Jump to content
The Official RONR Q & A Forums

Search the Community

Showing results for tags 'election'.

  • Search By Tags

    Type tags separated by commas.
  • Search By Author

Content Type


Forums

  • RONR Message Board – Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised
    • General Discussion
    • Advanced Discussion
    • The Robert’s Rules Website
  • About the Message Board
    • Questions or Comments about the Message Board
  • Archive
    • Archived Discussions (2010)

Find results in...

Find results that contain...


Date Created

  • Start

    End


Last Updated

  • Start

    End


Filter by number of...

Joined

  • Start

    End


Group


Location:


Interests

  1. Our group consists of 13 people 6 of those people are from the same family and growing. If two more members of their family join they would technically be able to vote their whole family into office. Is this legal.
  2. A search committee is bringing a name of someone to be elected an officer. The position is also a staff person of the organization. Are nominations from the floor allowed, or is this a simple up or down vote?
  3. During annual elections, does a member need to be present in order to be voted into a position? In December, a member who had previously accepted the nomination, for the position of secretary, was unable to make the meeting because of her obligations with her son. One of the elders said that she was not eligible to take the position because she was not there. The position was given to a last minute nominee else. Now there is distrust and skepticism among the membership. Thanks for your help
  4. I am wondering if anyone can help me understand the meaning of "elected at large." Here is an example from a set of bylaws: "5.2.2. The President-Elect shall be elected at large, shall serve in that office for one (1) year, and shall automatically assume the office of President in the subsequent year. At the end of their term as President, the individual shall automatically remain on the Board of Directors for a one-year term as Immediate Past President." I understand the meaning of "at-large" when it is associated with a specific member of the board (such as "director at-large), but in the context above, I'm not quite certain. Does it imply that all members vote?
  5. We recently held an election to replace 5 board members (their terms were completed). There were 8 candidates on the ballot. A few days before the election an officer of the board resigned, thereby leaving 6 seats open. The board was aware of this resignation approximately 2 days prior to the election deadline. The election was conducted online. When the results were tallied 2 of the candidates were tied, and one of them voluntarily conceded to the other. My question is, since there is now one seat still open, should/would that seat automatically go to the next candidate left with the most votes (which would be the candidate that was tied) Or, is there some other procedure to fill that seat?
  6. Folks Please Help! Ive been concerned my organization (youth association) has been violating the bylaws which govern our association. This past week I brought it to the attention of the president that a vote to fill vacant board positions needs to be done in accordance to our bylaws. The executive board, and board of directors were going to vote, while excluding the entire membership. Me bringing this to the attention of the president should have served as notice that ignorance to our bylaws can no longer be claimed in making decisions that violate our rules, but the opposite has happened!! They’re once again having a vote to elect board positions without notifying the entire membership after I made them aware it was a violation, and now my wife and I are being attacked by false accusations that started the day after I spoke to the president. What is my next step? Who do I turn to that can stop this from happening?!
  7. We are an HOA board of 9 representing our association broken in to 9 areas or districts with a representative for each district voted on by the membership. Per our Bylaws, we also carry 4 alternates that are elected at large at the same time as the district representative election. A board member who also served as VP has resigned; an alternate, per our Bylaws, filled the board seat, but the office role remains vacant--we will vote on that at our next monthly meeting. Our Bylaws state: Vacancy: Vacancy in the office of president shall be filled by the vice-president. The vacancy thus created in the office of vice-president and any other vacancy shall be filled by a vote of the Board of Directors. Election: At the first Board of Directors meeting in January, the District Representative forming the Board of Directors shall, by secret ballot, elect the president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer. The bylaws are clear that at our January meeting we elect officers by secret ballot of the BOD. We board members are unclear if a vote by secret ballot is also called for in the event of a vacancy such as the one described, or if the board can accept a volunteer and vote by voice or roll call vote, eliminating the secret ballot.
  8. Guest

