(a) Date producers and producer-handlers shall be provided an opportunity to nominate and vote for individuals to serve on the Committee. For this purpose, the Committee shall, no later than June 15 of every third year, provide date producers and producer-handlers nomination and balloting material by mail or equivalent electronic means, upon which producers and producer-handlers may nominate candidates and cast their votes for members and alternate members of the Committee in accordance with the requirements in paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(2) of this section, respectively. All ballots are subject to verification. Balloting material should be provided to voters at least two weeks before the due date and should contain, at least, the following information:

(1) The names of incumbents who are willing and eligible to continue to serve on the Committee;

(2) The names of other persons willing and eligible to serve;

(3) Instructions on how voters may add write-in candidates;

(4) The date on which the ballot is due to the Committee or its agent; and

(5) How and where to return ballots.

(b)(1) Producers. Each producer may vote for three producer members and three producer alternate members. No producer may vote more than once for any one person. The three individuals receiving the highest number of votes for the producer member positions shall be the producer member nominees. Individuals nominated for producer member and failing to receive enough votes to become a producer member nominee shall have their names listed with those nominated for producer alternate members and the votes cast for them as member shall be counted with any votes they received for producer alternate member. The three individuals receiving the highest number of votes for the producer alternate member positions shall be the producer alternate member nominees.

(2) Producer-handlers. Each producer-handler may vote for one producer-handler member and one producer-handler alternate member, and these votes shall be weighted as provided in § 987.24. No producer-handler may vote more than once for any one person. The six individuals receiving the highest weighted votes for the producer-handler member positions shall be the producer-handler member nominees. Individuals nominated for producer-handler member and failing to receive enough votes to become a producer-handler member nominee shall have their names listed with those nominated for producer-handler alternate members and the votes cast for them as member shall be counted with any votes they received for producer-handler alternate member. The six individuals receiving the highest weighted vote for producer-handler alternate member positions shall be the alternate member nominees.