Immediately after the election of the president and under his chairmanship, the departmental council determines the number of vice-presidents and other members of the permanent commission.
Members of the permanent commission other than the president are elected by list ballot. Each departmental councillor may present a list of candidates, which must be made up alternately of one candidate of each sex.
The lists are lodged with the president within one hour of the departmental council’s decision on the composition of the standing committee. If, on expiry of this deadline, only one list has been submitted, the various seats on the standing committee are then immediately filled in the order of the list and read out by the president.
Otherwise, the departmental council first elects the standing committee, by proportional representation using the highest average, without panachage or preferential vote. Seats are allocated to candidates in the order of presentation on each list. If several lists have the same average for the allocation of the last seat, the seat is allocated to the list with the highest number of votes. In the event of a tie, the seat is awarded to the oldest candidate eligible to be declared elected. If the number of candidates on a list is less than the number of seats to which it is entitled, the seat or seats not filled are awarded to the next highest average.
Once the seats on the permanent commission have been distributed, the departmental council elects the vice-presidents by an absolute majority on the basis of a list, without panachage or preferential vote. On each of the lists, the difference between the number of candidates of each sex may not be greater than one. If, after two ballots, no list has obtained an absolute majority, a third ballot shall be held and the election shall be by relative majority. In the event of a tie, the candidates on the list with the highest average age are elected.
Members of the standing committee other than the chairman are appointed for the same term as the chairman.