From Scott Ekblad, NAWRA National Race Director:

Proposals for changes to NAWRA's Rules of Racing, Constitution and/or Bylaws will be accepted at any time throughout the year. They won't be voted on until the end of the year; however, the earlier they are received by the Rules Committee, the more time they will have to work with you to get your proposals in the proper format for voting. Please submit proposals as you think of them, rather than waiting for the end of the year. If you're anything like me, you'll forget all those great ideas by then. The Rules Committee must submit the change proposals to the Secretary-Treasurer by November 1st every year so don't wait until the last minute!

Proposals will be accepted from anyone actively racing in NAWRA. Send them to Sue Burt, NAWRA Secretary-Treasurer, at susan@susanburt.com. Send a copy to Sue Oace, Rules Committee Chair, at oace@nature.Berkeley.edu. All proposals must be submitted in the following format:

I. Summary of the proposal (What will this change do?)
II. Rationale (Why is this change a good idea?)
III. Text of the sections of the document(s) to be changed, clearly indicating which words are to be deleted, and what/where language is to be added.

Please be aware that any proposal that appears on the ballot must be ready for immediate implementation if it is approved by the voters. If you propose something that would require a change to more than one of NAWRA's governing documents (rule book, bylaws and/or constitution), you must show the changes that would be required in all of those documents.

The Rules Committee is there to help you make your proposal "ballot ready," but not to do it for you. If you find all this "official mumbo jumbo" daunting, the Rules Committee will provide all the assistance you need to help you learn how to turn your good idea into a solid proposal. Remember, these are really nice, helpful people! The committee currently consists of Sue Oace, Gale Lyttle, and Laurel Wilks. You may work with any one of them to get your proposal ready for the ballot.

The Rules Committee may deny any proposal's placement on the ballot for only two reasons that I can think of: 1) it is incomplete - in other words, if it passes, it cannot be implemented exactly as written; or 2) it is illegal.

Scott Ekblad

See a sample rule change proposal
Submit a rule change proposal