elections

[Guest Sandy Smith]

When an election is held by ballot vote, does the president have to read the total results aloud, or is it enough that it be recorded in the minutes.

also is it necessary to always hold the ballots for 30 days so that if necessary the election could be challenged,

then is the motion to destroy ballots after the election out of order.

If an election is questioned, it cannot be done if there are no ballots to recount?

as you can see, confusion on this issue

[David A Foulkes]

When an election is held by ballot vote, does the president have to read the total results aloud, or is it enough that it be recorded in the minutes.

There should be tellers who distribute, collect and count the ballots. They record the counts on paper (the tellers' report) and read the numbers out loud to the assembly. They hand the report to the chair, who reads the numbers again, and announces the result. The report should be recorded as noted and read in the minutes.

also is it necessary to always hold the ballots for 30 days so that if necessary the election could be challenged,

Barring a rule, or motion adopted to destroy them, the ballots should be retained securely by the secretary until the time within which a recount may be ordered expires, typically the next regular meeting if held within a quarterly time interval, after which the ballots should be destroyed.

then is the motion to destroy ballots after the election out of order.

If an election is questioned, it cannot be done if there are no ballots to recount?

A motion to destroy the ballots after the results have been announced by the chair is not out of order.

See pp. 412-419 (RONR 11th Ed.) for all the gory details, with a focus on the tellers' report beginning on p. 417.

[Josh Martin]

If an election is questioned, it cannot be done if there are no ballots to recount?

Yes, it is correct that if the ballots are destroyed, a recount will not be possible. A motion to destroy the ballots is common in large assemblies which meet annually (or less often), since the expense and logistics involved in a potential special meeting to order a recount would not be desirable.