Section Business Meetings and Voting

This entry was posted in AAFS Annual Meeting Anthropology Criminalistics Digital & Multimedia Sciences Engineering & Applied Sciences General Jurisprudence Odontology Pathology/Biology Psychiatry & Behavioral Science Questioned Documents Toxicology on

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the articles contained in the Academy News are those of the identified authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Academy.

As a reminder, the Section Business Meetings are next week. You MUST be registered for the AAFS Annual Scientific Meeting in order to attend any Section Business Meeting. Below are the dates and times of each Section Business Meeting (all times are set in Central Time):

Monday, February 8

  • 11:00 a.m.       Jurisprudence Section
  • 2:00 p.m.         Digital & Multimedia Sciences Section

Tuesday, February 9 

  • 10:00 a.m.       Psychiatry & Behavioral Science Section
  • 12:00 p.m.       Criminalistics Section
  • 2:00 p.m.         Odontology Section

Wednesday, February 10 

  • 10:00 a.m.       Engineering & Applied Sciences Section
  • 2:00 p.m.         General Section

Thursday, February 11  

  • 11:00 a.m.       Pathology/Biology Section
  • 2:00 p.m.         Questioned Documents Section

Friday, February 12

  • 10:00 a.m.       Toxicology Section
  • 12:00 p.m.       Anthropology Section

Please review the rules and the voting process for the upcoming AAFS Virtual business meetings. A copy of the Standing Rules for Virtual Meetings for AAFS may be found on the AAFS website or downloaded HERE.

AAFS will be using the Zoom Webinar format for the Section Business Meetings and the Annual Business Meeting. This will allow only the selected panelists the ability to unmute or share their screens. AAFS recognizes that there may be the need to allow others to speak during the meetings and has the following procedures in place to allow this to happen.

If an attendee would like to be recognized to speak, they must click the “Raise Hand” icon on the Zoom toolbar. Please be aware that the Raise Hand function/button may be in a different location depending on what platform or operating system you are using.

This will bring your account to the attention of staff and any panelists. The Section Chair will then recognize the speaker verbally and AAFS staff will allow that attendee to speak. Once the attendee has finished speaking, AAFS staff will then remove those permissions.

During the Section Business Meetings and the Annual Business Meeting, there will be various items that will be voted on. This voting will be conducted through a separate platform: Election Runner. This platform may be run through any internet browser such as Google® Chrome, Firefox®, or Internet Explorer®. The list of voting members will be generated from the 2021 meeting registrations. The email that attendees used to register for the conference is the same email that will be used for the voting process. As each item is discussed, AAFS staff will be finalizing the Ballot for that measure, then launching the vote for that particular item. Each registered voting member will then receive an email from Election Runner. The email will be coming from the email address noreply@electionrunner.com. If you do not receive this email, please make sure to check your spam folder and if using your work email, you may need to ask your IT department to whitelist the email address to ensure delivery.

After receiving the email, please open up your email and click the link inside of that new email. This link will open your default browser and log you in to the measure being voted on. After making your selection, please select the submit button. Once you click submit, you will be asked to confirm you want to cast your vote, as you will not be able to change your vote after submitting. You will then be asked if you would like to receive confirmation of your vote. This will be entirely up to you; if you would like it, AAFS staff will receive a voter report so we will be able to confirm your vote was received if you are unsure.

After you have completed the voting, you may close your browser and return to the Zoom app. In case your Zoom window has hidden itself, you can look for the Zoom icon in the tray or press Alt + Tab to cycle through your open programs.

If you run into any issues, please do not hesitate to contact either Daniel Snapp at dsnapp@aafs.org or Cheryl Hunter at chunter@aafs.org. Please be aware that each vote will only be open for a short time, and we want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to vote.

You can view a video with visuals at HERE.