Who can vote at national conferences?

To vote at a national conference, you must meet all three criteria:

a) member of NOW in good standing; and
b) be a member for at least 90 days (this year’s deadline is 4/3/99); and
c) be a delegate from a NOW chapter or state, be a State President/Coordinator; be a national
board member, or be a national officer.

Conference participants who cannot vote are welcome to participate in all scheduled functions
and to contribute to the discussions.

How do I become a delegate from a chapter?

Each chapter receives an assigned number of delegate slots each year, based on the total number
of members in that chapter.  A Credentials memo is sent to chapters every year which indicates
their total number of available delegates.

The chapter President must return the delegate form and indicate which chapter members are
authorized as delegates.

If your chapter President has not listed you as a delegate prior to the conference, you should ask
her for an On Site Credentials form.  This form should be signed by the chapter President; you
can bring it with you to the conference OR you can have the chapter President sign it at the
conference.  You will need to have this signed prior to becoming credentialed.

How do I become a delegate from a state?

Members-at-large shall elect one delegate for the first ten at-large members present at their state
conference and one delegate for each additional thirty members or major fraction thereof present
and eligible to vote at a state conference.  National Board members and State
Coordinators/Presidents are automatically voting delegates at the National Conference.

What happens if my chapter runs out of delegate slots?

Chapters that do not use all (or any) of their delegate slots in a given year can “give” those slots
to another chapter.  Often chapters who are geographically very distant from the conference
location have extra delegate slots.

What responsibilities do I have as a chapter President?

The chapter President should ensure that members from her chapter are credentialed by:
a) returning the Chapter Delegate Report
b) Giving On-Site Credentials forms to members who were not included in the Chapter Delegate
Report.