The following information is presented to assist those seeking information about Section Manager terms of office and nomination procedures.

• Section Manager Eligibility Form (FSD-191) PDF | Word
• ARRL Section Manager Nomination Form (FSD-129): PDF | Word
• Sample Section Manager Election Notice
• Election Cycle

CURRENT Cycles

Terms Starting July 1, 2026. (24 Months)

Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Northern Florida, Oregon, Santa Clara Valley, Vermont, Wisconsin

Terms Starting October 1, 2026 (21 Months)

Connecticut, Eastern Pennsylvania, Idaho, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pacific, Puerto Rico, Southern Florida, Virgin Islands, Western New York

Nomination Information

The following information is presented to assist those seeking information about Section Manager terms of office and nomination procedures.

Requirements

 Any candidate for the office of Section Manager must be a resident of the section, a licensed amateur of Technician class or higher and a full member of the League for a continuous term of at least two years immediately preceding receipt of a petition for nomination.

To be valid, a petition must contain the signatures of five or more full ARRL members residing in the sections concerned.  Photocopied signatures are not acceptable. No petition is valid without at least five signatures, and it is advisable to have a few more than five signatures on each petition. ARRL Section Manager Nomination Form (FSD-129) are not required.

Nominating petitions may be made by facsimile or electronic transmission of images, provided that upon request by the Field Services Manager, the original documents are received by the Manager within seven days of the request.

It is acceptable to submit signatures that have been sent via e-mail or mail under the following guidelines:

• The petition copies must be made from the original form.   
• The form must be exact on every page (autobiographical information should appear the same on all copies).
• All forms/copies must be submitted together.
  

The candidate may use any of the available electronic signature platforms such as Docusign, Hellosign, PDF sign, etc. Candidates who use an electronic signature platform to be nominated (as described above) do not have to send the original paper copies of the nominating documents. It is important that the nomination packet sent to ARRL Headquarters is complete.  ARRL will not accept multiple files or e-mails for a single petition.

Sample Section Manager Election Notice:

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To all ARRL members in the (XXX) Sections. You are hereby solicited for nominating petitions pursuant to an election for Section Manager (SM). 

ARRL Section Manager Nomination Form
Date: _________________________
To:  Field Services Manager, ARRL
        225 Main Street
        Newington, CT 06111

We, the undersigned full members of the __SECTION NAME____ ARRL Section of the __DIVISION NAME_______ Division, hereby nominate ____NAMINATEE NAME, CALL SIGN______ as candidate for Section Manager of this section for the next two-year term of office.   His/her mailing address, e-mail address and phone numbers (home and work) are:
Address _____________________________________________________
City, State, Zip_________________________________________________
Email, Phone__________________________________________________
                                                        

Note: It is advisable to submit 8 or 10 signatures of ARRL members to be sure that the requirement of five is valid. 

The Rules and Regulations of the ARRL Field Organization require that candidate for the office of Section Manager must be a resident of the section, a licensed amateur of Technician class or higher, and a Full member of the League for a continuous term of at least two years immediately preceding receipt of a petition for nomination and throughout the subsequent term of office.  A Section Manager shall not simultaneously serve as an Officer, Director or Vice Director.  See the Rules and Regulations of the ARRL Field Organization for further details. 

SAMPLE---SAMPLE---SAMPLE---SAMPLE---SAMPLE---SAMPLE---SAMPLE

Election Cycle Process

ARRL Section Manager election schedule is now in transition from four times per year to just one time per year starting in 2027. Starting on July 1, 2028, all ARRL Section Manager terms of office will be aligned with the new once-a-year schedule. All terms are 2 years.

Terms begin July 1

Soliciting of nominations
1st notice, January QST
2nd notice, February QST

Nominations Deadline
Friday PRIOR or CORRESPONDING to March 10.
Petition must be received at Headquarters by 4 PM Eastern Time. SEE ELECTION CYCLE TIMELINE  

NO NOMINATION:

If there is no eligible nominee in the designated section, the election cycle will be repeated in six months. The term of office for any Section Manager elected under this re-solicitation procedure will be shortened to 18 months. If there is still no eligible nominee, the current officeholder shall continue until the next regular election established by these rules for the section.

ONE NOMINATION:

If there is only one eligible nominee on the appropriate closing date for receipt of petitions, the Field Services Manager shall declare the nominee elected without balloting.

MORE THAN ONE NOMINATION:

If there is more than one eligible nominee, the Field Services Manager shall mail a ballot to each person who was a Full Member of the League in the section where the election is being held. The ballot will be accompanied by a candidate supplied 300-word statement.

Ballot Deadline

Ballots and Candidate Statement will be mailed by April 1. (If April 1 falls on Saturday or Sunday, ballots shall be sent out no later than the following Monday.)

Valid ballots must be received at Headquarters by 4pm Eastern Standard Time on the Friday prior to or corresponding to the 20th of May.

Ballots will be counted the following Tuesday under the supervision of the Field Services Manager.

The candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. Candidates will be notified by email, and the results of the election for Section Manager will appear in the first available issue of QST.

Election Cycle

Terms Starting July 1, EVEN years

Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, East Bay, Eastern New York, Eastern Pennsylvania, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pacific, Puerto Rico, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara Valley, South Dakota, Southern Florida, Tennessee, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, Western Massachusetts, Western New York, Wisconsin

Terms Starting July 1, ODD years

Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Eastern Massachusetts, Eastern Washington, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Los Angeles, Maryland/DC, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Texas, Northern New Jersey, Northern New York, NYC/Long Island, Orange, Rhode Island, Sacramento Valley, San Francisco, San Joaquin Valley, South Carolina, South Texas, Southern New Jersey, Utah, West Central Florida, West Texas, West Virginia, Western Pennsylvania, Western Washington, Wyoming