    Elections

    Can a list of people who voted in an election be made public?
  9. I always thought that elections (for boardmembers or officers) need previous notice but could not such a rule. Am I just making rules up? Also was puzzling if the board has the authority to appoint/ elect replacement boardmembers!/officers can the previous notice be omitted if all boardmembers are present (so no absentees rights are harmed) ? In my opinion previous notice is still needed, to prevent railroading , but would like to hear opinions of others. (Off course if there is no rule prescribing previous notice this is a bit out of order)
  10. I thought know how to do this , but I was wrong. Elections always seem to be more complicated than expected. And it looks like RONR does not give guidance an it. So here the problem: An organization has to elect three general directors by mail in voting. There are 6 nominations. - how many candidates may the members put on their ballot? (3 seems reasonable but can result that 4 candidates get a majority, what to do then?) After all ballots are received: - how do you decide what a majority is if not all ballots have the maximum number of different candidates? (We want to keep the rules - to be elected a candidate needs to be on a majority of the ballots, - incomplete ballots count are valid for the number candidates mentioned and as as partial abstentions for the rest What would be the proper rules for this kind of election?
  11. Our by laws call for the nominating committee to submit a slate of candidates, which is posted both at our facility and on line 30 days before the election. The by-laws also allow for "nominations from the floor." This sometimes creates confusion, as we must then determine the eligibility of the floor nominee "on the fly." (Our by laws have some specific requirements for officers, as well as a minimum duty requirement.) Even before the pandemic, we sometimes had difficulty getting a quorum, and on some occasions in the past, some members have used the option of floor nomination to "stack the deck" by having a candidate nominated from the floor with a sufficient number of backers present to tip the election. This strikes some of us as unfair - our members should know in advance of an election whom they will be asked to vote for. And because of the pandemic our meetings are now on Zoom, which makes this process even more difficult. Without amending the by-laws (too late for this election cycle) can we require that "floor" nominations be submitted in advance of the election?
  12. Need help with procedure. My organization needs to elect new officers. We sent out a call asking people to nominate others or themselves for the positions. We then sent all entries to the nominating committee. The nomination committee confirmed all nominated had the credentials to be on the board.. So I need to know next steps on how to conduct this appropriately. Should the nominating committee then prepare a slate of officers and have the membership electronically vote to approve the whole ballot. Or should each office be voted on individually and list each of the candidates who were nominated. If possible can you also point me to where in the book I can show other the correct procedure so when questions, I can so proof.
  13. Our school PTO's bylaws say that in order to be a member "in good standing," one must have attended at least 3 previous meetings. However, we are about to have our election, and for most of the offices, no one "in good standing" wants to run for office. We do have some newer members who are willing to run, but they have attended fewer then 3 meetings (and for some, it will be their first meeting). As a PTO, our organization has a high turnover rate because kids graduate, so we lose 1/3 of our membership every year, and they are replaced with completely new members. We of course want to change this requirement in our bylaws, but in the meantime, can the president appoint someone to be an "acting treasurer" or "acting secretary" until either the bylaws are changed or until they have attended 3 meetings (whichever happens sooner)? Or, during our election, should we carry on as usual and make it clear that the candidate is not eligible but is running for "acting treasurer" or "acting secretary" because no one else wants to run? Thank you!
  14. A notice for a special meeting of a local chapter (to be held September 25) goes out and the only agenda item is "Election of Officers." The bylaws state that members in good standing may vote. Conversely, you are not in good standing for a litany of reasons including "...not paying the membership dues for the new fiscal year by the designated date." The new year begins October 1. The designated date was September 20 and again the election meeting is September 25. A few members feel the meaning of the bylaws is ambiguous and thought that good standing would be taken away in the new fiscal year, not the current year which ends September 30 and for which they have been financially and actively in good standing. They want to invoke the principals of interpretation of the bylaws during the special meeting because they are current in their membership dues for the current year and the new year as of September 21. 1) If one of the members brought forth a Point of Order that the election is wrongfully prohibiting members from voting who should be able to vote because they are in fact in good standing for all of the other reasons and the election is being held in the current year for which they are a paid member AND they have paid for the new year by September 21, is that a point well taken? 2) Would it be germane to move to interpret that bylaw section because the meaning of when "not in good standing" status is invoked is unclear AND that ambiguity is adversely affecting members' voting rights for the election?
  15. Guest

