The Wild Felid Research & Management Association

WFA Elections

Background

The WFA was established as a non-profit in 2007 with a self-appointed (interim) board of directors (or Council). However, the Council created the WFA as an organization with a voting membership (see the WFA Bylaws). Consequently, the WFA Council created an Election Committee and organized elections. We filled 5 Councilor positions during our first election in 2009, another 3 Councilor positions in 2010, and we filled the remaining interim positions this year (2012). Elected terms are 3 years, and Council members cannot serve more than 2 consecutive terms.

All WFA members who have paid yearly dues or are issued sponsored memberships are eligible to vote.

All members shall be entitled to hold office and may be eligible to officially represent the WFA when appointed to do so by the Council or the President in lieu of the Council.

The Bylaws state that the Board of Directors (or Council) governs the WFA and is composed of five officers: President, Vice President (North America), Vice President (other than North America), Secretary, and Treasurer; and six Council members, five elected by the membership of the Wild Felid Association. The sixth is typically the past President.

 

Interested in running for office?
 

  Candidates for Council positions are chosen by the Election Committee. Any WFA member can also nominate a candidate, though
  the nominator must verify that nominees are members and have agreed to run for office and serve if elected.
  WFA members who are interested in being part of Election Committee or running for office, or helping in some capacity with
  future elections should Contact Us for more information.

  Election 2016 - For the first time, WFA voting was electronic and we also had our highest participation (~45% of eligible voters).

  Election 2018 - Ballots were electonic and voting ended September 3, 2018. The membership voted for Vice President North
                            America, Vice President Latin America, Secretary, and 2 General Council positions.

  Election 2019 - Members voted for President, Treasurer, and 4 General Council positions. Electronic voting ran from August 7
                            through September 7. Candidate information was provided in the Summer 2019 issue of  The Wild Felid Monitor. 

  Election 2021 - Members voted for Vice President North America, Vice President Latin America, Secretary, and 2 General Council
                            positions. Candidate information was provided in the summer 2021 issue of the Monitor.

  Election 2022 - Voting ended September 30. Members voted for President, Treasurer, and 3 Councilor positions.  
                           Candidate information was provided on the ballots (through Electionrunner.com) and in the summer 2022 issue
                            of the Monitor. Results were provided in the Winter 2023 issue of The Wild Felid Monitor.      
                           
 WFA's next election will be conducted in fall 2024.               

 More information on the duties of each office are given in Article III of the WFA Bylaws. For more general descriptions of Councilor
 duties and responsibilities go here >

 If you have questions, Contact Us.
 

RESULTS OF ELECTION ON BYLAWS CHANGES

WFA’s bylaws have not been revised or updated since 2012. The Council proposed some changes to WFA’s bylaws to: 1) address some outdated language and statements that do not apply to WFA’s function; 2) change the structure of the Council by reducing the number of members from 11 to 9 as well as allow for the election of Councilors that are responsible for leading (chairing) critical WFA committees (e.g., Scholarship, Grant). The 2 positions proposed for elimination were Vice President, Latin America and 1 General Councilor. The Vice President, North America position would be changed to Vice President.   Electronic voting was open for 30 days to current members. Thirty-five percent of the active membership voted in the election and they voted overwhelmingly in support of both ballot measures. You can view the election results by going to: https://vote.electionrunner.com/election/T0Lvm/results  The proposed bylaws changes can be viewed here >  Changes to outdated language are indicated in yellow highlight; changes to Council organizational structure are highlighted in blue.