Josh1978 Posted February 7, 2016 at 03:22 AM Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 at 03:22 AM I have a question, we had a vote for regular membership from Probationary membership at our last meeting, some are questioning whether the vote was legal because some are questions some of the voters qualifications to vote. Historically, we have never qualified the voters for general company business, only for elections of officers. The individual was not accepted for regular membership and some are calling the vote illegal and want a re-vote. I am including the sections of our bylaws that govern qualifications to vote. Any assistance would be great! We have historically allowed hand votes and ballot votes on motions at "Regular" meetings not Elections by any member that is not a probationary member. ARTICLE III - CLASSIFICATION OF MEMBERSHIP Section 1 – Regular Member a. Any member, whether probationary, Active, Life, Cadet, or Supporting shall be considered a Regular member if said member successfully met the requirements of the County Bill No. XX-XX as amended by Bill No. XX-XX, and entitled Pension Benefits: Chapter XX Article XX, Section X-X (herein after called the Pension System) for the previous year. b. Failure to meet the participation requirements for the calendar year shall result in a change of status to at Life Membership or if ineligible for Life membership, then to Affiliate membership. Life and Affiliate members may regain Regular membership status by meeting the participation requirements for Regular members for the previous pension year. Section 2 – Active Member (Added May 2005) a. Is a person who participates in Fire or EMS duties and meets the requirements of a regular member. b. May vote and hold office if eligible under Article VII. Section 3 – Probationary Member a. Is a person who receives a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of acceptance from the Active membership at a regularly scheduled Company meeting. The probationary period shall be a minimum of six (6) months from the date of the majority vote. b. Disapproved applications for membership shall not be resubmitted for at least six (6) months from the date of disapproval and the application fee shall be returned to the disapproved applicant. c. Shall not vote or hold office. d. Shall be eligible for Active membership after six (6) months, if he/she has successfully completed a Basic Firemanship Course or Fire Fighter First Responder training or above and a valid CPR certification, and does not have any disciplinary action against him/her. If above training has not been successfully completed after one (1) year, he/she shall be classified as a supporting member, if eligible for this classification, see Article III, Section 2e, until he/she meets the above requirements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hieu H. Huynh Posted February 7, 2016 at 04:17 AM Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 at 04:17 AM Could the votes of those not allowed to vote affect the results of the vote? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Goldsworthy Posted February 7, 2016 at 10:30 AM Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 at 10:30 AM 6 hours ago, Josh1978 said: The individual was not accepted for regular membership, and some are calling the vote illegal and want a re-vote. *** Section 3 – Probationary Member a. Is a person who receives a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of acceptance from the Active membership at a regularly scheduled Company meeting. The probationary period shall be a minimum of six (6) months from the date of the majority vote. b. Disapproved applications for membership shall not be resubmitted for at least six (6) months from the date of disapproval and the application fee shall be returned to the disapproved applicant. Although you have a rule restricting the Probationary Member from "re-submission", I do not think this rule prevents the voting body from voting again on a Probationary Member. It isn't the Probationary Member who is making any re-submission; it would be the voting body voting on the original submission. So, go ahead and vote again, if a Point of Order is raised, and if you find that the number of questionable votes cast would have affected the result. *** If the number of questionable votes cast is less than the margin of defeat, then, under Robert's Rules of Order, no re-vote is to be done, as the net result would not change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted February 7, 2016 at 07:41 PM Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 at 07:41 PM 9 hours ago, potzbie said: . . . . So, go ahead and vote again, if a Point of Order is raised, and if you find that the number of questionable votes cast would have affected the result. I believe the correct statement would be "if you find that the number of questionable votes cast COULD have affected the result". There is usually no way to know how or for whom those questionable votes were cast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 8, 2016 at 01:55 AM Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 at 01:55 AM Thank you all for the replies and advise. Thank you again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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