JeffUrsillo

Understand..appreciate your pointing me in the correct direction

Josh...again, I don't have my copy handy. Is this stated specifically that interpretation of the bylaws falls to the President and not, say, a Bylaws Committee or parliamentarian?

Thanks...I do not have my copy with me this morning....

Does RONR have a sample text that can be used in a bylaws to give an organization the ability to expel a member, for just cause (hand in the till for example)?

yes, I am speaking of an email vote that has a reply deadline of March 10. Thank you for your reply, Richard...

I believe it has, by having in the Bylaws a statement that February 15 is the drop off date for unpaid memberships. I don't have my RONR handy, so I cannot check page 406, as was mentioned above.

Does Roberts Rules speak to a member paying their dues after they have been dropped due to non-payment and if that makes their membership revert back to the beginning of the membership year. In clearer terms (sorry!) Membership year ends Dec. 31. members are dropped on Feb. 15. member pays dues on Feb 28. Is that member's membership considered to start back on January 1 or the date they paid Feb. 28. If a vote occurred for the organizations membership during the time between they were dropped and payed their dues again, would they be eligible to vote if the voting window was still open?

Mr. Brown, I apologize if anything I said could be construed that I did not think any of the responses I was given were inaccurate. That is not the case....As I stated in my recent post, I was operating under a wrong assumption, which was corrected. I also was frustrated by a seeming tangent that did not really pertain to my 2 original questions. I appreciate you taking the time to respond and sum up the answers to my questions. Jeff Ursillo

Josh....Thank you for your input.... I was making an assumption when reading the bylaws where it said "Proposed amendments shall be signed by a minimum of three members and shall be directed to the Executive Council for their perusal". I was assuming that to mean THEY conducted the vote. I now understand that they are not entitled to do so by that language. I appreciate the clarification by all who tried to get it through my thick skull...LOL And, yes, I am aware that we follow RR as well.... and yes, my original post was confusing in hindsight..apologies...

Gary...Thank you for clarifying that for me....Someone in an organization I used to belong to used Nulla poena sine lege as a rationale as to why they COULD do something that our bylaws at the time did not say they could or couldn't. Too late to revisit it at this point... Jeff

Josh, here is the RR for dummies page that I mentioned above. http://www.dummies.com/careers/business-skills/roberts-rules-for-amending-bylaws/

Ok, Josh....Thank you....appreciate the time and advice... Jeff

ok...you keep discussing making motions to the Board. The bylaws committee prepared their report, submitted it to the EC for approval, and getting the approval of a 2/3 majority, they sent it out to the membership, as the bylaws unfortunately say they can do. Not being a jerk, but I fail to see where the confusion is. I quoted the bylaws section that specifies how the amendment is to be handled, they followed it. There has never been any question about if they violated any procedures. My original question had to do with their being able to exclude members of the EC from voting.... Thanks again for your input on the questions I asked... Jeff

Joshua, please accept the following: " Nulla poena sine lege ( lat. - no penalty without a law) is a legal principle, requiring that one cannot be punished for doing something that is not prohibited by law. This principle is accepted and codified in modern democratic states, including the United States, as a basic requirement of the rule of law. It’s based on old English law which states: Everything which is not forbidden is allowed." Applying the above to the discussion, since the bylaws do not forbid or rule a specific entity to conduct the vote, then the committee is allowed to do so....at least IMHO...

Josh, Thanks for your reply... unfortunately the Bylaws do allow the bylaws Committee to conduct the vote, as it does not specify who DOES handle it.... Here is the bylaw in question: "These By-Laws may be amended by a majority vote of the ballots cast. Voting shall be by mail ballot (regularmail or e-mail). Proposed amendments shall be signed by a minimum of three members and shall be directed tothe Executive Council for their perusal. Once the language of the amendment is approved by the ExecutiveCouncil it shall be published in the newsletter along with a ballot to be voted upon by the general membership. Adeadline shall be established for return of all ballots.""