<p> FLORIDA DISTRICT OF CIRCLE K</p><p>2008 Candidate Handbook TABLE OF CONTENTS</p><p>Introduction 3</p><p>Candidacy and Election Rules 4</p><p>Overview of the Election Process 5</p><p>FAQS 6-7</p><p>Conclusion and Contacts 8</p><p>2 Introduction – Welcome, Potential Candidates!</p><p>I want to begin by applauding your decision to consider potentially running for district office. Being a member of the </p><p>District Board is a rewarding and exciting experience, certainly worth pursuing. Likewise, the process of running for office should be rewarding as well. It’s a chance to get to know the </p><p>Florida District better, meet new people, develop and present new ideas, and gain some public speaking experience.</p><p>The purpose of this handbook is to give you a brief overview of the entire process, from start to finish. You will be introduced to the rules, which are few but strictly enforced. You will get a glimpse of what the typical campaign involves, from declaration to election. Finally, there are answers to some commonly asked questions and contact information for District </p><p>Officers, who can answer other questions. Enjoy!!!</p><p>3 Candidacy and Election Rules</p><p>1. Prior to District Convention, a member may declare their candidacy in two fashions: a. A member may send to all club presidents and district board members a letter declaring their intent to run for a specific district office and District Convention b. A member may declare their intent to run for a district office at any regular meeting of the district board.</p><p>2. No member may declare their intention to run for a district office prior to the January district board meeting.</p><p>3. All prospective candidates must be nominated and have their nomination seconded at District Convention to become an official candidate, regardless of all previous declarations of intent to run.</p><p>4. A campaign spending limit of $200 will be strictly enforced. Candidates should be prepared to provide records of all campaign expenditures, if requested by the elections chair or district board.</p><p>5. Candidates are allowed a maximum of two (2) pieces of campaign literature at District Convention. Candidates may produce other campaign paraphernalia at their own discretion, so long as they do not exceed the imposed spending limit.</p><p>6. There will be one caucus session at District Convention. Each candidate will be allotted time in each room during the caucus session in which to present literature, speak, and answer questions. This time may be allotted in any manner to any of the above activities at the candidate’s discretion. The length of time will be determined at District Convention.</p><p>7. There shall be two caucus rooms, with three divisions in each room. </p><p>8. Each caucus room will have an appointed moderator. The moderator shall see that the caucus is conducted in a timely and orderly manner. He/she shall have the right to rule any question out of order which is deemed a personal attack, hazing, or is unrelated to CKI in any manner. In such cases, the moderator’s decision is final.</p><p>9. Each candidate is allowed a maximum of two (2) aides in each and one (1) introducer in each room, at their discretion.</p><p>10. Voting District Board members are prohibited from nominating candidates, seconding nominations, introducing or aiding candidates, or in any other manner providing active or verbal support to any candidate. The sole exception to this shall be in any instance where this rule would prevent the successful nomination or seconding of nomination of any candidate for a particular office.</p><p>11. Candidates who fail to get elected to a particular office may be nominated for another office in the House of Delegates.</p><p>4 Being a Candidate – From Declaration to Election</p><p>Step 1 – The first (and optional) step is to declare your candidacy sometime between the January board meeting and District Convention. This may be done at either the January Board meeting or by letter to the members of the District Board and club presidents. This is not a necessary step, but serves to establish you as a candidate for an office.</p><p>Step 2 – At the opening session, regardless of previous declaration, all candidates must be nominated and seconded for office. For the offices of Governor, Secretary, Treasurer and Editor, any member may nominate and second you for office except a voting District Board member. For the office of Lt. Governor, the nominator and seconder must be from your division. </p><p>Step 3 – All candidates must attend a brief session following the opening session. In addition to learning a little more about being on the board, you will also be presented with your officer agreements, which you must read, sign and return to the District Administrator to be eligible to run. All successful candidates will receive a copy of their signed officer agreement to keep.</p><p>Step 4 – Candidates will caucus on Saturday. Refer to the rules on the previous page for some items related to caucusing. Lt. Governor candidates will only caucus in the room their division is in. All other candidates will caucus in both rooms. The amount of time each candidate has in each room depends on the total number of candidates, but generally, it is between 7-9 minutes. During this time, you may pass out literature, give a speech, and then answer questions. It is up to you to determine the length of your caucus speech, considering that the longer that speech, the shorter time you will have to answer questions in that room.</p><p>Step 5 – At the House of Delegates Saturday afternoon, candidates will have the opportunity to give a final speech. Candidates for Governor will get 3 minutes, Candidates for Secretary, Treasurer and Editor get 2 minutes, and Lt. Governor candidates get 1 minute. In addition, each candidate’s nominator will have the opportunity to give a brief speech. Nominators for Governor candidates get 1 minute, and all others get 30 seconds.