DATE, TIME, and PLACE OF ELECTION: Sunday, April 28, 2019 between 2:00pm and 6:00pm at the Jain Society of Houston (JSH), located at 3905 Arc Street, Houston, TX 77063.

Election of four (4) members of the Executive Committee [EC] for the term 2019-2021 and election of two (2) members of the Board of Trustees [BT] for the term 2019-2022.

QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES:

1. For EC:  The candidate must be a Life member of JSH as of 31st December 2018, Or, must be a Jain Fellowship of Houston office bearer for at least one (1) of the two (2) prior years, and must not hold office in any other religious, social, or cultural organization in USA except JAINA during the EC term. Must be a legal resident of the USA.

2. For BT:  The candidate must have served as an EC Member for at least one (1) year, Or, must be a  Life Member of JSH for at least five (5) years, and must not hold office in any other religious, social or cultural organization in USA with the exception of JAINA during the BT term. Must be a legal resident of the USA.

DEADLINE FOR FILING NOMINATIONS:  Friday, April 19, 2019, 5:00pm with the Election Coordinator. It will be the responsibility of the member, to make sure that the Election Coordinator gets the signed nomination form on time.  JSH Caretakers or the President may receive the form on behalf of the Election Coordinator, but the candidate will have to make sure that the Election Coordinator has received the form before the deadline.

FILING NOMINATIONS:  Fill out the nomination form and mail it, hand-deliver or email scanned copy of it to the JSH election coordinator.  Only written nomination on the prescribed form or a photocopy thereof will be accepted.  A candidate will have to be nominated by a life member of JSH meeting the requirements as described in Item 7 below.  The spouse of the candidate is not a qualified nominator.  One nominator can only nominate one candidate for either the Executive Committee (EC) or the Board of Trustees (BT).  Election coordinator will notify the candidate with the receipt of the form by email or phone.

NOMINATION WITHDRAWAL:  Withdrawal of the nomination must be made in writing and delivered to the Election Coordinator before 5:00 pm on Tuesday, April 23, 2019.

VOTERS QUALIFICATIONS: All members, 21 years and older, who are listed on the current list of JSH and have paid life membership fees on or before December 31st 2018 are designated as qualified voters.  In a family membership, only the husband and wife qualify for voting.

ADDITIONAL RULES:

1. If more than four nominations for the EC are received, an election will take place.  If there are four or less than four nominations, all nominated candidates will be declared elected for the two year EC term.

2. If more than two nominations for the BT are received, an election will take place.  If there are two or less than two nominations, all nominated candidates will be declared elected for the three year BT term.

3. If the total number of EC/BT after the Election is less than eight/six respectively, the newly elected EC/BT team members will select the required EC/BT members to make the total to eight/six in count, within 15 days of the election provided that the selected members fulfill the qualifications required in item 3 above.

4. After the Election Day, and latest by the end of the first twenty days in the month of May each year, the newly elected EC/BT consisting of eight/six EC/BT members will elect the new President/Chief Trustee.  EC will also select a Vice-President, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer from within the members of the new EC.

5. The election coordinator will have the final say in the matters of JSH EC/BT Elections.  He will declare the eligibility, conduct the election, and provide to the current President/Chief Trustee, all of the Election Records, and file these also for the records in the JSH files.  Election coordinator will not reveal names of contestants to any person before the closing of the date for acceptance of the applications.

6. The election coordinator will sign the ballot papers prior to voting.  All ballot papers without authorized signatures, or with added writing by the voters, illegible or defacing marks, or ballots showing more than required votes shall be cancelled at the sole discretion of the election coordinator and in such matters, his decision will be final.

7. In case of a tie, the election coordinator will break the tie by drawing the name of the winning candidate in presence of the tying candidates.

8. The names of the members of the newly elected Committee will be posted on the JSH bulletin board, Website and also published in the first JSH newsletter published after the Election Day.

9. All questions and inquiries relating to the election should be directed to election coordinator for resolution.

10. Actual transfer of the duties will be conducted on or before the last day of April each year.