Nominations and Elections
Governance Policies and Procedures
Policy Number: G 4.4 | Policy Type: Governance | Approval Date: June 2016
Introduction
Objective
The OLA By-Law 1, section VI describes who and how a member may become a Director. The Board of Directors shall establish and appoint a Nominations and Elections Committee to oversee and manage the nominations and elections process for office to the Board of Directors as identified in section VI.07 and throughout this policy.
The Board of Directors shall maintain a policy and procedure for nominations and elections and publish such policy and procedure for the members at the time of filling this committee and at the time of running any election/nomination process.
Definitions
Nomination refers to proposing a candidate for election or appointment to the OLA Board or a Council.
Election refers to a selection by vote for a position on the OLA Board or a Council.
Important Dates are listed in this document as midnight of a date. When that date falls on a weekend or holiday, the date will be considered the next business day.
Purpose
It is expected that members will nominate members or nominate themselves for elected positions. The goal is to have elections rather than appointments for all positions in order to maintain a vibrant association. The OLA Board and Councils have a responsibility to ensure that candidates are sought in the event that nominations do not freely come forth from the general membership. Members involved in the nominations process are not eligible to be nominated to a position
Procedures: Board Nominations
OLA Nominations Committee
Purpose: To nominate member(s) for OLA Vice-President, OLA Treasurer and At Large positions on the Board of Directors Nominations from the general membership are welcome.
Composition: The Committee will be between 6 and 9 members and include:
- At least 4 past presidents or delegates of Councils (excluding VP/President roles);*
- At least one former president of the OLA Board;
- The Executive Director who is ex-officio.
*In order to avoid bias or conflict of interest, nomination committee members cannot be members who will be on the OLA Board of Directors the following year.
Screening: The Committee will also be responsible to screen all candidates who are nominated to ensure they meet the qualifications of being a Board member as outlined in By-Law Section VI.04 and Board directives pertaining to composition, “including but not limited to regional diversity, personal skills, and needs of the Corporation) Section VI.04 (d) . Copies of such policies shall be available to Members upon request.
Process: The OLA Nominations Committee will consider candidates who have the capabilities and experience to fulfill the duties as outlined in the “Role of the OLA President”, “Role of the OLA Treasurer” and the “Role of OLA Board Member-At Large Director” documents. Candidates will be approached based on a majority vote by the OLA Nominations Committee. Candidates must agree to have their names put forth for election.
Board of Director Nominee Criteria
Board of Directors: It is recommended that the Vice-President be an active member of OLA (e.g. member of a Council, planning committees, or other involvement) and be a member in good standing for a minimum of three years to apply for the position so they will be versed in the work and activities of the association.
Mid-Term or Unfilled Positions
- In the case of an unfilled or mid-term open Board of Directors seat, the Board will call for nominations from the members and follow the standard nomination and election process.
- The results will be reported to the membership by e-mail, as well as on the OLA website.
Procedures: Council Nominations
OLA Nominations Representative or Committee
Purpose: to have each sector monitor their own nominations process, identify positions requiring an election, ensure that there are candidates for elected positions, and to collect the candidate photo and election platform statement to deliver to the OLA office.
Composition: 1-3 sector representatives from the membership that preferably include a council member/past Council president who have experience and an understanding of the role and obligations. The representatives must avoid bias or conflict of interest in the process. Council presidents are responsible for ensuring their Sectoral nominations process is in place and that there are no conflict-of-interest issues.
Council Nominee Criteria
Nominees must be active members of the Sector which they intend to run for election. Must be an OLA member, a member of the Sector (for Council elections, must be a member represented by the Council they are applying to).
If there are no nominations for a Council position by November 15, the Council or Board in their stead, may appoint the position at any time following this date provided the Board or Council has a quorum at time of appointment (more than 50%).
Mid-Term or Unfilled Positions
- In the case of an unfilled or mid-term open Officer seat, the Council will call for nominations from the members and follow the standard nomination and election process.
- In the case of an unfilled or mid-term open Council seat:
- a delegate may be appointed. This may be a past-past president, president, or some other sector member who has previous experience with Council); or
- should no member be available, the Council may call for nominations from sector members and follow the standard nomination and election process; or
- the Council may also select not to appoint a member, providing the minimum number of members (five of seven) is not impacted.
- The results will be reported to the membership by e-mail, as well as on the OLA website.
Procedures: General
Timeline
- Open positions to be identified at the Spring OLA Board and Council meetings.
- Any policy identifying governed composition of the board (as per By-Law Section VI.04 (d) is to be approved by the Board at or prior to the June Board meeting.
- Nomination committees or nomination representatives must be identified by the end of July 31.
- A notice calling for nominations is to be delivered to the membership by email on or before midnight of September 15.
- Nominations close on midnight November 15.
- Elections must run a minimum of 10 days and close by midnight of December 10.
- Candidates are notified by December 20.
- The term for the newly elected OLA Board and Councils is January 1 – December 31. Unless otherwise indicated in the by-laws, the term for elected positions is three years. Orientation and training will occur following election, often before the first meeting in January with public responsibilities commencing at or after the ratification of positions at the AGM, or in the case of Council seats, at the January Council meeting.
Nominees for Both Board and Councils
All nominees must have at least two nominators if not identified by a nominations committee and have provided consent to stand for election.
All nominees must have an introductory statement made available to the Committee with a photo to be included on the OLA Nominations webpage and in e-communications with members.
OLA Elections
If only one nomination for a position is received and further nominations cannot be obtained, the nominee will be declared elected by the President of the Association or President of the Council. Otherwise, voting takes place electronically with a system designed to be secret and secure. Each candidate provides a photo and text describing their platform. All members of the sector shall be eligible to vote for representatives*. Candidates for the Board and Councils shall be elected by a simple majority of secret ballots cast by members in good standing of the Corporation. Upon the closing of the election, the Executive Director forwards the election results to the outgoing President of the Association or designate if they are running for an elected position, for review and acceptance.
*In the case of Public Library Sector, members of OPLA and OLBA will vote for their own candidates to their respective Council only.
The Executive Director or delegate shall notify all candidates of the results of the relevant elections in writing. Nominees in an election situation who are not elected can be invited by the Executive Director to participate with the organization in other ways.
The election results will be posted on the OLA website, reported to the membership at the Annual General Meeting for ratification, and announced at Council meetings.
OLA Staff Responsibilities
- Coordination of nomination committee meetings as needed.
- Publish the call for nominations.
- Coordination of the e-voting process including sending of the ballot link.
- Notify nominees of the election outcome.
Revised: April 2023, Sept 2025
Date for Review: 2028; Every 3 Years
