Want to represent your colleagues and make sure the voice of the Foreign Service is heard, with management, on the Hill and around the country? If you do, then please consider becoming a part of the next AFSA leadership team by running for a position on the 2007-2009 AFSA Governing Board.
Take a look at the positions available and consider putting your name forward or nominating a colleague. This election is for a board that will take office July 15, 2007, and serve for two years. We are beginning this process at this early date because of the time needed for overseas ballots and in order to complete the process by March 2007 for active duty members who may need to transfer or bid on other jobs. Below are instructions on how to run and be nominated for the 2007-2009 AFSA Governing Board.

Important Dates:
Feb. 1, 2007 — Deadline for Nominations
March 26, 2007 — Ballots and Candidate Statements Mailed
June 1, 2007 — Ballots Counted
July 15, 2007 — New Board Takes Office

2007 Election of AFSA Officers and Constituency Representatives Call for Nominations:

This election call, issued in accordance with Article VII (2)(a) of the AFSA bylaws, constitutes a formal notice to all AFSA members of the opportunity to participate in nomination and election of a new governing board. All of the officer and representative positions listed below are for two-year terms beginning July 15, 2007.

Positions to be Filled
AFSA bylaws require that all Board members shall be resident in the Washington area within 60 days of taking office on July 15 and shall remain resident in the Washington area throughout their term in office.

The president and State, USAID, and FAS vice presidents are full-time positions detailed to AFSA. The FCS vice president is detailed 50 percent of his or her time to AFSA. These employees are assigned over complement and eligible for time in class extensions.
Article V (4)(b) of the AFSA bylaws authorizes a constituency vice president for each constituency with a minimum of 100 members and one constituency representative position for every 1,000 members or fraction thereof. Representatives are required to attend monthly lunch-time board meetings and may volunteer to serve on additional committees.

The constituency representative positions to be filled in this election are:

State Department Representatives (eight positions)
USAID Representative (one position)
FCS Representative (one position)
FAS Representative (one position)
IBB Representative (one position)
Retired member Representatives (four positions)

Nomination Procedures

1. Any AFSA member in good standing (i.e., a member whose dues are automatically deducted or who has paid dues as of Feb. 1, 2007) may submit names (including his or her own name) in nomination for any of the above-mentioned positions for which the nominee is eligible. No member may nominate more than one person for each officer position or more than the number of representatives established for each constituency. No member's name may appear on the ballot for more than one position.
2. In order to be nominated, a person must be a member in good standing and remain in good standing through the election process and, if elected, for his/her term of office.
3. The Foreign Service Act restricts employees occupying certain positions in the foreign affairs agencies from serving on the governing board. Only employees in AFSA's bargaining unit may serve on the governing board or nominate others to serve on the board. Therefore, individuals who will be serving as management officials and confidential employees (as defined below) when the new board takes office on July 15, 2007, are ineligible to occupy a position on the governing board. In addition, management officials and confidential employees may not make nominations for governing board positions. For the purpose of the above discussion, management official means an individual who: is a chief of mission or principal officer; occupies a position of comparable importance to chief of mission or principal officer; is serving as a deputy to the foregoing positions; is assigned to the Office of the Inspector General; or is engaged in labor management relations or the formulation of personnel policies and prrograms of the foreign affairs agency. Confidential employees are employees who act in a confidential capacity with respect to an individual who formulates or carries out management policies in labor management relations.

Furthermore, the Foreign Service Act also places a two-year restriction on the movement of Foreign Service personnel between certain positions in AFSA and certain Washington-based jobs in the foreign affairs agencies. The pre-AFSA restrictions: Any individual who has served

1. in a management position in Washington in which he or she has engaged in labor management relations or the formulation of personnel policies and programs or
2. as a confidential employee (as defined above) within two years prior to taking office in AFSA is ineligible to hold the position of AFSA president or constituency vice president.
Post-AFSA restrictions: In addition, any individual who has held one of the foregoing positions in AFSA may not serve

