At the 2023 Annual Meeting the membership will elect a total of three directors.

DISTRICTS SEATS SCHEDULED FOR ELECTION IN 2023:

  • District 1 (This district covers the northern areas of Accomack County from Parksley’s northern border to the Virginia-Maryland state line and includes Tangier and Smith islands.)

  • District 2 (This district covers the area of Melfa, in the south, to Parksley's northern border.)

  • District 3 (This district covers the area of Nassawadox, in the south, to the area of Melfa in the north.)

 

DISTRICTS WITH NO SEATS SCHEDULED FOR ELECTION IN 2023:

  • District 4 (This district covers the area at Nassawadox's southern border to the peninsula's southern tip at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.)

 

APPLICATION

Members who are interested in running for a seat should contact the cooperative at elections@anec.com or call 757-787-9750 to request a 2023 Director Election Packet. The Director Election Packet has a Director Application that must be completed and returned to the cooperative. The packet also contains information regarding director elections and establishes a timeline for the process. The Director Application is used by the cooperative’s independent Credentials and Election Committee to determine if a candidate is eligible to run for a seat on the board. The director election window opens on March 1, 2023 and will close on Friday, April 28, 2023.

 

QUALIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION

Co-op members who are interested in running for either of these seats must have their primary residence in the seat’s district, be a member in good standing (no late co-op payments within the last 12 months), must be a co-op member for at least four years, have the capacity to enter into legally binding contracts and have no felony convictions. See the Cooperative Bylaws for the qualification.

The Credentials and Elections Committee uses these qualifications to certify candidates for the nomination process. Those prospective candidates who meet the director qualification criteria are then certified by the Credentials and Elections Committee and submitted to the Nominating Committee.

 

NOMINATION

An independent nominating committee, representing the areas to elect directors, is appointed and selects the slate of candidates to be placed on the ballot at the cooperative’s annual meeting.

Nominating Committee members may not be an existing, or a close relative of an existing cooperative director, officer, employee, agent, representative or known director candidate.

The Nominating Committee uses the Director Application to help select a slate of candidates to bring before the general membership for election.
If a certified candidate is not nominated by the committee, they have the option to be nominated by member petition. If a candidate seeks a member petition nomination, they are required to collect the signatures of at least 200 members in good standing, who reside in the district of the eligible seat. The signatures must be delivered to the board’s secretary at least 75 days prior to the annual meeting.

Because candidates’ eligibility to run for the board seat must be certified well beforehand, no nominations are taken from the floor of the annual meeting.

 

DIRECTOR RESPONSIBILITY

A director is responsible for and must actively participate in the strategic direction of the business affairs of the cooperative. The Cooperative’s board of directors is very active. It is anticipated that each month a board member will be required to spend a minimum of 5-10 hours reviewing reports and documents, attend meetings of the Board of Directors. As local community members, directors are often called upon by the general membership regarding the local distribution system and cooperative.

On occasion, travel is required that may last 2-4 days at a time. Directors are required to represent the cooperative on committees and attending conferences. Most meetings are conducted during traditional business hours and require out-of-area attendance.