Guest Cakelady Posted June 12, 2012 at 05:03 PM Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 at 05:03 PM Concerning Absentee Voting via postal mail for Election of Officers: Does it state anywhere in Robert's Rules that the return of any absentee ballots do not get mailed to an individual who is a candidate in the particular election, and should, in fact, be mailed to another responsible individual? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted June 12, 2012 at 05:27 PM Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 at 05:27 PM The ballots should be returned in"a specially recognizable, self-addressed return envelope with the name and address of the secretary, the chairman of tellers, or other person designated to receive the marked ballot."Yes, this should be a responsible individual. RONR says"The tellers should be chosen for accuracy and dependability, should have the confidence of the membership, and should not have a direct personal involvement in the question or in the result of the vote to an extent that they should refrain from voting under the principle stated on page 407."While it does not explicitly prohibit a candidate from being a teller, and while candidates need not refrain from voting under the principle on p. 407, the "confidence of the membership" would be appear to be the major consideration here.That, and the bylaws, which must authorize absentee voting if it to be allowed at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted June 12, 2012 at 06:20 PM Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 at 06:20 PM Do your bylaws allow for mail in voting? If they don't you can't use it and any votes through that method would be null and void (RONR pp. 423-424, p. 251[d]). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Ed Posted June 12, 2012 at 07:23 PM Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 at 07:23 PM Concerning Absentee Voting via postal mail for Election of Officers: Does it state anywhere in Robert's Rules that the return of any absentee ballots do not get mailed to an individual who is a candidate in the particular election, and should, in fact, be mailed to another responsible individual?Absentee voting is only allowed if specified in the By-laws. The By-laws would have to specify how absentee voting works - including any restrictions on who may collect them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cakelady Posted June 12, 2012 at 07:35 PM Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 at 07:35 PM Yes, our Bylaws at the International level do allow for absentee voting for our Board of Directors and Officer elections. This also carries down to our State Chapters for their elections. However, our State Chapter Representative has changed procedures mid-stream and is having absentee ballots and proxy ballots returned to her, even though she is a candidate on the ballot. Our standing rules for representatives do list "...or return them to a responsible individual not a candidate on the ballot." I was looking for wording in Robert's Rules as a backup for a more solid argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edgar Posted June 12, 2012 at 07:40 PM Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 at 07:40 PM I was looking for wording in Robert's Rules as a backup for a more solid argument.More solid than an explicit prohibition in your own rules??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted June 12, 2012 at 07:44 PM Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 at 07:44 PM "I was looking for wording in Robert's Rules as a backup for a more solid argument."I fear you won't find it -- the relevant thing is "The chair appoints the tellers" - p. 414. But that applies in a meeting.All the other details about mail voting are supposed to be in your bylaws, although RONR does offer useful advice about how to conduct mail voting - p. 424.Looks to me that your chapter representative hasn't read the bylaws, or thinks she can just ignore the parts she doesn't like. That's not the way things are s'posed to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted June 13, 2012 at 03:52 PM Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 at 03:52 PM Yes, our Bylaws at the International level do allow for absentee voting for our Board of Directors and Officer elections. This also carries down to our State Chapters for their elections. However, our State Chapter Representative has changed procedures mid-stream and is having absentee ballots and proxy ballots returned to her, even though she is a candidate on the ballot. Our standing rules for representatives do list "...or return them to a responsible individual not a candidate on the ballot." I was looking for wording in Robert's Rules as a backup for a more solid argument.Even if RONR said that they MUST be returned to the candidate (which would be ridiculous) your own rules would supersede RONR. So you have what you need at your disposal. Raise a point of order that the voting procedure is improper, and while you're at it considering what would be an appropriate discipline for the State Chapter Rep for her actions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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