Electronic Vote Recording in Minutes

[Guest John]

I sit on a Board of 10 members. We recently voted electronically on a hotly debated topic. The vote was called for by the President, and she asked that everyone "reply to all with comments and reasoning for your vote". Here are my questions:

1. Should the recording of the vote in the minutes reflect that 6 were for and 4 were opposed, or just state that the motion passed?

2. Should the minutes have the exact text of the email, or a summary?

3. Was this equivalent to a roll call vote and should names be attached to the votes in the minutes, or is it a ballot vote?

Thanks,

John

[David A Foulkes]

Let's go forward under the assumption your bylaws authorize this method of "electronic voting", for if they don't, all is null and void.

So, generally speaking:

1. The minutes don't reflect the vote count unless a counted method is used (counted rising, roll call, ballot, etc). Otherwise, they just note that the motion passed.

2. The minutes would reflect the exact wording of the motion as put by the chair (the original motion, as amended possibly). The rest is debate and not included, although a reference to "after debate and amendment" (if applicable) works.

3. If a motion to take a roll call vote was not adopted, or some rule requires it, then it would seem not. It doesn't very much resemble a (secret) ballot vote either.

The thing is, if you're going to venture outside the RONR standard of face-to-face meetings, you have to figure out how to handle all the details, including properly amending your bylaws and rules of order to answer all your questions.

Take a look at Section 48 (RONR 11th Ed) for details on minutes, and 44-45 for voting information.

[Trina]

Unless your bylaws explicitly authorize an electronic vote, all of this activity is null and void. How to record it in your minutes would be the least of your problems. Absentee voting, in any form, is not authorized by RONR, and must be explicitly authorized in the bylaws if it is to be used -- your President's calls and instructions notwithstanding.

[Tim Wynn]

I sit on a Board of 10 members. We recently voted electronically on a hotly debated topic. The vote was called for by the President, and she asked that everyone "reply to all with comments and reasoning for your vote". Here are my questions:

1. Should the recording of the vote in the minutes reflect that 6 were for and 4 were opposed, or just state that the motion passed?

2. Should the minutes have the exact text of the email, or a summary?

3. Was this equivalent to a roll call vote and should names be attached to the votes in the minutes, or is it a ballot vote?

Thanks,

John

All of this is way off RONR.

[Guest John]

OK, thanks all. I tried the argument that the vote should not count, but this is a very lax board of a local non-profit and they were not happy that I said that. I now feel confident in pushing the issue.

[Trina]

OK, thanks all. I tried the argument that the vote should not count, but this is a very lax board of a local non-profit and they were not happy that I said that. I now feel confident in pushing the issue.

In case page citations help your case:

RONR 11th ed. p. 423 ll.17-24:

'It is a fundamental principle of parliamentary law that the right to vote is limited to the members of an organization who are actually present at the time the vote is taken in a regular or properly called meeting... Exceptions to this rule must be expressly stated in the bylaws. Such possible exceptions include: (a) voting by postal mail, e-mail, or fax...'