Voting on the 2017 ratification ballot concluded at midnight (EDT) on 1 June. Members ratified the 2017 Delegate Assembly’s approval of two constitutional amendments. One amendment aligns the provision for paid life membership in article 3.C with the new criterion for the granting of life membership after fifty years; the other provides for the representation of part-time faculty members on the Executive Council. Support for the amendments ranged from 91% to 94% of the members who voted in that section of the ballot. The amendments have been incorporated into the text of the constitution at the Web site.
Two resolutions approved by the 2017 Delegate Assembly were also on the ballot. Resolutions forwarded to the membership must be ratified by a majority vote in which the number of those voting for ratification equals at least ten percent of the association’s voting membership. All members in good standing as of 17 April who were also members on 7 January, the date of the Delegate Assembly meeting, were eligible to vote. The number of eligible voters was 18,279, so 1,828 votes were required for ratification of the resolutions. The first resolution, which calls on the MLA to “refrain from endorsing the boycott” of Israeli academic institutions promoted by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, was ratified by a vote of 1,954 yes and 885 no. The second resolution, which calls on the MLA to endorse a statement of the American Association of University Professors, “Higher Education after the 2016 Election,” and urges members to disseminate the statement widely, was ratified by a vote of 2,471 yes and 229 no. For more information on the resolution process, please visit the MLA Web site.