LAW
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Ohio Laws and Rules
(A) Two elected trustees, known as retirant-members, shall be elected by ballot by retirants of the highway patrol retirement system.
(B) The term of office shall be four years, and the first term shall commence August 1 of the election year.
(C) Written notification of an impending election shall be forwarded to all retirants at the last known home address no later than May first of the election year.
(D) The notification shall include the requirement that retirants interested in becoming a candidate must contact the retirement system to obtain a candidacy form and return it no later than June first of the election year.
(E) Eligibility to become a candidate shall be limited to those retirants who —
(1) Are considered to be legal residents of Ohio,
(2) Are currently in a retired status, and;
(3) Have not served as a statutory or employee trustee for a period of at least three years prior to the term of office.
(F) Ballots will be prepared, along with a candidacy form from each candidate, and forwarded to each retirant’s last known address no later than June twentieth of the election year.
(1) The position of the names of the candidates as they appear on the ballot shall be rotated.
(2) Any retirant who has not received a ballot by June thirtieth of the election year may contact the executive director for issuance of another ballot and return mailing envelope no later than July tenth. Any undelivered ballots returned by the postal service shall be remailed if a corrected address is received at the retirement system office.
(3) Write-in candidates will not be accepted.
(4) Each voting retirant shall return a ballot via U.S. mail in the stamped pre-addressed return envelope provided, which must be post-marked no later than July twentieth of the election year.
(5) If more than one ballot is enclosed in each ballot envelope, all such ballots shall be considered invalid.
(6) If any ballot return mailing envelopes are returned that have the same retirant account number, all such ballots shall be considered invalid.
(7) Any ballots received after the election results have been certified shall be considered invalid.
(8) Ballots received which do not have the enclosed return address label affixed to the return mailing envelope shall be considered invalid.
(G) Upon receipt of ballot mailing envelopes at the office of the retirement system, each shall be date and time-stamped and individually recorded on the master list of those retirants who were mailed ballots. This retirant list shall include the individual retirant account numbers, and must match the account number on the preaddressed return mailing envelope.
(H) Ballots will be counted by a committee that includes at least one trustee appointed by the chair. The results will be made known immediately to interested persons, and will be included in the next mailing to retirees.
(1) There shall be no provision for a recount; however, ballots will be held for public inspection for thirty days. Ballots may be destroyed by the executive director after the public inspection period ends.
(2) The official certification of the ballot totals may be destroyed after four years.
(3) The executive director shall request the presence of a representative from the office of secretary of state for the purpose of monitoring the counting process and to rule on the validity of any questionable ballots.
(4) Candidates may designate one retirant to be present during the counting of ballots. Candidates must make such designee known to the executive director no later than July twentieth of the election year.
(5) In the event of a tie, the winner shall be determined by a coin toss.
(I) Retirant trustee resignation, reemployment with the highway patrol, revocation of retirement status, death, or the relocation of a permanent residence outside Ohio shall be cause for a special election.
(1) The election process shall be the same, and held within the same time periods as the regular election.
(2) No election will take place if the remainder of the unexpired term is six months or less.
(3) Ballots shall be counted and a certificate of such count signed by all committee members shall be mailed to each retirant at the next regular mailing.
(4) Ballots found not to be in compliance with all provisions of this rule shall be considered invalid.
(J) If the number of candidates is less than or equal to the number of available board seats, each candidate shall be certified as a trustee without the need for an election.
(K) In its discretion, the board may invalidate an election and hold a new election if the board determines that actions or improprieties have taken place that will or have had a substantial impact on the fairness of the election.
Effective: 12/09/2005
R.C. 119.032 review dates: 09/19/2005 and 11/28/2010
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 5505.07, 5505-047
Rule Amplifies: 5505.04, 5505.041, 5505.042, 5505.043
Prior Effective Dates: 8/1/1994, 5/1/1990