joshuatownsend

17 minutes ago, Josh Martin said:

No. See Official Interpretation 2006-18.

”In elections, "for" and "against" spaces or boxes should not be used. They are applicable only with respect to votes on motions. In an election, a voter can vote against one candidate only by voting for another who has been nominated or by writing in the name of another candidate.” (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 414)

It is counted as an abstention. Additionally, it should be noted that illegal votes are not discarded.

(The official interpretation does note that if members have been led to believe that such votes are permitted, then they must be credited, but members should be informed that such ballots are not proper, and that will resolve the issue.)

I don’t know if that’s correct, since your bylaws also say that “Abstention ballots shall not be counted in calculating this majority,” but I suppose it is ultimately up to your organization to interpret its own bylaws.

It should be noted, however, that even if abstentions have the effect of preventing an election, all this is really accomplishing is to waste the assembly’s time. Electing no one is not an option. If no candidate is elected on the first ballot, another round of voting is held, and so on, until the election is completed. As a consequence, if members wish to prevent the election of the candidate(s) listed on the ballot, ultimately the only way to do so is to elect other candidates. If they have not yet found suitable candidates, then the members should move to postpone the election.

Thanks, Josh - this is very helpful!

It seems that either the “Abstention ballots shall not be counted in calculating this majority” phrase either  1.) converts the "A majority vote of the eligible voting class members present" line in our bylaws to be a 'present and voting' clause or, 2.) is completely meaningless as submitting an abstention vote affirms that the member is indeed present and as such counts towards the majority of voting members present.  I see much wasted time and circular logic arguments in our future.

16 minutes ago, Rob Elsman said:

I have no idea what is an "abstention ballot" or how one might go about casting one. These are your organization's bylaws, maybe you could tell us.

I wish I could tell you - I inherited these bylaws and nobody has been able to clearly explain them (yet it seems that some have been able to manipulate them in the past to get their way).  I suspect that a requirement to submit a ballot that said 'abstain' or was blank was required at one point to prevent election fraud (match the number of ballots collected to the number of voting members present).

My organization has long allowed the use of a 'No' vote during a balloted election.  I question whether or not this is allowed by RONR but can't find anything explicitly prohibiting the practice.  In past elections, rather than voting for a candidate or abstaining, the 'No' vote has been used to try to prevent a candidate from being elected (especially in instances where there is only 1 nominee) that a portion of the voting members don't like/want.

Our bylaws define our elections rules as follows:

• All elections for Officers/Directors be conducted by secret ballot.
• A majority vote of the eligible voting class members present is required to elect all electable positions regardless of nominees for that position and the Secretary cannot cast a unanimous ballot.
• 2 ballots must be cast before the President is required to break the tie for any office
• Abstention ballots must be cast.
• Abstention ballots shall not be counted in calculating this majority

My questions are:

1. Are 'No/Against' votes allowed by RONR in a balloted election (citations?)
2. If a 'No' vote is cast, how shall it be counted?  An abstention (as abstention ballots must be cast)?  Illegal/discarded vote?
3. Considering my bylaws, can a 'No' vote actually do anything at all?  If the bylaws require a majority of all voting members present (not present AND voting), an abstention is really acting as a No vote.

Appreciate any insight - a long history of politics in the organization has left some odd practices, misunderstandings, and poorly worded bylaws that I'm trying to work through....