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Can elections only be held during the annual meeting?


Baker

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Our current bylaws state that officers will be elected during the April meeting and installed during the Annual Meeting.  Our bylaws also state that the officers' term of office will begin at the close of the Annual Meeting, which is in May.  RONR Page 94, ll28-32 states that the only difference between regular meetings and annual meetings is that the annual reports of officers and standing committees, the election of officers, and any other business that the bylaws may prescribe for the annual meeting are in order.

 

Can the election of officers be conducted only during the annual meeting (i.e. are we out of compliance with RONR)?

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The election, when pending, could be postponed to the next regular meeting, if that meeting is within the quarterly time interval (p. 185). 

But, so as not to confuse our poster, that postponement would have to be ordered during the April meeting.  It could not be postponed in advance.  And, if they postpone the elections, they would have to install the officers at the same meeting at which they are elected (the annual meeting).... or the new officers would take office without having been installed. 

 

I don't think the poster was interested in postponing the elections, but, rather, he was concerned that their bylaws were in conflict with RONR. 

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Except for the corporate charter in an incorporated society,

the bylaws [. . .] comprise the highest body of rules in societies as normally established today. 

Such an instrument supersedes all other rules of the society,

except the corporate charter, if there is one. 

In organizations that have both a constitution and bylaws as separate documents,

however, the constitution is the higher of the two bodies of rules

and supersedes the bylaws.

[RONR page 14]

 

 

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Can you please tell me where RONR states that our bylaws take precedence?  We are being asked to change the bylaws because RONR includes election of officers in its description of an Annual Meeting. 

 

Thanks

 

Except for the corporate charter in an incorporated society,

the bylaws [. . .] comprise the highest body of rules in societies as normally established today. 

Such an instrument supersedes all other rules of the society,

except the corporate charter, if there is one. 

In organizations that have both a constitution and bylaws as separate documents,

however, the constitution is the higher of the two bodies of rules

and supersedes the bylaws.

[RONR page 14]

 

And, on page 84 of RONR In Brief:

 

"A. THE RANKING ORDER OF RULES

A formal group with a continuing existence that makes decisions democratically at meetings needs rules dealing both with its own organization and purposes and with the procedure to be followed at its meetings.

Rules Governing an Assembly

(from highest to lowest in authority)

1.    Law: rules prescribed by applicable law

2.    Corporate charter: for incorporated groups

3.    Bylaws or Constitution: basic rules relating principally to itself as an organization

4.    Rules of order: written rules of parliamentary procedure

    —Special rules of order: specific to organization

    —Parliamentary authority: general book of rules

5.    Standing rules: administrative details

6.    Custom"

 

Parliamentarians on this forum may disagree from time to time on some fine points of parliamentary procedure, but I don't think you find one on this forum who disagrees with the statement that your bylaws trump RONR.  Somebody in your organization is giving you incorrect information.

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Can you please confirm the page number (84).  My 11th edition has a continuation of "Number of Meetings in a Session" and "Departures from Parlimentary Meanings in Ordinary Speech" on page 84.

 

Thanks again.

 

The page 84 citation is from RONR in Brief (a companion work that contains a brief explanation of the most often used rules). The page citation in RONR (the big book) is p.. 14, as noted in post #6.

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Can you please confirm the page number (84). 

My 11th edition has a continuation of "Number of Meetings in a Session" and "Departures from Parliamentary Meanings in Ordinary Speech" on page 84.

 

For those readers who are not familiar with both books:

 

"Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised"

(eleventh edition, 2011, published by DaCapo), abbreviated as RONR.

 

"Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief"

(second edition, 2011, published by DaCapo), abbreviated RONR In Brief, or by some, RONR-IB.

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Guest Baker, since you already have a copy of RONR 11th ed, but are relatively new to this, you might also get a copy of RONR in Brief, which is by the same authorship team.  It is inexpensive, a quick read and explains the key parts of RONR for the layman in terms that might be easier to understand.  Here's a link to it:  http://www.robertsrules.com/inbrief.html

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