Fellow JAT members,
Greetings from the JAT Election Committee! The 2024 JAT election is drawing near.
Announcements concerning the election will be delivered by send-only e-mail, like this message, and clicking the reply to button will not work. Please direct any queries to [email protected].
To make it easier than ever to run for office, only one endorsement is required. And directors seeking re-election are exempt from the endorsement requirement all together. Don’t pass up this chance to help make JAT stronger and better than ever! More details below.
1. Election Committee
The Election Committee has at least three members, as mandated by the JAT Bylaws. This year, Chiharu Hirabayashi, Henry Smith, and Seiko Matsushima are on the committee. The JAT Webmaster, Charles Aschmann, and the JAT Tech Team are providing technical support.
2. Number of positions to be filled
This year, there are up to 7 director positions and exactly 1 auditor position to be filled. JAT can have up to 12 director positions. Currently 8 of the 12 positions are filled. One of the current directors is at the end of her second term and therefore cannot run in the election. Two directors are eligible for re-election, and the remainder are in the midst of their terms and will therefore not run in the election. JAT has two auditor positions; one is at the end of her first term and is therefore eligible for re-election.
In sum, we can elect up to 7 directors and 1 auditor in the 2024 election.
Board Status:
Allyson Sigman: serving the last year of second two-year term, cannot run again.
Rie Sakaguchi: serving the first year of second two-year term (one as auditor and one as director), not up for re-election.
Yumeko Futaki: serving second year of first two-year term, eligible to run for re-election.
Yukari Watanabe: serving second year of first two-year term, eligible to run for re-election.
Heidi Karino: serving first year of first two-year term, not up for re-election.
Sakigake Kamimura: serving first year of first two-year term, not up for re-election.
Shoji Miyata: serving first year of first two-year term, not up for re-election.
Phil Robertson: serving first year of first two-year term, not up for re-election.
Auditors:
Nora Stevens Heath: serving second year of first two-year term, eligible to run for re-election.
Chieko Tamakawa (appointed): serving first year of first two-year term, not up for re-election.
3. Election schedule
The election is scheduled for May to June this year, as follows.
2024/5/3 (00:00 JST) to 2024/5/16 (22:00 JST): Candidacy registration period (14 days)
2024/5/18 (00:00 JST) to 2024/5/24 (22:00 JST): Campaign period (7 days)
2024/5/25 (00:00 JST) to 2024/5/31 (22:00 JST): Election voting period (7 days)
2024/6/2: Announcement of election results
Candidacy registration period [May 3 to May 16]
Members seeking to run for office must first declare their intent to run for office and submit one endorsement from a JAT member. Instructions on how to run will be provided in a subsequent message and on the JAT website. Current directors seeking re-election only need to declare their intent to run for office: no endorsement is required.
Candidates for director must have been JAT members in good standing for the entire year preceding the deadline for submitting candidacy statements, which is the end of the declaration/registration period at 22:00:00 on May 16. Candidates for auditor do not need to be JAT members. Endorsers must be members in good standing as of the date on which they submit their endorsement statement.
As per the JAT Bylaws, candidates need to supply full name, gender, nationality, address of current residence, home telephone number, and primary JAT e-mail address, together with the full name, primary JAT e-mail address, and an endorsement statement from one endorser.
Candidacy statements should indicate how candidates envision JAT’s evolution. Endorsement statements should indicate the endorser’s relationship with the candidate and the skills/attributes the endorser believes the candidate possesses that make him or her a good choice. Candidacy and endorsement statements may be up to 300 English words or 600 Japanese characters in length.
The Election Committee requests endorsers to send a brief e-mail to [email protected] confirming the names of each candidate they have endorsed, together with their endorsement statement/s.
The Election Committee will not announce any candidates until after the registration period closes and the eligibility of the candidates and endorsers has been verified. Candidates will be deemed registered only upon verification.
As the Election Committee needs time to verify eligibility and endorsements, we encourage candidates to submit candidacy statements early in the registration period. There may be a delay in the start of the campaign period if necessary, for verification of candidate and/or endorser eligibility.
Campaign period [May 18 to 24]
The JAT Webmaster will establish a dedicated forum for discussions pertaining to the election. Please feel free to use this to conduct campaign discussions. Although the Campaign period officially lasts for seven days, campaigning is not limited to this period. Members and candidates may continue to interact even after the start of the voting period.
Voting period [May 25 to 31]
Votes will be cast online. Each member may cast up to 8 votes in this election; that is, 1 vote each for up to 7 director candidates and 1 vote for 1 auditor candidate. Members will be sent an e-mail with a link to a personalized ballot before the start of the voting period. Please vote in accordance with the instructions in the e-mail.
The election results will be emailed to members and posted on the JAT website as soon as possible after voting closes. Results should be available on June 2, barring any unexpected difficulties.
JAT is run by hardworking volunteer members. Consider running for the JAT Board of Directors to help JAT and the translation community grow stronger and change the translation industry for the better. Your vote, as well, offers the opportunity for capable professionals within our organization to help JAT improve and expand. We encourage you to run in the election and vote as a sign of your support!
Sincerely,
2024 JAT Election Committee
Chiharu Hirabayashi, Henry Smith, and Seiko Matsushima