Election Contested

[coleche]

Hello  

Your help needed.

We have a couple of members that want to contest our election based on the fact that our membership did not recieve 10 days notification of election. Our bylaws state

"Prior written notice of ten days for any election shall be given to chapter members via U.S. postal service communication."  Which is debatable, because the President did send notice out via US mail, but it was sent out with other information as: campaign information and again with sample ballot. Also, it is in our bylaws that all elections are to be held in April and it was announced at a previous meetings.

Based on RONR (11th ed.)  pp. 444-446 shouldn't this have been done prior to voting and not after these candidates lost election?  What other recourse do we have in dealing with this issue?

Thank you!! 

[J. J.]

11 minutes ago, coleche said:

Hello  

Your help needed.

We have a couple of members that want to contest our election based on the fact that our membership did not recieve 10 days notification of election. Our bylaws state

"Prior written notice of ten days for any election shall be given to chapter members via U.S. postal service communication."  Which is debatable, because the President did send notice out via US mail, but it was sent out with other information as: campaign information and again with sample ballot. Also, it is in our bylaws that all elections are to be held in April and it was announced at a previous meetings.

Based on RONR (11th ed.)  pp. 444-446 shouldn't this have been done prior to voting and not after these candidates lost election?  What other recourse do we have in dealing with this issue?

Thank you!! 

 

Did the president send out something that said, "The election will be held on [date/time] at [location]?"  If the answer to the first question is yes, when did he mail it and when the date of the election?

[Josh Martin]

14 minutes ago, coleche said:

We have a couple of members that want to contest our election based on the fact that our membership did not recieve 10 days notification of election. Our bylaws state

"Prior written notice of ten days for any election shall be given to chapter members via U.S. postal service communication."  Which is debatable, because the President did send notice out via US mail, but it was sent out with other information as: campaign information and again with sample ballot. Also, it is in our bylaws that all elections are to be held in April and it was announced at a previous meetings.

Based on RONR (11th ed.)  pp. 444-446 shouldn't this have been done prior to voting and not after these candidates lost election?  What other recourse do we have in dealing with this issue?

It is always preferable to raise objections as soon as possible, but a previous notice issue affects the rights of absentees. Therefore, it is a continuing breach and the issue may be raised after the election. If it is indeed correct that sufficient notice was not provided, the election is null and void and must be redone. The way to deal with this issue is for the complaining members to raise a Point of Order at the next meeting. The chair will rule on the point, and his ruling will be appealed. Ultimately, the assembly is the final judge of its rules.

[coleche]

-events prior to meeting

14 days prior- Notification sent out via Call for Nominations email.  Date of Elections was provided in the Call for Nominations Guidelines

-9 days prior - Newsletter included Call for Nominations reminder and again included Call for Nominations Guidelines with the election date 

-5 days prior - Reminder email with Sample ballot and election guidelines, reminders was sent out in Weekly Newsletter and indicated that election would take date

2 days prior - Additional reminder email with sample ballot and election guidelines was sent out in Weekly Newsletter and indicated that election day

[coleche]

J. J.

Does the information above, give sufficient notice?

Thank you!!

[Chris Harrison]

Email is not the same as "U.S. postal service communication" so it sounds like the latest that something was sent out was 9 days before.  Of course even if it was sent out 10 days before one could question when does the 10 days start?  From when it was sent out (how can that be proved?)?  From the postmark?  From when the piece of mail was delivered to the member?

 

[Josh Martin]

4 hours ago, coleche said:

-events prior to meeting

14 days prior- Notification sent out via Call for Nominations email.  Date of Elections was provided in the Call for Nominations Guidelines

-9 days prior - Newsletter included Call for Nominations reminder and again included Call for Nominations Guidelines with the election date 

-5 days prior - Reminder email with Sample ballot and election guidelines, reminders was sent out in Weekly Newsletter and indicated that election would take date

2 days prior - Additional reminder email with sample ballot and election guidelines was sent out in Weekly Newsletter and indicated that election day

I don't see how. You say that your bylaws require notice sent through the U.S. mail 10 days in advance, and it looks like that did not happen.

3 hours ago, Chris Harrison said:

Email is not the same as "U.S. postal service communication" so it sounds like the latest that something was sent out was 9 days before.  Of course even if it was sent out 10 days before one could question when does the 10 days start?  From when it was sent out (how can that be proved?)?  From the postmark?  From when the piece of mail was delivered to the member?

I would assume from the date of the postmark.

[Richard Brown]

The postmark date constitutes evidence of when the item was mailed, but it's not conclusive. It's my understanding that the usual test, unless a written rule provides otherwise, is depositing the item in the u.s. mail at a post office or mailbox. When I am mailing something that is time sensitive and close to the deadline, such as a meeting notice, I see to it that it is mailed inside a post office prior to the last collection so that it will be postmarked the same day.

Edited to add: it appears to me that the notices were mailed one day too late. I sat in on a trial a few years ago at which the court threw out a substantial emergency dues increase of a large Carnival organization because the notice of the special meeting was mailed one day too late.

Edited April 13, 2017 at 10:59 PM by Richard Brown
Added last paragraph

[Dan Honemann]

As a matter of parliamentary law, Mr. Martin was (and is) entirely correct when he said in his previous response that the complaining members should raise a Point of Order at the next meeting of the body which conducted this election. The announced result of the election will stand unless and until this assembly determines that the requisite notice was not sent (or that the election is void for any other reason).