1. in a management position in Washington which involves labor management relations or the formulation of personnel policies and programs
2. as a confidential employee, for two years after leaving AFSA.
Members should consider these restrictions before deciding whether to run for AFSA governing board positions covered by these restrictions. Please direct questions regarding this issue to Sharon Papp, General Counsel, at phone: (202) 647-8160; Fax: (202) 647-0265 or e-mail: papps@state.gov.
4. Nominations may be submitted individually or in slates. To qualify as a slate, a proposed slate must have a minimum of four candidates from at least two constituencies. Slate designations will be noted on the ballot.
5. All nominations must be submitted in writing by letter, cable, fax or e-mail. All written nominations must be addressed to the AFSA Elections Committee, 2101 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037. To be valid, they must, without exception, be received at this address no later than 5 p.m. on Feb. 1, 2007. Members overseas can send "AFSA channel" cables marked for delivery to the AFSA Elections Committee. They must be received in the Department's Communications Center within the same time limit. Faxes can be sent to (202) 338-6820 and e-mail to election@afsa.org. Alternatively, nominations can be hand-delivered to a committee member who will be in the AFSA office, Room 1251, Department of State, from 11 a.m. to 12 noon on Feb. 1, or to an Election Committee representative at AFSA headquarters, at 2101 E Street NW, during that same time period.
6. A nominee can indicate his or her acceptance of a nomination by appending a letter to the letter of nomination or by appropriate notation on that letter, or by communicating with the AFSA Elections Committee at the addresses, fax and e-mail noted above. Otherwise, an authorized representative of the Elections Committee will communicate with each nominee (excluding members who nominate themselves) as quickly as possible after the receipt of each nomination to determine whether the nominee wishes to be a candidate. Any member who so accepts the nomination must confirm his or her acceptance in writing through one of the channels described above addressed to the AFSA Elections Committee to be received no later than 12 noon on Feb. 7, 2007. Any nominee whose written acceptance of nomination has not been received by the Elections Committee by the above time limit will be considered to have declined candidacy.

1. All candidates nominated under the procedure outlined above will be given the opportunity to submit campaign statements for dissemination to the AFSA membership with the election ballots. Further information regarding such statements and editorial deadlines will be contained in the "Instructions to Candidates," which will be issued by the Elections Committee on or before Feb. 1, 2007.
2. The AFSA bylaws provide that, should candidates wish to mail supplementary statements to the membership, the association will make available to them on request, and at their expense, the membership mailing list or address labels. Further information on this and other campaign procedures will be included in the "Instructions to Candidates" mentioned above.

Voting
Ballots will be distributed on or about March 26, 2007, to each person who is a regular AFSA member as of March 1, 2007. Candidates or their representatives may observe the ballot distribution process if they so desire. Each member may cast one vote for President, Secretary, Treasurer, and, in addition, one vote for a constituency Vice President and each Representative position in the member's constituency. Votes may be cast by voting for candidates listed on the official ballot, or by writing in the name(s) of member(s) eligible as of Feb. 1, 2007, or by doing both. To be valid, a ballot must be received by May 31, 2007, at the address indicated on the envelope accompanying the ballot. More detailed balloting instructions will accompany the ballots.

Vote Counting and Announcement of Results
On or about June 1, 2007, the Elections Committee will count the ballots and declare elected the candidate receiving the greatest number of votes for each position. Candidates or their representatives may be present during the tally and may challenge the validity of any vote or the eligibility of any voter. The committee will inform candidates individually of the election results by the swiftest possible means and will publish the names of all elected candidates in the next issue of the Foreign Service Journal. The elected candidates will take office on July 15, 2007, as provided in the bylaws.

Questions, Suggestions, Complaints or Challenges
Any member may file a written question, suggestion or complaint concerning the conduct of the 2007 election. These should be addressed to "Chair, AFSA Elections Committee" and mailed or delivered to AFSA, Room 1251, Department of State, Washington, D.C. 20520, or AFSA, 2101 E Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20037, by July 2, 2007.
Members may also file a written challenge to the outcome of the election. Such challenge must be filed by July 16, 2007 and should be addressed to "Chair, AFSA Elections Committee" and mailed or delivered to either address stated above. The AFSA Elections Committee will respond in writing to the challenge within three months of receipt of the challenge. If the member is not satisfied with the AFSA Elections Committee's response, the member may file a written complaint with the U.S Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. Such complaint must be filed within one month of receipt of the Elections Committee's response.