Second Notification: ISTM Elections 2005 and the Nomination Process

Prativa Pandey, M.D.
ISTM President-Elect
Chair, Nominating Committee

It is time to move forward on organizing the ISTM election for 2005. Two Counselor positions and the position of President-elect are open. 

Each Counselor position is for four years.

The President position is for a two-year term. However, the President serves as President-elect for two years preceding his/her term of President and then for two years after the term as Past-President (for a total of six years).

A nominating committee, in accordance of criteria set out in our bylaws, has been formed by the Executive Board. Members may propose themselves or propose other members for nomination. You can cast your nomination in one of two ways:

• Fill out the ballot inserted into this Newsletter. Mail or fax it to ISTM headquarters. The address is on the ballot.
• Go to the ISTM webpage and cast your ballot electronically. On the home page you will see, "New: Nominations Forms now available for 2005 elections." Click on that and proceed. You will have to enter your user name and password.

The deadline for submitting the form is July 31, 2004. Any ISTM member with paid up dues is eligible for nomination, but it is desirable for the candidate to have the following qualifications:

• Prior service on ISTM committees or ISTM sponsored initiatives
• Publication of travel medicine-related clinical or research articles in the Journal of Travel Medicine, other journals or books
• Contributions to the biannual CISTM
• Leadership experience working with national or international professional societies or groups
• Professional experience in the field of Travel Medicine

For each open position, the nominating committee will carefully review all the names submitted and will select the names of the 2 most suitable nominees. These 2 nominees will appear on the ballot in accordance with the bylaws of the ISTM. Ballots will go out to all members with the names of 2 nominees for each open position with the October 2004 membership mailing. Election results will be announced at the membership assembly in May 2005, in Lisbon.

To maintain true diversity in an international society like ours, our by-laws mandate that geographic considerations are taken into account. The Society bylaws state that no more than three of the seven elected members of the Society shall reside on the same continent. The following paragraphs pertaining to the election process are quoted from the bylaws to increase an understanding of this process:

Article 8.1 A nominating committee will be composed of 7 members in good standing in the Society representing, insofar as possible the various continents and constituencies of the Society (e.g., nursing, academia, private practice). Members of the nominating committee will be appointed by the Executive Board one year before the next Membership Assembly and for a term of one year. Two members of the nominating committee will be outgoing counselors and the chairperson of the committee will be the President-Elect.

Article 8.2 Six months before the next Membership Assembly, the nominating committee shall submit to the Secretary-Treasurer the names of two nominees for each office to be elected. At least three months prior to the annual meeting, the Secretary-Treasurer shall send a ballot to each member eligible to vote. The ballots shall be returned to the Secretary - Treasurer. To be valid a ballot must be received by the Secretary-Treasurer at least six weeks prior to the Membership Assembly.

Article 8.9 No more than three elected members of the Executive Board shall reside on the same continent when elected. The sequence of the elections will be President, President-Elect, then counselors. If three members residing on the same continent are elected, those proposed later in the sequence of elections will drop out as supernumerary candidates; within the counselors, the ones having received less votes will drop out.

By unanimous votes each of the previous Executive Boards has reiterated that all elections are guided but not bound by the following considerations:

1. The President-elect should be elected from a different continent than the current President-elect.
2. One of the counselors should be a nurse counselor who should be elected from a continent different from the continent of the outgoing nurse counselor.

Please note that your nominations should be guided by the interpretation of Article 8.9 and the geographic composition of the Executive Board in 2005 at the time of election.