ARTICLE V  -  MAIL BALLOTS
Section I Ballots cast by mail shall be counted in such a manner that no other person can know how any member has voted.

Section II Election Ballots
{a} Each election ballot shall indicate the date on or before which the ballot must be received in order to be counted. If the ballot contains any office for which there is more than one candidate, the Board shall appoint three non-biased voting member, herein referred to as Inspectors of Election, to receive and count the ballots. If there are no additional candidates to the slate submitted by the Nominating Committee the completed ballot shall be returned to the Secretary. No ballot shall be counted which is received by the Secretary or Inspector of Election less than five days preceding the day of the Annual meeting.
{b} On or before August twenty fifth the Secretary shall mail to each voting member a ballot listing all the nominees for each office and position in alphabetical order, together with an envelope marked “BALLOT” and shall bear the name of the member to whom it was sent. Each voter shall seal their voted ballot envelope, and mail the envelope to the Secretary or the designated Inspector of Election. Each Household member shall be mailed a ballot with one return envelope but each ballot therein must be contained in an individual ballot envelope.
{c} If the ballots are received by the Secretary, or the designated Inspector of Election, none of whom shall be candidates, members of the Board of Directors or related to any candidate of Board member, shall be appointed by the Board of Directors to count the ballots. The Inspectors shall fix the time to begin the counting of the ballots, but in no case shall the time be less than 24 hours before the Annual meeting. Counting of the election ballots shall begin as soon as the Inspectors are present together at the time fixed and shall continue without adjournment until completed.
{d} The Inspectors shall check the return envelopes against the Secretary’s list of Club members prior to opening them. No return envelopes from ineligible voters shall be counted. In no case shall any ineligible ballot left by the Inspectors in an opened or unopened return envelope be removed and examined. The ballots from eligible voters shall be removed from their return envelopes, mixed and then opened and votes tallied. The Inspectors shall then certify the eligibility of the votes counted and the results of the voting to the Annual meeting.

Section III Other ballots
{a} Ballots on issues submitted to the membership by mail under any other provision of these By-Laws shall be mailed, certified, and counted in the same manner as for elections, except that such counting shall take place at the residence of the Secretary on the day appointed in each case by the Board of Directors. The day appointed for the counting shall in no case be sooner then the day following the last day for return of the ballots.
{b} Each ballot shall state the question to be decided, the authority in the By-Laws under which it was presented, and the date on or before which the ballot must be received in order to be counted. Unless otherwise stated the return of the ballots shall be no less than 30 days from the date of the mailing by the Secretary.
{c} In no case shall the ballots returned be opened and counted before the designated date for counting, nor until the Secretary and the Inspectors of Election appointed for counting the ballots are all present together.
{d} The Inspectors shall then certify the eligibility of the votes counted and the results of the voting to the Board of Directors, and their report shall be published promptly in the Club publication.

Section IV All election ballots and all return envelopes, whether opened or not shall be retained by the Secretary for a period of six months after the day of counting, during which time they will be available for inspection at the residence of the Secretary by any Club member upon written request approved by the Board of Directors.

Section V Any member may observe the counting of any ballots and the certification of eligibility of ballots and results of the voting by presenting a written request to the Secretary ten days before the day specified for the return of ballots, but such observer shall not participate in the handling or counting of ballots. The Secretary shall notify the Inspectors of election that such member has been qualified to observe. No person who is not qualified as an observer or who is not appointed as an Inspector of Election shall be present at the counting of the ballots or the certification of eligibility and results.