    Bylaws and Elections

    I am a member of a national club. Our members are all over the US. Our Bylaws state that a nominating committee is to be formed and announce their nominations on or before August 1st. Individuals can then petition to be on the ballot by August 24th. The bylaws go on to state "SECTION 3: Annual Election - The election of officers and delegate to The American Kennel Club (who may but need not be a director or officer of the Club) shall be conducted by secret ballot. Voting for candidates, if necessary, shall take place in September. The Secretary or an independent firm should send, receive and count ballots. The nominated candidate receiving the greatest number of votes for each office shall be declared elected. The results of the mail-in balloting shall be announced in the next Quarterly Newsletter." What actions can be taken if the Board fails to have an election during the month of September? The next newsletter is due to be published the first week of October and that should have the results in it. It is September 17 and I do not see the Board pulling off a mailed ballot election by the end of the month.
  16. I'm an employee of a student union incorporated under the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (CNCA) (https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-7.75/FullText.html), and every year we hold an "Annual Ratification Meeting" of members, the purpose of which is to officially elect new directors and officers who have already been "elected" by students through public elections, and referred to the meeting based on this. Our bylaws state that this meeting is not to occur after May 1 of a given year, and that quorum is 35 in person, 50 including proxy votes. Unfortunately, due to coronavirus, even though our city has not yet restricted public gatherings of 35 people, we are still looking into whether we have the capacity to delay or alter the quorum/in-person requirement for our ratification meeting of members, or move the date beyond May 1 and consequently extend the terms of current directors and officers, if necessary, for the safety of all involved. Does anyone have any insight on what procedures, if any, might be able to be used to achieve this end, including Suspension of the Rules at a directors' meeting? Currently our bylaws do provide for directors to participate and vote electronically at meetings, if this can be applied in any way to meetings of members. Any help is appreciated!
  17. I am in an organization which had an elected officer resign. Our Bylaws state that "All officers are elected by ballot, except the Parliamentarian who shall be appointed by the President." Our outgoing President accepted the resignations of two elected officers and appointed their replacements before she left office. A couple of the members raised a point of order as this is a violation of our documents. The President responded that since our organization documents say that "The Election of officers shall be held at the November meeting of each year. The following offices shall be filled in the same period and in the alternate year, the following offices shall be filled " The President has taken the position that officers can only be elected once a year and as such, that she can appoint individuals to serve the resigning officer positions for full terms (one person had just been elected, but not installed in the job; the other resigned mid-term). Several members have stated that the provision she cites only deals with the election of officers for scheduled vacancies. Since the Bylaws are clear - ALL officers are to be elected by ballot, they argue that the "appointment right" is moot and that the President should only deal with WHEN the election will be held. The Bylaws are silent as to when the election should be held and she is saying that it must be in November based upon the Bylaws provision. Robert's Rules for Dummies suggests that it should be at the next regular meeting of the members. Also, Robert's Rules itself would suggest that vacancies can be filled at regular meetings in the footnote on page 654 (11th edition) which talks about coordinating a resignation with the notice to elect the replacement at the next meeting to avoid any break in service. MY QUESTION is whether there is anything more substantial that supports the contention that the right of the members to vote to elect their elected officers cannot be taken away and that the vote should be at the next meeting of the members (or at a special meeting).
  18. I am currently the President of a 5-member Board of Directors for a senior housing cooperative in Minnesota. The other officers are a Vice-President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. The term of office for all officers is one year. There are seven months left in that period. Yesterday, for personal and/or health reasons, our Vice President has submitted her letter of immediate resignation from the Board and therefore also from her office as our Vice President. Five months ago, the five officers were elected in the order of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer. When the Vice Presidency becomes vacant, does RONR require or recommend a re-election of 1) all four officers, 2) the Vice President and the two officers elected after the Vice-President (i.e. the Secretary, and the Treasurer), 3) only the Vice President, or 4) something else? If the answer is #3, can one of the current other officers be elected to the Vice Presidency, thus vacating their current office office? The By-Laws state: "The principal officers of the corporation shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, all of whom shall be elected by and from the Board of Directors." "The principal officers of the Corporation shall be elected annually by the Board of Directors at the Organizational Meeting of the Board and shall hold office at the pleasure of the Board."
