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Nominee withdraws after balloting begins, can we move to acclamation?


Mike Chamberlain

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Our nominating committee put forth 5 candidates for 4 open positions on the Board of Directors. The bylaws of the organization call for "A reasonable opportunity for all members to choose among the nominees", which has been interpreted to mean both mail-in and in-person balloting. After the period for mail-in balloting concluded but before the in-person balloting has started, one of the nominees has withdrawn her candidacy for personal reasons. Therefore we now have 4 candidates for 4 open positions. In the past the organization has used acclamation when the number of candidates and available positions are equal.The question now is can we move to election by acclamation since we now have 4 candidates for 4 positions or do we need to continue with in-person balloting since balloting has started?

 

Thanks,

Mike C.

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Voting, once begun, cannot be interrupted.  

 

You will need to follow your balloting process through to completion.  It could reasonably be argued that once the first vote was cast, it was also too late to withdraw, at least until the first ballot was completed.  It is possible that the candidate who wishes to withdraw may still be elected, but may decline, in which case a second ballot would be needed.

 

The problem you are experiencing is due in part to not following the advice in RONR that absentee votes should never be counted in combination with in-person votes.  If your bylaws authorize absentee voting in the first place, which I hope and assume that they do, then it would be best to have all voting done by mail on that question.  That would eliminate this and other potential problems.

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Our nominating committee put forth 5 candidates for 4 open positions on the Board of Directors. The bylaws of the organization call for "A reasonable opportunity for all members to choose among the nominees", which has been interpreted to mean both mail-in and in-person balloting. After the period for mail-in balloting concluded but before the in-person balloting has started, one of the nominees has withdrawn her candidacy for personal reasons. Therefore we now have 4 candidates for 4 open positions. In the past the organization has used acclamation when the number of candidates and available positions are equal.The question now is can we move to election by acclamation since we now have 4 candidates for 4 positions or do we need to continue with in-person balloting since balloting has started?

I concur with Mr. Novosielski, and I would add that the phrase "A reasonable opportunity for all members to choose among the nominees," in and of itself, does not appear to provide any support for the interpretation that mail-in voting is permitted.

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