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Should the Auditing Section
Continue to Hold Contested Elections? At present, in accordance with its bylaws, the Auditing Section holds contested elections for the positions of Academic Vice President (President-Elect), Secretary and Treasurer. The question has been raised as to whether the Section should continue with this practice, or should change to the policy followed by our parent organization, the American Accounting Association, of nominating only a single candidate for each office to be filled. At some
point in the near future, Section members may be asked to discuss
this issue in a town meeting and perhaps to vote on a bylaws
change that would provide for nomination of a single slate of
officers. As a prelude to consideration of this issue, this
article sets forth some of the pros and cons of contested
elections. Pros1. Contested elections provide members with a choice of their leaders, while a single slate of officers effectively eliminates that choice. Rebuttal: Safeguards can be built into the system to preserve member choice, such as a provision for Section members to nominate additional candidates to be included on the ballot if a sufficient number of members (say 50) sign a petition. 2. In the
absence of contested elections, there is a risk that Section
leadership could be dominated by a clique that may not be
representative of the Section as a whole. Rebuttal: Again,
safeguards are available, such as requiring that the Nominating
Committee have broad-based member representation. Cons1. The Auditing Section is a volunteer organization in which officer candidates are asked to donate significant amounts of time and energy to serve as officers. Volunteers should not be asked to compete against other volunteers for the right to donate their time and energy. Rebuttal: This would be a more telling argument if the Section was unable to find qualified candidates to stand for election, but this does not seem to be the case. 2. Only one other AAA section (Management Accounting) holds contested elections. Rebuttal: The Auditing Section doesn’t necessarily have to be like most other Sections. In addition, it is one of the largest AAA sections and has a larger pool of willing and qualified candidates. 3. Members who stand for election but do not win may be reluctant to stand for election again, and may also become less active in Section activities generally, even though they are highly qualified. Rebuttal: Even if this is true, there are still many other qualified members who are willing to be candidates and to participate in other Section activities. 4. Contested elections may discourage some qualified members from seeking leadership positions within the Section. Rebuttal: Members who are discouraged by the prospect of losing an election may not be the best people for Section leadership positions. 5. The
Auditing Section presently does not hold contested elections for
the Practice Vice President position. Why should the other Section
offices be any different? Rebuttal: Because the pool of
potential practitioner candidates is too small, and the Section
should not risk offending practitioner candidates who stand for
election but do not win. |