President resigned

[Trina]

Isn't that what the text, as cited in post #10, indicates? Either there will be a "generic" vacancy-filling provision and, if desired, a president-specific provision, or at the very least, the vacancy-filling provision will indicate specifically that the procedure applies to the presidency as well as all other officers/positions.

I suppose so. I just find it odd (and troubling) if the outcome is that perfectly clear language in the bylaws (no ambiguity, and no doubt about the intent of the writers of the bylaws) might not supersede the rule in RONR in this instance. Perhaps the focus is on what the words 'specific' and 'particular' mean.

[Guest Edgar]

I find this line of reasoning quite unconvincing.

To tell you the truth (and that's just an expression, not an indication that I needed to upgrade my ethical standards!), I'm becoming a little less convinced myself. I still like the idea of saying that a vacancy never exists (and so any vacancy-filling provisions, no matter how specific, wouldn't apply) but it's beginning to smack of sophistry. And yet (at the risk of betraying my age) I keep think of JFK's assassination and the idea that there never was a moment when the U.S was without a President. That is, the office never became vacant.

But I'm going to rest my case (or what's left of it) and enjoy the rest (if any) of the discussion.

nFP7RS

[David A Foulkes]

I still like the idea of saying that a vacancy never exists (and so any vacancy-filling provisions, no matter how specific, wouldn't apply) but it's beginning to smack of sophistry.

If the bylaws state (something like) in case of death, resignation, or removal of the president, a special meeting of the membership shall be called to hold a special election for the office, would there be a vacancy during the period until such election is completed?

[Dan Honemann]

But I'm going to rest my case (or what's left of it) and enjoy the rest (if any) of the discussion.

There really isn’t much to discuss. Based upon the facts presented in this thread, the response in post #3 is correct, and the response in post #4 is wrong (if we assume, which I think we have the right to do, that RONR is the adopted parliamentary authority).

In this particular instance, the answer is rather clear. One can, of course, add more or different facts to those presented in order to change the correctness of any response (if one insists upon being tiresome), but this should come as no surprise, particularly when dealing with a bylaws interpretation question.

[Gary Novosielski]

This seems to have been well hashed out, but weighing in late anyway, it should be apparent that that the language in the 11th edition is crystal clear.

In the absence of a specific rule applying to the presidency in particular, succession is automatic. Therefore, language such as "any office" or "any of the above offices" will normally have no applicability to the presidency, as the vacancy will not occur.

Abnormally, however, a presidential vacancy can occur when circumstances make automatic succession impossible, e.g., a preëxisting unfilled vacancy in the VP spot, or the president and VP are both killed in the same bizarre paper-shredding accident, just to name two. In such cases, the "any office" language would apply, because the vacancy really exists.

Now, it may well be that the intent of the drafters of that language was to have the rule apply to the presidency but, if so, it would not be the first example of bylaws language that failed to implement the authors' intent because somebody did not appreciate the effect of the use, or omission, of certain parliamentary terms of art.

It's certainly possible for an organization to have bylaws that prevent automatic succession to the presidency (I happen to be president of one that does), but if that is the intent, they will need to write a specific rule that applies to the presidency in particular, and include that rule it in their bylaws.

[Guest Nancy N.]

The bunch of you are nuts. I'm gonna marry Chris and have his baby. Also Trina. And maybe Novosielski and Edgar. Ghod, I'm a slut.

3