In practice, meeting the current requirement to form a three-person nomination committee of members who are familiar with our birding community and familiar with viable candidates has become increasingly difficult given our limited volunteer/staff capacity. Despite best efforts, we have struggled to recruit enough committed committee members in a timely way, which puts us at risk of being unable to fulfill the by-laws as written. To address this while still preserving member voice and election integrity, we recommend removing the nomination committee requirement and instead assigning the responsibility for soliciting candidates to the Board. The Board will not unilaterally select officers; rather, it will actively seek out willing, qualified members and present those candidates to the full membership for vote — ensuring that members retain the power to elect leadership while simplifying an otherwise bottlenecked process.

ARTICLE VI: NOMINATING COMMITTEE Section 1. The Board of Directors shall elect annually, at the December Board Meeting, a Nominating Committee consisting of not less than three (3) members of the Society who are not officers. The names of the members of the Nominating Committee shall be announced to the membership of the Society and suggestions for officers may be submitted to the committee by any member of the Society. Section 2. The Nominating Committee shall nominate candidates to succeed the current officers. Its report shall be presented at the March Membership meeting. ARTICLE VII: ELECTIONS Section 1. The election of officers shall take place at the April meeting. The new officers will take office effective July 1. Section 2. Candidates presented by the Nominating Committee shall be elected by voice vote of the membership of the Society present at the Annual Meeting, or by motion from the floor to elect the entire slate of candidates presented by the Nominating Committee, provided that there is no more than one candidate for any office. In the event there is more than one candidate for an office, the election to such office shall be by ballot with the winner receiving the majority of votes. Section 3. Nothing herein contained shall prevent nominations of officers from the floor at the time of the meeting at which elections are to be held.

ARTICLE VI: CANDIDATE SOLICITATION Section 1. The Board of Directors shall be responsible for actively soliciting candidates for all officer positions during the period of January through March. The process shall be announced to the membership of the Society, and suggestions for candidates may be submitted by any member of the Society. Section 2. A complete list of solicited candidates who have agreed to serve shall be presented to the membership at the March Membership meeting, or via electronic communication by the end of March. Section 3. Nothing herein contained shall prevent nominations of officers from the floor at the time of the meeting at which the current candidates are presented, provided the nominator confirms that the nominee is present and has consented to serve, acknowledges the significant time commitment required for the position, and has been a member in good standing for at least one (1) year. ARTICLE VII: ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS Section 1. The election of officers shall take place at the April meeting. The new officers will take office effective July 1. Section 2. The election of officers shall be determined by a vote of the membership of the Society present at the April Meeting. A. Contested Positions: In the event there is more than one candidate for any office (including nominations from the floor), the election to such office shall be by ballot, with the winner receiving the majority of votes cast. B. Uncontested Positions: If there is only one candidate for an office, that candidate shall be declared elected by a single motion and voice vote of the membership present. Section 3. Any officer position for which a candidate is not successfully elected at the April meeting shall be considered unfilled and solicitation will continue until filled or the June board meeting. At the June Board Meeting, the Board of Directors shall appoint a qualified member to fill the position, upon the recommendation of the Executive Committee. The appointment requires a majority vote of the existing Directors and the appointed officer shall take office effective July 1.