How to Petition for a Place on the SOA Ballot
If you would like to run for an SOA office but have not been selected as an endorsed candidate, you may still seek a place on the ballot by petition. To do this, you must notify the Nominating Committee within the specified time frame and state your interest. Please note that petition candidates must have gone through the initial election process with the Nominating Committee.
Petition-seeking, non-endorsed candidates are provided the following:
- An online petition site that allows eligible voting members to support their petitions.
- Assurance that the SOA or the service provider will, by email, notify all eligible voting members about the petition process and provide them with a link to the online petition site and a unique pass code to access the site.
The SOA will not send any reminders after the initial announcement and petition candidates do not post a statement on the site. A petition process is, by definition, a mechanism by which those gathering support are expected to demonstrate—independently and without institutional support or promotion—that there is grass roots support for them. Petitioning nominees are expected to gather petition support independently, without utilizing or relying on SOA resources or official communication channels. Once the ballot is finalized, all candidates for election, whether on the ballot by Nominating Committee endorsement or by petition, will have the same access to official communication channels.
The Petition Website
- The petition site remains open for 30 calendar days after the notice is sent to eligible voting members.
- Each eligible voting member uses a unique pass code to access the site and enter support for the petitions of the nominees listed.
Each eligible voting member may only support the petition of:
- One nominee for the President-Elect and Vice-Chair office
- No more than three nominees for elected Board member positions
Once an eligible voting member has accessed the site and entered support for any petition in any Board position, it may not be revoked or changed.
Additional requirements
For a non-endorsed nominee to qualify for a place on the ballot by petition, the nominee must obtain a level of petition support from eligible voting members that totals at least 10 percent of the number of votes cast for President-Elect and Vice-Chair in the previous election.
During the 30-day petition window: (i) a petitioning nominee who attains the level of support required will be so advised once that level of support is reached, but the total amount of petition support received will not be disclosed; (ii) a petitioning nominee who has not attained the level of support required will receive status updates 14 days before, seven days before and at the close of the petition window, advising the nominee of the level of petition support he or she has attained as of those dates.
At the close of the petition window, the committee will receive the results of the petition process. If a petitioning nominee receives the required level of petition support, the committee will add the nominee to the final ballot as a candidate for election, designated as a candidate “by petition.”