Voting by Ballot

[Guest Tammy Ligon]

when voting by ballot, if there is a box passed around and everyone puts their votes in, once that box has been opened, has voting been stopped? Reason I ask, we had a membership of 60 people at the meeting and only 59 votes were tallied after the box was opened. There was a question asked if someone did not vote. One person said she did not vote and she was allowed to vote and it made it a tie 30/30 instead of the original count of 30/29. What does Roberts rules say in regards to this matter?

[Chris Harrison]

Did the Chair declare the polls closed or a motion was adopted setting a time limit that the polls were to remain open? Or was that 60th member still filling out her ballot or approaching the ballot box when it was opened?

[Guest e]

If all that was announced is that you were one vote "short", and the results (30/29) weren't announced, permitting the member to cast a late vote doesn't seem like that much of a big deal (in fact, you pretty much offered her the opportunity to do so).

On the other hand, if she (alone among all the voters) knew the results before she voted, I'd say it's a fairly big deal.

[Tim Wynn]

when voting by ballot, if there is a box passed around and everyone puts their votes in, once that box has been opened, has voting been stopped?

"When everyone appears to have voted, the chair inquires, 'Have all voted who wish to do so?' If there is no response, he says, 'If no one else wishes to vote… [pause], the polls are closed,' thus in effect declaring the polls closed by unanimous consent. Thereafter, if other members arrive who wish to vote, a majority vote is required to reopen the polls.' - RONR (11th ed.), p. 415, ll.13-19.

"The assembly itself is the judge of all questions arising that are incidental to the voting or the counting of the votes." - RONR (11th ed.), p. 409, ll. 16-18.

Things are simpler and clearer when the rules are followed.