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I'm a member of an organization (and former board member) who was alerted to some alarming/surprising actions by the current President related to the Nominating Committee. There is an annual membership meeting coming up this Wednesday 9/20 and I'd like to hear your opinions on how to address these concerns. The bylaws provide that the President has the power to appoint committees with board approval. All committees were appointed at a board meeting where the board voted to approve the President's recommendations, nearly a year ago, EXCEPT for the Nominating Committee. The Board was electronically asked to approve a Nominating Committee in June; the board did not meet electronically at all this year and this vote was asked of board members outside of a meeting (not as part of a prior in-person meeting) with no opportunity for discussion. The board members vote was via electronic survey, where the answer to voting on the President's proposed committee was "yes," "no," "abstain," or "other" with a fill in the blank. One board member emailed the board with a motion to postpone the vote on the Nominating Committee until the board's meeting in July, which was seconded via email by another board member. The Executive Committee ignored this, stated the vote was "approved" by 14 yes, 2 abstain, and 10 not voting, and the Nominating Committee commenced with its work. Furthermore, the President appointed himself to the Nominating Committee (!), and while board members emailed their objections including that Robert's Rules advises against this, the committee continued its work and the President dismissed these concerns. The committee - comprised of the President and 6 others, of whom 3 are his known close confidants - proposed a slate that is puzzling, to say the least, and notably excludes the most outspoken members from the proposed board or officer slate. The general membership was notified of the slate, per the bylaws, but the general membership is not aware of how the Nominating Committee was organized, under what direction it worked, and the irregular composition. The organization has only one staffer, who told me ballots were being printed only with the names of the members on the slate and fill-in-the-blanks. In an academic and practical sense, what are the possible motions that can be made by membership to create discourse about these actions? Here are some things I've thought of, but I'm interested in hearing other creative options (and your critique of these possible motions): After the call for open nominations from the floor: -Motion to Postpone the election until each member interested in a board nomination has an opportunity to state their interest (essentially allowing a candidate forum); or -Motion to Amend the Agenda to allow each nominee (from the floor or slate) to state their interest in serving on the board. Prior to the Nominating Committee reporting the slate: -Raise a Point of Order explaining concerns about the committee's organization, direction, and composition; -Motion to Discharge the Nominating Committee due to concerns about its organization, direction, and composition; or -Motion to disregard the proposed slate, and vote using a ballot without the slate printed on it. What other ideas or suggestions do you have? What motions would you recommend using or not using? Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I am part of a church that is currently having internal disputes. Right now, the Nominating Committee is not properly formed, having only 1 member when the bylaws specify that the Committee needs 3. There are currently several vacancies on the church's Board of Trustees and Officers. When vacancies occur in the middle of the year, the church's bylaws specify that the Nominating Committee makes nominations to fill these vacancies. Without a valid Nominating Committee, those vacancies can't be filled. According to Robert's Rules, what would be the proper way to make nominations to fill the vacancies on the Nominating Commitee?

Good afternoon. My bylaws (very simple) state "In the year of an election, a nominating committee of three(3) members shall be elected a the regular meeting in January." Previous scripts have stated: President: "The next item of business is the Election of the Nominating Committee: XXXX, Recording Secretary, will read from the Bylaws Article V, Section 2. Nominations for the Nominating Committee are now in order. Member: "I nominate ______" President: "______ has been nominated. Are there further nominations." My question is, May I change the script to say to instead: "The next item of business is the Election of the Nominating Committee: XXXX, Recording Secretary, will read from the Bylaws Article V, Section 2. Nominations for the Nominating Committee are now in order. To save time today, the following members have agreed to be on the nomination committee. If there are no further nominations, the nominations will be closed." My purpose is to cut down on time and also to put the people on the committee that we know will choose quality candidates as they know the membership the best. Thank you for your input. - Donna

