Nominations from the floor

[Guest Mel Hollingsworth]

When having an election to fill a seat on a non-profit organizations board of directors, must you allow nominations from the floor?

[jstackpo]

Unless the bylaws clearly say otherwise, YES!

Also allow space on the ballots for (un-nominated) write-in votes.

[Guest Guest]

RONR says otherwise if they're not doing them at all (page430 lines 17-20) but otheriwse sure.

[Trina]

RONR says otherwise if they're not doing them at all (page430 lines 17-20) but otheriwse sure.

I find this post very confusing. If one looks just at the cited sentence, it is still confusing. In case the original poster is confused also, here is the citation in context; note the final sentence in particular:

'Strictly speaking, nominations are not necessary when an election is by ballot or roll call, since each member is free to vote for any eligible person, whether he has been nominated or not. In most societies, however, it is impractical to proceed to an election without first making nominations. While members are always free to "write in," on a ballot, the name of an eligible person who has not been nominated, or to vote for an eligible non-nominee during a roll-call vote, under normal conditions it is likely that most members will confine their choice to the nominees. Without nominations, voting might have to be repeated many times before a candidate achieved the required majority.' (RONR 11th ed. p. 430 l. 17 - p. 431 l. 8).

Or, to put it another way, if you are using nominations (e.g. from a nominating committee), you must also allow for nominations from the floor (see, for example, p. 435 ll. 10-12 regarding nominations from the floor following the report of a nominating committee)... unless the bylaws specifically prohibit nominations from the floor.

[Gary Novosielski]

I guess I don't share the confusion. The last sentence seems to explain quite well why nominations are often a good idea. In the absence of nominations, a large number of write-in candidates might each receive a few votes, and it might take several rounds of balloting before a winner emerges.

[Trina]

I guess I don't share the confusion. The last sentence seems to explain quite well why nominations are often a good idea. In the absence of nominations, a large number of write-in candidates might each receive a few votes, and it might take several rounds of balloting before a winner emerges.

I took the time to type out the longer citation, specifically to get the whole context, including that last sentence. Post #3 referred to p. 430 ll. 17-20 (the first sentence only).