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If the procedure (per the bylaws) is that a nominating committee assembles eligible candidates and members of the organization can also elect candidates (within a certain timeframe prior to the election, with 5 member signatures), is a write-in option allowed on the ballot?

The Moderator and Secretary of my church are refusing to recognize write-in votes for an upcoming business meeting. The bylaws of the church do not forbid write-in votes. What happens if the Moderator refuses to allow write-in votes? Is there anything a member can do about it?

My question is about procedures that are allowed or should be followed by someone who is being written-in as an alternative candidate choice. Our bylaws and standing rules are silent on write-in candidates. Since RONR is our parliamentary authority, we allow them in ballot votes, but until now no write-in has ever submitted a resume to consider before the vote -- a practice that is historically followed by actual nominees. I have searched throughout RONR and can see nothing that speaks for or against this practice.

Our bylaws read: "Any Member seeking a constitutional office must be a Member of the Association for 1 year and must notify the Election Officer in writing (via Letter of Intent) no less than sixty days before the election , stating the position he/she intends to seek and the Election Offiers must certify, through the records of the Financial Officers, that said member has been "financial" at least ninety days prior to filing to run for said office. During our last election there was one "open" position was available and a Members name was written in by two voting members. Some on the Board and Executive Committee, and one our attorneys argued that the "write-in" was not valied because of the language above. I reminded them that in our bylaws it clearly states that we are also"governed by Robert's Rules of Order and I stated to them that "A write-in candidate is one in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the persons name. There is nothing in our bylaws that either permit nor prohibit write-ins. Am I missing something? Am I correct in my interpretation that the write-in is valid?