Elections

[Guest Roger Musbach]

Our bylaws state:

“The executive committee shall consist of not less than three nor more than nine proprietors and shall be elected at the first general meeting of the corporation and thereafter at each annual general meeting provided that where there are not more than three proprietors the executive committee shall consist of all the proprietors”.

There is no mention of the method to elect this EC. There are some that want to limit the number of members by having those elected by more yes votes than no votes. Others want to elect all those entitled up to the # of 9 While I have gone through the Robert Rules of Order, I find nothing to be able to use in regards to the correct way to elect members of a EC. In the past it has been both ways. Any help would be appreciated. In

[Josh Martin]

Our bylaws state:

“The executive committee shall consist of not less than three nor more than nine proprietors and shall be elected at the first general meeting of the corporation and thereafter at each annual general meeting provided that where there are not more than three proprietors the executive committee shall consist of all the proprietors”.

There is no mention of the method to elect this EC. There are some that want to limit the number of members by having those elected by more yes votes than no votes. Others want to elect all those entitled up to the # of 9 While I have gone through the Robert Rules of Order, I find nothing to be able to use in regards to the correct way to elect members of a EC. In the past it has been both ways. Any help would be appreciated. In

The membership should adopt a motion determining how many members the board shall consist of (and of course, it will have to be within the range of 3-9). Then you would elect that many directors.

[Guest Roger Musbach]

When trying to set the number of EC members at 7 we were told by the attorney that because the bylaw stated from 3 to 9 we could not limit it. To asure that we would get the owners on that we wanted it was decided that we would vote the 9 with the most votes would be on. That failed and the HOA voted more yes than no votes would get on. Oue team won but only because we had more votes on our side. It doesn't work that way every year. Thanks for your comments, just wanted to let you know what happened.

[Josh Martin]

When trying to set the number of EC members at 7 we were told by the attorney that because the bylaw stated from 3 to 9 we could not limit it.

I always advise following the advice of the society's attorney above anything I might say, especially for an HOA. Apparently there are applicable laws at play.

Given this, I suppose that the rule effectively means that you have a board of nine, and you may as well amend the rule to state that since the range is apparently meaningless.

To asure that we would get the owners on that we wanted it was decided that we would vote the 9 with the most votes would be on. That failed and the HOA voted more yes than no votes would get on. Oue team won but only because we had more votes on our side. It doesn't work that way every year.

For future reference, both of these methods are wrong (although the first is closer to correct). Each member may vote for up to nine candidates. The nine candidates with a majority of the ballots cast are elected. If more than nine have a majority, the candidates with the greatest majority are elected. If fewer than nine have a majority, then those candidates with a majority are elected, and you'll need to hold additional rounds of balloting for the remaining positions.

[Dan Honemann]

The procedure prescribed in RONR (11th ed.), on page 441, lines 11-24, for election of committee members by ballot, as outlined above by Josh Martin, assumes that the number to be elected has been previously determined.

in view of the fact that your bylaws simply establish a range of not less than three nor more than nine, my advice would be that you check once again with your attorney to make sure that you understand what he is saying with regard to how the number of committee members is determined, and once determined, how it can be changed.