West Florida Electric member-owners will find trustee election packets in their mail boxes later this month. Election packets are to be mailed on Thursday, March 20. The ballots will be in a large white envelope marked “2008 Annual Election Materials” from West Florida Electric. This packet will contain everything one needs to participate in this year’s board of trustee elections. Cooperative members will choose trustees to serve from Districts 4, 5, and 6.

Three trustees are elected to serve on WFEC’s board each year. They are chosen from three of the nine districts in the cooperative’s service area, which includes Calhoun, Holmes, Jackson and Washington Counties. Each trustee must be a co-op member-owner, reside in the respective district and meet certain other requirements set forth in WFEC’s bylaws. Desired qualifications include the ability to become bonded, capability of receiving and sending electronic mail and facsimile transmissions, and successfully meeting all requirements to become a National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Credentialed Cooperative Director within 36 months of being elected to the board.

Each ballot packet will include:

• A letter from McDaniel & Associates, the certified public accounting firm that will receive and count all completed ballots and announce the results to ensure fairness.

• A nominating committee report listing qualifying trustee candidates.

• Profiles of the board candidates

• An official ballot

• A prize registration card

• A booklet containing the following: official notice of WFEC’s Member Appreciation Day/Annual Meeting, a map showing the meeting’s location and the minutes of WFEC’s 2007 Annual Meeting

• A pre-addressed reply envelope

Voting is simple. Just follow these steps:

1) Review the materials contained in your voting packet

2) Choose a candidate in each of the districts in which there are more than one qualified candidate and mark your selections clearly using a black pen or No. 2 pencil.

3) Fill out the prize registration card, if you like. McDaniel & Associates will separate this card from your ballot immediately upon its arrival, so your registration card cannot be used to identify your ballot. This card will be used to enter you in a drawing for a 4 kW portable generator to be given away at WFEC’s Member Appreciation Day/ Annual Meeting Saturday, April 19, at the Graceville Civic Center.

4) Place your completed ballot and prize registration card in the postage-paid return envelope pre-addressed to McDaniel & Associates and mail it in time to be received no later than  5:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 9. Ballots received after this deadline will be declared invalid. Do not deliver your ballot to any WFEC office.  Please do not include any other materials in the return envelope except your completed ballot and prize registration card.

5) Attend WFEC’s Member Appreciation Day/Annual Meeting to hear the announcement of the election results. Also look for them in the May issue of Current Light Flashes, WFEC’s monthly member newsletter.