Bylaws Election Notice ?

[Guest Abigail]

Hello,

We have a situation here locally with our Civic Association.  There is a big power struggle going on.  We have had our election put off one month by the current president - he made this call 100% on his own and cancelled the regularly scheduled election.  He was advised he was not following the bylaws and Robert's Rules - which he was not at all.  On our written agenda for April 9th it stated the election will now be held May 14.  The floor had a discussion about it at that meeting and voted to hold the meeting May 14 - all who voted were in favor.  It has been discussed on our local neighborhood chat group - Nextdoor Neighbor the entire time as well.  A nominating committee has worked on accepting nominations.  Now the current president is trying to say we have not met the bylaws with proper notice.

 

Article IX Election

The election of officers will take place at the General membership Annual Meeting which will be held in April of each year.  Prior 30 day notice to all members is mandatory.

 

That is the entire section in the bylaws under the title of Election.  The current president is stating that the nominating commmittee needed to go out and find every single QUALIFIED member of the civic association and notify them personally.  This president has finally turned over the sign in sheets that have the named and contact information for the qualified members this past Saturday, April 25.  I do not see the words in the bylaws that state we have to notify each one personally.  If they don't come to the meeting or participate in the neighborhood chat group does this really mean the nominating committee must go out and hunt them all down?

 

Please advise if this is just his interpretation or is this true?

 

Thank you in advance for any assitance.

[Josh Martin]

Hello,

We have a situation here locally with our Civic Association.  There is a big power struggle going on.  We have had our election put off one month by the current president - he made this call 100% on his own and cancelled the regularly scheduled election.  He was advised he was not following the bylaws and Robert's Rules - which he was not at all.  On our written agenda for April 9th it stated the election will now be held May 14.  The floor had a discussion about it at that meeting and voted to hold the meeting May 14 - all who voted were in favor.  It has been discussed on our local neighborhood chat group - Nextdoor Neighbor the entire time as well.  A nominating committee has worked on accepting nominations.  Now the current president is trying to say we have not met the bylaws with proper notice.

 

Article IX Election

The election of officers will take place at the General membership Annual Meeting which will be held in April of each year.  Prior 30 day notice to all members is mandatory.

 

That is the entire section in the bylaws under the title of Election.  The current president is stating that the nominating commmittee needed to go out and find every single QUALIFIED member of the civic association and notify them personally.  This president has finally turned over the sign in sheets that have the named and contact information for the qualified members this past Saturday, April 25.  I do not see the words in the bylaws that state we have to notify each one personally.  If they don't come to the meeting or participate in the neighborhood chat group does this really mean the nominating committee must go out and hunt them all down?

 

Please advise if this is just his interpretation or is this true?

 

I certainly do not think it is correct that the nominating committee must personally hunt down every member of the society, but I'm also doubtful that talking about it at the meeting and discussing it on the chat room suffices. After all, the rule does specify that notice to all members is mandatory.

 

Generally speaking, a requirement of notice means that such notice must be delivered to all members in writing through the mail. Electronic methods (such as e-mail) are acceptable alternatives if authorized by the bylaws or if members have agreed to receive notice by such methods, but notice must still be sent to all members. I would also add that sending notices is typically the responsibility of the Secretary, not the nominating committee. It is disappointing that the President didn't point this out earlier, but it seems it may be necessary to reschedule the meeting (or at least the elections) again, in order to provide proper notice to all members.

 

Ultimately, of course, it will be up to the organization to interpret its own bylaws. See RONR, 11th ed., pgs. 588-591 for some Principles of Interpretation, and see pgs. 89-90, 121-124 for more information on notice.