The Presidential Race

While the stakes might not be as high as the US Presidential race, the Australian Chess Federation is currently calling for nominations for the position of ACF President. The election will take place at the ACF National Conference on the 6th January 2009, and nominations for the post are required by the 7th of October 2008.
Of course there may not be an election, if there is only 1 nomination. In the mid 1980's to the early 1990's this was often the case, with the President being elected unopposed. However in those days it was also common to have the President rolled before the next election by the ACF Council. Normally this took place about a year into their term, although the ACF council once carried a motion of no confidence in the President the day after he had been elected by the National Conference.
I must say I'm somewhat surprised that more people don't stand for the office of ACF President, as the qualification requirements are fairly low. Actually they seem to be non-existent. For starters you don't have to be nominated by anyone except yourself. You don't have to be a member of a state association, or even an Australian citizen or resident. Even being banned from playing chess by the ACF doesn't seem to bar you from running.
And the other attraction of the office is once you are there, you can pretty much do as much (or as little) work as you wish. Previous Presidents have utilised the office to work towards getting the Olympiad in Australia, having chess recognised as a sport, rewriting ACF by-laws, or even working to improve chess in Australia. You can even work hard at just being President of the ACF, if you wish.
So I'm not sure what this years election will throw up, although I know of one potential candidate running on a platform of openness and transparency for the ACF. And there may be other chess players (or non-players as this doesn't seem to be a disqualification for the post) who feel that they have something to contribute or say about chess in this country. So if you do, simply fire off an email to ACF Secretary Jey Hoole at jeydh4@hotmail.com , possibly with the subject line "I'd be a totally awesome President of the ACF!"