Nomination & Election procedure queries

[Guest Cathy Stubbs]

1. If in an election forum there is no quorum (2/3), is it okay for the presiding officer to sanction the nominations and elections to continue and the outcome still be valid?

2. Does a ballot sent in have to be signed?

3. Is the meeting nomination & election process valid without a register being taken?

[Chris Harrison]

1) With a few exceptions no business can be validly conducted when there is no quorum.

2) If the bylaws specifically provide for mail in voting by ballot it will be up to you all to work out the details.

3) If by "register being taken" you mean having roll call at the start of the meeting nothing in RONR requires it.

[Guest Edgar]

Does a ballot sent in have to be signed?

In fact, the ballot should not be signed. Votes by ballot are, by definition, secret and there should be absolutely no way to identify the voter by examining the ballot.

[Guest Guest]

1) With a few exceptions no business can be validly conducted when there is no quorum.

2) If the bylaws specifically provide for mail in voting by ballot it will be up to you all to work out the details.

3) If by "register being taken" you mean having roll call at the start of the meeting nothing in RONR requires it.

Thank you so much.

[Guest Guest]

In fact, the ballot should not be signed. Votes by ballot are, by definition, secret and there should be absolutely no way to identify the voter by examining the ballot.

Excellent. Thank you

[Gary Novosielski]

But it is quite common to require that the envelope in which the ballot is contained should be signed--on the outside. That's to insure the vote actually came from a member. But once opened, the ballot inside should contain no identifying marks. The ballot is removed and mixed with the other ballots without being unfolded.