Guest justjeff Posted April 7, 2011 at 06:02 AM Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 at 06:02 AM At a monthly meeting of the General Membership of a non-profit organization I belong to a vote was made to remove a Board member. Our By-laws state that "A quorum shall consist of those individuals who are current members in good standing and who are present at the specified time and place of the duly scheduled and publicized meeting, regardless of their number." Voting is limited to those in good standing. We had 33 members present in good standing. The results of the vote was 18 yes, 9 no, and 6 abstentions. The chair called the vote as passing, as she deducted those that abstained as not in attendance, therefore making the 18 two-thirds of 27. Is that correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted April 7, 2011 at 08:36 AM Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 at 08:36 AM The chair was correct - the motion passed on a 2/3 vote - but for the wrong reason. Abstainers are not considered as "absent", they just didn't vote. The standard requirement of a "2/3 vote" is that 2/3 of those present and voting are in favor of some issue. And that is what your numbers show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tctheatc Posted April 7, 2011 at 08:44 AM Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 at 08:44 AM At a monthly meeting of the General Membership of a non-profit organization I belong to a vote was made to remove a Board member. Our By-laws state that "A quorum shall consist of those individuals who are current members in good standing and who are present at the specified time and place of the duly scheduled and publicized meeting, regardless of their number." Voting is limited to those in good standing. We had 33 members present in good standing. The results of the vote was 18 yes, 9 no, and 6 abstentions. The chair called the vote as passing, as she deducted those that abstained as not in attendance, therefore making the 18 two-thirds of 27. Is that correct?So a quorum is whoever is there. Interesting.Reading the vote explanation immediately after the thread where Jim7 is still explaining how present means able to vote made me wonder if he's the chair here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmtcastle Posted April 7, 2011 at 09:44 AM Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 at 09:44 AM Reading the vote explanation immediately after the thread where Jim7 is still explaining how present means able to vote made me wonder if he's the chair here...What's more disturbing is that he seems to be saying that being able to vote is equivalent to being present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted April 7, 2011 at 10:31 AM Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 at 10:31 AM At a monthly meeting of the General Membership of a non-profit organization I belong to a vote was made to remove a Board member. Our By-laws state that "A quorum shall consist of those individuals who are current members in good standing and who are present at the specified time and place of the duly scheduled and publicized meeting, regardless of their number." Voting is limited to those in good standing. We had 33 members present in good standing. The results of the vote was 18 yes, 9 no, and 6 abstentions. The chair called the vote as passing, as she deducted those that abstained as not in attendance, therefore making the 18 two-thirds of 27. Is that correct?In general, voting is calculated on the votes cast, and abstentions are not votes. So, 27 votes casts. To determine a 2/3 vote, if the yes votes are at least twice the no votes, the motion carries.However, what we don't know specifically (and it may take a bylaw reading to clarify, which we don't indulge in here) is what is the voting threshold to remove a Board member for your organization. If it's 2/3 "of members present", or "of the entire membership", clauses that would/should be found in your bylaws if so determined by the society, then we have a different answer. If not, if it's your garden variety 2/3 vote (of votes cast), then it's Bye Bye Boardie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted April 7, 2011 at 07:21 PM Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 at 07:21 PM What's more disturbing is that he seems to be saying that being able to vote is equivalent to being present.There's a lot of that going around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted April 7, 2011 at 07:22 PM Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 at 07:22 PM However, what we don't know specifically ... is what is the voting threshold to remove a Board member for your organization. If it's 2/3 "of members present", or "of the entire membership", clauses that would/should be found in your bylaws if so determined by the society, then we have a different answer. If not, if it's your garden variety 2/3 vote (of votes cast), then it's Bye Bye Boardie.Well we do know what the chair announced, and that presumably it was not successfully appealed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted April 7, 2011 at 07:53 PM Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 at 07:53 PM Well we do know what the chair announced, and that presumably it was not successfully appealed.True, although if the requirement to dis-member someone from the board is of "2/3 of __________" (members present, entire membership) and this is found in the bylaws, 244(a) may apply and create a continuing breach, yes? Of course, we don't know one way or the other, although we do know what the quorum is, for whatever that may help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted April 7, 2011 at 08:05 PM Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 at 08:05 PM True, although ... 244(a) may apply and create a continuing breach, yes? Of course, we don't know one way or the other, although we do know what the quorum is, for whatever that may help. Yep. Anything is possible. I mean if that quorum requirement is possible then ANYTHING is possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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