Motions between Tie Vote/Re-Vote

[Guest KB]

Our HOA Just had an election regarding an in house Resident Manager.  A Committee was formed to elect Three Candidates, All three were presented and we moved forward to voting first by a motion to eliminating the third (bad idea in retrospect), then BLIND BALLOT Casted for the remaining two.

 

First issue was that there was a TIE (3-3),  We are a Nine Member board, we had quorum of more than five (6 specifically), however the PRESIDENT Could not confirm wether a Majority Vote of Quorum members was all that was needed or a Majority of Total board (5).  Therefore we closed to discuss the options with our MANAGING AGENT the following day since she was not present at the meeting.  

 

Overnight, someone called to change his vote from one candidate to the other Via Phone to our Managing Agent thereby supposedly yielding a Majority.

 

Re-vote was declared via email, however a motion to reconsider candidates was made, and seconded before any second to revote or even official statement motion to revote was made.

 

Is this change of vote automatically considered acceptable and the majority automatically accepted even though it was a blind vote and session closed without continuance issued or will it only count towards a RE-Vote?

 

 

At this point is a motion to revote necessary?  IF So is a motion to reconsider Acceptable from either side voting party since no Majority was declared?

 

If the motion to re-vote is unnecessary and considered automatic then the rest is Moot except for the fact that voting was conducted via email which our by-laws has no specifications regarding the rights of doing so.

 

I believe his change of vote is null for the instance regarding the results of the closed ballot conducted the previous night.  It is acceptable change for the revote, however that seems to be a motion that needs to be declared.  IN light of a motion to re-vote so too should we consider a motion and second to reconsider before moving forward in voting.

 

The president stood by his decision to allow the automatic revote, tallied new votes (4-0) since the two that motion had abstained, new RM installed.  I can not push forward any wrong doing at this point, but as matter of teaching and educating the board, and myself I would love to hear your perspective in accord with ROR.

 

I have read motions regarding votes, and ties, and this is very gray from what I could gather from the existing forums.  Unfortunately the formality of Roberts rules is mostly not considered in most board meetings, however, state statutes regarding Condo. Associations specifically recommend we conduct business with such guidance and formality.

 

Mahalo Nui Loa (Thank you very much)

 

 

KB

[Josh Martin]

Our HOA Just had an election regarding an in house Resident Manager.  A Committee was formed to elect Three Candidates, All three were presented and we moved forward to voting first by a motion to eliminating the third (bad idea in retrospect), then BLIND BALLOT Casted for the remaining two.

 

Is a "blind ballot" just another phrase for "secret ballot?" I'm not entirely familiar with the term.

 

First issue was that there was a TIE (3-3),  We are a Nine Member board, we had quorum of more than five (6 specifically), however the PRESIDENT Could not confirm wether a Majority Vote of Quorum members was all that was needed or a Majority of Total board (5).  Therefore we closed to discuss the options with our MANAGING AGENT the following day since she was not present at the meeting.  

 

Unless your rules provide otherwise, it's neither. The default requirement for adopting a motion is a majority of the members present and voting.

 

Also, the assembly should not have adjourned before the chair declared the result of the vote. I'm very puzzled as to why he did, since it seems clear that the motion failed regardless of the answer to his question. No candidate received a majority in either case.

 

Overnight, someone called to change his vote from one candidate to the other Via Phone to our Managing Agent thereby supposedly yielding a Majority.

 

In the ordinary case, a member is free to change his vote up until the result has been announced, or promptly after the result has been announced if he receives unanimous consent to do so. This case is somewhat puzzling, as the chair announced that the vote was 3-3, but the meeting was adjourned before the chair announced whether the motion was adopted or lost. A member certainly may not change his vote via phone outside of a meeting unless your bylaws provide otherwise. I'm also confused as to why he called the managing agent instead of the chair.

 

There is also the fact that it seems the election was conducted by secret ballot (unless I misunderstood what you meant by "blind ballot"). In such a case, a member cannot change his vote, since there's no way of verifying how the member voted in the first place.

 

Re-vote was declared via email, however a motion to reconsider candidates was made, and seconded before any second to revote or even official statement motion to revote was made.

 

Unless your bylaws provide otherwise, motions, seconds, and votes cannot be conducted by e-mail. Seconds also aren't required if you're using the small board rules.

 

Is this change of vote automatically considered acceptable and the majority automatically accepted even though it was a blind vote and session closed without continuance issued or will it only count towards a RE-Vote?

 

I don't think it counts at all. When the assembly has another vote, then the member can vote how he pleases. If you're conducting the vote by secret ballot, he can't be bound by what he said over the phone. He might vote differently in secret.

 

At this point is a motion to revote necessary?  IF So is a motion to reconsider Acceptable from either side voting party since no Majority was declared?

 

If the motion to re-vote is unnecessary and considered automatic then the rest is Moot except for the fact that voting was conducted via email which our by-laws has no specifications regarding the rights of doing so.

 

The assembly would automatically vote again in order to complete an incomplete election. Any voting conducted by e-mail is null and void unless your bylaws or applicable law provide otherwise.

 

I believe his change of vote is null for the instance regarding the results of the closed ballot conducted the previous night.  It is acceptable change for the revote, however that seems to be a motion that needs to be declared.  IN light of a motion to re-vote so too should we consider a motion and second to reconsider before moving forward in voting.

 

I agree that the changed vote is not valid.

 

I'm not sure why you think someone needs to move to revote. If I understand the facts correctly, your assembly did not elect a Resident Manager on the first ballot, and it is required to elect one. So why wouldn't a revote be automatic?

 

As for Reconsider, I'm not clear on what exactly you'd be reconsidering. If you want to nominate more candidates, a member may move to reopen nominations. A majority vote is required for adoption. Additionally, write-in votes are permitted unless your bylaws provide otherwise.