T B Devine

Thank you all for this robust discussion! Just to give you the underlying scenario of the concern for the timing of the resignation, the person selected to fill the vacancy will likely be different depending on which EB has the responsibility to fill it. We are counting future votes. TD

A group I belong to elected officers for the upcoming term in January. Our bylaws specify that new officers take office when sworn in at our May meeting. One of the newly elected officers (not the Pres or VP) is considering resigning. Our executive board has the authority to fill the vacancy until the election at the next annual meeting in Jan 2022. The question is does the current EB fill the vacancy or the EB that takes office in May? My interpretation of RONR 47.57 is that it would depend on the timing of the resignation rather than whether the officer has taken office yet. If the resignation is made to the EB between now and the May meeting, the current EB would fill. If the resignation comes after the May meeting (and swearing-in), the incoming EB would fill. Of course, the EB must provide the members with notice that the EB has filled the vacancy and the office would be subject to election at the next annual meeting. Does this sound like a correct interpretation? Thank you!

Josh Martin, thank you for your responses. I appreciate your help. TD

Thank you to everyone for your responses. To clarify, I was specifically asking about a speech to accept the nomination rather than to accept an office upon election. Josh Martin, I find your analysis of Section 43 to be compelling. Thank you. After a more thorough reading of our bylaws, I believe there is a provision that could allow for a speech/acceptance of a nomination. Section 2. Nominations. ... Additional nominations may be made from the floor, provided the consent of the nominee shall first have been obtained. While the assembly could assume consent of the nominee since the person is being nominated, I see no reason why the nominee can't assure the assembly of their consent and to share their qualifications for the office. Am I on the right track here? The members will have to adopt a motion to determine the manner of conducting the vote as in 46.31. So if anyone wants to move for a different format for debate, there will be opportunity to do so. Of course, an opportunity can always be made via motion. :-) I have another related question. One of the nominees is the presiding officer/chair. I assume based on 43.29, that the PO would have to vacate the chair if they wished to also give a "consenting" speech. They may not resume the chair until the pending question has been disposed of. At what point is the "pending question" disposed of and the PO able to resume the chair? Is it the election of all the offices or only the election of the office for which the PO is nominated? Could the answer depend on the decision of the manner in which to conduct the vote, i.e., whether we have a single ballot for all offices or an individual ballot for each office(46.31)? Thank you for your help with this. We've not had a contested election in the 7 years I've been a member. We want to make sure the process is fair and everyone is heard. TD

In preparation for our organization to hold elections next week, I am familiarizing myself with the relevant provisions in our bylaws and RONR (12). There will be at least 2 candidates for one of the offices and I'm wondering about nominating speeches and acceptance speeches. I understand that nomination speeches (or seconding speeches) are addressed in 46.28, but I can't find any mention of an acceptance speech by the nominee. Specifically, may a nominee address the members to lay out their qualifications or share any other information they think is relevant? if yes, is there a specific section in RONR that I can review? I understand that a speech must not include personal criticisms of any other candidate. Thank you.

The Nom Cmte chair has made a request to the president for an interpretation by the Parliamentarian. While the organization doesn't have a permanent Parliamentarian, it may consult with one as needed. Thank you for your responses.