Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 32 - EMPLOYEE BENEFITS › Part VII - Public Employee Deferred Compensation › Subpart 2 - Nominations and Elections › Chapter 101 - Nomination and Election of Participant Members › Section VII-10101 - Election Procedures

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. The
				  Louisiana Deferred Compensation Commission (the "commission") developed the
				  following procedures for the election of participant members to the commission,
				  revised August 16, 2005. These procedures shall remain in effect until amended.
1. On or before the first day of January of
				  each year, the commission shall appoint a nominating committee consisting of
				  three to five participants, no two of whom are employed by the same department
				  of state government and none of whom are members of the commission. Public
				  notice of the appointment of the nominating committee shall be given in the
				  same manner as that required for giving public notice of meetings of the
				  commission. All participants shall be notified by means of a notice mailed to
				  them by either the fourth quarter statements or via direct mail that an
				  election will be held, and the method by which the election will be
				  held.
2. The nominating committee
				  shall submit to the commission the name of at least one participant for each
				  vacancy that has occurred and the name of at least one participant for each
				  term that is about to expire. Only participants who have been participants for
				  more than two years prior to the date on which the term begins may be
				  nominated.
3. Upon the receipt of
				  the report of the nominating committee, the commission shall notify personnel
				  officers of the receipt of the said report and shall request personnel officers
				  to notify participants (by posting a notice in appropriate places or by other
				  means) that the said report has been received and that additional nominations
				  may be made by petition.
4. A
				  participant may be nominated by petition if the petition contains the
				  signatures of 12 participants and is received by the commission chairman or
				  his/her designee prior to the deadline set forth in the notice supplied to
				  personnel officers pursuant to Paragraph 3 above. Only participants who have
				  been participants for more than two years prior to the date on which the term
				  begins may be nominated by petition. Petitioning participants' signatures must
				  be accompanied by a statement signed by the nominee in which the nominee
				  expresses his or her willingness to serve if elected.
5. In the event two or more participants are
				  nominated for a position on the commission, the commission chairman shall
				  conduct a drawing to determine the order in which candidates' names will appear
				  on the ballot. All nominees for a position shall be invited by the chairman to
				  attend the drawing. Each ballot shall contain, in addition to the name of the
				  nominee(s), a statement containing no more than 35 words, which statement shall
				  be prepared by the nominee and shall contain biographical information and/or a
				  statement concerning the nominee's position on one or more issues pertinent to
				  the deferred compensation program. If and when the commission determines that
				  the use of photographs of the nominees on the ballots will be feasible, the
				  chairman shall provide all nominees with the opportunity to submit suitable
				  photographs of themselves for use in preparation of the ballots. The submission
				  of such a photograph shall be optional for each nominee.
6. A participant shall be eligible to
				  participate in an election if that participant receives a first quarter
				  statement of his account with the Louisiana Deferred Compensation plan during
				  the year in which the election is held. The commission may elect to distribute
				  the ballots to the eligible participants via the first quarter statement, or
				  via direct mail. The commission may also contract through a third party vendor
				  to provide vote collection services, including electronic votes utilizing an
				  Interactive Voice Response ("IVR") telephone voting system, electronic votes
				  utilizing the Internet and also paper ballot votes. Election services include
				  the production of election materials, mailing services, barcode system
				  services, election ballot processing and counting using automated scanning, and
				  other related services. If the voting process is sent via the statement or
				  mail, each ballot shall be accompanied by a ballot envelope (clearly marked
				  with instructions that the completed ballot shall be placed therein and the
				  envelope sealed), a mailing envelope on which is printed the name and address
				  of the commission's designated return address, and a signature slip.
7. The commission may require that the
				  participant's signature appear on the signature slip together with the last
				  four digits of the participant's Social Security number. The signature slip and
				  the ballot envelope shall be placed in the mailing envelope. The signature slip
				  must not be placed in the ballot envelope. The mailing envelope shall be mailed
				  or delivered to the commission at the address printed on the mailing
				  envelope.
8. The commission or the
				  commission chairman, if authorized by the commission, shall appoint a ballot
				  counting committee and the commission chairman shall invite all nominees to be
				  present for the ballot counting.
9.
				  The deadline for return of ballots and the date on which ballots will be
				  counted shall both be fixed by the commission or by the commission chairman, if
				  authorized by the commission.
10.
				  Prior to counting the ballots, the ballot counting committee shall make such
				  verification as is deemed appropriate. The committee shall verify that each
				  ballot has been submitted correctly. Any ballot not submitted correctly will be
				  deemed invalid. If a third party vendor is contracted for vote collection
				  services, the ballot counting committee shall examine and verify the database
				  representing the final vote tally.
11. No nominee shall be required to receive a
				  majority of the votes in order to be elected. The nominee receiving a plurality
				  of the votes cast shall be declared elected. In the event two or more nominees
				  receive the same number of votes, the winner shall be chosen by the toss of a
				  coin.
12. Upon completion of its
				  work, the ballot counting committee shall submit a written report to the
				  chairman concerning the result of the election. The chairman shall make public
				  the result of the election at the next commission meeting.