2020 Special Election

Seva, a service of giving without thinking of result, is a very simple thing. It makes you a leader whether you are or not—whether you deserve to be or not. And it brings you opportunities, prosperities, and all the goods, and God, and goodies of the Universe.
Yogi Bhajan 4/20/89

​Election Details

The SSSC bylaws call for the board to be composed of 15 elected trustees.  Recently, there were three resignations from the Board- MJ Amrit Singh Khalsa, SS Guru Amrit Singh Khalsa, and MSS Krishna Kaur Khalsa.  Two of the open positions have been filled by candidates who ran in the previous election, SS Gurumeet Kaur Khalsa and SS Sirivishnu Singh Khalsa.  However, there were not sufficient candidates remaining from that election to fill the final seat.  As there is a vacancy on the board that is unable to be filled by our normal process, the SSSC is holding a special election to fill the one vacant seat.  ​

The Board member who stepped down and created this vacancy was seated in September of 2017 and so the seat that is currently being filled will expire in September of 2022.


2020 Special Election Calendar Detail

1. Nomination: October 1 - October 15, 2020
  • Members of the Sangat shall nominate Candidates through an electronic survey. All Sangat members may participate. 

2. Vetting: October 21 - 31, 2020
  •  The Office of Dharmic Counsel shall vet candidates according to section 2.6 of the bylaws to determine eligibility. 
  •  The Office of the Secretary of Religion will provide a list of Ministers who have qualified to be eligible to vote in the upcoming election.  
 
3. Announcement of Candidates: November 2, 2020
  •  An email shall be sent to the Electorate announcing the names of the eligible Candidates.
 
4. Submission of Candidate Statements: November 2-7, 2020
  • Eligible Candidates shall be provided with a questionnaire requesting relevant biographical information. The questionnaire shall include the submission deadline and criteria for disqualification as specified in Phase 5 of this schedule. 
  • Each Eligible Candidate shall submit a response to the questionnaire.
  • Candidates who do not submit a response before the deadline shall be disqualified.
 
5. Review of Candidate Statements: November 8-15, 2020
  • This phase may run concurrently with Phases 4 and 6.
  • The Office of Dharmic Council and the Election Committee shall review all candidate Statements.
  • Candidates whose statements are found to contain inappropriate content may submit a revised Statement no later than three (3) days before the start of voting. Candidates who have not submitted an appropriate revised Statement by this deadline shall be disqualified. 

6. Posting of Candidate Statements: November 16, 2020
  • This phase may run concurrently with phases 4 and 5.
  • Once all appropriate Statements have been posted, the website shall be activated and a notification shall be sent to the Electorate. 

7. Voting: December 4-13, 2020
  • Voting will take place online via a secure balloting service.
  • Each voter shall be provided with unique credentials so that they may fill out exactly one ballot.
  • Each voter may cast a number of votes equal to or less than the number of seats up for election. 
  •  Each voter is prohibited from voting for any Candidate more than once.  

8. Tally and Notification: December 14, 2020
  • Votes shall be tallied electronically after voting ends.
  • The Candidate receiving the most votes will be seated. 
  • In the event of a tie for the seat, if there are more Candidates in the tie than there are open seats, the remaining open seat(s) shall be contested in a run-off election between the tied Candidates. 
  • Notification of election results shall include winner and tallies for every Candidate.
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9. New Board Member training
  • New Board Members take a 2 week training before officially becoming part of the Board.

10. Assumption of Office: January 16, 2021
  • Winner of the election shall take Office before the January Face to Face Meetings. 

Electorate

​To learn more about who qualifies to be part of the electorate or to apply please click on the following button:

Nominations

To nominate someone to become a trustee please click on the following button:
Choose whom you want but you must vote. I think anybody who has not registered himself as a voter has done a national tragedy. What is that democracy where nobody wants to vote? Vote right and wrong but you must vote; that is democracy. And a democracy in which only half of the people vote, what is the democracy?
Yogi Bhajan 10/13/88