Guest Vicki Posted June 9, 2016 at 04:49 PM Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 at 04:49 PM Can a Board member vote over he phone. She can not be at the meeting and our President has chosen to allow her to be on the phone during the meting, When we have a vote, is her vote counted?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted June 9, 2016 at 04:56 PM Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 at 04:56 PM Unless your bylaws specifically allow for absentee voting, no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transpower Posted June 11, 2016 at 02:16 PM Report Share Posted June 11, 2016 at 02:16 PM I've been the parliamentarian at numerous audioconferences--they work quite well. But as Mr. Mervosh has said, your bylaws must allow for this. RONR (11th ed.), p. 98. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g40 Posted June 12, 2016 at 02:34 PM Report Share Posted June 12, 2016 at 02:34 PM On Thursday, June 09, 2016 at 0:56 PM, George Mervosh said: Unless your bylaws specifically allow for absentee voting, no. I think I might term this participation in the meeting by phone vs. "absentee". I do agree that such participation would need to be allowed in the Bylaws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weldon Merritt Posted June 12, 2016 at 09:05 PM Report Share Posted June 12, 2016 at 09:05 PM 6 hours ago, g40 said: I think I might term this participation in the meeting by phone vs. "absentee". I do agree that such participation would need to be allowed in the Bylaws. Wheter you agree or not, if it isn'tt in the byalws or a higher-level authorityu)you can't do it. Anyone who is not physically present at the meeting is an "absentee." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Hunt Posted June 13, 2016 at 12:35 PM Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 at 12:35 PM I have to disagree with you there, Mr. Merritt. RONR allows an assembly to authorize a committee to meet by teleconference without any special authorization from the bylaws, and it would be rather absurd to say that the committee can meet by teleconference but members not present in the same physical location as someone else (the chair? a randomly selected member? Whoerver is closest to the clubhouse?) cannot vote. So the answer to the original question comes down to first determining whether an applicable authority (most likely bylaws but possibly also a statute or terms of reference) allow the member to participate by phone. If they are allowed to do so, then they are fully participating and have all the same rights and privileges as if they were physically present. If, however, they do not, then the member is considered absent while listening in, and therefore does not count towards quorum, cannot move motions, cannot vote without specific provisions to that effect, and so on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Honemann Posted June 13, 2016 at 02:18 PM Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 at 02:18 PM Well, just to confuse matters further, I'll say that one difference between a member who is participating in a meeting by conference telephone call (RONR, 11th ed., pp. 97-99) and one who is participating by postal mail, e-mail, fax, proxy, etc. (RONR, 11th ed., pp. 423-429) is that the former may be participating in a meeting of a deliberative assembly, whereas the latter is not, but there may be differing views as to how much difference this difference makes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g40 Posted June 13, 2016 at 02:51 PM Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 at 02:51 PM 17 hours ago, Weldon Merritt said: Wheter you agree or not, if it isn'tt in the byalws or a higher-level authorityu)you can't do it. Anyone who is not physically present at the meeting is an "absentee." I agree that this must be defined in the Bylaws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted June 13, 2016 at 03:20 PM Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 at 03:20 PM Well, to get a bit technical and picky, a committee is not a "deliberative assembly" according to RONR. On the other hand, a board, which guest Vicki was asking about, IS considered a deliberative assembly. From page 489 of RONR: "Unlike a board, a committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Honemann Posted June 13, 2016 at 05:17 PM Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 at 05:17 PM 1 hour ago, Richard Brown said: From page 489 of RONR: "Unlike a board, a committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly." ... and there may be differing views as to how much difference this difference makes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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