Congratulations on being selected to represent your county as a State Council voting delegate. This is an important responsibility that allows representative youth voice to have a positve impact on the direction of the Florida 4-H State Council. 

Click on the following link for a full description of your time commitments and responsibilities as a State Council voting delegate, 2023 Florida 4-H State Council Voting Delegates.pdf.

• Governing Documents

  As a State Council voting delegate, it is important to have access to the documents that provide the framework for the Florida 4-H State Council. As such, you can click on the links below to access the Constitution and Bylaws.

  The Constitution of the Florida 4-H Council   | Bylaws of the Constitution of the Florida 4-H Council

• Quorum & Majority

  According to the Florida 4-H Constitution: 

  • Two-thirds of the officially seated delegates or alternates shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of the Council provided that at least one-half of the counties with organized 4-H programs are represented (FL 4-H Const. art.III, § 3). 
  • A state officer candidate must receive a majority of the votes cast to be elected to office (FL 4-H Const. art. IV, § 2, cl. b.) 
  • A proposed amendment becomes Constitutional upon vote of two-thirds majority of the votes cast by the officially seated voting delegates (FL 4-H Const. art.VII, § 1)
  • A proposed amendment to the Bylaws of the Constitution becomes bylaw upon a majoirty of the votes cast by the officially seated voting delegates. (FL 4-H Const. art.VII, § 3)

  If we end up in a scenario where quorum is not possible, the Council will entertain a motion to suspend the rule of quorum.  

  A motion to suspend the rules requires a vote of two-thirds of the present voting delegates to pass.  

• Preferential Voting

  To ensure an efficient, representative, and fair election, the Florida 4-H State Council will be implementing instant runoff voting, aka “preferential voting”, for officer elections. 

  • The procedure for preferential voting will be as follows: 
    • Voting delegates will receive a Qualtrics link to submit their ballot. 
    • On their ballot, they will be asked to indicate the order in which they prefer the candidates. 
      • This will be done by selecting a number underneath each available candidate for that particular position.  
      • (1) representing their first choice, (2) representing their second choice, and continuing for the number of candidates running for that particular position. 
  • For example – 
    • This voting delegate’s first choice is Sally, second choice is Joe, and third choice is Bob. 

  

  • Ballot Allocation 
    • Candidates are allocated ballots based on the voting delegate’s first preference (those in which they received a (1)) 
    • If a candidate receives a majority of the votes (half of present voting delegates plus one), then they win that election. 
    • If a majority is not reached, then a preference distribution will take place. 
  • Preference Distribution  
    • Preference distribution takes place when no candidate has received a simple majority of the votes. 
    • This process starts by excluding the candidate with the lowest number of ballots.  
    • The excluded candidate’s ballots will be inspected and allocated to the next preferred candidate (those who received a (2) on the excluded candidate’s ballots) 
    • If a candidate now has a majority of the votes, then they win that election. 
    • Preference distribution will continue to exclude candidate ballots until a simple majority is reached. 
    • If the next preference on a ballot has already been excluded then the ballot is redistributed to the next available candidate. 
  • Video Explanation 
    • This scenario is specific to Australian government, but the general idea is illustrated well. 

State Officer Candidates (Click on position to view candidates)