Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 27 - STATE PERSONNEL BOARD › Part 210 - PERS, Regulations for Retirement Plans Administered by the Board of Trustees › Chapter 17 - Election of Members of the Board of Trustees of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi › Section 27-210-17-103 - Election Procedure

Current through June 25, 2024
The procedure for the nomination and schedule of election of
				  members of the Board provided in Miss. Code Ann. § 25-11 -l5 (1972, as
				  amended), shall be as follows:
1. Not
				less than 150 days prior to the expiration of the term of office of any member
				of said Board, the executive director shall prepare and distribute to the chief
				executive officer of all agencies whose employees are eligible to participate
				in the election, or to the retirees and beneficiaries in the case of the
				election of a retiree representative, a notice of such impending expiration,
				and shall simultaneously prepare and distribute, or make available, an
				appropriate petition as prescribed by the Board for the nomination of
				candidates. In the event the Board declares a vacancy in the office of a
				trustee prior to the expiration of his or her term of office, the executive
				director shall, within seven business days of the declared vacancy, initiate
				accelerated election proceedings in accordance with Miss. Code Ann. §
									25-11-15(3)(1972,
				as amended) so as to fill the vacancy as quickly as possible.
2. Sufficient lines shall be provided on each
				petition for at least 25 signatures of members or retirees, as applicable, of
				systems administered by PERS who are eligible to vote in said election and a
				minimum of 25 signatures, other than the signature of the candidate seeking
				nomination, shall be necessary to place the name of any eligible candidate in
				nomination for the office.
3. The
				petition nominating candidates for said office shall be filed with the
				executive director not less than 120 days prior to the expiration of the term
				of office of the incumbent member of the Board whose term is expiring, and no
				nomination received subsequent to said time shall be considered. The executive
				director, or his or her designee, shall be responsible for verifying the
				eligibility of any candidate and, if necessary to perfect a petition, may allow
				a nominee to obtain additional required signatures after filing the petition if
				the additional signatures are received before the deadline for filing of
				petitions.
4. Approximately one
				week after the deadline for filing petitions as provided in Section 103.3 of
				this regulation, the executive director shall initiate the preparation of an
				official ballot for said election, listing thereon in alphabetical order the
				names of all eligible candidates placed in nomination pursuant to these
				regulations. Ballots and candidate information shall be provided or made
				available to the members, retirees, and beneficiaries entitled to vote in said
				election. If only one nomination is approved, such candidate shall be declared
				by the Board of Trustees to have been duly elected.
5. Employees who are active members of a
				public retirement system administered by PERS and retirees and beneficiaries,
				regardless of age, who are receiving a monthly retirement allowance from a
				public retirement system administered by PERS shall be entitled to vote in the
				appropriate election of the member of the Board of Trustees, as provided in
				Miss. Code Ann. §
									25-11-15
				(1972, as amended); however, only an eligible active member of PERS who has at
				least 10 years of creditable service or a retired member receiving a monthly
				retirement allowance from PERS may seek election to and, if elected, serve on
				the Board of Trustees.
6. Any
				employee of PERS may vote in any state employee representative election but may
				not seek election to serve on the Board of Trustees while so employed.
7. Any active member or retiree
				who holds office in the legislative or judicial branches of state or local
				government may vote in the applicable member or retiree representative election
				but may not seek election to serve on the Board of Trustees.
8. The executive director is authorized to
				conduct elections of an active employee member or retired member to the Board
				of Trustees in the manner deemed most efficient and effective. The manner used
				in the casting of ballots in the election, whether by paper ballot, telephone,
				or electronic means, shall reasonably provide each member with the opportunity
				to cast a single vote for the candidate of his or her choice. The executive
				director shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the election is
				conducted with a high degree of confidentiality and that the voting process
				provides secure, verifiable, and unbiased results.
9. Within 30 days after such ballots have
				been provided or made available to members, retirees, and beneficiaries who are
				entitled to vote in said election, the voting period will close and the results
				tabulated. The results of the election will be certified at the next Board
				meeting. Any candidate in said election, or his or her representative or
				attorney, shall, upon request within 90 days, have the right to review the
				official certified results.
10. If
				any candidate for said office shall receive a majority of all votes cast in
				said election, such candidate shall be declared to have been duly elected. If
				no candidate receives a majority of the total votes cast in said election, the
				Administrative Committee shall certify the name of the candidate receiving the
				highest number of votes and the name(s) of the candidate(s) receiving the
				second highest number of votes, and the executive director shall, thereupon,
				within a period of approximately one week after such certification, initiate an
				official runoff election. In the event two or more candidates tie for the
				highest number of votes cast in said election, the Administrative Committee
				shall certify the names of those candidates for purposes of the runoff
				election. The runoff election process, including the declaration of the duly
				elected candidate, shall be conducted using the same voting process as
				hereinabove provided in the first election process, except that the candidate
				who receives the most votes cast in the runoff election, or the candidate
				decided by lot in the event of a tie vote, shall be declared to have been duly
				elected.
11. In the event the name
				of an ineligible individual is placed on an official ballot in any election,
				that election shall be declared invalid and a new election will be held, unless
				excluding the votes cast for the ineligible individual would have no bearing
				whatsoever on the election results, in which case the election results would be
				certified by the Board.
12. In the
				event any eligible runoff candidate withdraws his or her name or subsequently
				becomes ineligible to serve at any point after certification of the candidates
				for the runoff election and before the election is completed, the Board shall
				declare the remaining candidate to have been duly elected if there is only one
				remaining candidate.
13. The Board
				of Trustees shall certify the results of said election to the Secretary of
				State so that a commission may be issued as required by law to the successful
				candidate, and said candidate shall be sworn in as a member of the Board as
				provided by law.
14. The Board of
				Trustees shall be the sole judge of all questions touching on the
				qualifications of (i) candidates, (ii) employees of the various political
				subdivisions, agencies, institutions, departments, (iii) retirees, and (iv)
				voters in such elections, and shall likewise determine any and all other
				questions arising incident to or connected with such election.
15. Any legal holidays falling within any
				period of time set forth in these policies shall extend the time for that
				period by one day unless otherwise directed by the Board. Any time period
				referred to in these procedures shall mean calendar days, not work days. If a
				deadline falls on Saturday or Sunday, the deadline shall be extended to the
				following Monday.