Announcements
2008 Constitution Amendment Ballot Voting
Announcements
07/02/08
Dear PTOS Member,
Recently, the Election Committee of the Patent and Trademark Society has been looking for a way to allow PTOS members to vote in PTOS elections without being physically present on the PTO campus. As the procedure for voting is set forth in Article V of the PTOS constitution, a constitutional amendment is necessary to make such a change.
As the PTO has seen an increase in the use of flexible workplace policies, such as hoteling, some PTOS Members may not be present on the PTO campus during the three business days over which ballots may be cast. Allowing the Election Committee the flexibility to select alternative forms of voting, such as electronic, will allow more convenient voting for PTOS members, and will also reduce the amount of paper used in an election.
In order to permit this change, the Election Committee submitted that Article V Sec. 6 (d) be amended to replace “in person” with “personally over.” Article V Sec. 6 (d) currently states “Ballots shall be cast in person 3 consecutive business days.” The proposed amendment would change Article V Sec. 6 (d) to recite “Ballots shall be cast personally over 3 consecutive business days.”
The Board of Directors adopted this solution at their June 2008 Board meeting. Since this procedure for holding elections is set forth in the Constitution of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, it is necessary to amend the Constitution to make the changes as discussed above. The Constitution must be amended according to Article X, Section 1. The amendment will pass if a majority of the voting members vote yes, provided at least 100 votes are cast. If the amendment passes the changes will take effect immediately.
You can find the ballot here and a listing of the proposed amendment. A copy of the current Constitution can be found at http://www.ptos.org/uploads/documents/Constitution_August%202004.doc . Please mark the ballot, fold to line and staple, and return it between 9 AM July 7, 2008 and 5 PM July 22, 2008 to any one of the following locations:
James Marandi: KNX 6B21
Fred Silverberg: MDW 7C89
Jared Rutz: RND 2B75
Lore Ramillano: REM 6D51
Punam Patel: JEF 8A30
Alternately, ballots can be mailed to:
PTOS
P.O. Box 2089
Arlington, VA 22202
Ballots must be received by July 22, 2008 at 5PM. Please allow 5-7 days for delivery.
Sincerely,
Board of Directors
Patent and Trademark Office Society