To: Calhoun County School Board Candidates

Date: December 20, 2010 To: Calhoun County School Board Candidates From: Calhoun County Clerk ~ Elections Division Re: Preparing for the 2011 Elections

Greetings from Election Central! It’s time to begin thinking about the 2011 Elections. We are happy to provide you with the attached information. We hope it will be helpful as you begin to explore signature requirements, campaign finance regulations and campaign strategy. The campaign filing deadline for local school board candidates is: FEBRUARY 8, 2011 by 4:00 PM. A complete filing includes an Affidavit of Identity AND either a $100 nonrefundable filing fee OR nominating petitions consisting of valid signatures according to the attached chart. If your districts most recent pupil enrollment is LESS than 2,401 and you spend, receive or have debt of $1,000 or less, you are exempt from campaign finance requirements (you do not need to file a Statement of Organization). You must however include proper identification on printed and broadcast materials, and you must keep track of your expenses. If your districts most recent pupil enrollment is 2,401 or more, you are mandated to meet campaign finance requirements. You must first complete and file a Statement of Organization with the County Clerk in Marshall (be sure to request the waiver if you don’t expect to exceed $1000 in contributions, expenditures or debt). If you spend, receive or have a debt of over $1,000 by April 17th, you are required to file a Pre-Election Campaign Finance Report by April 22 nd with our Marshall office. If you filed a Pre-Election report OR you spent, received or have debt of over $1,000 by May 23rd you are required to file a Post-Election report by June 2 nd. Campaign Finance booklets are available for candidates in school districts with a pupil enrollment of 2,401 or more. This information can also be found on the State Bureau of Elections website: http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,1607,7-127- 1633_8723---,00.html . The Qualified Voter File (QVF), a statewide voter registration file, is available in our office and can be a valuable tool for your campaign. Information acquired from the QVF includes: registered voters in your district, those who voted in previous elections, absentee voters, voters by age group, a street index of your district, or a walking list if you’re going door-to-door. This information can be obtained through a Freedom of Information Request. The cost for a hard copy of the information is $.02 per name, labels are $.03 per name, or information on disk, CD or emailed in an Excel spreadsheet format is $.005 per name. Please let us know if we can be of assistance to you. Best wishes to you this election! Our phone number is 269-781-0988, fax 269-781-0703, or email: [email protected]. att SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES Signatures Required for 2011 Candidates

SCHOOL DISTRICT NOMINATING PETITIONS (School District) Minimum Maximum Athens Area Schools Homer Community School District Mar Lee School Pennfield Schools 6 20 Tekonsha Community Schools Less than 10,000 in Population Albion Public Schools Battle Creek Schools Harper Creek Community Schools 40 100 Marshall Public Schools 10,000 or more in Population (MCL 168.303)

A candidate for the office of school board member shall be a United States citizen and a qualified (18 years old) and registered elector (a resident for 30 days) of the school district the individual seeks to represent by the filing deadline. For an individual’s name to appear on the official ballot as a candidate for school board member, the candidate shall file nominating petition(s) or a $100.00 filing fee and an affidavit of identity with the school districts filing official. The petitions shall have been signed by a number of qualified and registered electors residing within the district based upon the population of the district involved according to the most recent federal census (2000) - all school board districts should refer to chart above. Instead of filing nominating petitions, a candidate for school board member may pay a nonrefundable filing fee of $100 to the school district filing official. The deadline for filing nominating petitions or filing fees, along with the Affidavit of Identity, for the May 3, 2011 election date, shall be February 8, 2011, 4:00 p.m. The proper petitions to use are: ‘Nominating Petitions (School District)’ (168.303)

* Note: the filing official for all school districts in Calhoun County - except for Lakeview School District – is the County Clerk’s office in Marshall. The filing official for Lakeview School District is the Battle Creek City Clerk’s Office. 2011 SCHOOL CANDIDATE INFORMATION FOR NOMINATING PETITION SHEETS

The heading of the petition must be complete BEFORE circulating petition sheets to acquire signatures. Legal Name of School District, City or Township where circulated and county (note: you must have a separate sheet for each city or township where circulated):  Albion Public Schools can be circulated in Albion City, and portions of Albion, Eckford, Marengo and Sheridan Townships in Calhoun County; and portions of Concord and Parma Townships in Jackson County.  Athens Area Schools can be circulated in portions of Athens, Burlington, Leroy, and Newton Townships in Calhoun County; Sherwood Township in Branch County; Leondias Township in St. Joseph County; and Wakeshma Township in Kalamazoo County.

 School District of the City of Battle Creek can be circulated in the City of Springfield, and portions of the City of Battle Creek, Bedford, Emmett and Pennfield Charter Townships in Calhoun County.

 Harper Creek Community Schools can be circulated in portions of the City of Battle Creek, and Emmett, Fredonia, Leroy, Marshall, Newton and Pennfield Townships in Calhoun County.

 Homer Community School District can be circulated in portions of Albion, Clarendon Eckford, Fredonia, Homer and Tekonsha Townships in Calhoun County; Butler Township in Branch County; Litchfield Township in Hillsdale County and Pulaski Township in Jackson County.  Mar Lee School District can be circulated in portions of Clarence, Eckford, Lee, Marengo and Sheridan Townships in Calhoun County.  Marshall Public Schools can be circulated in the City of Marshall, and portions of Convis, Eckford, Fredonia, Lee, Marengo, Marshall and Newton Townships in Calhoun County.  Pennfield Schools can be circulated in portions of the City of Battle Creek, Bedford, Convis and Pennfield Townships in Calhoun County; and Assyria Township in Barry County.

 Tekonsha Community Schools can be circulated in portions of Burlington, Clarendon, Fredonia and Tekonsha Townships in Calhoun County; and Butler and Girard Townships in Branch County. Print your name and complete address. All regular terms of office are for 4 (four) years expiring June 2015. Election Day is the 3rd day of May, 2011.

BEFORE circulating petitions, refer to the back of the petition sheet for more detailed instructions. The circulator completes and signs the certificate at the bottom right portion of the sheet AFTER all other persons have signed, and/or the sheets are ready to be filed. The petition sheet should never leave the possession of the circulator until signed. The FILING DEADLINE is FEBRUARY 8, 2011, by 4:00 pm at the Calhoun County Clerk’s Office in Marshall.

Compliments of the Calhoun County Election Staff The Clerk-Elections office in Marshall is located at the County Building, 315 W. Green Street, 2nd floor, Room 2-100a Phone: 269-781-0988; Fax: 269-781-0703, Email: [email protected]