1. The Election Committee
   • The role of the Election Committee is to run the biennenial elections for the ISST Executive Board.
   • The Committee has a Chairperson and one other member.  However, the Chairperson may request the Executive Board to appoint one or more additional members if required.
   • The Election Committee is appointed by the Executive Board.  Although the Statutes state that the committee is appointed for two years, in the interest of continuity, the Executive Board should normally consider renewing the appointment of the existing Committee, as soon as possible after the term of office of the incoming Executive Board begins, so that the Election Committee members can gain experience of the requirements for running the election.
   • No member of the Election Committee member may run for office in the election, nor become involved in promoting particular candidates for election in any way, formally or informally.  However, Election Committee members are entitled to cast their votes in the election just like other ISST members.
   • The Election Committee must keep records of all data relevant to the election process, and after the election has been completed, summarize the data in a formal report in a legally admissible manner. This report must be submitted to and signed off by the Executive Committee and posted on the Election Committee’s webpage.
   • The reports of the Election Committee must be retained by the Society for a period of at least 10 years.
     
     
2. Election nominations
   • As stated in the Statutes, Executive Board members may not serve on the Executive Board for more than three consecutive terms.
   • The President and Vice President may not serve in those positions for more than two consecutive terms. However, they may serve for a third term in another position.
   • A former Executive Board member who has served three consecutive terms and who has not been on the Board for at least one term may, after that, stand for re-election but may then only serve a maximum of two further terms. In exceptional circumstances these restrictions may be temporarily relaxed by a majority vote of a General Membership Assembly.
   • Nomination for the positions of President, Vice-President, Training Coordinator and Certification Coordinator is open to full members of the ISST who are certified at the level of Trainer in any of the following certification categories: Individual Schema Therapy, Group Schema Therapy, Schema Therapy for Couples, or Schema Therapy for Children and Adolescents.
   • Nomination for the positions of Treasurer, Media Coordinator, Secretary, and Science and Research Coordinator is open to all full members of the ISST who are ISST certified at any level (Standard, Advanced, Supervisor, or Trainer) in any of the following certification categories: Individual Schema Therapy, Group Schema Therapy, Schema Therapy for Couples, or Schema Therapy for Children and Adolescents.
   • Nominations may be made by full ISST members, or members may nominate themselves.  All nominations must be supported by two other full members and must be submitted on the approved nomination form which provides the contact details of the nominee and the two nominating members and which includes confirmation that the nominee accepts the nomination.
   • No member may be nominated for more than one position on the Executive Board.
   • No member may support the nomination of more than one person for any particular position on the Executive Board.
   • The Election Committee will review the eligibility of all nominated candidates who have accepted their candidacy.
   • Nominated candidates are expected to abide by the results of the election and, if voted into office, accept their position.
   • If there are no nominations for an Executive Board position, the position can be left vacant and the incoming Executive Board shall appoint someone suitable to the position. However, this may not be done for more than one position.
   • If there are no nominations for two or more positions, the Election Committee may delay the election date in order to take steps to secure a nomination for at least one of them.
     
     
3. Election timetable
   • Election take place every two years in even numbered years.
   • The Chairperson of the Election Committee should consult with the President in April or May and should finalize the timetable for approval by the Executive Board by the end of June.
   • The timetable of the election should be such that the newly elected Executive Board can take office before the end of the year and hold its first meeting in November or December.
   • The Election Committee should formally invite all members of the current Executive Board to indicate whether they intend to stand for re-election in the same position.  This should normally take place in time for them to respond to the Election Committee at least two weeks before the Election Committee sends out the call for nominations to the Society as a whole.
   • Current Executive Board members who indicate that they will stand again for re-election to the same position do not need to complete the nomination form referred to in §2.6.
   • The Election Committee shall send a call for nominations by email to all ISST full members who are entitled to vote. The nomination period must be at least 21 days.  After that, nominations close and no more nominations may be made.  The only exception shall be when the conditions referred to in §2.12 apply.
   • The Election Committee must send out the detailed timetable for the election process at the same time as the call for nominations referred to in §3.6.
   • Once a nomination has been made, the Election Committee shall check the nomination form and confirm that the nominee is eligible to stand for election. Once this has been confirmed, the Election Committee shall post information about the nomination on the website so that the information is available to all members.
   • The Election Committee shall request a personal statement from each nominee as soon as the nomination is confirmed and shall posted this statement on the website as soon as it is received from the nominee.
   • A nominated member may withdraw his/her nomination if, on seeing the name(s) of other members nominated for the same position, the said member does not wish to stand against the other nominated member(s).
   • After the end of the nomination period (and not more than 7 days later), the Election Committee shall send the final list of nominees to all eligible voting members of the Society.  This must be accompanied by detailed instructions about the voting procedure. The candidates for each position should be listed in alphabetical order of their surnames.
   • On the day that the election opens, the Election Committee shall send a further reminder to all eligible voting members of the Society of the list of nominees,  instructions about the voting procedure, and the dates during which votes may be cast (see §3.13 below).
   • Members must have 21 days in which to cast their votes.  After the 21 days, the election is closed.
   • The Election Committee shall notify the Executive Board with no undue delay if the time intervals and periods listed in the Electoral Regulations cannot be met. In this case, a delay in the election timetable may be considered and must be approved by the President in consultation with the Executive Board. Once the new timetable has been approved, the deadlines for the remaining phases of the electoral process shall be extended accordingly.
     
