Absentee Ballot

[Guest Ken]

Can a voting obtain an absentee ballot then decide not to use it to vote differently in person? Our bylaws do not cover this situation.

[jstackpo]

Unfortunately (for you) they should.   RONR offers few Absentee voting rules and suggest they are not a good idea anyway (p. 423), or an association should write its own rules.

 

Your association will have to answer your question; RONR doesn't.

[J. J.]

To use an absentee ballot in the first place, its use must be authorized in the bylaws (or higher level rule).

[Richard Brown]

Can a voting obtain an absentee ballot then decide not to use it to vote differently in person? Our bylaws do not cover this situation.

Without disagreeing with the responses by Dr. Stackpole and JJ, it seems to me that if the assembly has a way of confirming that the member has not in fact voted via absentee ballot, he should be able to cast his vote in person rather than by means of the absentee ballot.  There would have to be a mechanism in place to insure that he does not vote twice.

 

I'm basing my opinion more on voting and absentee ballot procedures for public (political) elections and what I think is common sense, rather than on any particular rule in RONR.  I don't think RONR addresses that specific issue.  It's quite common for citizens to request absentee ballots and then vote in person rather than using the absentee ballot.  In fact, in some jurisdictions, senior citizens and citizens with a disability can have an absentee ballot mailed to them automatically for every election.  That should not and does not, based on my research, disqualify them from voting in person.

 

Casting the ballot should be the issue rather than whether the member requested or obtained an absentee ballot.