The annual election to the Hindu Samaj board of trustees will take place in April of every year during the Annual General Body Meeting. The members of the Samaj will be informed of the meeting day at least six week prior to the meeting. The election of the officers of the trustees will be based on a secret ballot cast by the members of the Samaj.

The candidates competing for the elections must make their intentions known to the President or the Secretary of the Samaj in writing by the March 1st of the year. Any applications received after that date, irrespective of the reason, will not be accepted for that year.

Only bona fide members of the Samaj can vote in the Samaj elections. Members could either be life members or annual members for the current year. Life membership is obtained by a one-time fee of $ 1000.00 and the annual membership by a fee of $ 100.00 for a family or $ 50.00 for a single person. Children above the age of 18 years can become members with the payment of a $ 25.00 annual fee. Membership dues (life and annual memberships) are to be in by March 1 of each year for members to participate in that year's elections. The family membership would include only the member, his/her spouse, and their parents who are permanently residing with them. No exception to this rule will be allowed. Children above the age of 18 need to be dues-paying members of the Samaj to be able to vote.

The election will be conducted by a team of impartial Hindu Samaj coordinators led by one of the trustees of the Samaj. The actual election process will be as follows:

1. The names of the candidates will be displayed prominently at the entrance to the temple and it will be displayed with last names in alphabatical order.

2. The names of the candidates will be read out immediately after the initial general report by the president. After the officers' reports to the General body, and before discussions of Samaj related issues (Qs & As), the candidates will be allotted a maximum of five minutes each to introduce themselves and share their views with the attendees.

3. At the end of the Samaj proceedings, the actual election would take place. Each life member or annual member would be provided a ballot showing the names of the candidates and a box for their selections. The ballots box will be closed one hour after the actual start of balloting.

4. Once all the ballots are cast, the votes will be counted by the election coordinators. One representative of each candidate can be present during the ballot counting. Improper ballots will be discarded. All the ballots will be counted a second time to assure correctness before the announcement of votes for each candidates and the election winners. The winners' names will also be displayed on the notice board. In the case of a tie for the last seat, there will be an election for that seat.

In the event of a tie, either of the candidates can step down. If not, based on the tie, the two candidates will share the office for the year (in alphabetical order of their last names), each for a term of six months. At the end of the year, the seat will be vacated and will be open for reelection for the remaining term of two years.

No compromise would be made to this process. These steps will be strictly enforced to ensure an objective and impartial implementation of the process.

Ballot for election of Trustees on 04/XX/2002

Direction:

Please ensure that you are checking off the candidates that you are voting for by placing a 'Y' next to their names. If, in error, you check the candidate not of your choice, please clearly strike off the marking and remark for the appropriate candidate. Also check to ensure that you have not marked for more candidates than seats to be filled in the election. Any ballot with more than right number of candidates selected will be rejected.

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