OA Election Procedures

CLARIFICATION OF TROOP ELECTION PROCEDURES

1. The lodge determines the time of year elections are to be held. All Scoutmasters are provided written information of this time frame and extended the opportunity to request an election team to conduct an election at a convenient time and place. This is your written notification of the time frame. Mikanakawa Lodge has set these dates to be from January 1 to April 15 of each year.

2. The Scoutmaster requests a date through his chapter within the time frame determined by the lodge to have an election conducted by a lodge election team. A date for the troop election is confirmed with the Scoutmaster and a trained election team is assigned to conduct the election. Each chapter has trained election teams available to hold your unit's election. You need to contact your Chapter Chief or Chapter Adviser to arrange for an election team to conduct your unit's election.

3. Only one election may be conducted for the troop each year.

4. Upon the arrival of the election team to conduct an election, the Scoutmaster provides the team with the following:

     a. Verification that at least 50 percent of the registered active troop membership under the age of 21 is present.
     b. A listing of names, addresses, telephone numbers, BSA member numbers, ranks and dates of birth of all eligible individuals under the age of
21. Although recommended, the eligible individuals do not have to be present to be elected.
     c. The Scoutmaster certifies that those listed meet all eligibility requirements set forth by the Order of the Arrow including attitude and participation.
Youth membership qualifications are:
Be a registered member of a Boy Scout Troop or Varsity Team under the age of 21.
Hold at least the First Class rank of the Boy Scouts of America.
After registration with a troop or team, have experienced fifteen (15) days and nights of Boy Scout camping during the two-year period prior to the election. The fifteen days and nights must include one, but no more than one, long-term camp consisting of six (6) consecutive days (including 5 nights) of resident camping, approved and under the auspices and standards of the Boy Scouts of America. The balance of the camping must be overnight, weekend, or other short-term camps.
Must have the approval of his unit leader prior to his election. The unit leader must certify his Scouting spirit, his adherence to the Scout Oath and Law, and participation in unit activities.

     d. Only those persons certified by the Scoutmaster shall be considered for election.

5. The election team explains the rules for election conducted as follows:
     a. The election will be conducted using the current rules of the national committee of the Order of the Arrow governing such election.
     b. The team explains that the unit members may vote for as many of the eligible candidates as they consider worthy to be candidates for membership in the Order of the Arrow and that no name is to be listed more than once on a ballot.
     c. All eligible youth who receive a vote on at least 50 percent of the ballots submitted are elected.
     d. If no one is elected on the first balloting, a second vote will be taken immediately. The result of this vote is final.
     e. Once a candidate has been elected, only that individual may choose to remove himself from the induction process with the exception of the Scout executive who may deny induction for just cause.

6. All election results are final. No additions or substitutions may be made then or at a later date for any reason.

7. The Scoutmaster has the option of whether the results of the election are to be announced immediately or kept secret until the candidates are called out.

8. The Scoutmaster has one year from the June 1st following date of the election to arrange to have the elected candidates called out under the auspices of Mikanakawa Lodge and complete their ordeal. The call-out can be arranged for any Friday night at any Circle Ten Summer Camp or at an approved District Camporee callout. It is up to the Scoutmaster to see that this happens. Delays in having an individual called out can decrease the number of opportunities for him to participate in an ordeal. If the individual is not called out and has not completed his ordeal within this year, his eligibility expires. An official ordeal registration card will be provided to the member upon his callout (if at a Circle Ten summer camp) or mailed to him upon submission of a callout report by the chapter to the lodge (if at a district event). Out of council callouts are discouraged. Written authorization from the Lodge Executive Committee is required prior to a unit taking part in an out of council callout.

Please note that each ordeal has a participation limit and tends to fill up quickly. Since registration for lodge events is handled by volunteers, the degree to which an ordeal has filled is often not known until a week or more after the saturation point has been reached. Therefore, registration for an ordeal after the early registration period has expired may not allow sufficient time for "confirmation/ordeal full" notification to be provided to the candidate, resulting in the possibility that an unconfirmed candidate might come to an ordeal only to find that he will not be admitted. We WILL NOT exceed the registration limits imposed for any particular ordeal.

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Last Updated 01/06/2002