Notice to Members: Polls Open for CLA 2008 Elections

The polls are open in the CLA 2008 Elections! CLA members can vote from now until April 24, 2008. The Elections brochure, containing the various offices being filled and the candidates for each, has been posted on the CLA website Elections Central, available from the home page of this website.

Once you have considered your choices and made your decisions, here’s how to ensure your voice is heard:

For 2008, virtually all CLA members will be voting electronically, via the secure CLA members-only website “My CLA”.

To start, log into “MyCLA”, just as you have done to access other CLA members-only benefits like on-line registration to the Conference, members’ pricing for books from the CLA Boutique, and the like. If you don’t recall how, see the section below.

Once you have logged in, you will see a new option near the bottom right-hand corner of the page, “Vote Online”. Click on it, and you will be taken to an on-line Elections page that lists the ballots you have access to.

Simply click on the ballot you wish to access, make your choices, then at the bottom of the page, click on “Vote”.

New this year, there are links to information on the individual candidates from the electronic ballot, so you have a choice: you can look at the Elections brochure in advance, make your decisions, then go to the ballot and vote; or you can go directly to the ballot, and click on “more information” for each of the candidates individually.

After you have voted, you will be taken to a “Thank You” page that contains a “Back” button. The “Back” button takes you back to the on-line Elections page so that you can access any other ballots that you are eligible to cast.

You can change your vote until the end of the election period, April 24, 2008, by accessing your election ballots exactly the same way. There is no way to accidentally vote twice nor to vote in elections you are not eligible to vote in.

Once you have finished voting, you can log out of the members-only website or access other member benefits.

If you are both a personal member and the vote-holder from an institutional member, you will have to log out and then re-enter using your other membership number and password to have access to your second set of ballots.

How to Access Members-only Site

While most members access the members-only site regularly, if you are relatively new you may not have done so often. Here’s a reminder on how to do so.

From this or any page on the CLA website, click on “MyCLA” (top bar, left side). You will be required to “Sign On”. To do so, enter your log-in ID and password. The hint on the default settings is presented at the top of the page.

Once you have entered your log-in name and your password, click on “sign on”. You will be taken to a “Welcome” page that should have your name and the range of members-only services, such as registering for events at the members-only price, accessing members’ pricing for books and other products, etc.

If you have changed the default settings and subsequently have forgotten your log-in name or password, you will have to contact the CLA office to get your log-in and password reset. For this or any other problem with logging in, contact Brenda Shields at bshields@cla.ca or Valerie Delrue at membership@cla.ca.

Non-electronic voting

For those few members who will be using paper ballots to vote, your voting package has been mailed to you. The voting system is exactly the same as in previous years. Your ballot must reach the CLA office by April 24, 2008.