Brotherhood: Be it, Live it, Believe it!
A chartered Boy Scout troop may hold an election for members of their troop to become members of the Order of the Arrow once each year. Both youth and adult Scouts and Scouters may become members of the OA. New members aren't elected only by the OA members in the troop – everyone in the troop votes insuring that Scouts and Scouters are selected for OA mostly by people who are not OA members. If a troop has no active OA members, that's fine. A unit election team, trained in the latest OA election policies, will visit a regular troop meeting at the invitation of the Scoutmaster to conduct the election.
Youth elections are normally held at a regular troop meeting, and take about 20 minutes to complete. In order for an election to be held, at least 50% of the youth members must be present (based on the current chartered troop membership) – if less than 50% are present, the election must be rescheduled. Adults are nominated by the entire troop committee. Officially, they are not elected. They are nominated to the lodge, which decides whether to accept the nomination or not. Only elections conducted by an official OA election team trained by MaNu Lodge will be considered valid.
Requirements for Youth Members
To be considered for nomination, a youth candidate (under 21 years of age) must meet the following requirements:
1. Must be under 21 years old at the time of election.
2. Hold at least the First Class Scout rank (this includes adult leaders over the age of 18 but under the age of 21; they must have earned First Class before their 18th birthday).
3. In the past two years, have completed fifteen days and nights of camping under the Boy Scouts of America. The fifteen days and nights of camping must include one long-term camp of six days and five nights, and the balance of the camping must be short-term camps.
4. Have these requirements certified by the Scoutmaster, and be given a general endorsement of the candidate's Scout Spirit by the Scoutmaster before the election is conducted.
5. To be elected, a youth candidate must receive half or more votes of the number of ballots turned in to the election team.
6. If elected, a candidate must complete the Ordeal within one year of his or her (in the case of adults) election.
Requirements for Adult Members
The following procedures apply to Scouters over 21 years of age (see the preceding paragraph for adult leaders under 21). A separate Adult Candidate Nomination form exists for adult Scouters A troop can nominate one adult Scouter for every fifty (50) registered youth in the troop (in other words, 51 youths means that two adults may be nominated). In order to nominate an adult for OA, the youths of the troop must have elected at least one youth to be a member of OA during that same election cycle. The adult nomination form is completed in full and returned to the election team or the chapter adviser. Only nomination forms that have been signed by the chapter adviser will be considered by the Lodge Adult Selection Committee. The selection committee will review the form and make a decision on the adult's nomination. Remember: Nomination does not ensure approval. If approved, the troop will be notified so that they may decide how they will inform the candidate. To be considered for nomination, an adult candidate must meet the following requirements:
1. Must be 21 years of age or older at the time of election.
2. Must be a registered and active member of the Last Frontier Council of the Boy Scouts of America at the time of nomination.
3. In the past two years, has completed fifteen days and nights of camping under the Boy Scouts of America. The fifteen days and nights of camping must include one long-term camp of six days and five nights, and the balance of the camping must be short-term camps.
4. If selected, a candidate must complete the Ordeal within one year of nomination by the troop committee.
Elections may be held year-round, but are normally held towards the end of the calendar year. Elections are normally not held during Summer Camp (because it may reduce the opportunity for all troop youths to participate in the election). Only elections conducted by an official OA election team trained by MaNu Lodge will be considered valid.
The Unit Elections Support Kit provides a single, zipped package that includes the information and forms that are needed to keep units and election teams informed about unit election policies and procedures. Materials from the Unit Elections Support Kit may also be downloaded individually. Some documents have been prepared in Microsoft Word so that you may edit them to suit your particular need. Some forms may not be modified. They require Adobe Reader to view and print. You can download this free software utility here.
Download the Unit Elections Support Kit (Last update: January 26, 2011)
Adult Candidate Nomination Form (.pdf)
MaNu Lodge 133 Order of the Arrow Election Requirements
OA Election Procedures Unit Letter
Chapter Unit Election Report (.xls, chapters use to report results to lodge)
Ordeal Candidate Letter (.pdf)
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