Board Election Guidelines

Established and effective June 8, 2008

Revised October 18, 2008

Revised November 3, 2009

Revised November 24, 2019

Revised June 7, 2020

Article 1

1. Board members shall be elected by the Society’s regular members residing in Japan, who cast their votes by writing the names of six members or less on a secret ballot. Those individuals who garner the most votes are elected as board members, excluding those who decline to be elected.

2. If two or more people hold the lowest place vote count, with the same number of votes, the electoral commission shall determine one election winner among them by a lottery system.

3. An electoral commission consisting of five people from among the Society’s regular members and named separately by the Board of Directors shall administer all voting affairs. The commission’s chairperson shall be elected by the commission members from among themselves.

4. Unless under exceptional circumstances, board members shall be elected, at the latest, two months prior to the last day of the term of the current board members.

Article 2

Notifications about board election results shall be given as stipulated below.

1. The electoral commission for election of board members and society members elected to the board (hereinafter referred to as the “board members-elect”) shall communicate by the e-mail addresses filed at the society, except for those members who are to be contacted by mail. If unable to contact a board member-elect by e-mail, the electoral commission may, at its discretion, use telephone or mail for the purpose of contact. Nonetheless, telephone calls and mail shall be construed as a secondary means of communication. For the society members designated to be contacted by mail, the electoral commission shall communicate with them by mail or telephone.

2. The electoral commission for the election of board members shall notify each board member-elect of his/her election within three days after the day of the vote count.

3. Each board member-elect shall respond to the electoral commission with whether he/she accepts or declines the position of board member within five days of when the election notification was sent.

4. Board members-elect may decline the position of board member due to unavoidable circumstances.

5. If a board member-elect does not respond to the electoral commission within five days from the day of sending the election notification as to whether they accept or decline, the board member-elect shall be regarded as having accepted the position of board member.

6. In the event of a board member-elect declining the position, as per the provision in Item 4, Item 5 shall apply for notifying the runner-up of the election results by modifying “the day of sending the election notification” to “the day of awarding the election to the runner-up.”

Article 3

The chairperson of the electoral commission shall report the results of the board election at the plenary meeting.

Article 4

Matters not stipulated herein regarding board elections shall be determined by the electoral commission and approved at the plenary meeting.

Article 5

These guidelines shall be revised or repealed upon resolution by the Board of Directors.