Nominations and Election

[lmat]

Please forgive the convoluted nature of this question - 

 

Our nominating committee met to create a list of nominees.  The nominees were named and discussed.  Person A nominated herself for President.  Person B was nominated by the committee chair for president, but stated he would also be interested in 1st or 2nd vice president.  However, it was decided that Person B would be placed on the list on nominees as President and Person A would be placed as 2nd vice president.  

 

Our bylaws state that the nominating committee's list of nominees must be approved by the executive board as well as the board of governors.  It was recommended by the Executive Board that Person A and Person B be switched for 2 reasons.  1.  Person A only nominated herself for President and Person B was also interested in 1st or 2nd vice.

2.  There has been a loss of confidence in Person B as he resigned from his board position, committee chair position and as club member back in August.  The board voted to approve the new list of nominees.  Person A then accepted the bid for President, but Person B refused to give an answer.  

 

During open nominations, Person B nominated himself for President and 2nd Vice.  He later sent an email to the entire membership explaining how everything was done incorrectly and that he did not accept the nomination for 2nd vice from the amended list of nominees.  Does this announcement negate his self nomination of 2nd vice or does he still remain on the ballot for both president and 2nd vice?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dan Honemann]

Please forgive the convoluted nature of this question - 

 

Our nominating committee met to create a list of nominees.  The nominees were named and discussed.  Person A nominated herself for President.  Person B was nominated by the committee chair for president, but stated he would also be interested in 1st or 2nd vice president.  However, it was decided that Person B would be placed on the list on nominees as President and Person A would be placed as 2nd vice president.  

 

Our bylaws state that the nominating committee's list of nominees must be approved by the executive board as well as the board of governors.  It was recommended by the Executive Board that Person A and Person B be switched for 2 reasons.  1.  Person A only nominated herself for President and Person B was also interested in 1st or 2nd vice.

2.  There has been a loss of confidence in Person B as he resigned from his board position, committee chair position and as club member back in August.  The board voted to approve the new list of nominees.  Person A then accepted the bid for President, but Person B refused to give an answer.  

 

During open nominations, Person B nominated himself for President and 2nd Vice.  He later sent an email to the entire membership explaining how everything was done incorrectly and that he did not accept the nomination for 2nd vice from the amended list of nominees.  Does this announcement negate his self nomination of 2nd vice or does he still remain on the ballot for both president and 2nd vice?

 

Your question is rather convoluted because it appears that you have some convoluted (and silly) rules concerning nominations, but I see no reason why Person B's announcement that he "did not accept the nomination for 2nd vice from the amended list of nominees" would have any effect upon his nomination of himself for that office if "the amended list of nominees" clearly refers only to the list approved by the board.

[jstackpo]

Picking up and commenting on some of what you wrote...

 

"Our bylaws state that the nominating committee's list of nominees must be approved by the executive board as well as the board of governors."

 

This is a rule of your own (not a good one, in my view).  It is a matter of bylaw interpretation (the job of your members, collectively) to decide if the bylaw allows only a "rejection" of what the NomCom sent them or whether the Board(s) are free to rearrange the nominees at will. 

 

"Does this announcement negate his self nomination of 2nd vice or does he still remain on the ballot for both president and 2nd vice?"

 

There is no formal way in RONR to un-nominate oneself once nominated.  (An announcement that "If elected, I will not serve" would probably discourage voters, but the voters can still vote for any qualified person, nominated or not.)  So I'd say he is still on the ballot, and the voters will sort all this mess out eventually.

 

Person B's gripe that "everything was done incorrectly" has no bearing on the business at all, unless he raises a point of order in the meeting.  Just what does he think was "incorrect"?

[Transpower]

A member may nominate himself or herself.  The nominating committee may approve of more than one nominee for an office.  A member may be nominated for multiple offices, no problem.

[Josh Martin]

"Does this announcement negate his self nomination of 2nd vice or does he still remain on the ballot for both president and 2nd vice?"

There is no formal way in RONR to un-nominate oneself once nominated. (An announcement that "If elected, I will not serve" would probably discourage voters, but the voters can still vote for any qualified person, nominated or not.) So I'd say he is still on the ballot, and the voters will sort all this mess out eventually.

I'm not even sure the member's intent was to suggest that he is unwilling to serve. It may be that he simply does not accept the nomination from the board, but still wishes to nominate himself. While it does not appear that anything which has been done is actually improper (at least under the organization's strange rules), I can understand why the member would be frustrated with the board's treatment of him and would wish to distance himself from the board's list of nominees.

Based on this, I certainly agree that the member should remain on the ballot for both positions.

[lmat]

Thank you for your posts.  The board approval was put in place to serve as a checks and balances.  This has since been corrected in our bylaw revision for the next board year.  There is more to this saga, but I won't air it here.