I am part of an organization where the chair of standing committee "A" (as part of his official report to the body) announced unexpectedly that a contentious question would be coming before standing committee "B". This is, of course, inappropriate because that announcement had not gone through committee "A" and, therefore, should not have been part of their official report. In addition, the issue is outside the charge committee "A". Although this action cannot be undone, it has some difficult consequences.
Members of committee "B" are concerned that they will not be able to vote freely during their meeting (which is open) unless they are able to vote anonymously. RONR (11th ed.) clearly states that voting by ballot may be used "when expressly ordered by the assembly or prescribed by its rules" p. 412. It seems pretty clear that RONR is talking primarily about ballot votes for the entire body. I can't seem to find anything about using ballots in committee. Authorization to use ballots is not written in the bylaws, the committee charge, or any other rules. If committee members want to use a ballot vote,
Do they need to have authorization from the entire body, or
Can they, as a committee, authorize their own ballot vote?
Personally, I think the easiest option is to just go into executive session, which is what I have advised, but the committee members specifically asked about ballots and I'd like some additional opinions on that.