Non Votes or Abstaining of Votes

[Guest Bob]

My union e-board recently voted on whether to support legal representation of a union member on a legal matter.  There are 14 members of the eboard.  The vote was 5/7 to not support legal assistance.  1 person abstained from the vote due to a conflict of interest and another was not at the meeting.

 

The person that abstained from the vote stated that even with the conflict of interest he would have voted to support legal assistance.

 

My question is - should or do the 2 non votes count in favor of the union member's request.  If they count to support legal representation then it would be a tie 7/7 and then the union president can vote who also stated he would support legal representation.

 

Thanks

Bob

 

[Chris Harrison]

Generally speaking the results of a vote are calculated from those who actually voted on the question (abstentions are not votes and absentee voting isn't permitted unless the bylaws provide for it). 

[Josh Martin]

My question is - should or do the 2 non votes count in favor of the union member's request.

 

No.

 

Generally speaking the results of a vote are calculated from those who actually voted on the question (abstentions are not votes and absentee voting isn't permitted unless the bylaws provide for it). 

 

And even in the cases where abstentions and/or absentees would affect the result, they would have the same effect as votes against the motion.

[Richard Brown]

My question is - should or do the 2 non votes count in favor of the union member's request.  If they count to support legal representation then it would be a tie 7/7 and then the union president can vote who also stated he would support legal representation.

 

Not that it would make any difference in this case, but unless you have a rule or bylaw provision to the contrary, under RONR the president not only can vote to break a tie, he can vote to CREATE a tie, which can cause a motion to fail.  He can also vote to make or break a two-thirds vote.  He can vote whenever his vote would affect the outcome.

 

If your board elects to use the "small board rules" in RONR, which can be used by boards of no more than "about a dozen members", the president makes motions, debates, and votes just like the other members.  RONR, pages 9-10 and 486-487

[Timothy]

It appears that the union president is not a member of the board, so this may be a case where the president is only allowed to vote if there is a tie. We know that is silly, but if that's what their bylaws say, then that's the way it is.

[jstackpo]

 

If your board elects to use the "small board rules" in RONR, which can be used by boards of no more than "about a dozen members", the president makes motions, debates, and votes just like the other members.  RONR, pages 9-10 and 486-487

 

The wording on p. 487 makes it clear that the "small board rules" are the default for, well, small boards.  There is no requirement that the Board "elect" to use them.  Indeed, a small Board would have to elect to use the full formal rules if they wanted to, as applicable to assemblies in general.