Email votes

[Guest Michele]

Following Robert's rules of order how does a committee that meets face to face on a regular basis conduct an email vote when needed?

[Hieu H. Huynh]

RONR prohibits voting by email.

[Richard Brown]

4 minutes ago, Guest Michele said:

Following Robert's rules of order how does a committee that meets face to face on a regular basis conduct an email vote when needed?

Per RONR, unless authorized in the bylaws or the motion creating the committee (or sometimes by a standing rule), neither committees, boards nor the society itself can have electronic meetings or absentee electronic votes (or mail votes) at all.

Can you explain a bit more what your situation is and why you think an email vote is needed?  Also, how was this committee created?  Is it established in the bylaws?

This quote from page 97 of RONR might be helpful:  "ELECTRONIC MEETINGS IN COMMITTEES. As in the case of a board or any assembly, committees that are expressly established by the bylaws can hold a valid electronic meeting only if authorized in the bylaws to do so. A committee that is not expressly established by the bylaws, however, may instead be authorized by a standing rule of the parent body or organization, or by the motion establishing the particular committee, to hold electronic meetings. "

[Guest Michele]

Thank you for your response. The committee is faculty forum. We meet monthly. This month we had a meeting at the first of the month and a program proposal needed to occur before the next meeting (February). The program proposal was sent to all faculty for review and a chance to ask questions. When none were received an email was sent out asking for a email vote. It is not listed in our bylaws-I have the RONR in brief. What are your recommendations?

[Guest Who's Coming to Dinner]

Call a special meeting, if permitted in your bylaws, to consider the proposal.

[Bruce Lages]

I'm not sure that the rules for special meetings apply to committees, since they usually meet as needed, at the call of the chair, or otherwise on their own schedule. Even if the committee sets up a regular meeting schedule, I  don't think anything in RONR prevents them from calling additional meetings.

[Kim Goldsworthy]

2 hours ago, Guest Michele said:

Following Robert's rules of order

how does a committee that meets face to face on a regular basis conduct an email vote when needed?

The Book does not have a protocol for "voting via email".

So you are on your own.

***

If/When the parent assembly authorizes "voting via email", you have more than one way of accomplishing this end.

The primary factor is, "Is secrecy of the ballot to be preserved?"

If no secrecy of the ballot is to be preserved, then you have no problem, Just email your vote to the designated party (chief teller? secretary?).

[dnelson]

I want to know, Are people use similar places like "VAPULSEMEDIA" to get email votes?

Because when I google, I found this.

So I want to make sure what type of email voting you telling on this thread?

Check the below picture on the site about email voting..

When you have time, pls explain.

Edited April 10, 2017 at 09:09 AM by dnelson
missed some point

[Guest Sarah]

Lol, that's interesting.

نویا سیستم

On 4/10/2017 at 1:37 PM, dnelson said:

I want to know, Are people use similar places like "VAPULSEMEDIA" to get email votes?

Because when I google, I found this.

So I want to make sure what type of email voting you telling on this thread?

Check the below picture on the site about email voting..

When you have time, pls explain.

 

[Guest Roberta Marsh]

On 1/30/2017 at 8:47 AM, Guest Michele said:

Following Robert's rules of order how does a committee that meets face to face on a regular basis conduct an email vote when needed?

What is the answer to the above question?

[Josh Martin]

13 minutes ago, Guest Roberta Marsh said:

Following Robert's rules of order how does a committee that meets face to face on a regular basis conduct an email vote when needed?

What is the answer to the above question?

The answer is: It doesn't, unless the committee is specifically authorized to conduct business by email or if the committee's members can unanimously agree.

For starters, committees cannot meet electronically by any means unless authorized to do so. What level of rule is required to authorize this depends on how the committee was established.

"As in the case of a board or any assembly, committees that are expressly established by the bylaws can hold a valid electronic meeting only if authorized in the bylaws to do so. A committee that is not expressly established by the bylaws, however, may instead be authorized by a standing rule of the parent body or organization, or by the motion establishing the particular committee, to hold electronic meetings." (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 98)

Secondly, when RONR discusses "electronic meetings," this suggests meeting by a technology which (at a minimum) allows members to hear each other at the same time, which email does not. RONR does not recommend adopting rules which permit conducting business by email.

"It is important to understand that, regardless of the technology used, the opportunity for simultaneous aural communication is essential to the deliberative character of the meeting. Therefore, a group that attempts to conduct the deliberative process in writing (such as by postal mail, e-mail, "chat rooms," or fax)—which is not recommended—does not constitute a deliberative assembly. Any such effort may achieve a consultative character, but it is foreign to the deliberative process as understood under parliamentary law." (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 98)

There is, however, one potential workaround in the case of a committee... but only if all members of the committee agree.

"In the case of a committee, however, if it is impractical to bring its members together for a meeting, the report of the committee can contain what has been agreed to by every one of its members." (RONR,  11th ed., pg. 503)

Edited June 25, 2020 at 10:13 PM by Josh Martin