[<<] [>>] by John Reddish
5th January 2023 (CqE Official News)

Introduction

The election of members of Council to replace those retiring by rotation in October 2022 resulted in insufficient voting members of the Council being elected for (i) the South West Constituency and (ii) the Croquet North and Yorkshire Constituency. There is one vacancy in each of these two constituencies.

Clause 24 of the Constitution of the CA provides that the positions remain shall remain vacant until a further election is held. As the appointed Returning Officer, I am now issuing this call for nominations within the period of 3 months from the date upon which the vacancies arose, in accordance with the Election Rules

The persons elected will serve for the remainder of the four-year terms, which end in October 2026.

Role of the Council and its Members

The Council has overall responsibility for the affairs of the Association, with a focus on high-level policy, strategic initiatives, scrutiny and transparency. Implementation of that policy is the responsibility of the Executive Board, which the Council appoints. The working committees report to the Executive Board.

There are 12 voting members of the Council, elected by single transferrable vote of individual CA members in constituencies made up of one or more Federations. They are to represent the players, clubs and Federations in their Constituency, balancing the interests of them and those of the CA as a whole as best they can. Standing for Election Membership of the Council thus offers a significant opportunity to shape the future of the CA, in the interests of its members as a whole. Members with an active interest in the future of the CA are encouraged to stand for election. A list of the skills needed for this role is published on the website. If you are interested in serving in this way, please read on to find out more about the election process and contact Samir Patel, the Chairman of Council, for further information.

Timetable

The timetable for these by-elections is as follows. Nominations will close on Friday 3 March 2023 and voting (if required) will finish on Thursday 6 April 2023.

Nominations

Nominations for election by a Constituency should be e-mailed to returning.officer#croquet.org.uk.

Nominations for the South West Constituency must also be emailed to the Secretary of the South West Federation (Linda Shaw) and nominations for the Croquet North and Yorkshire Constituency must also be emailed to the Secretary of the Yorkshire Federation (Margaret Wood) and the Secretary of the Croquet North Federation (David Millener).

The emails must identify the person nominated and his or her proposer and seconder, who must both be individual CA members registered to vote in the Constituency. The nominee does not have to be registered in the Constituency but must be resident in the UK. A personal statement by the nominee, of no more than 300 words, may be attached for publication and he or she must have confirmed his or her willingness to stand.

Electoral Register

CA members living in the UK are allocated to a Constituency based on the Federation membership of their primary club, failing which the leading part of the postcode of their home address. You can see the Constituency for which you are registered by viewing your details on the CA website, which you can do, when you are logged into it, by clicking on your name, which appears next to the login/out button on the top right of most pages. It will not be possible to change your Constituency during these by-elections.

Voting

If a ballot is necessary for your Constituency, you will be able to vote on line or by post. Further details will be published on the website. You will only be able to receive an e-mail giving a link to the voting application if you have an up-to-date e-mail address recorded in the CA Directory (though you can still be ex-directory if you do not want it published). Please ask your club secretary to set it for you if you can't login to the website to do it yourself.