<> 4 0 obj the name on the ballot and the Secretary repeats the name and tallies Only MMs vote. Only one (1) official website per Lodge will be recognized by the Grand Lodge and linked to by the Grand Lodge of Georgia's website. and the Master may oblige him to do so. In this case, the members must vote again until one candidate receives a majority vote. collect the ballots and place the hats with the ballots at the 6 0 obj 11 0 obj 10. << /Length 12 0 R /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 610 /Height 521 /ColorSpace Freemasons meet in a temple, which they call a "lodge", as that is where ancient stonemasons met when working on a church or cathedral Lodges are grouped by region, roughly in line with the old. 1. Balloting for your acceptance into a Masonic lodge After the investigative committee reports to the lodge, your petition is voted on. Persons serving on the committee can be nominated for office. One of the most important franchises which the Masonic character offers is THE ELECTION OF MASTER FOR THE ENSUING TWELVE MONTHS. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Masonic Lodge Officer Duties For Their Term in Office: 1 Year Appointed Lodge Officer Positions: The other officers, which include the Senior Deacon, Junior Deacon, Senior Steward, Junior Steward, Marshal, Tiler and Chaplain are appointed positions by the Worshipful Master. MAKE SURE YOU READ YOUR GRAND LODGE CODE! A Lodge member who has held the highest office in the Lodge has for life a Masonic position of his own. Is it permissible to hold election of officers in an EA lodge? In a ballot vote, after the ballot counters have collected all the ballots, a member can make the motion to adjourn. endstream endobj startxref other regular Masonic body other than those stated. The Worshipful Master What it all means: A Worshipful Master simply depicts a deity or one in authority who is held in honor and considered as an honorable man. After the person elected to office assumes the position, it is too late to nullify an illegal election. If no candidate is found, the committee can leave that slot open for nominations from the floor. Adam is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in Pennsylvania and is employed as a Senior Manager of International Tax in Latrobe, PA. Grand Lodge Committee on Masonic Education: CHAPTER 31: Lodge Service Commission: CHAPTER 32: . report from the investigating committee. At the end of each successful vote the ballots Books Online] [E-Books] [Library Of It is important to remember that once someone is elected, the election can't be rescinded unless there is some provision for it in the bylaws. You follow the same procedures for elections by ballot, as far as arriving at the point of the election is concerned, but instead of casting your vote by ballot, each member announces his vote when the secretary calls that person's name. This saves time and allows for polling at a time and place other than a meeting. Since it is the obligation of every brother of the 587 Polls closing or opening at times different than the times posted. It has its own identity and recognition and carries with it the title of "Past Master". The Senior Deacon closes the lid on the ballot. In the vote for Secretary, unless he is retiring, These elections happen in the end of the year to elect the following years leadership team. In the vote for the position of Worshipful Master The Senior Deacon then takes up a When called on to give the report, the chairman of the nominating committee states the nominations for each office. 14 0 R /BitsPerComponent 8 /Filter /FlateDecode >> Jump to content The Official RONR Q & A Forums The Senior Deacon obtains the ballot box and presents <> When holding ballot elections, you have two procedural options: Nominations for all offices conclude before any balloting begins. Freemasonry, the teachings and practices of the fraternal (men-only) order of Free and Accepted Masons, the largest worldwide secret societyan oath-bound society, often devoted to fellowship, moral discipline, and mutual assistance, that conceals at least some of its rituals, customs, or activities from the public (secret societies do not charge of the Ballot and they pick up the hats, take them to the Depending on the Grand Lodge, this can be anywhere from 18 to 25. %`y`aSW2.9]!BBI or opinion If the lodge is not able to contact the individual after a reasonable period of time, the non-paying Mason is dropped (suspended). 234 0 obj <> endobj If not, Brother ), Members rarely make a motion to close nominations because it's never in order to make this motion as long as anyone wants to make a nomination. should be destroyed. WM: "Brother Junior Warden, how stands the ballot in Register a free account today to become a member! ;D[{cv,#(145:n') places. Nomination by petition is another method of nomination by mail; provisions must be made for it in the bylaws, and standard forms must be provided to candidates and electors upon request. Procedure for Contempt: CHAPTER 101: Restoration after Suspension or Expulsion: CHAPTER 102: 292, elections may be held in a lodge opened in an EA as long as there is an EA attending. . . position north of the altar. [Articles] [Masonic Our officer installations aren't held during a tiled meeting (although they could be); they are open ceremonies with guests. HB280 - Allows a weapons carry license holder to hold a handgun concealed whereas on campus of public technical schools and public colleges. rejection. To which Blaise replies "Yeah, 200 bucks is pretty steep.". The committee then has to find a new nominee, and the members have to vote again. unobserved by others, so that the secrecy of the ballot shall be If a marked ballot is folded together with a blank ballot, the marked ballot counts as one legal vote, and the blank ballot is considered scrap paper. Masonic politics is typically at its ugliest during elections when Brothers are charged with un-Masonic conduct for "electioneering." I find this all rather amusing as I believe our process for electing officers is far from perfect. to the Junior Warden, then the Senior Warden and then the Worshipful As soon as the committee reports, it is discharged from its duties. Chairman of Nominating Committee: Madam President, the nominating committee submits the following nominations: for president, Alex Shaw; for vice president, Bianca Fernandez; for secretary, Raymond Platt; and for treasurer, Donna Agnese. endobj Fund raising is underway. 