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SPONSORS:David S. Houghton (Principal Sponsor), Sidney Butcher, F. John Garza, Janet Green-Marbley, Sandra R. McCandless, Robert D. Oster,Ethan Tidmore, and Mary T. Torres

PROPOSAL:Amends §2.1 and §6.3 of the Association’s Constitution to define “accredited” and to clarify that the person elected as State Delegate must be accredited to the state for which elected.

Amends §2.1 and §6.3 of the Association’s Constitution to read as follows:

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Article 2.Definitions and General Provisions

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§2.1 Definitions.In this Constitution, the Bylaws, and any rules of the House of Delegates the term:

(a)“Accredited” with respect to Association membership and for the purpose of a member being a candidate and/or voting in Association elections means the state in which the lawyer is licensed.

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§6.3 State Delegates. (a) To be eligible for election as State Delegate, a person must be accredited to the state for which elected. The members of the Association whose membership is accredited to a state shall elect by a plurality of the votes cast the State Delegate for that state in the House of Delegates. If there is a tie, the Board of Elections shall select the delegate by lot. If only one valid nominating petition is filed, the Board of Elections shall certify to the House of Delegates that the sole nominee is elected. The term of a State Delegate is three Association years, beginning with the adjournment of the annual meeting next following that delegate’s election. A State Delegate may not serve for more than three consecutive full terms. A State Delegate elected as an officer or member of the Board of Governors ceases to be a State Delegate at the beginning of the term as officer or governor.

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REPORT

In 2014, the Board of Elections recommended that the current language outlined in the Association’s Constitution and all related notices regarding State Delegate Elections berevised to better define “accredited.” The Board of Elections agreed that the accreditation of state should be the state in which the member is licensed to practice.A proposal was submitted for consideration by the House of Delegates at the 2014 Annual Meeting and subsequently withdrawn to address concerns raised by Association members.

The proposal has been redrafted and is being resubmitted to provide clarity to members voting in State Delegate Elections. The proposal amends §2.1 and §6.3 of the Constitution to define “accredited” and to clarify that the person elected as State Delegate must be accredited to the state to which elected. The amendment would conform the language in the Association’s Constitution to what is required by the State Delegate Election Guidelines in addition to defining “accredited.”The proposal is necessary to establish parameters and to clarify that accreditation for voting purposes should be determined by the state the member is licensed to practice. This proposal also is intended to encourage participation while preventing abuse.

The Committee considered whether to recognizeall the state bars a member belongs to or whether members should select the state for counting and voting purposes. Being counted in more than one state would affect the number of delegates in the House. The Committee determined that a member could choose which state to be accredited to, but the member also must be a member of the bar of the state identified. It was the consensus of the Committee that members who are licensed to practice in more than one state should not be allowed to vote in multiple states. In such instances, members would be contacted and asked to select the state in which they wanted to vote. Only 18% of ABA members are licensed to practice in multiple states. The ABA membership system currently has a field for state bar admission which is a mandatory field and identifies the state where the member is admitted to practice. For election purposes, the ABA would have the ability to retrieve data for members as identified by this field. “Accredited” with respect to Association membership and for the purpose of a member being a candidate and/or voting in Association elections would mean the state in which the lawyer is licensed to practice.

Respectfully submitted,

David S. Houghton

Sidney Butcher

F. John Garza

Janet Green-Marbley

Sandra R. McCandless

Robert D. Oster

Ethan Tidmore

Mary T. Torres, ABA Secretary

August 2016

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