do votes count at a board meeting if not all board members are invited.

[Guest michael]

if a board member is not invited to a board meeting by oversight or neglect by the chairman of the board, are the votes and decisions of that meeting null and void? His absence was not due to his unwillingness to attend but rather by omission of the board of directors.

[Chris Harrison]

Only those decisions where his vote could have affected the results (RONR pp. 252-253).

[Trina]

Also, even if the absent member's vote would not have been adequate to change the outcome, that doesn't mean that everything is hunky dory. Not notifying a member of a meeting is a big deal, and a point of order should be raised about the error, and about the violation of the member's rights.

I'm actually not convinced that Chris's answer is correct, since a fundamental principle of parliamentary law has been broken, and the rights of absentee(s) have been violated. I'm not at all sure this is all covered by the section on REMEDY FOR VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE (p. 252).

Sure, it could be a harmless oversight, and the member's vote might not have made a difference to anything. On the other hand, what about the situation where a member is intentionally left out of a meeting, for the specific purpose of adopting a motion taking some action that is adversarial to the absent member -- surely that couldn't be whitewashed with the same brush (i.e. the absent member's vote wouldn't have affected the outcome, so the action stands)?

Rambling on, I'm getting more convinced that the meeting (as described by the original poster) is indeed null and void -- the meeting itself is the action that is null and void (p. 251). This is all assuming that Michael is talking about a special meeting (not just about courtesy notice for a regularly scheduled meeting). No valid business can be conducted if the meeting is improper in the first place.

[Chris Harrison]

<snip>

I am not convinced that this is a violation of absentee rights but more information may be helpful. Maybe Michael can supply more information about what happened to give us a better idea in order to answer the question.

[Guest michael]

I am not convinced that this is a violation of absentee rights but more information may be helpful. Maybe Michael can supply more information about what happened to give us a better idea in order to answer the question.

I am not convinced that this is a violation of absentee rights but more information may be helpful. Maybe Michael can supply more information about what happened to give us a better idea in order to answer the question.

the board member in question was a newly elected board member by the membership. By overisight of the chairman of the board, who sends out the notices reminding board members of t he board meeting that is regularly scheduled on the the third sunday of every month, this new board member was omitted. His name came up at about the third meeting after his election as to why hasn't he attended any board meetings. After much discussion the realization was that he was not put on the e-mail list of the chairman of the board so that he could be notified of board business. The omission seems to be with the chairman.

[Trina]

the board member in question was a newly elected board member by the membership. By overisight of the chairman of the board, who sends out the notices reminding board members of t he board meeting that is regularly scheduled on the the third sunday of every month, this new board member was omitted. His name came up at about the third meeting after his election as to why hasn't he attended any board meetings. After much discussion the realization was that he was not put on the e-mail list of the chairman of the board so that he could be notified of board business. The omission seems to be with the chairman.

This is in the 'courtesy reminder' category, in my opinion. It's unfortunate the new member was left off the e-mail list, but it doesn't make the (regularly scheduled) meetings he missed invalid.

[sMargaret]

Would it change anything if the new member wasn't aware of when the regularly scheduled meetings were? I'm reading this as that the email list is the only way that the meetings are communicated to board members.

[Guest Edgar]

Would it change anything if the new member wasn't aware of when the regularly scheduled meetings were?

One could argue that members have a responsibility to know when the regularly scheduled meetings are held, though this also presumes that the organization makes this information readily available to new (and all) members. For instance, RONR (pp.14-15) recommends giving all new members a copy of the bylaws and any other pertinent rules.

[sMargaret]

Hmm. I was in this position once - attended general meetings, was elected to executive, chair person sent out email to "executive member list" but it wasn't updated with the two new members. I had a general idea of when the executive/board meetings were, but didn't know time or place.

The emails out in my case weren't a "reminder" - they were the only method of notifying members of that meeting.

It's not clear if that is the case in guest Michael's situation - would the new board member have known by any other method where and when the meeting was held?

However, given that this was three months after the election, the new board member - and the chair - really ought to have gotten in touch at some point.

[George Mervosh]

the board member in question was a newly elected board member by the membership. By overisight of the chairman of the board, who sends out the notices reminding board members of t he board meeting that is regularly scheduled on the the third sunday of every month, this new board member was omitted. His name came up at about the third meeting after his election as to why hasn't he attended any board meetings. After much discussion the realization was that he was not put on the e-mail list of the chairman of the board so that he could be notified of board business. The omission seems to be with the chairman.

So wait, this guy is on the Board for 3 months, and he doesn't take the initiative to call any other Board member about the Board meetings and no one at all contacted him?

No one in your society knows that the Board has monthly meetings, even a member who wants to be on that Board?

Seems like there is plenty of "omission" to go around.