A change to the Amherst Railway Society bylaws has been proposed and must be acted on by the membership. The proposed change expands voting at the society’s annual business meeting from just members present at the meeting to all members in good standing.

The proposed bylaw change will be acted on during the business portion of the April 8, 2026 meeting.

CURRENT

6.3 The Board of Directors shall also act as a governance committee for the purpose of nominating candidates for Officers and Board members-at-large whose terms have expired, or been vacated during the previous year and for any by-law changes. The governance committee shall be chaired, whenever possible, by the President of the Board of Directors. The report of the governance committee shall be made at least one month prior to the Annual Meeting and shall be included with the call to the Annual Meeting. Other nominations made from the floor of the Annual Meeting will become part of the slate. The candidates receiving the highest number of votes for each office shall be declared elected. Tie votes shall be decided by run-off election at the Annual Meeting.

PROPOSED

6.3 The Board of Directors shall also act as a governance committee for the purpose of nominating candidates for Officers and Board members-at-large whose terms have expired, or been vacated during the previous year and for any by-law changes. The governance committee shall be chaired, whenever possible, by the President of the Board of Directors. The report of the governance committee shall be made by May 1 of each year.  The membership may nominate any member in good standing to be added to the governance committee’s proposed slate by notifying the secretary between May 1st and May 15th.  The final slate of members nominated for positions will be posted on the society web site and emailed to members no later than May 20th.  A digital vote will be conducted and the results will be publicized no later than June 30th.

6.4  Vacancies among elected officers or board members-at-large occurring between Annual Meetings Votes shall be filled by appointment by the remaining members of the Board of Directors to serve until the next Annual Meeting Vote.

This section added, to better explain digital voting, including timing:

6.6 – Membership Digital Voting.  The Amherst Railway Society allows for the use of digital voting by members for any and all organizational decisions.

6.6.1    A preliminary-ballot will be posted on the website and emailed to members no less than ten days prior to the official vote and will clearly identify the articles that will be voted on, the list of acceptable responses, when the voting will open, and when the voting will close.  After the preliminary notification, no new articles can be added to the vote, however, articles that are not part of a run-off can be removed based upon a vote of the executive board.

6.6.2    Once the official ballot is sent, voting responses will be accepted for a period of no less than five calendar days.

6.6.3    The Secretary will tally and post the results in no more than two days from the closing of the voting window.

6.6.4    In the event of a tie, the secretary’s notification will include a preliminary-ballot in accordance with section 6.5.2 invoking a digital run-off on said articles.  A digital run-off is subject to all of the same provisions and guidelines of a standard digital vote.