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Uncontested nomination - HELP!


ranitamia

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I am a volunteer that serves as chair on a board. I am not extremely well versed in RROO. I am seeking guidance from this group of experts. If you can kindly source your response, that would be helpful so I can reference and research more later. My question:

My nominating committee has nominated one person to fill one seat on our board. The person nominated is an appointee who now must stand for election since the position he was appointed to fill has expired. The deadline to receive nominations by petition has expired with no one coming forward. In summary, this is an uncontested election. I am being told that "there needs to be a ballot, otherwise there is no election…and board members need to be elected." I understand that if the bylaws say there must be an election, then there must be one. Here is my problem: Our bylaws do not say "there MUST be a ballot and an election" but our bylaws do NOT say either that "you can dispense with balloting in uncontested elections." In reading through the bylaws, there is a section that is entitled "Nominations and Elections" and includes this:

"The Nominating Committee will determine the final ballot..."

"In the event an interested member is not nominated, his/her name can be listed on the ballot by submitting a petition containing...."

Article VIII - The Election Process

1. Ballots will list candidates in an order determined by the drawing of lots and will contain the candidate’s campaign statement. All incumbents will be clearly identified. Ballots will ask for the member's name. No other campaign collateral material is allowed during the elections process. Candidates in violation are subject to disqualification.

2. Completed ballots that have the names of more than the maximum number of open seats will be disqualified.

3. XYZ will receive and validate all ballots. Results will be shared with the Nominating and Executive Committees. In the event of a tie, the vote will be determined by a vote of the XYZ's current Executive Committee members, excluding those that are on the ballot.

The above is an excerpt to show that I am not seeing anything that says "you must have a ballot"...it only references how ballots are used and who curates results. I say we can declare the person voted in by acclamation. I am being told this is not the case.

I will work to revise the bylaws to add the statement about dispensing with balloting in uncontested elections, but for now, should I just yield to what I am being told in that we MUST send a ballot to formalize the election? It will most certainly look strange to members who receive a ballot with only one name and one position - why waste the time? BUT....I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Your help is much appreciated.

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At first blush it seems that a ballot vote is required given all of the references to one.

"If the bylaws require the election of officers to be by ballot and there is only one nominee for an office, the ballot must nevertheless be taken for that office unless the bylaws provide for an exception in such a case. In the absence of the latter provision, members still have the right, on the ballot, to cast "write-in votes" for other eligible persons. "  RONR (11th ed.), pp. 441-442.

Make sure there's a space for a write in.

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Agreeing with Mr. Mervosh, it seems to me that the interlocutor's arguments are incorrect (it is just not the case that elected offices must always be filled by ballot, which is what they are claiming) but the conclusion is correct.  And, unless there is some prohibition on write-ins, this is not a pointless formality and shouldn't look strange, since a write-in campaign could win.

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Mr Mervosh, thank you so much for the quick response. Regarding the write-in....must this occur despite the fact that the bylaws state that you can get your name on the ballot by nominating committee or petition? Does the absence of stating "no nominations from the floor, write in, by proxy, etc" mean that we must allow for it? If yes, what would be the purpose of the petition process if someone could simply write in another name? My apologies for my ignorance. Thank you in advance.

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44 minutes ago, Guest Who's Coming to Dinner said:

This is purely a matter of bylaw interpretation. It could be that your bylaws intend that the process limits voter choices, or maybe not. Only your organization can decide what its bylaws mean.

I agree, but I would add that, as a general matter, a prohibition on write-ins would look like that, not like a provision establishing a nominating committee or petition process.  

The purpose of a petitioning process, if write-ins are not prohibited, is that it is much harder to win as a write-in candidate, and most voters tend to vote for candidates on the ballot.  

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2 hours ago, ranitamia said:

Mr Mervosh, thank you so much for the quick response. Regarding the write-in....must this occur despite the fact that the bylaws state that you can get your name on the ballot by nominating committee or petition? Does the absence of stating "no nominations from the floor, write in, by proxy, etc" mean that we must allow for it? If yes, what would be the purpose of the petition process if someone could simply write in another name? My apologies for my ignorance. Thank you in advance.

The basic rule is that, if ballots are required, the bylaws would have to prohibit casting votes by write-ins (pp. 441-2).  Also see the footnote on p. 16. 

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