chairs of all Chapters, Standing and Technical Committees of the Society.
Section 4.3 Nomination by petition
Nomination petitions for the officers appointed by the Board of Governors require signatures from at least 22% of the voting members of the Board of Governors. The petition must be submitted to the N&A Committee, together with the biography and position statement of the candidate no later than ten days prior to the BoG meeting at which the appointment is to be made.
Section 4.4 Additional nominations
If declinations are received after the nominations for officers have been made, but before ballots have been mailed, the President of the Society may make additional nominations.
Section 4.5 Ineligible names
A nominee for Officer or Member of the Board of Governors must be a Full Member in good standing of CASS for two years immediately prior to being nominated. The names of any nominees for Officers or Members of the Board of Governors who are not eligible under the Constitution or Bylaws shall be withdrawn by the President of the Society.
Section 4.6 Submission of nominations to the IEEE
The Chairman of the Nominations Committee shall submit nominations for Officers to the IEEE TAB office prior to October 1.
Section 4.7 Ballots
The Society Officers shall be elected by the Board of Governors. During the year in which the term expires for the currently serving officer, the following officers shall be elected to begin serving their two-year term the following year: Vice President-Technical Activities, Vice President-Conferences, Vice President-Regional Activities and Membership, Vice President-Financial Activities, and Vice President-Publications. The President-Elect shall also be elected to begin serving the two-year term the following year. A ballot shall be prepared including the names submitted by the Nominations Committee. An email ballot shall be submitted to the Board of Governors by the deadline found in the year’s approved Appointment schedule. Any Board of Governors member may request a paper ballot, and a paper ballot shall be automatically sent to any Board of Governors member who does not have an email address registered with IEEE. The ballot shall provide the opportunity to vote for write-in candidates for each office on the ballot. The email ballot shall provide instructions for casting votes electronically. Only votes cast electronically, or paper ballots returned on or before the deadline found in the year’s approved Appointment schedule will be counted. For each office, if no candidate receives a majority, then a run-off ballot will be prepared and submitted to the Members of the Board of Governors. This ballot will contain only the names of the two highest candidates for each office wherein a majority was not received by one candidate. No write-ins are allowed on this ballot. The ballot should carry a voting period of two calendar weeks. If an elected officer fails to accept office or a disapproval is received from IEEE because there has been some irregularity in the nomination and election procedures or the elected individual has failed to maintain IEEE membership or Society membership, then an approval/disapproval ballot should be sent to the Board of Governors for ratification of the next highest candidate for that office from the previous ballot. If the Board of Governors should disapprove or if the disqualified candidate is the only candidate for that office, then the Nominations Committee should draw up a new slate for that office. Another election for this office will then be conducted by the process described above or at a duly constituted meeting of the Board of Governors. If the election is not held at a duly constituted meeting of the Board of Governors, the slate of candidates shall be presented by the deadline found in the year’s approved Appointment.
Section 4.8 Election Results
The President of the Society shall inform the successful candidate of their election and shall arrange for the transfer of responsibility. The names of such elected members shall be published to the Society membership and reported to the TAB Secretary.
Section 4.9 Replacement Procedures
If a Vice President position becomes vacant before the end of the term of office, the remainder of the term of office will be filled by a newly elected candidate. If the candidate receiving the second largest number of votes in the last held elections for that position is still prepared to take this position, an approval/disapproval ballot shall be sent to the Board of Governors. If the Board of Governors disapproves, or a disapproval is received from IEEE Headquarters, or the candidate is no longer willing to serve, or there were multiple candidates with the same second largest number of votes, then the Nominations Committee shall create a new slate for that office according to the Bylaws, with a minimum period of one month for the call for nominations. The ballot may then be submitted by mail or other electronic means or at a duly constituted meeting of the Board of Governors.
If the President-Elect position becomes vacant, new elections shall always be held according to the Bylaws, with a minimum period of one month for the call for nominations. If the Past President position becomes vacant, then the remainder term of office will be completed by the previous Past President.
Section 5. Special Representation of the Solid-State Circuits Society
The IEEE Circuits and Systems (CAS) Society and the IEEE Solid-State Circuits (SSC) Society have agreed to fully interact and cooperate for their mutual and individual benefit. The CAS Society will appoint a representative to the Administrative Committee (AdCom) of the SSC Society who will serve a two-year term as a voting member of this committee. In turn, the CAS Society will accept a representative from the SSC Society to serve a two-year term as a voting member at its Board of Governors (BoG) meetings. The SSCS representative votes on all matters at the CASS BoG with the exceptions of the elections and amendments to the CASS Constitution, Bylaws, and Policies & Procedures.