APCO members approved four amendments related to the association’s governance documents during the second general session at the APCO International Conference & Expo Tuesday afternoon, but one controversial amendment overwhelmingly failed.

The Quorum Resolution #4  on Uncontested Elections failed after the vote was called. The proposed amendment read: “In the event there is only one candidate for the office of First Vice-President or Second Vice-President, then voting shall be dispensed with for the uncontested office and the sole candidate will assume the post during the officer installation portion of the Association’s Annual Conference.”

Proponents said the amendment would ensure that qualified candidates wouldn’t be hesitant to run for an uncontested position for fear they could be rejected – currently an uncontested candidate must still receive a majority vote – a rule interpretation that changed in 2011.

But opponents said the amendment would take voting out of members’ hands, and oft repeated that APCO is a “member-driven” association.

The other four amendments that were approved are:

Resolution #1:  Chapters and Regions: A detailed listing of regions is moved to the policy manual (Chapters and Regions) and language is added to clarify that the Executive Council has the authority to make revisions to the regional line-up.

Resolution #2: Opens eligibility for service as a Regional Representative on the Board to not only current Executive Council members, but those who may have left the Council within the last two years.

Resolution #3: An individual filling a vacancy on the Board for greater than 12 months of an unexpired term would be providing service that counts a full cycle term.

Resolution #5: Dispenses with a special carve out reserved for the Membership Quorum review and puts all policy related to publications under Board oversight to facilitate timely decision-making.