Nomination Process/From the Floor

[Schroeder]

In the Constitution and Bylaws, our organization has a specific procedure for nominating a Director. The nominees are then elected at the general meeting of the organization. There is no reference to nominations from the floor in the Constitution. The question is: At the meeting where the nominees are elected, is it permissible to allow nomination from the floor. Thanks for your comments and feedback.

[Richard Brown]

RONR provides that nominations from the floor must be permitted unless you have a superior rule that prohibits them.

From page 435 of RONR:  "Call by the Chair for Further Nominations from the Floor. After the nominating committee has presented its report and before voting for the different offices takes place, the chair must call for further nominations from the floor."

Also, write in candidates must be permitted unless your bylaws or a superior rule prohibits them.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 4/12/2016 at 1:50 PM, Schroeder said:

In the Constitution and Bylaws, our organization has a specific procedure for nominating a Director. The nominees are then elected at the general meeting of the organization. There is no reference to nominations from the floor in the Constitution. The question is: At the meeting where the nominees are elected, is it permissible to allow nomination from the floor. Thanks for your comments and feedback.

It depends on what the "specific procedure" is in your bylaws.

[Schroeder]

Thanks for the responses. Our procedure states that each District is to nominate a national director at least 60 days prior to the general meeting. That nominee is then elected at the general meeting.

[Kim Goldsworthy]

A motion, "To re-open nominations", is probably in order -- based on your snippet, and assuming that you quoted the rule in full, and have no other rule in place.

While the nomination period is officially closed, it is simple (in the parliamentary sense) to re-open nominations.

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Note that there is no "previous notice" going on here. -- The communication is one-way, i.e., inward, from the general membership  (at the District level) to the central body who is collecting names of nominees.

 

[Schroeder]

Thanks Kim. Here is the language from the Constitution: "The National Directors are nominated as follows: "One Director from each Director shall be nominated at the plenary meeting to be held at least 60 days prior to the National Convention." (NOTE: The National Convention is the general meeting to which I referred in the original post.) In short, each District is required to nominate one person from that District to serve as a Director.) There is no other rule in place regarding nominations.

To clarify your point, you are suggesting that in order for a nomination to come from the floor, there has to be a motion to re-open nominations?

[Kim Goldsworthy]

3 hours ago, Schroeder said:

. . . are you are suggesting that in order for a nomination to come from the floor, there has to be a motion to re-open nominations?

Under plain-vanilla Robert's Rules, that is perfectly allowable.

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Imagine a scenario where the nominee died. -- You may have had exactly one nominee for each slot: Pres., V.P., Tr. Sec.

So, (a.) Miss Jones is suddenly in the hospital, in ICU; and (b.) Mr. Smith suffers a stroke, and thus won't be able to serve if elected.

Under such a scenario, Robert's Rules allows for nominations to be re-opened, by majority vote, so that "replacement" names may be offered, for the two slots which no longer have a realistic candidate associated with that slot.

This, despite the nomination process which had been fulfilled 100% per all deadlines.

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What is stopping you from doing the same thing?

[Gary Novosielski]

Does it actually say "One Director from each Director"?

[Dan Honemann]

Schroeder, how many Districts are there, and how many Directors are elected at the National Convention?

 

[Schroeder]

Great responses. Thank you. 

I understand the issue about a nominee not being able to fulfill their role, death or any other circumstance. I would agree in that case that nominations would have to be open from the floor. The main concern driving my original question is in our current situation, at the District meeting at which a nominee is chosen, there is a contested election and the nominee is chosen. The loser of that contest then goes to the Convention and seeks to be nominated from the floor. Since the District chose a nominee according to the Constitution, can that person "challenge" the District's nominee at the Convention, or are nominations closed once that District chooses its nominee?

To Gary's question, yes that is the language.

Daniel, there are 8 Districts and 8 Directors are elected.

 

[Dan Honemann]

Since, in accordance with the prescribed procedure, there are always only 8 nominees to fill 8 positions, when it becomes time at the National Convention for the election of Directors, what happens? What does the chair say and how is the election conducted?

It appears to me that under the prescribed procedure, nomination is tantamount to election.

[Schroeder]

You are correct, the nomination is basically an election, but because of other regulatory rules the Directors must be elected by the Convention. At past Conventions, the chair has asked if there are any other nominations, essentially opening the floor for other nominations. In only one instance more than 20 years ago was a nomination made from the floor. In that case, an election was held and nominee was defeated by the person nominated from the floor at the Convention. That led to bad feelings which still even exist today. Even though there has not been a similar incident, the question is still asked.

[Dan Honemann]

Well, if the chair at past Conventions has asked if there are any other nominations, I'm willing to assume he knew what he was doing based upon these "other regulatory rules" that I know nothing about. 

[Schroeder]

Correct, everyone at the Convention understands that Districts nominate a Director and the Convention then elects those individuals.

[Dan Honemann]

9 minutes ago, Schroeder said:

Correct, everyone at the Convention understands that Districts nominate a Director and the Convention then elects those individuals.

Apparently the chair doesn't think so. If he did, he would not ask, as you say he does, if there are any further nominations. He would just declare that the 8 nominees are elected.