Guest Bonita Ramirez Posted June 4, 2012 at 03:59 PM Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 at 03:59 PM I have had this question several times recently. What if 20 people write in 'no one' on their ballot and 6 people vote for the single candidate who stood up and announced his intention to be elected for the position. Is 'no one' then elected and the Executive Committee may then appoint someone to fill the position? It seems to me to violate the spirit of fairness that Robert's establishes and presupposes that a great deal of behind-the-scenes electioneering has occured to get that many people to write in the same words on their ballot. And how would this be announced to the assembly, if this is a valid alternative? Certainly announcing it after a candidate has stated their name and intention would make the Chair seem biased and would be inappropriate. I struggle with this question every time it comes up and encourage the group to find several viable candidates for each position. As the organization shrinks, there are fewer persons willing to assume responsibility and they are left with only a few candidates and they are (apparently) not desirable to the group of people who pose this question to me. May I hear from the more experienced of the group? How would you handle it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted June 4, 2012 at 04:33 PM Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 at 04:33 PM I think that this could be reasonably interpreted 2 1 different ways and it would be up to the assembly to decide which interpretation to use (or there might be other reasonable interpretations as well). First is that a vote for "no one" would be in effect an abstention and would not count towards the calculation of who is elected (so only the votes of those members who actually voted for someone would count). The other interpretation is that a vote for "no one" being a vote for an unidentifiable candidate would be an illegal vote which would not be given to any candidate but would still count towards the calculation (RONR p. 416 ll. 2-5).Edited 'cause Dan is right (as usual). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edgar Posted June 4, 2012 at 04:39 PM Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 at 04:39 PM The other interpretation is that a vote for "no one" being a vote for an unidentifiable candidate . . .Unidentifiable? Really? Because no one knows who "no one" is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted June 4, 2012 at 05:34 PM Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 at 05:34 PM Unidentifiable? Really? Because no one knows who "no one" is?Well I never said that that is the interpretation that I support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Honemann Posted June 4, 2012 at 06:31 PM Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 at 06:31 PM I have had this question several times recently. What if 20 people write in 'no one' on their ballot and 6 people vote for the single candidate who stood up and announced his intention to be elected for the position. Is 'no one' then elected and the Executive Committee may then appoint someone to fill the position? It seems to me to violate the spirit of fairness that Robert's establishes and presupposes that a great deal of behind-the-scenes electioneering has occured to get that many people to write in the same words on their ballot. And how would this be announced to the assembly, if this is a valid alternative? Certainly announcing it after a candidate has stated their name and intention would make the Chair seem biased and would be inappropriate. I struggle with this question every time it comes up and encourage the group to find several viable candidates for each position. As the organization shrinks, there are fewer persons willing to assume responsibility and they are left with only a few candidates and they are (apparently) not desirable to the group of people who pose this question to me. May I hear from the more experienced of the group? How would you handle it?See if RONR Official Interpretation 2006-5 (found elsewhere on this site) is of any assistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted June 11, 2012 at 05:50 PM Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 at 05:50 PM I have had this question several times recently. What if 20 people write in 'no one' on their ballot and 6 people vote for the single candidate who stood up and announced his intention to be elected for the position. Is 'no one' then elected and the Executive Committee may then appoint someone to fill the position? It seems to me to violate the spirit of fairness that Robert's establishes and presupposes that a great deal of behind-the-scenes electioneering has occured to get that many people to write in the same words on their ballot. And how would this be announced to the assembly, if this is a valid alternative? Certainly announcing it after a candidate has stated their name and intention would make the Chair seem biased and would be inappropriate. I struggle with this question every time it comes up and encourage the group to find several viable candidates for each position. As the organization shrinks, there are fewer persons willing to assume responsibility and they are left with only a few candidates and they are (apparently) not desirable to the group of people who pose this question to me. May I hear from the more experienced of the group? How would you handle it?The only way to vote "against" someone is to vote for someone else. These votes are treated as abstentions because they show no evidence of any preference as to who should be elected. (They only show a preference as to who should not be, and that's not enough.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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