Guest Jay Posted October 14, 2015 at 04:50 PM Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 at 04:50 PM the by-laws read-each candidate for an elected office shall be balloted on separately in a manner decided upon by a majority of the eligible voting members present at the election.The candidate receiving the majority of votes shall be declared elected. Based on this if there is only one person running and there are 11 voting members present does that person need 6 yes votes to win?I the person only gets less than 6 with all others abstaining does that person win?Help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hieu H. Huynh Posted October 14, 2015 at 04:57 PM Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 at 04:57 PM Ultimately it is up to your organization to interpret your bylaws. If the candidate receiving the majority of votes shall be declared elected, then that's what should be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Curious Posted October 14, 2015 at 05:11 PM Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 at 05:11 PM Majority of votes is not the same thing as majority of members. An abstention does not count as a vote. It will take more than half of the votes cast (with someone's name indicated) to elect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hieu H. Huynh Posted October 14, 2015 at 05:15 PM Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 at 05:15 PM Also see FAQ #6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hieu H. Huynh Posted October 14, 2015 at 05:22 PM Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 at 05:22 PM In addition, voting "yes" or "no" is improper in ballot elections. In such elections, the only way to vote against a candidate is to vote for someone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted October 14, 2015 at 06:22 PM Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 at 06:22 PM the by-laws read-each candidate for an elected office shall be balloted on separately in a manner decided upon by a majority of the eligible voting members present at the election.The candidate receiving the majority of votes shall be declared elected. Based on this if there is only one person running and there are 11 voting members present does that person need 6 yes votes to win?I the person only gets less than 6 with all others abstaining does that person win?Help?For starters, you don't vote "yes" or "no" when voting on an election by ballot. You need to vote for a person. Members can vote for this person or write-in another name.Beyond that, it will be up to your organization to interpret its own rules. See RONR, 11th ed., pgs. 588-591 for some Principles of Interpretation. I don't envy you this task, as your rules appear to be contradictory on this subject. You first say that the election shall be "decided upon by a majority of the eligible voting members present at the election," but immediately afterward, you say that the candidate received the "majority of votes" shall be declared elected.If the "majority of votes" is what is required (as is the case in RONR), then the candidate needs a majority of the votes cast. Abstentions are not counted, and members can't vote "no" - they'd need to vote for someone else. In that situation, the member would be elected if, for instance, he received only one vote and all the other ballots were abstentions.On the other hand, if the "majority of the eligible voting members present at the election" is what is required, then if there are 11 members present, the member will need six votes cast for him, or he will not be elected.In any event, however, this person will be elected eventually unless the assembly can find someone else. If no one is elected on the first ballot, another round of balloting is held, and so on and so on until someone is elected. Electing no one isn't an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Curious Posted October 14, 2015 at 06:30 PM Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 at 06:30 PM You first say that the election shall be "decided upon by a majority of the eligible voting members present at the election," but immediately afterward, you say that the candidate received the "majority of votes" shall be declared elected. the by-laws read-each candidate for an elected office shall be balloted on separately in a manner decided upon by a majority of the eligible voting members present at the election. To me, this sentence addresses the balloting method, not the election requirement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted October 14, 2015 at 06:32 PM Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 at 06:32 PM To me, this sentence addresses the balloting method, not the election requirement.Yes, I think that is certainly one reasonable interpretation of the apparent conflict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted October 16, 2015 at 04:32 PM Report Share Posted October 16, 2015 at 04:32 PM the by-laws read-each candidate for an elected office shall be balloted on separately in a manner decided upon by a majority of the eligible voting members present at the election. your rules appear to be contradictory on this subject. You first say that the election shall be "decided upon by a majority of the eligible voting members present at the election," but immediately afterward, you say that the candidate received the "majority of votes" shall be declared elected. To me, this sentence addresses the balloting method, not the election requirement. I agree with guest Curious. It seems clear to me that the provision at issue refers to determining the manner of balloting, not to the votes needed to elect. I believe that the intent of both provisions is clear when read as a whole. But, as always, it's up to each organization to interpret its own bylaws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmuel Gerber Posted October 16, 2015 at 06:58 PM Report Share Posted October 16, 2015 at 06:58 PM each candidate for an elected office shall be balloted on separately in a manner decided upon by a majority of the eligible voting members present at the election.The candidate receiving the majority of votes shall be declared elected. To me, this sentence addresses the balloting method, not the election requirement. Yes, I think that is certainly one reasonable interpretation of the apparent conflict. And what might be another reasonable interpretation? I agree that the meaning of the first sentence is not entirely clear. Read literally, it states that each candidate is balloted on separately, not that each office is balloted on separately. I think it is clear, however, that the voting requirement stated in the first sentence relates directly to deciding the manner of balloting. Otherwise, the sentence has to be read as saying that "each candidate shall be balloted on . . . by a majority . . .", which makes no sense at all (since it would have only a majority of the members present doing the balloting). And then the words "in a manner decided upon" would be left as a separate phrase in which "decided upon" is left hanging without saying who is doing the deciding and how, and that is also a highly unlikely interpretation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted October 19, 2015 at 01:14 AM Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 at 01:14 AM The more I read that bylaws language the less sense it makes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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