Policies & Procedures Manual and Operations Handbooks: Section 13

Updated November 2025

SECTION 13 - NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

13.1 NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE

The Nominations and Elections Committee is a standing committee authorized by the IEEE Computer Society bylaws. As described in the bylaws, the Nominations and Elections Committee shall be responsible for managing the Society’s nominations and elections processes. The committee shall provide a proposed candidate slate to the Board of Governors for the annual IEEE Computer Society Election as well as recommend other nominees for leadership positions.

The duties of the Nominations and Elections Committee shall include providing nominees to the Board of Governors for elected Board positions and Society officers. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall also provide nominees for Board selection of the following year’s Secretary, Ombudsperson, and Board member of the committee. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall notify the Board of Governors, the nominees, the candidates and the appropriate staff members of the required actions for implementing the Society’s nominations and elections timetable and process. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall implement and monitor the execution of nomination and election policies and procedures established by the Board, and rule on questions and issues that arise.

The IEEE Computer Society is committed to equality of opportunity and recognizes that its technical and professional interests are best served when a broad spectrum of backgrounds and talent is brought to bear upon its activities. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall strive for slates of candidates that represent the breadth of the Society membership.

13.2 NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

The members of this committee are selected/appointed according to the procedure specified in Article XI of the bylaws. All members should be selected on or before 1 January of the year in which they will serve.

13.3 BOARD OF GOVERNORS AND OFFICER NOMINATIONS

The Nominations and Elections Committee shall make its nominations for Board of Governors positions and the officer positions of president-elect and vice president as set forth in Article II of the bylaws. When vacancies occur on the Board of Governors, the Nominations and Elections Committee also shall provide to the Board nominees to fill these vacancies at the earliest possible date. To avoid potential conflicts of interest, a person should not serve as a franchised member of the Board and as IEEE division director at the same time.

13.4 OTHER NOMINATIONS

The Nominations and Elections Committee shall provide nominees for the offices of Ombudsperson, Secretary, and the Board-elected member of the Nominations and Elections Committee to the Board at the Board’s last meeting of the calendar year prior to the year in which these candidates will serve.

13.5 BOARD CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

The Nominations and Elections Committee shall affirm that all potential Board candidates agree to seek significant involvement in Society activities and are aware of the travel requirements prior to soliciting their willingness to serve.

13.6 PETITION CANDIDATES

As set forth in Article II of the Society's bylaws, candidates for the Board of Governors and the positions of president-elect and vice president, may be added to the slate of candidates nominated by the Nominations and Elections Committee and approved by the Board of Governors by petition. To add petition candidates, the following procedures shall be followed:

1. The petition candidate shall meet the qualifications and follow the procedures for the office sought as specified by IEEE and IEEE Computer Society bylaws;
2. Petition candidates are referred to Article II of the Society’s bylaws regarding the number of signatures required and other regulations to be followed.
3. The petition candidate shall personally notify, in writing or via e-mail, the Society's secretary and assistant secretary of their intention to run as a petition candidate, stating the position to be sought. Notification may be sent in the year during which the petition candidate seeks inclusion on the ballot, no sooner than the day after the date on which the Society's Board of Governors approves the slate of candidates for the position sought.
4. Petition “signatures” are submitted according to Article II of the bylaws.
5. Petitions to add nominees to the list of candidates shall be provided to the secretary of the IEEE Computer Society and the chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee in accordance with the election schedule approved by the Board of Governors for that election year. The secretary shall:a. Send the original petition “signatures” by certified mail to the secretary of the IEEE Technical Activities Board for certification of eligibility of the signatories.b. Shall keep one copy of the petition until notification is received of the results of the certification process.c. Shall notify the president, chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee, the Society Executive Director and the additional nominee(s) the results of the certification process.

The Society Executive Director shall complete the processing to ensure that the additional nominee(s) are listed on the ballot.

13.7 ELECTION GUIDELINES

Candidates shall adhere to IEEE policies on elections and electioneering, and IEEE policies on mailing lists and rosters.

1. Candidates may send messages soliciting support only to individuals personally known to the candidate, and give the recipient the opportunity to opt-out from future emails from the sender. Candidates cannot use IEEE or Computer Society resources, such membership databases, rosters, conference attendance lists, websites, or email distribution lists, to solicit support.
2. Candidate personal web sites must include a disclaimer such as “The opinions of this page are mine and are not necessarily those of this IEEE Computer Society or the IEEE.” Candidates may use the IEEE or IEEE CS master brand graphic on their personal websites if the website includes a web disclaimer.
3. Candidates may share their candidacy via social media, and direct readers to their personal website or blog. However, candidates cannot use any IEEE affiliated social media resources for election campaign activities (e.g. posting to IEEE Collabratec, to an IEEE LinkedIn group or to an IEEE Facebook page).  Candidates cannot send messages via social media to individuals with Computer Society affiliations that are not connected with or known to the candidate.

13.8 ELECTION RESULTS

The Nominations and Elections Committee Chair shall send notice of the election results to each candidate on the ballot within ten calendar days of the close of the election stating both the results and the vote count. The results of all membership elections are to be published in Computer at the earliest possible date including tallies of votes cast. Results shall also be communicated in the Computer Society’s member e-newsletter and on the website.

13.9 SOURCE OF NOMINATION DISCLOSURE

Candidates for IEEE Computer Society officers and Board of Governors should not be identified on the ballot by source of nomination.

13.10 VOTER ELIGIBILITY

Potential voters must be IEEE Computer Society members the day before the IEEE Computer Society Board of Governors selects the candidate slate for the annual election in order to be eligible to vote in the election that year.

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