Members of Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Inc., will receive ballots by mail later this month to vote for trustees for the first time in WEC history. 

Ballots will be mailed March 29 and MUST BE RETURNED BY APRIL 19, at least five days prior to this year’s annual meeting on April 24, 2024. 

Members are encouraged to complete and return their ballots in a timely fashion through postal mail via postage-paid business reply envelopes which will also be provided. Ballots will not be accepted at WEC offices. 

WEC is governed by a 10-member board of trustees elected by the cooperative’s membership, and voting is crucial for co-op members like you. 

Trustees play a significant role in setting the policies, strategic direction, and making financial decisions. Through your votes, trustees shape the co-op’s priorities and initiatives, influencing everything from rates and services to community engagement and sustainability efforts. 

By participating in trustee elections, members like you can help determine the direction of the cooperative and ensure that it aligns with your values and needs.

Board seats in the following districts are up for election this year:

• DISTRICT 3 (Greeley County in Kansas; Kiowa and Cheyenne counties in Colorado)
• DISTRICT 6 (Great Bend, Kansas)
• DISTRICT 7 (Harper, Kingman, Sumner and Sedgwick counties in Kansas)

WEC’S BYLAWS ALLOW FOR TWO METHODS FOR TRUSTEE NOMINATIONS:

NOMINATION BY THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE – The board of trustees has appointed a nomination committee made up of one member from each of our seven districts. Members should contact WEC to get the contact information for their fellow member who represents their district or contact Jim McVay, WEC’s general counsel, at 620-793-4223 or jmcvay@weci.net.

NOMINATION BY A PETITION OF MEMBER – Twenty-five, or more, members of WEC can nominate any member as a trustee candidate. Nominations by petition must be sent to WEC BY MARCH 10. Members interested in running should contact Jim McVay, WEC’s general counsel, at 620-793-4223 or jmcvay@weci.net for additional information.

WHY MAIL-IN VOTING?
Cooperative members will be voting for trustee representation by mail for the first time in cooperative history.

Why? Cooperative members who attended last year’s annual meeting on April 26, 2023, voted to pass revisions to the cooperative’s bylaws, which included mail-in ballot voting for trustee elections. 

Prior to this year, elections were held in-person at our annual meeting locations via paper ballots distributed to members in attendance.

This year’s election results will be announced at the 2024 annual meeting held on April 24 in Great Bend, Kansas.

The primary meeting in Great Bend will be livestreamed to seven additional remote meeting locations: Scott City, Leoti, Tribune, Syracuse, Garden City, Harper and Caldwell. 

Members across our service territory are encouraged to attend any meeting location to learn the results of the election, hear cooperative news and updates, enjoy a meal, ask questions, enter for door prizes, and more.

WEC’s mail-in voting is being conducted and managed by Survey and Ballot Systems, a national data solutions  company based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. WEC’s trustees selected the reputable firm to ensure a transparent, effective and fair election process.

Members with questions about our mail-in voting process are encouraged to call their local WEC office or email us at
memberservices@weci.net.