</p><p>Step 6 – The ballots are cast. Refer to the FAQs section as to your options should you fail to be elected, as well as the voting options.</p><p>5 FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions 1. I am considering running for a district office, but I am not sure what each position entails. Who should I talk to?</p><p>For specific information about an office, the best person to talk to is the current person who holds that office. Remember, though, that you can’t announce to anyone, including them, that you are definitely running for the office until after the January board meeting. You can, however, ask them questions about what their office entails. </p><p>There are some common features to each position. Each officer is required to attend all the district board meetings. There are seven standard ones: 4 at district events (2 at District Convention, 1 at IDEAS, and 1 at LTC) and 3 at special board events (District Officer Training in April, Summer Board Retreat in June/July, and Winter Board Retreat in January). Each officer must present a report at these meetings. In addition, all the positions have some club communication component. Each officer is expected to keep records to pass on to their successor, and each is asked to help train their successor in some fashion. Beyond that, the offices vary substantially in travel and administrative requirements.</p><p>2. What requirements are there to run for office?</p><p>Each candidate must be a member in good standing with their club, and their club must be in good standing with the district and International. Additionally, Lt. Governor candidates must be members of a club in the division they are seeking to serve as Lt. Governor. During the campaign, each candidate must sign the officer agreement for the position they are seeking, as well as caucus. Beyond that, there are no specific requirements. However, before deciding to run, each person should examine the duties of the office they are seeking and match them against their current skill sets, their other time commitments, and their personal goals for the year, the idea being to run for the position that is the best fit for them.</p><p>3. What happens if I fail to get elected?</p><p>Offices are elected in the House of Delegates in the following order: Governor, Secretary, Treasurer, Editor, Lt. Governor, and endorsement for International Office. Any failed candidate may run for another position not yet elected. For example, a person who loses Secretary could run for Treasurer, Editor, Lt. Governor, or endorsement, provided they are nominated for the new office.</p><p>6 4. What is endorsement for International Office?</p><p>A member may seek endorsement for a specific International position (President, Vice-President, or Regional Representative) or a general endorsement for International Office. Such an endorsement signifies that the district recognizes the candidate as being qualified to seek the office for which they are running. Such endorsement requires a two-thirds affirmative vote by the House of Delegates, and such a vote may only be conducted by ballot. </p><p>5. Speaking of votes, what are the voting options in Florida?</p><p>For each ballot, delegates have three choices. They may choose to vote for the candidate of their choice, they may choose to vote “no confidence”, or they may choose to abstain. To clarify, abstaining is a non-vote: it’s as if the delegate was not even there in the House, and does not count toward the vote total. No confidence, on the other hand, is a vote against all candidates for the office, signifying that the delegate finds no one to be qualified to hold the position. It does count toward the total votes. In other words, it’s like voting for no one. If no confidence wins a majority on any ballot, the office is left vacant, to be filled by the board at a later time.</p><p>6. Who oversees the elections process?</p><p>Each year, an elections chair is appointed. This individual is in charge of registering delegates, preparing the caucus schedule and ballots, seeing that the ballots are passed out and collected at the House of Delegates, and announcing the winner of each race. Each caucus room has an assigned moderator. In addition, the District Administrator, as well as the Assistant Administrators, assists in the process throughout. This process assures that the election is conducted in an organized, impartial manner.</p><p>7. Should I produce campaign literature?</p><p>While candidates are not required to produce campaign literature, many choose to do so each year. You may produce literature or any other campaign paraphernalia you wish to. Just remember that there is a $200 total campaign spending limit, which is enforced. Keep receipts of all of your expenses. You should feel free to be as creative as possible with how you campaign, within the set spending limit.</p><p>7 Conclusion and Contacts</p><p>This guide only provides the very basics of what you need to know when running for office. To learn more about the specific offices, you may contact the following people:</p><p>Governor – Alex Garner – [email protected] Secretary – Lauren Furman – [email protected] Treasurer – Chris Robert – [email protected] Editor – David Dirks – [email protected] Citrus Lt. Governor – Maggie Gilson – [email protected] Evergold Lt. Governor – Vacant – Contact [email protected] Panhandle Lt. Governor – Ramon Snow – [email protected] Sunbelt Lt. Governor – Kaitlyn Duke – [email protected] Suncoast Lt. Governor – James Eisele – [email protected] Suwannee Lt. Governor – Ty Morton – [email protected]</p><p>In addition, for questions regarding the elections process, you may contact Elections Chair Ramon Snow (information listed above) or District Administrator Wade Shrack at </p><p>[email protected]. </p><p>8</p>