WBF Amendments to the By-Laws
By Anna Gudge In Archive, News, Official announcements On 8th June 2020
To clarify some doubts that had arisen with regard to the electoral procedure and to avoid any possible misunderstanding or mistake, the Management Committee provided to update and amend the related articles of the By-Laws and the Executive Council on 5th June 2020 approved the amendments of the By-Laws as follows:
Article 29 – Candidates for election
(Previous text: Nominations for EC members to be elected by the Congress must be in writing or e-mail and received together with a CV of the Candidate by the Honorary Secretary at least 30 days before the date of the Congress. The Candidates must be in good standing with the NBO of the Country of which the candidate is a citizen or a bona fide resident and must fulfill all the Statutes and By-Law requirements. Once the deadline for nominations has ended, the candidatures will be circulated via e-mail to the affiliated NBOs and published on the WBF website. Candidates must be physically present at the Congress at the time of the election, save in cases of force majeure.)
New text: Nominations for EC members to be elected by the Congress must be in writing or e-mail and forwarded by the NBO to the Honorary Secretary together with a written signed declaration by the Candidate that he is in good standing with the NBO of the Country of which he is a citizen or a bona fide resident and that he knows of and fulfils the conditions of admissibility required by the Statutes and By-Laws.
A CV of the Candidate must be received by the Honorary Secretary at least 30 days before the date of the Congress.
Once the deadline for nominations has ended, details of the Candidates, together with their CVs, will be circulated via e-mail to the affiliated NBOs and published on the WBF website.
Candidates must be physically present at the Congress at the time of the election, save in cases of force majeure.
Article 30 – Candidates from the floor
(Previous text: If, and only if, there are insufficient candidates, NBOs may present further candidates subject to the following conditions: a)the candidates must be presented at the opening of the Congress; b)the presentation must be made by the delegate of the NBO; c)all the other conditions of admissibility must apply.
New Text: If, and only if, there are insufficient candidates, representing at least 3 different Zonal Conferences, NBOs may present further candidates subject to the following conditions:
- a) the candidates must be presented at the opening of the Congress and registered in the minutes by the Hon. Secretary or his delegate;
- b) only NBOs of the Zonal Conferences that do not already have a candidate may present one, and no more than one, candidate for each Zonal Conference;
- c) the candidate must submit a written signed declaration, countersigned by his NBO which assumes the related responsibility, to be in good standing with his own NBO and in accordance with all the other conditions of admissibility.
Article 31 – Election
(Previous text: The election of the EC members takes place by secret ballot. The three candidates with the highest number of votes shall be elected, subject to the provision within the Statutes that no more than one candidate may come from the same Zonal Conference. In the event of a tie there are further secret ballots amongst the candidates up to the breaking of the tie.)
New Text: The election of the EC members takes place by secret ballot.
Each NBO may cast a vote for up to 3 candidates providing they are from 3 different Zonal Conferences. Ballot papers with more than 3 preferences selected and/or with more than one candidate from the same Zonal Conference, shall be void.
The three candidates with the highest number of votes from 3 different Zonal Conferences shall be elected.
In the event of a tie there are further secret ballots amongst the candidates up to the breaking of the tie.
According to art. 38 of the Statutes, an amendment of the By-Laws shall come into force on the date of the decision of the Executive Council. The amendment shall be notified to the members of the WBF as soon as practicable. If a majority of the members addresses a written objection to the amendment to the President within 60 days from the entry into force of the amendment, the amendment shall be considered as null and void.
In consequence the new articles 29, 30 and 31 are in effect from 5th June 2020, if no objection is made as above.
Anna Gudge
WBF Communication Manager
You can download a pdf of the above announcement by clicking here