The board of the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers has approved new bylaws to govern the organization. New bylaws require the approval of our members. If you are a member in good standing with the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers (have you paid dues this calendar year?) then you are eligible to vote. You will receive an email soon that will provide the means to register your vote.

Please vote when that email arrives in your inbox!

(Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. October 31, 2018)

You can see the full text of the changes to the bylaws by opening this document: 2018 Proposed Bylaws and Changes.

You can read the current bylaws, too.

Summary of 2018 changes to the Bylaws of the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers

The overall purpose of these changes is to streamline and simplify operations of the Society. Insubstantial changes include rewording for the sake of clarity and simplicity. Substantive changes are as follows:

Article I: The Mission Statement includes ethics as a topic of public discourse.

Article II: Because there will no longer be multiple types of membership, adjectives qualifying the word “Members” have been removed throughout the document. Organizations are now “Associated Organizations,” not Member Organizations.”

Article III: Retitled “Business Meetings”, this section encompasses both membership meetings and board meetings. It does not address meetings at which no business is conducted (i.e., social events).

a. The annual membership meeting can now be called at any time during the year with 14 days’ notice. (Formerly it was required to be held in December with 25 days’ notice.) The requirement to circulate an agenda for the annual meeting has been eliminated. Publication of the slate of board members can be done simply by posting the slate to the website or by emailing the members. The requirement of formal committee reports at the annual meeting has been eliminated. Redundancies have been removed from this section.

b. Special meetings of the membership can be called with 7 days’ notice of the meeting and its purpose. Other business in addition to the special meeting’s purpose may be considered.

c. Board members can participate in meetings electronically (via email and Skype). The requirement of quarterly meetings to be held in specific months is eliminated. For purposes of board action, the quorum is a simple majority of board members, not a 2/3 supermajority.

Article IV: Members can vote by email or electronic ballot. The requirement of a written ballot for member meetings is eliminated. Members may vote without a meeting if they are informed of the issue and asked to respond by a date certain. Records of email votes by the Board need to be recorded in the Corporate Book and signed by the President and Secretary.

Article V: Board resignations can be communicated to either the President or the Secretary. A Director can be removed at a special meeting of either the members or the board that is called for that purpose.

Article VI: The positions of Registrar and Ombudsman have been removed from the Bylaws. (Both of these positions may continue but are not required.) In the absence of a Registrar, the Treasurer will maintain the membership list. ASF materials in the possession of leader who resigns or is removed are to be turned over to the Society immediately.

Article VII: Eliminated in full. All committees will now be ad hoc committees.

Article VIII: Renumbered Article VII.

Article IX: Renumbered Article VIII.