Voting Privileges

[tomg]

Our Bylaws State: There shall be five categories of members in the Club designated as Senior, Senior Golden Age, Honorary, Junior and Provisional Membership. Each Senior, Senior Golden Age and Honorary memberships may be counted only once in all matters requiring a signature, a vote, a quorum or a petition. The Junior Membership and the provisional Membership carry no voting privileges.

Senior Membership: Senior members shall be over the age of 21 years at the beginning of the fiscal year, and shall pay dues plus tax, plus special assessments. They and their wife/husband and children under 21 years of age, shall be entitled to all of the privileges of the Club.

Question: Can a husband and wife sit on the same committee and both have voting privileges?

Do both Husband and wife both have voting privileges at all.

[Guest Edgar]

Question: Can a husband and wife sit on the same committee and both have voting privileges?

Do both Husband and wife both have voting privileges at all.

I'm afraid you'll have to figure that one out for yourselves. In RONR-Land, all members are created equal and no one cares if you're married. Or not.

[Tim Wynn]

Our Bylaws State: There shall be five categories of members in the Club designated as Senior, Senior Golden Age, Honorary, Junior and Provisional Membership. Each Senior, Senior Golden Age and Honorary memberships may be counted only once in all matters requiring a signature, a vote, a quorum or a petition. The Junior Membership and the provisional Membership carry no voting privileges.

Senior Membership: Senior members shall be over the age of 21 years at the beginning of the fiscal year, and shall pay dues plus tax, plus special assessments. They and their wife/husband and children under 21 years of age, shall be entitled to all of the privileges of the Club.

Question: Can a husband and wife sit on the same committee and both have voting privileges?

Do both Husband and wife both have voting privileges at all.

RONR does not prevent a husband and wife from serving on the same committee, and each member of a committee has full rights of participation in the committee, including the right to vote, whether or not a member of the organization.

[Josh Martin]

Can a husband and wife sit on the same committee and both have voting privileges?

Yes. This one is easy, since the murky issue of their membership in the organization has no bearing on their membership in committees. Non-members of the organization can serve on committees and have the same rights as any other committee member.

Do both Husband and wife both have voting privileges at all.

Well, I suppose that depends on how your organization interprets "shall be entitled to all of the privileges of the Club." See RONR, 11th ed., pgs. 558-591 for some Principles of Interpretation.

So far as RONR is concerned, voting is a right of membership, not a privilege, so that may be something to take into account in interpreting your rules.

[E A Lemoine]

The premise of this question seems to be that the "Senior Membership" applies to a family, and whether all in the family are entitled to the rights with that membership. As noted above, you will want to follow RONR's Principles of Interpretation.

Another important consideration is how the husband/wife were both chosen to serve on this committee -- were they elected by the membership? That may also have bearing on the matter as well.