Please check the official member list to make sure that you are eligible to vote!
Every six months the chapter holds an election ceremony to decide who is going to take on the responsibilities of each board position next term. Refer to here to see what board positions there are and their individual responsibilities. Getting elected to a certain position means the chapter trusts whoever got elected to not only fulfill their responsibility, but to do the best they can with that position.
Why you should go:
Chapter elections, unlike country elections, have less people voting, and more competent candidates. Your vote really does count, as many board positions have been decided over one vote. That being said, it’s your vote going to decide who is next going to lead the chapter and have it accomplish bigger and better things. Going also shows that you support your brother Alephs in their wins – and their losses.
To qualify to vote/run you need to be signed up on b-linked and fully paid for your membership. If you’re an eighth grader, you need to promise to pay as soon as you can and have an account on b-linked.
Fraternity:
Elections are often quoted as being the “most unfraternal event of each term”. That is because it is a time where the chapter comes together and chooses one Aleph over another. This is almost always avoided, but elections is the time where it’s unavoidable. In order to minimize the unfraternalness before and during elections, many things occur:
Running for a position:
Choosing which position:
In order to run for a position, you need to first figure out what position you want. While technically, everyone is allowed to run for anything (except for Kohen Gadol), it’s generally advised for younger members to stay away from the more taxing positions (ex. Gadol, Sgan), and to run for things that doesn’t require much experience to fulfill, but has a lot of room for people to do things beyond the position itself (ex. Historian Shotare, Katav, Machshev).
If you can’t figure out what position to run for, but still want to be on board, talk to one of the advisors. They can help guide you into a position that you’ll be able to do.
Let’s say you want to run for a position, but think that the responsibility will be too much for you alone to handle. Something you can do is run with a counterpart (abbreviated as Co). Doing that will have the position be held in both of your names, and have the responsibility go to both of you.
In order to get a Co, you need to talk to the gadol, any previous gadol, or an advisor. They’ll be able to set you up with your person of preference (assuming they also want to run for that), or someone else who also wants to run for the same position. Do NOT talk to the person you want to be in a Co with directly, as that will count as politicking. Once you are given a Co by one of the aforementioned people, you can freely discuss with your Co about speech topics and plans for that board position.
Once you figured out what position you want to run for, although not necessary, it is highly advised to tell an advisor or the gadol about it.
Preparing for Elections:
To run, it is best to write out a speech highlighting your qualifications for the position, and what you will do if elected to that position. The speech should cover what project(s) you want to execute, how you will achieve that, and any other things that you feel are important for the chapter to know when it comes to voting for you in that position. Many speeches incorporate an idea/life lesson as an overall theme. How you write it is completely up to you, but be mindful of your positions time limit on speeches (5 min for Gadol, 4 min for Sgan and Moreh, 3 min for everything else).
It is also advised to prepare speeches for positions lower than yours to “run down.” Do this so you can have a chance to still have a position if you don’t get the one you wanted.