Guest Jay Posted March 18, 2015 at 01:57 PM Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 at 01:57 PM We have an upcoming election where one candidate will be nominated by the nominating committee and one for the same office will be nominated from the floor. Do candidates and/or members have the right to speak prior to the vote? Voting will occur a month after the nominations.To what extent can debate be limited both in length and content ...by the presiding officer? by Board approved procedures? One nominee has threatened to reveal damaging information about the other herself or through her "supporters". On what basis can the presiding officer or the other nominee limit or counter these statements? Roberts cites appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hieu H. Huynh Posted March 18, 2015 at 02:27 PM Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 at 02:27 PM Nominations are debatable - see RONR 11th ed., tinted pp. 18-19, #49 Nominations, to make... debatable - yes. It will be up to your organization to decide on setting the rules for debating nominations. Your organization could adopt a rule setting the time limits of speeches in debate (see p. 390). Decorum should be observed by speakers in debate. Speakers should be refraining from attacking a member's motives (see p. 392). The presiding officer should enforce the rules relating to debate and those relating to order and decorum within the assembly (see p. 450). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 18, 2015 at 02:45 PM Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 at 02:45 PM Can the board determine the procedures by motion/vote or do they have to go to the membership for approval? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted March 18, 2015 at 02:53 PM Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 at 02:53 PM Can the board determine the procedures by motion/vote or do they have to go to the membership for approval? Your board has only the powers given to it in the bylaws. Since this is not a board meeting, the board probably has no power at all, since it is not in session. If the board meets before then, it can vote to recommend a set of rules to the membership, but someone would have to make a motion in the membership meeting, which would be subject to debate, amendment, and so on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted March 18, 2015 at 06:42 PM Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 at 06:42 PM Do candidates and/or members have the right to speak prior to the vote? Yes.To what extent can debate be limited both in length and content ...by the presiding officer? by Board approved procedures?To no extent, except that the presiding officer can and should enforce those limits which already exist in RONR or in your own rules. Debate must be germane to the pending question (which person should be elected), remarks must be within the bounds of decorum, and each member may speak twice for up to ten minutes each time.Neither the presiding officer nor the board may adopt further limits, but the membership itself may do so.One nominee has threatened to reveal damaging information about the other herself or through her "supporters". On what basis can the presiding officer or the other nominee limit or counter these statements?The presiding officer can and should call a member to order if a member makes indecorous remarks in debate. I cannot say for certain whether the "damaging information" would be indecorous. Within reasonable limits, critical or negative remarks about a candidate would be in order, provided they are germane to the election. The presiding officer may not counter these statements.The other nominee may not limit these statements, although he may call upon the presiding officer to do so by raising a Point of Order, and he may raise an Appeal if the chair rules the Point of Order not well taken. (Alternately, the nominee's supporters could do these things.) He may have an opportunity to counter such allegations, either by speaking in debate, or by raising a Question of Privilege. A member can raise a question of personal privilege to address remarks circulated against his character.Can the board determine the procedures by motion/vote or do they have to go to the membership for approval?The latter, and these procedures will require a 2/3 vote for adoption. The board has no authority to impose rules on a meeting of the membership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sandy Posted March 18, 2015 at 08:47 PM Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 at 08:47 PM If the vote is not held on the same day as the nominations, does the discussion occur right after the nominations or on the next day before the vote? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Honemann Posted March 18, 2015 at 09:09 PM Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 at 09:09 PM If the vote is not held on the same day as the nominations, does the discussion occur right after the nominations or on the next day before the vote? Debate can occur whenever the floor is open to nominations. If the floor is not open to nominations, debate is not in order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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