Eboard/President Election

[Guest TiareBeauty]

While holding an election there was only one person nominated for President and no floor nominations were taken. During discussions, this person was not elected. We then moved on to VP whom was successfully elected. Was this correct or should we have continued to deliberate until a President was elected? Or does VP move into the slot of President? At the present moment, we have no President and an elected VP.

[hmtcastle]

While holding an election there was only one person nominated for President and no floor nominations were taken. During discussions, this person was not elected.

You need to complete the incomplete election for president.

You say that, "during discussions, this person was not elected" but if he was the only candidate, that seems very unlikely. Didn't you ever vote? Or did you just "discuss".

How could the sole candidate not be elected?

[jstackpo]

I'll bet it was because TiareB and Co. used a "Yes/No" or "for"/"against" election ballot which is, as we know, improper (except for voice elections - go figure).

See RONR p. 416 for the right way.

[Guest TiareBeauty]

Hence my posting . I appreciate the responses. It was a voice ballot, we enforce 2/3 vote and she missed it by 1 vote, no one abstained. What happens in this case?

Btw isn't this the discussion board for novices?

[Chris Harrison]

Hence my posting . I appreciate the responses. It was a voice ballot, we enforce 2/3 vote and she missed it by 1 vote, no one abstained. What happens in this case?

You have an incomplete election and you all need to elect someone.

Btw isn't this the discussion board for novices?

No. We have a range here from folks who don't have a clue what RONR is to someone who is on RONR's authorship team and everyone from the most green newbie to the most experienced parliamentarians have posted questions here.

[David A Foulkes]

Btw isn't this the discussion board for novices?

Not just novices, as Chris H points out, but you are quite welcome to join in the fun.

[Gary Novosielski]

Hence my posting . I appreciate the responses. It was a voice ballot, we enforce 2/3 vote and she missed it by 1 vote, no one abstained. What happens in this case?

Btw isn't this the discussion board for novices?

Yes it is, welcome.

What happens in this case is that you begin to see why your custom rules are probably not as functional as the ones already included in RONR. Officers are typically elected by a majority vote. Also, voting Yes/No on elections is, shall we say, inadvisable, leaning sharply toward improper. "No" is not an option when you need an officer in office. In fact, on a ballot vote, "No" isn't even allowed. It's treated like an abstention or blank paper. For that matter, it's not even proper to do a 2/3 vote requirement by voice, since it can't be judged accurately. And since a voice vote is not a form of counted vote, it's impossible to say that she missed by one vote. I could go on.

No offense intended, but yes, you have found the right forum; welcome.

So, where you are right now is: sort of stuck.

You need to keep voting until your election is completed. You might do better switching to a ballot for your second round. Then people could write in other candidates. Or you could re-open nominations. Majority vote to do either.

Of course, by the rules in RONR if your bylaws do not require a ballot vote (and clearly they don't), then when there is only one candidate for an office the presiding officer can simply declare the candidate elected by acclamation. See if your bylaws prohibit that.

But voting No makes no sense. The only way to vote against a candidate is to vote for someone else. Leaving the office unfilled is not permitted. If people don't like the candidate, they should nominate someone else, or run themselves. Since "No" can never win, a vote for "No" isn't logically defensible.