Ballot Content & Format

[Guest Lisa]

We vote using a paper ballot on an annual basis if there is a petition canidate. My questions:

1. Can there be unrelated information that is unrelated to the issues to be voted on by members of the societies printend on the actual ballot? Example being a required notice of the annual meeting that must be sent out via USPS Postal Mail. If not, could this negate the votes due to an illegal ballot?

2. Is there a specific ballot format when voting to approve revisions to the club's C&BL? I ask, as there is copy of the document that shows the revisions, though the existing language in that document is NOT all exact as it appears in the last approved C&BL that the proposed new language will replace. The Board chose to send the ballot for a yes or no vote for whole document and not just the relevant sections, which I believe us in their power to decide.???

Please let me know if more information is needed and I loOK forward to your replies.

Regards, Li

[Kim Goldsworthy]

We vote using a paper ballot on an annual basis if there is a petition canidate.

Q1. Can there be unrelated information that is unrelated to the issues to be voted on by members of the societies

be printed on the actual ballot?

Example being a required notice of the annual meeting that must be sent out via USPS Postal Mail.

If not, could this negate the votes due to an illegal ballot?

Q2. Is there a specific ballot format when voting to approve revisions to the club's C&BL?

I ask, as there is copy of the document that shows the revisions,

though the existing language in that document is NOT all exact as it appears in the last approved C&BL that the proposed new language will replace.

The Board chose to send the ballot for a yes or no vote for whole document and not just the relevant sections, which I believe us in their power to decide.???

 

R1.) No.

 

". . . required notice to annual meeting . . ."

 

Q. You are MAILING the ballot, along with the call-to-meeting, along with all the previous notices?

 

You cannot hide the call-to-meeting, or hide all the previous notices, which is what you will be doing.

Printing such information on a ballot is unclear to the reader, who will likely not see it. -- It is clutter. It is a burden on the recipient to filter all that text and find the relevant information.

 

If you are mailing out the call-to-meeting and all the previous notices, then you best include a cover letter, explicity saying that the document is the call-to-meeting, and then list the notices so given.

The cover letter should be clear, not cluttered, as such text on a ballot would be.

For example the cover letter could say this:

"Dear Member . . . this is the call-to-meeting for the Annual General Membeship meeting, at [location] on [date / hour] . . . Please find enclose a copy of your ballot . . . The following items are the previous notices given for the business to be transactioned [list of items] . . ."

 

Now, other clutter, like advertising, or sponsorships, or plugs for upcoming events, is a different problem.

Such information is not mandatory information.

So its presence, or absence, on any document is not crucial to business of the organization.

 

". . . If not, could this negate the votes due to an illegal ballot? . . ."

 

In general:

Just have extraneous text on a ballot won't invalidate the ballot.

 

But beware:

We get questions al lthe time about erroneous information printed on a ballot which either taints the ballot or voids the ballot. Or which confuses the voter!

So, whatever extra fluff and nonsense you place on your ballots, be aware that you are messing with dynamite.

***

 

R2.) Unclear.

 

Q. Are you amending your bylaws by _________:

(a.) a set of individual changes, here and there, peppered throughout the document?

or

(b.) adopting a 100% new document?

 

Format #b is called a "revision".

In a revision, you keep zero percent of the old Constitution and Bylaws, when you adopt the new Constitution and Bylaws.

 

I am concerned that the language is incorrect, as you say (". . . not all exact . . .").

How can you possibilty vote "yes" on language which isn't the intended language?

 

When the format is #a (normal amendments), then the voting is done on each piece of text.

For example, you might approve the amendment to Article I, defeat the amendment to Article III, approve the amendment on Article V, and so on, by voting separately on each amendment.

 

I do not know which format you will be using.

But that is the generic way of doing it.

[Edgar Guest]

A ballot can be as simple as a blank piece of paper on which the voters indicate their preferences. It needn't, in this example, contain the entire text of the proposed amendments though, of course, that information should be available.

 

Failure to provide proper notice for a meeting will likely render all actions taken at the meeting (not just the elections) null and void

[Guest Lisa]

Thank you for your responses.

Question 1 - The Board has submitted changes that do not fit in either format as suggested as  a) or , rather a mish-mosh of both and I can only hope that it will be voted down.  It is good to know that unless non-related information should not affect the outcome of unless it is predjudicial to the issues in question.

 

[Guest Lisa]

I am more concerned with the potential for improper notice of the Annual Meeting.

 

Question 2 - They have provided a document as stated in a mish-mosh state, which makes it as clear as mud.

 

As always, it has been informative and very helpful.

[Kim Goldsworthy]

I am more concerned with the potential for improper notice of the Annual Meeting.

Question 2 - They have provided a document as stated in a mish-mosh state, which makes it as clear as mud.

 

You are not the first person to post a question where the call-to-meeting was weird, irregular, or otherwise questionable.

 

Personal comment:

I have seen (and heard of) many organizations who vote down bylaws amendments just because of the clarity of the format, and not the because of the amendment's text itself.

So, that "mish-mosh" is a real dis-service the the members, i.e., the readership, who must make heads or tails out of too much text.

The party responsible for the text of the amendments and for the text of the call-to-meeting must draft the text in clear language, and that is only half the job. -- The other half is to format the text so that the relevant parts (highlights or primary information) can be found first, before reading the detail.

It just isn't fair to the reader (or the many delegates at a convention) to spend time wading through fluff and filler, when the clock is ticking and valuable meeting time is wasted.

Or as they say in phone-texting nowadays, "TMI" (i.e., "too much information").

(That's my Soap Box Rant of the Day.)  

[Josh Martin]

I am more concerned with the potential for improper notice of the Annual Meeting.

While it is quite unusual to include notice of the annual meeting on a ballot (rather than on a separate piece of paper), in my opinion, the call is still valid so long as it sent to all members the required number of days and advance and includes all necessary information (the date, time, and place of the meeting).

Question 2 - They have provided a document as stated in a mish-mosh state, which makes it as clear as mud.

When a revision is proposed, the proposed revision replaces the existing bylaws in their entirety, so a single vote on the entire document is proper. It is unfortunate that the information the board has provided does not accurately reflect the current wording of the bylaws, but since a revision replaces the entire bylaws, I do not believe this fact would invalidate the vote.