It's time to schedule your troop's OA elections!!  Once a year, the youth in your troop can elect their fellow Scouts to become candidates for membership in the Order of the Arrow, Scouting's National Honor Society.  Elected candidates should then plan to attend a Wa-Hi-Nasa Lodge ordeal weekend within a year of their election.  The Lodge's next two scheduled Ordeal weekends will be at Boxwell Reservation on June 1-3, 2012 or August 10-12, 2012.

To schedule a unit election, please contact your district's Order of the Arrow chapter advier or chapter chief.

Click "read more" to learn more about the election process and for additional unit election resources.

Before your election team arrives, the Scoutmaster should determine which youth are eligible for membership.  To be eligible, the Scout must be a registered member of the troop under the age of 21.  For the purposes of the OA, youth members are under 21.  The Scout must have at least achieved the rank of First Class, and spent fifteen nights of Boy Scout camping in the preceding two years. These fifteen nights must include one long-term camping experience of five nights and six days as part of a BSA resident camping program such as summer camp.  The remaining nights must be spent as part of a series of BSA overnight, weekend, or other or short-term camping expereinces.  Finally, the Scoutmaster must approve the inclusion of the Scout on the election ballot before a Scout can stand for election.  The Scoutmaster's approval certifies that the Scout is an active member of the troop who demonstrates Scout Spirit and abides by the Scout Oath and Law.

Once the unit election is completed, the election team will need to turn in this youth election report form to the Middle Tennessee Council office.  Additionally, if your troop elects a youth candidate your troop committee may select one registered adult (over 21) to be a candidate for OA membership so long as the adult has completed the camping requirements listed above.  The adult candidate recommendation form is available here.

Unit election teams are strongly encouraged to show the official unit elections video.  New election team members should watch the instructional video on conducting unit elections.  Both videos can be downloaded from this site.

Your district's OA chapter adviser and chapter chief are your points of contact for any questions about scheduling OA elections or for any election questions.