  19. Background A slate of officers has already been presented to the general members this month. All those nominated accepted the nomination before being placed on the slate by the Nominating Committee. The election of officers will take place during next month's general meeting per bylaws. In the meantime, one of those on the slate has now removed their name for consideration BEFORE next month's the election. This person was the only one on the slate for that given officer position. What do we need to do to fill that position? 1) Open up nominations again during next month's meeting, allow additional names nominated from the floor, add those names to the slate, and then continue with the election for ALL positions at that time? 2) Reconvene the Nominating Committee to fill this position. Hold incomplete elections next month on the rest of the slate/nominations. Then at the same meeting present to the general membership the Nominating Committee's replacement nomination for the office position (nominee should agree beforehand), take any additional nominations from the floor, and then vote for this last position at the following month's general meeting? 3) Other?
  20. Our National club held an election. Voting was conducted on line hosted by an independent firm. The VP assisted the Secretary with setting up the List of members and the election on the site. She was one of the candidates running against another person. There were some emails changed (one allowing a member to cast two ballots by voting for his recently deceased spouse) and Members added (and most removed) who joined after the cut off time for participating in the election. These actions were done by the VP Election has been completed, but results not released The question is can the Election be redone? Should the VP be charged with tampering?
  21. We have several thousand members in our professional organization and the membership's annual business meeting is only once per year, usually in July or August. The Board meets right after the business meeting and in Nov or Dec. The bylaws allow for a Board that has elected officers, elected directors, and regional directors (elected by regional chapters in accord with their own rules). For the elected directors, the bylaws specify that a nominating committee puts forward some names and that list is sent to the membership ahead of the election, with a call for nominations by petition. This happens in the spring, and the election (electronic ballot sent to entire membership, plurality wins) is held before the annual meeting so that new directors and officers can be announced at the annual business meeting. The elected office actually starts Jan 1 of the year after the election and the nominating committee is elected by the members. The annual business meeting usually has less than 10% of the membership attending (electronic ballot gets about 30% response), which is why the bylaws specify that member voting is not carried out at the business meeting. Other than the nominations, I think the election process is OK The question I have is about nominations from the floor (we don't have them). For the officers (secretary, treasurer, president-elect), the nominating committee usually provides 2 names, but the process does not seem to allow (not sure if it ever did) nominations from the membership (by petition or from the floor). Here is the specific wording (we use RONR 11th ed as parliamentary authority). The Nominating Committee, with concurrence of the Board, shall make nominations for President-Elect, Secretary, and Treasurer. Nominees must be current or previous Board members in good standing and they must give their consent. There shall be at least two nominees for President-Elect. Biographical information for all nominees will be attached to the ballot. The balloting procedure shall be as for Board Members-at-Large. The possible issues I see with this are as follows. The equivalent section for Board Members-at-Large (the elected directors) specifically allows for nomination by petition, but this one does not allow membership to have input (other than by their elected choice for the nominating committee). The officer nominations are presented to the Board for their concurrence. While it has never happened, I'm not sure what would happen if the Board did not concur and I don't think that the board needs to concur since the members are the ones electing the officers. The nominations should probably be presented to the members instead (the nominations for elected directors are not presented to the Board). The ballots do allow for write-ins, but I don't think that should substitute for nominations from the floor. RONR does not discuss (from what I can see) the possibility of not having nominations from the floor, so I think that means that nominations from the floor should be the norm. The annual business meeting usually has less than 10% of the membership attending (electronic ballot gets about 30% response), and usually just has officer reports, and comments from the floor regarding bylaws amendments (votes for those are right after the business meeting). Other than the nominations, I think the election process is OK. I would be more comfortable if the officer nominations were presented to the members (like for elected directors) and then allow for nominations by petition. Another option would be to have the election after the annual business meeting. This would allow for nominations from the floor for all elected positions, which would be nice (in my opinion). Am I interpreting the issues reasonably?
  22. I am a member of a school booster organization and at our last regular meeting the Nominating Committee presented their slate of officers for the election. The president sought reelection and was the sole person on the Committee's slate for the office of President, though there was other nominations. The President then quoted part of Robert's Rules regarding a slate for elections, saying typically there is only one nominee per office on the slate. The President then proceeded to say that the Nominating Committee decides the officers and there is no election. This was in our regular meeting in April. I know this is not right, and I voiced my concerns at the time in the meeting, but I did not have Robert's Rules or our By-Laws available at the time. My understanding is that under Robert's Rules the Nominating Committee creates a slate, then additional nominations can be taken from the floor and an election is held. I'm hoping someone can tell me where in Robert's Rules it speaks about this, because I can't seem to find it, and whether or not there is a way I can fix this at the next meeting so an actual election can be held. Below are our By-Laws regarding elections: Section 10.9 Elections Section 10.9.1 Nominating Committee Appointment: A nominating committee shall be appointed by the President at the regular March meeting each year. This committee shall meet before the regular April meeting to put together a slate of nominations from the active membership. Section 10.9.2 Presentation of Officer Nominees: The nominating committee will present their slate to the general membership at the regular April meeting. Nominations may be given to nominating committee no later than one week prior to the regular April meeting. The election of officers shall occur at the regular April meeting. Section 10.9.3 Vote Requirement: A majority vote of the membership present at the regular April meeting shall constitute an election. Section 10.9.4 Assume Office: Newly elected officers shall assume office on June 1; at the beginning of the new School year. Following the election, the incoming officers will serve along with current officers until June 1.
