Presidential Voting

[Guest Jake]

Hello everyone,

      So in looking at the rules of order, the president is allowed to vote on ballots. Recently, an organization of mine had elections with ballot voting. However, one of the votes was a tie. In the event of a tie where the president has already voted, does the president still break the tie?

[Sean Hunt]

No. In a ballot vote, because the President has an opportunity to vote along with the rest of the membership, does not have the right to cast his vote after everyone else. He must cast his vote along with the other members and in no circumstances should be permitted a second vote (which would violate a fundamental principle of parliamentary law). The vote is simply a tie and should be taken again.