Voter registration opens on September 10, 2024.  All eligible voters must submit a voter registration between September 10-27, 2024, declaring a voting category (a member may declare to vote in only one category). IMPORTANT: Each eligible voting member must have their own unique email address in Sport:80 to receive a ballot.

Group Members must name their voting representative to USA Judo by October 9, 2024. If a member is eligible to vote in both the athlete and coach director categories, they must declare only one. In addition to one of these categories, members in good standing who are at least 18 years old may also vote for the at-large candidate and if a designated group representative, in the group director category. If a member declines to vote on behalf of a Contributing Organization, the organization may identify another member to cast that vote. 

The names of Coaches, Athletes and Group representatives registered to vote will be posted on the USA Judo Website by September 30, 2024. 

All voting will be done electronically through a secure third-party vendor. There will be no proxy voting. For each open position, the person receiving the most votes (whether a majority or not) will be declared elected. Please see the Election Balloting Process Advisory Memo below for further details. 

In the event of a tie in any single category, a one-day run-off election among the tied candidates in those categories will be held on October 15, 2024, ending at midnight Pacific Daylight Time. The same ballot process used in the first round will be followed, limited to those candidates who tied. If a run-off election again results in another tie, the election will be settled by a blind draw from amongst the tied candidate names, conducted by the Independent member of the Nominating and Governance Committee.

If anyone needs assistance in voting online or accommodation, they should contact Richie Endow at elections@usajudo.us.

1. Athlete: The Athlete Director will be elected through electronic means provided by a third-party vendor between the dates of October 7, 2024, and October 10, 2024, by registered USA Judo Elite Athletes, defined in Section 6.6b of the USA Judo Bylaws as outlined above. Each USA Judo Elite Athlete shall have 1 vote.
2. Group Member: The Group Membership Director will come from nominations made by the Contributing Organization and State organizational members of USA Judo that are in good standing as of August 1, 2024. Each organization’s Chair, President or top elected official will be designated as the voting representative for each organization in good standing.  Between August 8-30, 2024,the Nominating and Governance Committee will solicit nominations of individuals from current USA Judo Contributing and State members in accordance with procedures to be established by the Nominating and Governance Committee. The nominees will be reviewed by the Nominating and Governance Committee to determine that they each qualify to serve if elected. The Nominating and Governance Committee will then timely present the names of at least three (3) qualified nominees to the Contributing Organization and State members(or, in the event there are fewer than three (3) qualified nominees, the names of all qualified nominees), and such nominees will then stand for election by the Contributing and State organizational members at the annual USA Judo Assembly scheduled to take place November 22, 2024.
   - Registered State Organization members will receive one (1) vote.
   - The State Organization Nominee with the most votes will advance to the final election.
   - The individual with the highest vote total in the final election is elected.
3. Coach Member: The Coach Board Member will be elected through electronic means provided by a third-party vendor between the dates of October 7, 2024, and October 10, 2024, by current Coach Members of USA Judo (as defined in Section 6.6.f. of the USA Judo Bylaws). Each USA Judo Coach Member in good standing shall have 1 vote.
4. At-Large Director: The At-Large Director will be elected by registered USA Judo Members 18 years of age and older in good standing through electronic means provided by a third-party vendor between the dates of October 7, 2024, and October 10, 2024, from amongst the qualified candidates presented by the Nominating and Governance Committee. Members do not need to register to vote for the At-Large Director.
5. Independent Director: The Independent Director will be selected by the Nominating and Governance Committee no later than October 11, 2024, from amongst qualified nominees.

The Nominating and Governance Committee will review each nomination. Questions should be directed to Nominating & Governance Committee Chair, Richie Endow, at elections@usajudo.us.

Links to all forms:

• At-Large Nominee
• Group Member Nominee
• Athlete Nominee
• Independent Nominee
• Coach Nominee

The details below supplement the Nominating and Election Procedures on the USA Judo 2024 Election web page.

The election ballot is administered by an independent third-party election administrator, ElectionBuddy, Inc. A third party is used to completely separate the USA Judo Staff, Board and Nominating and Governance Committee from the collection and tallying of votes and to ensure that individual voter information is not revealed to anyone but the third-party firm.

Voter Eligibility

All voters must be USA Judo members in good standing BOTH 60 days prior to the election (except athlete voters who meet the criteria to elect athlete directors) AND at the time of voting, who are at least 18 years of age.

1. The voter eligibility requirements for each category are published on the USA Judo 2024 Election website and found in the Bylaws, which can be found on the USA Judo Governance website. This page will continue to receive added information, links, etc., but the above edits should put us in good shape for the link in tonight’s announcement.

2. Ballots will be sent to the email address submitted for each eligible registered voter for the categories in which they are eligible to vote. To ensure proper receipt of your ballot, please make sure that voter registration is complete by September 27, 2024.

   Please Note: Only one ballot will be sent to the e-mail address of registered voters in the category(ies) in which they are eligible to vote.  If multiple members have the same email address listed in their profile, the email will receive only one ballot. If a voter is eligible to vote in both the athlete and coach categories, the voter must select which of those two categories they will vote in, per the USA Judo Bylaws Section 5.2 Voting Rights.

3. The final registered voter lists, by category, will be furnished to the third-party administrator.

Election Balloting

1. Names of all Nominees accepted by the Nominating and Governance Committee per the Bylaws and published 2024 Election Procedures and Timeline will be published on the USA Judo 2024 Election website.

Members of Nominating and Governance Committee

Richie Endow, Chair, Board-appointed representative

Henry Hummel, Group Member representative

Christopher Round, Athlete representative

Weston Uyekawa, Athlete representative

Unless otherwise noted, all deadlines are midnight, Pacific Time