member not present to vote

[madfox]

At one of our board meetings, a member was not present when the vote was taken. He arrived two minutes before the end of the meeting, and the vote was taken 30 minutes before he arrived. His vote was not counted at all, resulting in 5 YES, and 4 NO votes. The people he represents now say that an absent vote counts as a NO.

Does a member's vote who is not present count as a NO or should it not count at all?

[Josh Martin]

Does a member's vote who is not present count as a NO or should it not count at all?

It does not count at all.

Perhaps the people he represents should elect someone more punctual the next time around.

[Chris Harrison]

At one of our board meetings, a member was not present when the vote was taken. He arrived two minutes before the end of the meeting, and the vote was taken 30 minutes before he arrived. His vote was not counted at all, resulting in 5 YES, and 4 NO votes. The people he represents now say that an absent vote counts as a NO.

Does a member's vote who is not present count as a NO or should it not count at all?

Unless the bylaws say otherwise ya' gotta be at the meeting at the time the vote is taken in order to vote (RONR pp. 408-409). So if the member is not there then he doesn't get a vote.

[David A Foulkes]

The people he represents now say that an absent vote counts as a NO.

Ask these people to show you where it says this. Unless the vote required something other than a majority (such as a majority of the entire membership) by which the 5-4 vote did not attain enough affirmative votes, this is incorrect.