Re: Disqualification of Ian Hadley

Date: 25 February 1999

By the rules in the Constitution and the Rules for the 1999 Election of International Officers, Ian Hadley has properly qualified for a place on the ballot as a candidate for International Chairman.  Since there are no grounds in the Constitution or in the Rules for the 1999 Election of International Officers for the Election Committee to disqualify Ian Hadley as a nominee for International Chairman, we would like to request that the decision of the Election Committee be reversed.

We request that the reversal go forward and that Ian Hadley's name be placed on the ballot as a candidate for International Chairman.

In a communication received by Ian Hadley on January 28, 1999, Linda Kelso, Chairman of the International Election Committee, makes the following statements:

"The election committee has given consideration to your request to be a candidate in the current election.  The committee has determined you would not be eligible to be a candidate in this election.

"Your current position as the executive director of British Mensa would present a conflict of interest with your being a candidate in this election, and would present conditions of unfairness due to the undue advantage your position offers you over the other candidates.  The committee has been charged by the Executive Committee of the International Board of Directors with conducting an election that will be fair to all candidates."

There is no provision in the rules promulgated by the International Election Committee to disqualify a candidate on the basis of "conflict of interest."

Constitutional grounds for disqualification to hold office as an elected international officer are stated as being: holding any other international office or that of Chief Executive Officer of any national Mensa (Article V, Section C, Paragraph 6); holding the same elected office for more than two consecutive terms (Article V, Section C, Paragraph 7); failure to be a member in good standing (Article V, Section C, Paragraph1).  There is no evidence showing Ian Hadley to be disqualified on any of these grounds.

Under the Rules for the 1999 Election of International Officers, the qualifications for candidacy are stated as being the same as those of the Constitution (Rule 2.1, 2.1.2, and 2.1.3).  Further, to qualify as a candidate a member must meet the Requirements for Candidacy (Rule 3) or have been properly nominated by a National Mensa Committee (Rule 4), and have fulfilled the Obligations of Candidates (Rule 5).  There is no evidence showing Ian Hadley to be disqualified on any of these grounds.

By the action of disqualifying Ian Hadley, the International Election Committee has attempted to create a new qualification requirement.  It may not do this after its Rules were published.

Even if it were proper for the International Election Committee to create new requirements, such requirement should not be imposed if the supposed deficiency could be easily corrected.  In the case of Ian Hadley, the purported "conflict of interest" could have been easily corrected by an International Election Committee requirement that the candidate appoint an impartial person to carry out the administrative duties which were perceived as a conflict.  The Rules already have such requirements for the Chairman of a national Mensa who is also a candidate. (Rule 3.2, Rule 3.5.1, Rule 3.5.2, Rule 4.2.2., and Rule 4.2.3)

The constitutional provisions empowering the International Election Committee are specific.  Article X, Section B states "...The Election Committee shall be responsible for the conduct of the election, promulgating whatever rules and regulations it shall deem necessary; prescribing the format for nominating petitions and the procedure for their submission; preparing ballots and written material in appropriate languages; and selecting professional auditors, accountants, or solicitors, or a similarly independent body, to receive, count, and certify results of the voting.  They shall prescribe the format for nominating petitions.  They shall determine the procedure for submission of nominating petitions.  It is nowhere stated or implied that they shall have the authority to reject any petition which fulfills the prescriptions and procedures of format and submission.

The Rules for the 1999 Election of International Officers reiterate the constitutional requirements for qualification of candidates (Rule 2).  They contain the requirements for nominating petitions (Rule 3), nominations by national Mensa committees (Rule 4), the obligations of candidates (Rule 5), and provisions for editing material submitted by candidates, handling ballots, and more.  Yet nowhere in the Rules is there any indication that the Election Committee shall have the right to refuse to accept a properly executed petition, nor is there any specification of a basis upon which they might properly do so.

There are no grounds in the Constitution or in the Rules for the 1999 Election of International Officers for the International Election Committee to refuse to place on the ballot the name of any candidate who has been properly nominated under the Constitution and these Rules.

By its arbitrary action in disqualifying Ian Hadley, the International Election Committee has violated its own stated objective of conducting an election that is fair to all candidates.  The action of the International Election Committee in is improper disqualification of one candidate has given an unfair advantage to the other candidate for the same office.

The letter from Linda Kelso to Ian Hadley and received January 28, 1999, implies that the International Election Committee consulted with the Executive Committee of the IBD in reaching its decision about Ian Hadley's candidacy. If that implication is correct, the International Election Committee has violated its own standards.  The Executive Committee is not an impartial body: four of the six members are candidates for office in this election.  Indeed, the Constitution prohibits a member of the IBD from being a member of the International Election Committee.

If the International Election Committee consulted anyone on the IBD, it in effect abrogated the Constitutional mandate.

We believe that the disqualification of Ian Hadley has violated the right of an individual member of Mensa to stand for election to the IBD, that Constitutional mandates have been violated, and that the right of all members of Mensa to participate in a fair election of the Chairman of the IBD has also been violated.

We therefore request that the decision of the International Election Committee in regard to the candidacy of Ian Hadley be reversed immediately and that his name be placed on the ballot as a candidate for the office of Chairman of the IBD.

Thank you for your consideration.
 
 

The Joyce Lundeen
Member, Central Oklahoma Mensa,
American Mensa, Ltd.
5933 NW 71 Street
Warr Acres, OK  73132-6519  USA
70703.373@compuserve.com

Signed by The Joyce Lundeen on behalf of those members of American Mensa listed below, whose signatures will be provided on request:
 
 

H. Max Hedges Member, Central Oklahoma Mensa American Mensa	Jean L. Cooper Member, Thomas Jefferson Mensa American Mensa	Joe Gentile Member, Central Oklahoma Mensa American Mensa
R. Rosalea Lambert Member, Central Oklahoma Mensa American Mensa	Mark McCarthy Member, Kentuckiana Mensa American Mensa	Darrell Victor McClanahan Member, Central Oklahoma Mensa American Mensa
Nancy Park Member, Central Oklahoma Mensa American Mensa	Al Beecy Member, New Hampshire Mensa American Mensa	Stanley Joseph Alluisi Member, Central Oklahoma Mensa American Mensa
Jon S. Warner Member, Space Coast Area Mensa American Mensa	Doug Hutton Member, Lubbock-Amarillo Mensa American Mensa	William Andrews Member, Central Oklahoma Mensa American Mensa