     
4. Voters and voting
   • Only full members of the Society, as defined by the Society’s Statutes and regulations, are entitled to vote.  This includes the Honorary President, the Honorary Scientific Advisor and Honorary life members.
   • New members who are only admitted to full membership of the Society after the first call for nominations has been sent out are not entitled to vote in the current election.
   • Voting takes place online through the website or other appropriate online platform. When choosing the online platform, it must be ensured that the voter's identity can be reliably established.
   • The Society’s mailing list and forums on the Society’s website shall at no time be used for the posting of statements recommending for or against particular candidates. This does not affect other blogs or forums set up particularly for the purpose of presenting or discussing candidates.
     
     
5. Election results
   • The election is valid if at least one quarter of the members eligible to vote did in fact cast their vote.
   • The Election Committee will determine the number of votes received for each nominee for each position and will offer the office for each position to such candidate who was elected by simple majority of the votes cast.
   • In making the offer to a successful candidate, the Election Committee will ask for confirmation that the candidate accepts the office. The candidate is granted a period of 3 days for consideration. Acceptance is implied if the Committee does not receive a positive decision in this time.
   • If the candidate with the most votes is unable to accept the position at the conclusion of the election, the candidate with the next highest number of votes will be offered that position.
   • If only one candidate has been running for a particular position, and that candidate does not accept the position, the procedure specified in §2.11 may be followed.  Otherwise, the election procedure will be repeated for that particular position only.
   • If no candidate achieves a majority, a runoff election between the two candidates with the most votes per position will be held. The runoff election shall normally take place within a period of 14 days. In the event of a further tie in the voting the Election Committee will arrange for a transparent procedure for determining the outcome, for example by the drawing of lots.
   • The election results shall be announced to the Society as soon as possible through the ISST website. The results may also be announced on the Society’s mailing list. Updates to the election results due to individuals deciding to withdraw their candidacy will be announced in the same way.
     
     
6. Assumption of office
   • The term of office of the newly elected Executive Committee begins on the first of the month following the announcement of results (and the finalization of the names of the new office holders for at least seven of the eight positions on the Board).  The Election Committee must ensure that this is no later than 1 January the following year (see §3.3).
   • The previous Executive Board will remain in office until the election of the new Executive Committee has been announced (as specified in §6.1), even if, due to unforeseen practical problems, there are delays to the election timetable.
   • If during the term of the Executive Board, a Board member resigns or is indisposed and unable to fulfil his/her responsibilities, the Executive Board shall appoint a replacement by majority vote of the remaining Board members.

These regulations were revised and redrafted in October 2020 by David Edwards (President) in consultation with the Election Committee.  They were approved by the Executive Board on 10^th November 2020.

The previous regulations were initially written by Petra Baumann-Frankenberger (Treasurer) and Christoph Becker (Attorney-at-Law), in 2012, and revised in July 2014, in consultation with the Election Committee at that time.

A pdf of the 2020 regulations is available here

The 2014 version of the regulations is available here

Extract from the ISST statutes

§ (6) Election of the Committee: Executive Board members will serve for a 2 year term. Only full members certified by ISST e.V. can be elected for the Committee. Only full members are eligible to vote in the election of the Executive Board. Each eligible member has one vote.

Executive Board elections will be done via electronic voting. It is the goal of electronic voting to allow as many ISST members as possible to participate in the elections of the Executive Board without having to be physically present in a membership assembly. The Executive Board cannot be elected in the Membership Assembly. The particulars are set in the election regulations.