ISD Board of Education Election Guidelines and Procedures

Board of Education Election – April 2, 2024

I. Qualifications for Candidacy

  1. Must be a citizen of the United States.
  2. Must be a registered voter living in the School District.
  3. Must have resided in the State of Missouri for one year next preceding his/her election.
  4. Must be at least twenty-four years of age.

II. Nomination by Petition

Persons interested in filing for the April 2, 2024 school board election are required to file with the Secretary of the Board of Education a petition with at least one hundred (100) signatures of qualified registered voters of the School District of Independence.

III. Petition Filing Date and Order on Ballot

Petitions properly completed must be filed with the Board Secretary at 201 North Forest Avenue, Independence, Missouri, no later than 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 26, 2023. The Board Secretary will indicate the time and date of filing on each petition as received. The petitions will be forwarded to the Jackson County Board of Election Commissioners for determination of the validity of signatures and residence in the school district. A random drawing for the order in which names shall appear on the ballot will be conducted for candidates who file a declaration of candidacy on the first day, December 5 (115.127 (5) RSMo). The names of candidates filing after December 5 will be listed on the ballot in the order in which valid petitions are received by the Board Secretary and as described in the District Policy. Petitions found to be invalid may not be amended to preserve order of listing on the ballot. 

Persons with petitions found to be in order with the proper number of valid signatures will be certified as candidates for election by the Secretary of the Board of Education of the School District of Independence.

IV. Certification of Candidates

The Secretary of the Board of Education will certify the candidates and their order on the ballot at the Board of Education Office, 201 North Forest Avenue, Independence, Missouri, at a special meeting to be scheduled prior to Tuesday, January 23, 2024 in the presence of candidates and others desiring to attend.

V. Candidate Name Policy 

All names shall appear in the same form in which the candidate is registered to vote, except that:

1. Prefixes and suffixes which represent titles or degrees shall not be used.

2. The following exceptions, when certified by the candidate as a necessary means of identification, may be allowed: commonly used nicknames; or commonly used abbreviations.

The Board of Election Commissioners, in its discretion, may review the necessity of such identification after providing notice to the candidate.