  23. Hello, friends-- First, thank you all for the help you've provided me in the past; it has been indispensable to helping me fulfill the duties of parliamentarian for my society. I have what I think is a very quick, non-urgent question. I have looked through RONR 11th and can't seem to find a direct answer to this: If the procedure for the appointment of chairs of standing committees is not established in the by-laws (or anywhere else for that matter), and the committee chair's seat vacates after the initial appointment of a chair (for example, when the committee chair's term is up), is the assumed procedure: A) The empty seat remains a chair's seat per se, and the assembly appoints the committee chair specifically, The assembly appoints someone to the committee to fill what becomes non-specific seat, and the committee itself then appoints the new chair, C) The assembly appoints someone to what becomes a non-specific seat and then appoints the new chair from that committee, or D) Something else (if so, what?) Thank you in advance!
  24. Good day. I have a couple of questions regarding our associations bylaws and upcoming Board election. We have 3 categories of members: 1. Regular (includes active and retired members), 2. Associate and 3. Honorary. Our bylaws state (in part)" Regular members are both active and retired members..." An addendum was added to the bylaws (still questionable as to how) creating a 4th membership class, "Retired Member", that states "one Board seat shall be for a retired member, and shall be elected by retired members"... Just a quick background, originally the reference to "Retired member" was for members of a "sister organization" who would have a seat on our organizations Board, but would only serve in an advisory position (no voting power). That being said I voiced my opinion to the Board and the President that, given the current language, it appears that 1. a Regular (Active) member does not have the right to vote for a "Retired" member" and 2. that since "Regular members" include both active and retired members, this gives retired members the right to vote twice, at the same election, for a seat on the same Board. Am I incorrect in thinking that there is a definite conflict (based upon that language) in our bylaws? And if so, can that conflict have an effect on the upcoming election? Hope it's not too confusing (although it is screwed up). Thanks in advance.
  25. Every year three seats of a nine-member board are up for election. Our election rules also state, “the board may only fill vacancies in its membership to serve until the next annual or duly noticed special association meeting. Notice of a special association meeting to fill vacancies shall include notice of the election. Any special association meeting to fill vacancies shall be held on a date that allows sufficient time for owners to declare their intention to run for election and to solicit proxies for that purpose.” And regarding any special meetings of the association, “…(b) Special meetings of the association may be called by the president, a majority of the board, or by a petition to the secretary or managing agent signed by not less than twenty-five per cent of the unit owners as shown in the association's record of ownership; provided that if the secretary or managing agent fails to send out the notices for the special meeting within fourteen days of receipt of the petition, the petitioners shall have the authority to set the time, date, and place for the special meeting and to send out the notices and proxies for the special meeting at the association's expense in accordance with the requirements of the bylaws and of this part; provided further that a special meeting based upon a petition to the secretary or managing agent shall be set no later than sixty days from receipt of the petition. (c) Not less than fourteen days in advance of any meeting, the secretary or other officer specified in the bylaws shall cause notice to be: (1) Hand-delivered; (2) Sent prepaid by United States mail to the mailing address of each unit or to any other mailing address designated in writing by the unit owner; or (3) At the option of the unit owner, expressed in writing, by electronic mail to the electronic mailing address designated in writing by the unit owner. The notice of any meeting must state the date, time, and place of the meeting and the items on the agenda, including the general nature and rationale of any proposed amendment to the declaration or bylaws, and any proposal to remove a member of the board; provided that this subsection shall not preclude any unit owner from proposing an amendment to the declaration or bylaws or to remove a member of the board at any annual association meeting.” Question: There are at least six known members of the assembly running for the three seats this year. If a 4th board member wants to resign so that 4 seats are open for election at this year’s Association’s Annual Meeting and does not want the board to fill his seat until that Annual Meeting, when is the most opportune time to resign? Would the day of Annual Meeting suffice? Could the resignation take place at the Annual Meeting? Please assume that proper notice of the Annual Meeting and election to vote for 3 open seats has been provided to the association's members and that the 4th board member does not want the board to select his replacement and instead wants the association's members to have a fair opportunity to elect his replacement.
×
×
  • Create New...