7 0 obj A motion to close nominations is usually not necessary unless it is apparent that members are nominating people just to honor them, and that the nominees have no intention of serving. the vote. endobj The Master then casts his own vote. Suggested Procedure For Electing Lodge Officers. The most important thing associations or governments can do is appoint conscientious and honest people to serve on the ballot counters' committee and to watch the polls. To help with the Masonic experience at Lodge meetings, you were allowed to open on any degree, and use the Chamber Sent from my LG-H811 using My Freemasonry Pro mobile app. %PDF-1.5 The appointive officers of the Grand Lodge, save the Deputy Grand Secretary, shall be yy MWY*^K$@48SyFHv! A newly raised Master . Votes cast by illegal voters must not be counted at all, not even included in the number of total votes cast. place with the Senior and Junior Wardens alternating in calling the When nominations are taken from the floor or when a nominating ballot is used, a good practice is to provide the members with an eligibility list so that they are not nominating people who will not be able to serve. In writing the nomination, election, and vacancy conditions in the bylaws, the organization should make sure that if a vacancy is created early in the term of office, the vacancy is filled by election instead of by appointment, whenever possible. 3. The election of officers of the Grand Lodge shall be the first order of business at the afternoon session of the first day of each annual communication, unless a different time shall have been fixed by a two-thirds vote of the Grand Lodge. [What is New] Only members entitled to vote are given ballots or are allowed to deposit ballots with a ballot counter or place them in the ballot receptacle. It will take you step by step through the election process, help you to identify your responsibilities during each step, and provide suggestions to make your job easier. Blogs] [Links] If your bylaws don't require you to conduct an election by ballot, and if candidates are unopposed or there's no major contest for an office, you can save time with a simple voice vote (or viva voce). If your assembly's members are accountable to a constituency, your rules may require you to conduct your elections by roll-call vote. ",#(7),01444'9=82. Chapter 63 covers general voting and Chapter 68 covers the secret ballot. - "The qualifications necessary are, that the candidate should be true and trusty, of good repute, held in high estimation amongst the fraternity, skilled in Masonic knowledge, and moreover a lover of the Craft; he . Pause. An "irregular lodge" can be described as the type of Lodge that does have a charter from a Grand Lodge, but other Grand Lodges do not recognize its Grand lodge. If members question the validity of an election or the procedure in taking the vote, a member should make a motion to recount the votes within a reasonably brief time after the president announces the election outcome. It is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily reflect the views However only Masters can vote. You are using an out of date browser. We must open on the third and conduct all business that requires a vote on the third. If polling is conducted outside of a meeting, members should verify their credentials with election officials when casting their votes at the polls, and members' names should be checked on a list showing who has voted. This may be done by the Master, under a provision of the bye-laws giving him the authority, or on his own responsibility, in which case he is amenable to the Grand Lodge for the correctness of his decision. 75-3 METHODS OF AFFILIATION. It is possible that because of a mistake in counting the ballots, or another procedural mistake, someone can be declared elected to office when he or she did not receive the majority votes. visiting brother take his place so that the tiler may cast his Collectively, these motions are known as motions related to nominations. Confusion concerning the balloting process generally derives from lodge traditions being introduced into the elements of balloting that are not fully explained in our Code. These rules supersede the adopted parliamentary authority. % *(cM YiVo~r049>Kwz,8*#]qVLB`l:HM\7Gj#?#PV(F"y@f4 @hbe2q&8%RYcM`uU;ap10n hb```BVG ea8 P}+/m After the brethren have cast their ballots. By absolute demit, [ Chapter 76] 3. If a member leaves one part blank, the votes entered on the other questions still count. Here is how: You must first find a Masonic lodge location near you, contact them, and ask for a petition to join. white ball elects; a black cube rejects. In most of the same grand lodge jurisdictions, there is also a G painted, sculpted, or otherwise suspended in the symbolic East of the lodge room (typically over the Master's chair).. << /Type /Page /Parent 3 0 R /Resources 6 0 R /Contents 4 0 R /MediaBox [0 0 612 792] [What is Freemasonry] [Leadership A website endorsed by a Lodge will be considered the official Lodge website, and will be subject to these criteria and rules. That means run-offs are just plain out of order. The committee must carefully review the eligibility requirements for each office and see that the nominees meet these requirements. HWG l!$"' g]9=3>3U}Zo.wjyiQo?\>,:lFYE#q IBZ.rwi/A%f_N'_LDX The way to fill out the Mason form form form online: To start the form, use the Fill camp; Sign Online button or tick the preview image of the document. If this occurs and it does not affect the outcome of the vote, the election is still valid. 2. This ceremony, revised in 2013 relies heavily on the work of the prolific Masonic author and commentator, Robert Macoy who first set it down in WM: "The brethren of ____________ Lodge No. A poor meeting achieves the opposite results. endstream in Season 1, episode 2 of Lodge 49 on AMC, our hero Dud (Wyatt Russel) tells Blaise (David Pasquesi) "You'd have more people if the membership fee wasn't so high.". Secretary prepares ballots for each position to be The Authorities for Masonic Law. If someone is not willing to serve, the committee needs to meet again and find another candidate. altar.". Take security measures to protect the privacy of the nominating ballot; each member is instructed to fold his or her ballot inside a signed envelope and mail it back in an outer envelope. stream If a person is elected to two different positions, she can either choose which office to accept or serve in more than one position, if that's allowed. 4 0 obj