I belong to an organization whose bylaws state that, “Chapter elections shall be by ballot…” Also, it states that 1) the nominating committee of 7 shall be elected during the regular chapter election or a special election if necessary; 2) “Elected members shall include a Nominating Committee Chair”; and 3) the committee members serve a 2-year term. Also note that the nominating committee chair serves on the board of directors. The nominating committee prepares the slate of candidates to the board. And any member of the nominating committee who becomes a candidate for election must resign from the committee. Question 1: Should the election of the nominating committee (and chair) be by ballot as well? Question 2: If the nominating committee prepares the slate of candidates to the Board, does that include the nominating committee chair (conflict)? Question 3: If a slate is to include the nominating committee chair, my interpretation is that, if a candidate is not elected as committee chair that DOES NOT mean that she is automatically considered and elected to the committee (unless also a candidate for the committee). And once the chair is elected, there will only be 6 available vacancies for the nominating committee during the election. Is that interpretation correct?

Our nominating committee was having a private meeting to elect a new board and The VP who was not a part of the nominating committee conveniently showed up and took part in the meeting. This seems unethical to me as she wasn't a part of the committee that was nominated and approved by our body. I cannot find any reference to rules about this kind of behavior in our bylaws. However, our organization follows RONR where our bylaws are not specific. I have ordered a copy of RONR 11th as I am new to this. I am wondering if I'm following a rabbits trail here. Thank you in advance for any advice. Beth

Thank you for tolerating a question from an old rusty mostly amatuer parliamentarian. I have been asked by a non-profit to help with some bylaw amendments and unfortunately I gave away my RRONR and am relying on a set from 1914 that is posted online. My question is that I believe Robert does not like a President to appoint the Nominating Committee nor to serve on it. Would you be able to refer me to where he has put this in writing if indeed this is true. I have explained to them why, in general, that this is not a good idea. However I am hoping to have some back up in writing. Thank you for your assistance.

I belong to a membership organization that uses a nominating committee as part of its leadership election process. The bylaws require a ballot vote. This year we have independent candidates in addition to the nominated candidates. The bylaws state: “Except as otherwise provided by statute or these Bylaws, two-thirds (2/3) of affirmative votes cast by the members entitled to vote, if a quorum is present at such time, shall be the act of the membership of the League”. In the event that no candidate receives 2/3 vote do we re ballot until a candidate receives the required number of votes? The bylaws allow for absentee ballots to be submitted 24 hours prior to the voting meeting. Thank you for your advice.

Hi. Our club has elections coming up at our next meeting. The nominating committee's report was just emailed out to the members, but seems to me they must have screwed up royally. At least one person who I know was nominated for president does not appear on the list and has told me she doesn't know why she isn't. At least one other person who is on the list, says she was never asked if she was going to run again for this office. There are probably other errors I'm not necessarily privy to. I'm not on the board or anything, just a general member, but I can't let this slide by. The current president has no grasp of parliamentary procedure and has said he didn't want to run again yet his name is on the report as the sole nominee for president. It's not a mistake, this is the report the president forwarded to the webmaster for distribution to the membership. I'm not finding anything in our bylaws or Robert's Rules about what to do when the nominating committee screws up like this. What to do in this situation? I can't feel any confidence that the current president knows to call for nominations from the floor. Do I try to move that the election be postponed until the error can be fixed? Do I try to force the president to call for nominations from the floor? that's all I've been able to come up with. It's a mess and no one wants to create a stink but this is too much to let slide. Thanks for any suggestions.

If a nominating committee is to come up with a slate of officers, what if no one volunteers to be part of that nominating committee? How do elections take place? Can they?

Can a member of a nominating committee nominate himself for a position?

proposed amendment: "The members of the Church Council shall be elected for a term of two years, and may not succeed themselves more than two consecutive full terms in the same office unless the nominating committee can find no suitable and no one is nominated from the floor of the congregational meeting. If the previous office holder is willing to assume another two year term, then they may be allowed with the approval of the congregation." existing bylaw: "The members of the Church Council shall be elected for a term of two years, and may not succeed themselves more than two consecutive full terms in the same office." People, what are your thoughts? thanks, Jan