Election Information
USA Working Equitation Elections Policy
2020
Whenever the term “Voting Member” is used in relation to USA Working Equitation elections, it shall refer to individual U.S. adult members of WE United and/or the Confederation for Working Equitation who have met the deadline for membership established by the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors shall provide an online mechanism by which Voting Members can nominate people for open seats on the Board (e.g., Google Forms, online survey, etc.). A link to the online nomination mechanism shall be distributed via email, sent to all Voting Members. This link will not be posted on the website or on any Facebook pages to limit nominations to those actually eligible to nominate. Concurrent announcements shall be made announcing the nominations are open (to all members). These announcements may be shared via Social Media, provided the actual link to the nomination form is not shared.
To provide transparency in the process, a link to a list of all people nominated for office shall be provided on the USA Working Equitation website throughout the elections process. This list will be updated to indicate who has accepted the nominations once the nomination window has closed and shall remain posted and publicly viewable until the results of the election have been announced. The name of the member making a nomination shall be listed, along with the person they are nominating for office. Anonymous nominations shall not be permitted. Self-nominations are allowed. A permanent record of the nominations list will be maintained in the USAWE archives. Nominations for all positions may be made by any member of WE United and/or the Confederation for Working Equitation but voting for Regional Directors is limited to people residing in that region.
Once the nomination window has closed, the Elections Committee will provide each member who has been nominated with a list of the positions for which they were nominated and instructions for how they can indicate which position, if any, they would like to accept. A person can accept at most one nomination. Candidate acceptances and candidate statements will be collected electronically by the Elections Committee and organized for the preparation of ballots and for sharing with the membership in advance of ballots being distributed.
The Board of Directors shall contract with an independent elections firm (e.g., Simply Voting) to conduct the actual election (distribution of ballots and counting of votes).
Each Voting Member may cast one vote for the Regional Director position being voted on in their region and one vote for any Officer positions being voted on.
Those receiving a plurality of votes cast in their respective election category shall be declared the winner.
In the first year of the organization’s existence (2020 election), the At-Large Director candidate receiving the most votes shall be elected to a two-year term of office, and the At-Large Director candidate receiving the second-most votes shall be elected to a one-year term of office.
In 2020, voting will be conducted through online ballots. Voting shall be conducted anonymously. Complete results (including total number of ballots cast and number of votes received by each candidate) shall be shared on the USA Working Equitation website.
With the exception of the first year (in which all positions will be open for election), odd-numbered regions will have directors elected in odd-numbered years; even-numbered regions will have directors elected in even-numbered years.
Procedure to follow in the event of a tied vote for any Board of Director position in an election:
- If paper ballots are used, there will be a recount of the ballots.
- If there is still a tie, the Executive Committee shall vote between the tied candidates. A two-thirds majority of the Executive Committee shall be required to break the tie.
- If the Executive Committee fails to reach a two-thirds majority vote in favor of one of the candidates, then the Full Board of Directors shall vote between the tied candidates. If the vote goes to the Full Board of Directors, then a simple majority of those present will be required to break the tie.
- If the tie involves a seated member of the board, that Director shall recuse himself/herself from participating in the tie breaker steps described above.
Odd-numbered Years (2021, 2023, etc.) | Regional Seats to be Filled: 1, 3, 5, 7 |
Even-numbered Years (2020, 2022, etc.) | Secretary and Regional Seats to be Filled: 2, 4, 6 |
The offices of President and President Elect will each be one-year terms.
The President Elect will rotate into the office of President after one year, for a total of two consecutive years of service post-election. A one-year break from Executive Committee service is required after leaving the office of President (this applies even if the person has not served for four consecutive years on the Executive Board).
Members of the Executive Committee may serve no more than four consecutive years on the Executive Committee. They may, however, run for a seat as a Regional Director after having served four years on the Executive Committee. Due to term limits delineated in the Bylaws, a person is not eligible to serve in the office of President Elect if doing so would cause them to serve a fifth consecutive year when they rotated into the office of President.
There is no limit on the number of terms a Regional Director may serve.
The following timeline will apply for the 2020 election conducted by online voting.
USAWE List of Candidates
2020
Leslie Martien
PRESIDENT ELECT
Kris Blacklock
Barbara Price
Michael Vermass
SECRETARY
Julie Alonzo
Doreen Atkinson
Karen Boso
Barbara Caiado
Trisha Kiefer-Reed
Jane O’Boyle
Suzanne Vlietstra
Susan Watkins
Kristine Strasburger
REGIONAL DIRECTOR – R2
Robin Bond
Jessica Mosbaugh
REGIONAL DIRECTOR – R3
Cindy Branham
REGIONAL DIRECTOR – R4
Kiki Pantaze
Lidia Taylor
Alex Tyson
REGIONAL DIRECTOR – R6
Kimberley Hillyer
REGIONAL DIRECTOR – R7
Rebecca Algar
Heather Walters
Laurie Wilson
2020 Candidate Statements
Activity | Deadline |
---|---|
Last date to join either WE United or the Confederation for Working Equitation as an individual adult member in order to run for a seat on the Board. | September 11, 2020 |
Nomination announcement sent out to all voting members (with link to online nominations form). | September 15, 2020 |
Nominations window closed. | September 25, 2020 |
Last date to join either WE United or the Confederation for Working Equitation as an individual adult member in order to receive a ballot (vote). Also, Candidate acceptances/statements due. | October 9, 2020 |
USAWE Bylaws published & shared with candidates. | October 14, 2020 |
Any candidate wishing to withdraw their acceptance of their nomination contact Election Team Lead Biddie Lowry. | October 19, 2020 |
List of all candidates and candidate statements posted on the USA Working Equitation website and provided to an independent elections firm for distribution to voting members. | October 20, 2020 |
Ballots sent out to all voting members. | October 23, 2020 |
Voting closes. | October 30, 2020 |
Results announced, and those elected take office. | November 2, 2020 |
Candidates for the 2021 USAWE Board

USAWE Logo design by Alexandra Crippen of Crippen Designs.
The logo represents the four trials of Working Equitation and highlights the diversity for which the sport is known in the United States.
- The first image depicts a mule, being ridden in western tack and attire in the Dressage trial.
- The second image showcases an Iberian horse in traditional Iberian tack and attire performing in the EOH trial.
- The third image shows a horse of indeterminate breeding and a rider in English tack and attire, competing in the Speed trial.
- Together, all three riders represent a team competing together in the Cattle trial. Although the cow is not shown directly, the three teammates are working in concert. The image is intended to elicit the feeling of excitement and movement as the team moves their designated cow toward the holding pen to the far right, off the page. (Think of it as a "silent cow", much as the letter "e" at the end of a word is often referred to as "the silent 'e'" in recognition of its existence without being read aloud).
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