PART IV SCHOOL AUTHORITIES — ROMAN CATHOLIC
Annual meeting
92 (1) An annual meeting of the supporters of a rural separate school shall be held on the last Wednesday in December or, if that day is a holiday, on the next day following, commencing at the hour of 10 o’clock in the forenoon, or if the board by resolution so directs, at the hour of 1 o’clock or 8 o’clock in the afternoon, at such place as the board by resolution determines or, in the absence of such resolution, at the separate school.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (1). Election of board (2) A rural separate school board shall be elected at a meeting of the separate school supporters held on the second Monday in November or, where that day is Remembrance Day, on the next succeeding day, in the year of a municipal election at a time and place selected by the board.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (2). Idem (3) Where the annual meeting of supporters of the school cannot conveniently be held as provided for in subsection (1), the supporters, at a regular meeting or at a special meeting called for that purpose, may pass a resolution naming another day for the holding of the annual meeting, which shall be held on that day in each year thereafter until some other day is similarly named.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (3). Organization of meeting (4) The supporters of the school present at a meeting shall elect one of themselves to preside over its proceedings and shall also appoint a secretary who shall record the proceedings of the meeting and perform such other duties as are required of the secretary by this section.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (4). Order of business (5) The business of the annual meeting may be conducted in the following order, (a) receiving and dealing with the annual report of the board members; (b) receiving and dealing with the annual report of the auditors; (c) appointing one or more auditors for the current year; (d) electing a board member or members to fill any vacancy or vacancies; and (e) miscellaneous business.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (5); 1997, c. 31, s. 57 (1, 2). Duties of presiding officer (6) The presiding officer shall submit all motions to the meeting in the manner desired by the majority, and is entitled to vote on any motion, and, (a) in the case of an equality of votes with respect to the election of two or more candidates, the presiding officer shall provide for drawing lots to determine which of the candidates is elected; and (b) in the case of an equality of votes on a motion, the motion is lost.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (6). Granting poll and proceedings in case of a poll (7) Where a poll is demanded by two supporters of the school at a meeting for the election of a board member, the presiding officer shall forthwith grant the poll.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (7); 1997, c. 31, s. 57 (3). Entries in poll book (8) Where a poll is granted, the secretary shall enter in a poll book the name and residence of each qualified supporter of the school offering to vote within the time prescribed and shall furnish him or her, at the time of voting, with a ballot paper on the back of which the secretary has placed his or her initials, and shall provide a pencil for the marking of the ballot paper.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (8). Form of ballot paper (9) Ballot papers shall be pieces of plain white paper of uniform size.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (9). Marking of ballot paper (10) A voter shall mark his or her ballot, (a) in the election of a board member, by marking the name of the board member on it; and (b) on a question, by marking thereon “for” or “pour” if in favour or “against” or “contre” if opposed.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (10); 1997, c. 31, s. 57 (4). Number of votes (11) A voter is entitled to as many votes as there are board members to be elected, but may not give more than one vote to any one candidate.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (11); 1997, c. 31, s. 57 (5). Manner of voting (12) Each voter shall mark his or her ballot paper in a compartment or other place provided for the purpose that is so arranged that the manner in which the voter marks the ballot is not visible to other persons and shall thereupon fold it so that the initials of the secretary can be seen without opening it and hand it to the secretary who shall, without unfolding it, ascertain that the secretary’s initials appear upon it and shall then in full view of all present, including the voter, place the ballot in a ballot box or other suitable container that has been placed and is kept upon a table for the purpose.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (12). Appointment of scrutineer (13) Every candidate may appoint a person to act as the candidate’s scrutineer during the election.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (13). Declaration where right to vote objected to (14) When an objection is made to the right of a person to vote at a meeting of the supporters of a rural separate school, either for a board member or on a school question, the presiding officer shall require the person whose right to vote is objected to to make the following declaration in English or in French, after which the person making the declaration is entitled to vote: I, ............................................, declare and affirm that I have the right to vote at this election for ............................
(insert name of board) [or
on the question submitted to this meeting of the .......................(insert name of board)]. 1997, c. 31, s. 57 (6). When poll shall close (15) The poll shall not close before noon, but shall close at any time thereafter when a full hour has elapsed without any vote being polled, and shall not be kept open later than 4 o’clock in the afternoon.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (15). Polling at afternoon meetings (16) When a meeting for the election of one or more board members is held at 8 o’clock in the afternoon the supporters present may decide by resolution that the polling shall take place forthwith or at 10 o’clock on the following morning, and if it takes place forthwith the poll shall close when ten minutes have elapsed without any vote being recorded.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (16); 1997, c. 31, s. 57 (7). Counting votes, tie vote (17) When the poll is closed, the presiding officer and secretary shall count the votes polled for the respective candidates or affirmatively and negatively upon the question submitted, and, (a) in the case of an equality of votes with respect to the election of two or more candidates, the presiding officer shall provide for drawing lots to determine which of the candidates is elected; and (b) in the case of an equality of votes on a motion, the motion is lost.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (17). Declaration of result (18) In the case of an election of board members, the presiding officer shall then declare the candidate elected for whom the highest number of votes has been polled, and in case of a vote on a motion the presiding officer shall declare it carried or lost as the majority of votes is in favour of or against the motion.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (18); 1997, c. 31, s. 57 (8). Statement of result of poll (19) A statement of the result of the vote shall be certified by the presiding officer and secretary and in the case of an election of board members the statement shall be signed by any scrutineers present at the counting of the ballots and a copy thereof shall be delivered to each candidate.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (19); 1997, c. 31, s. 57 (9). Secretary to transmit minutes to Ministry (20) A correct copy of the minutes of every meeting, signed by the presiding officer and secretary of the meeting, shall be transmitted forthwith by the secretary to the Ministry.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (20). Meetings called in default of first or annual meeting (21) If from want of proper notice or other cause any meeting for the election of board members is not held at the proper time, the appropriate separate school supervisory officer or any two supporters of the school may call a meeting by giving six days notice posted in at least three of the most public places in the locality in which the school is situate.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (21); 1997, c. 31, s. 57 (10). Validity of election (22) No election under this section is invalid by reason of non-compliance with the provisions of this section as to the taking of the poll or the counting of the votes, or by reason of any mistake in the use of forms, or of any irregularity, if it appears that the election was conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in this section, and that the non-compliance or mistake or irregularity did not affect the result of the election.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, s. 92 (22). Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y) 1997, c. 31, s. 57 (1-10) - 01/01/1998