Board of Education Election Information 2019

May 10, 2019

Dear KLSD Community,

As you may be aware, although three seats are available on next year’s Board of Education (BOE), just two community members submitted petitions prior to our deadline in order to be candidates for election to those seats. As a result, we anticipate an increased likelihood of community member names being written in on ballots. We want to be sure there is as much clarity as possible about how the write-in process works.

Please be aware of the following information:

  • There will be three columns on the ballot for the three seats available on the Board.
  • At the top of two of the columns, the printed names of two candidates will appear.
  • All three columns will include a space at the bottom where additional names may be written in (so that a voter could write-in up to three different names). If the same name is written in more than once, it will be counted as only a single vote.
  • Each voter can only vote for up to three candidates in total.
  • A ballot that includes more than three votes (for example, a vote for each printed candidate plus two written in names) will be rejected by the voting machine. The voter will then have a chance to resubmit a new ballot with no more than three votes.
  • Any community member who wishes to serve on the BOE must meet the eligibility requirements as outlined in our BOE policy (See KLSD BOE Policy 2121).
  • At the conclusion of the vote on the evening of May 21, we will announce the tally of unofficial results, as we do every year. Depending on the outcome, it may be necessary to reach out to community members whose names were written in to ascertain their actual interest in and eligibility for a seat on the BOE. As a result, it make take a little longer than in prior years to reach official results.
  • The three names that receive the most votes (whether that’s the two printed names and one written in name, or two written in names and one printed name, or some other combination) will serve on the Board, assuming they meet eligibility requirements and wish to serve.
  • On the day of the vote, poll workers will be allowed to respond to a question such as, “How do I write in a name?” They will not, however, be able to answer a question such as, “What is the name of the write-in candidate?”

If a seat remains vacant at the conclusion of the May 21 vote, the BOE has three options that would be discussed at our meeting on May 23:

  1. Leave the seat vacant until the next annual election, when a candidate could then run for the remaining two years of a three year term.
  2. Run a separate, special election this spring for a candidate who could then fill a three year term.
  3. Appoint an interested and eligible member of the community who would serve until the next annual election (at which time, a successful candidate would fill the remaining two years of a three year term).

Should you have questions about this process, please reach out to me (aselesnick@klschools.org) or our Board Clerk, Kim Monzon (kmonzon@klschools.org).

Sincerely,

Andrew Selesnick, Superintendent of Schools