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Non Member Chair Tie Breaker


Guest ELopez

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Not sure what text you're referring to.  RONR is not vague.  A person who is not a member of the body that is meeting may not vote, under the circumstances you mentioned, or any others.  

Besides, ties do not require "breaking".   Since a tie is less than a majority, the outcome is already clear: The motion fails.

If the chair is a member of the body, he has the right to vote but, to preserve the appearance of impartiality, usually does not vote (except in small boards or on ballot votes) unless his one vote would make a difference.  But even this does not imply "breaking" a tie, because the chair might vote to create a tie if he opposed the motion, or to deny or achieve a 2/3 vote, depending on the outcome desired..

Edited by Gary Novosielski
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I'm having trouble getting my head around a scenario that meets your criteria of a "chair" who is a "non-member."

RONR provides for a professional parliamentarian who is not a member of a society being invited to preside at a meeting, in which case that individual clearly is not a member of the society, and therefore does not have a vote, since voting is right of membership. And RONR pg. 488, ll. 18-20 states that in small boards, "if the chairman is a member, he may, without leaving the chair, speak in informal discussions and in debate, and vote on all questions." The implication is that if the chair is not a member, he does not have that right - under any circumstances.

On the other hand, RONR provides for non-members being appointed to committees. By their appointment, such individuals are member of that committee, regardless of the fact that they are not members of the society to which the committee reports and is accountable. In that scenario, a non-member of the society could still be a member of a subordinate unit of that society and, if chair, could vote - although I would note that committee chairs have voting rights under the provision stated above under the provisions for small boards; that is, they can always vote, and not just on occasions when their vote affects the result.

 

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An organization has an assembly meeting. The president is absent and so is the vice-president. The assembly elects a president pro tempore that is not a member of the organization. He presides but has no voting rights. Had this same person been selected by the assembly as a member of a committee or board, that person would have voting rights according to the rule. I see no problem with any of this. Is there? Did I miss something?

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4 hours ago, Greg Goodwiller, PRP said:

I'm having trouble getting my head around a scenario that meets your criteria of a "chair" who is a "non-member."

 

It seems to me safe to assume that the question refers to a person who is not a member of whatever body is meeting.  

Agreeing with the prior answers, it should be remembered that the rules about the chair voting when it changes the outcome (not to break a tie) are about the chair not exercising his right to vote (which he has when he's a member, and not the rest of the time) in other circumstances.  They are not about the chair gaining an extra vote - in other words, the chair may not vote with the body and then again to "break the tie."  So, a chair who never had the right to vote has no right to exercise or not.

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