Nominations

[Guest Dwayne]

At recent annual HOA meeting president nominated his wife for a candidate on the board. She was not present and could not state if she accepted nomination or not. Was this procedure flawed? What is the remedy?

[George Mervosh]

At recent annual HOA meeting president nominated his wife for a candidate on the board. She was not present and could not state if she accepted nomination or not. Was this procedure flawed? What is the remedy?

 

The presiding officer in a larger assembly should not be making nominations, but it's too late to worry about that this time.  The fact she was not present is not a problem as nominations don't need to be accepted.

[Dan Honemann]

At recent annual HOA meeting president nominated his wife for a candidate on the board. She was not present and could not state if she accepted nomination or not. Was this procedure flawed? What is the remedy?

 

Nothing wrong with this as far as RONR is concerned.

[Gary Novosielski]

At recent annual HOA meeting president nominated his wife for a candidate on the board. She was not present and could not state if she accepted nomination or not. Was this procedure flawed? What is the remedy?

No, the procedure was not flawed.

[Rev Ed]

At recent annual HOA meeting president nominated his wife for a candidate on the board. She was not present and could not state if she accepted nomination or not. Was this procedure flawed? What is the remedy?

 

While the person chairing the meeting (normally the President) should not be entering into debate, making motions, voting (except to make or break a tie), make nominations, etc. unless in a small Board setting or in a Committee, if the President/Chairman is a member (i.e. an owner in this case), then he can make a nomination.

 

Nominations, per RONR, cannot be refused.  However, as nominations are debatable, a nominated person can state that "I will (or will not) accept election to the position of ____."  An election is not complete until the elected person accepts election.

 

The procedure was not not flawed, and the members do not have to elect the wife if they do not want to.  I would assume that the wife knew that her husband would nominate her, so would accept election if applicable.

 

I guess the obvious question now is, was she elected or not?  And were there any other candidates?

[Josh Martin]

Nothing wrong with this as far as RONR is concerned.

 

Not even with the presiding officer making a nomination?

[Gary Novosielski]

Not even with the presiding officer making a nomination?

Maybe, maybe not, but the question seemed to be on the matter of acceptance of the nomination. It seems likely that the president would be on the short list of people who might know whether his wife would accept, if it were true that acceptance was required.

The key piece of missing info here is whether the wife was elected, and if so whether she accepted the office (which in this case is required).

[Josh Martin]

Maybe, maybe not, but the question seemed to be on the matter of acceptance of the nomination. It seems likely that the president would be on the short list of people who might know whether his wife would accept, if it were true that acceptance was required.

The key piece of missing info here is whether the wife was elected, and if so whether she accepted the office (which in this case is required).

 

Well, the poster's question was "Was this procedure flawed? What is the remedy?" So it's not entirely clear to me whether his concern was with the fact that the President made the nomination, that he nominated his wife, and/or that the nominee was not present. There is certainly no flaw in the latter two issues so far as RONR is concerned. I'm inclined to agree with Mr. Mervosh that there is a flaw in the first... but there's not really any remedy for it, especially at this point.

[Guest Dwayne]

Thanks so much for answering my question

Yes wife was elected. The president used proxies to elect his wife, which was enough to dominate small meeting .This was to keep me off the board because I disagree with their out of control spending and raising dues. Five people had been nominated for 5 vacancies, so I would have been elected to the board if not for the last second maneuver of president nominating his wife.

What could have been my objection to the president making nominations?

[Thomas Ralph]

Are proxies authorized in your bylaws?

[Josh Martin]

Yes wife was elected.

 

Since she was not present at the time of election (and does not appear to have previously indicated that she consented to her candidacy), the election became final when she was informed of her election, provided she did not decline. I take it that she did not decline.

 

The president used proxies to elect his wife, which was enough to dominate small meeting .

 

Proxies are not permitted unless authorized in your bylaws. If proxies are not authorized, then the election is null and void if the proxies could have affected the result (which appears to be the case). If proxies are authorized in your bylaws, better luck next year.

 

What could have been my objection to the president making nominations?

 

The presiding officer (except in a committee or small board) should refrain from speaking in debate or making motions while presiding, in order to preserve the appearance of impartiality. By making a nomination, he showed himself to be partial in the election. This could undermine members' perceptions of whether he would fairly apply the rules.

 

Of course, this Point of Order wouldn't get you very far, as the presiding officer still has the right to make nominations. He could have relinquished the chair for the duration of the election, and then it would have been perfectly proper for him to make a nomination. Even if he had refused to relinquish the chair, he could not have actually been prevented from making a nomination. It's also possible someone else could have nominated his wife. Additionally, as noted, it's much too late to raise a Point of Order about this now.