Voting

[Guest Mary Beth]

I belong to an organization that has a very limited constitution. Recently, we held an election for a Trustee. Hours before the election, one of the individuals requested via letter, email and text to have his name withdrawn from the ballot for personal reasons. The individual running the meeting did not see any of these communications until after the vote. There were 4 positions and 6 individual on the ballot. The individual who withdrew his name won one of the seats. He does not want it. What is our next step? Does the next person get the position, or do we need to have a total revote? Please help.

Current Constitution:

Sec. 4.  Trustees and their alternates shall be elected at the last yearly meeting of the Council, with a term commencing July 1.

Sec. 5.  Elected trustees shall continue to discharge their duties until their successors are seated by the organization.  

Sec. 6.  A vacancy in the trusteeship shall be filled by a special election by voting representatives with nominations from the floor at the meeting immediately following notification of the vacancy.

[Josh Martin]

3 minutes ago, Guest Mary Beth said:

I belong to an organization that has a very limited constitution. Recently, we held an election for a Trustee. Hours before the election, one of the individuals requested via letter, email and text to have his name withdrawn from the ballot for personal reasons. The individual running the meeting did not see any of these communications until after the vote. There were 4 positions and 6 individual on the ballot. The individual who withdrew his name won one of the seats. He does not want it. What is our next step? Does the next person get the position, or do we need to have a total revote? Please help.

Current Constitution:

Sec. 4.  Trustees and their alternates shall be elected at the last yearly meeting of the Council, with a term commencing July 1.

Sec. 5.  Elected trustees shall continue to discharge their duties until their successors are seated by the organization.  

Sec. 6.  A vacancy in the trusteeship shall be filled by a special election by voting representatives with nominations from the floor at the meeting immediately following notification of the vacancy.

The member should first be informed of his election. He is indeed elected, and if he wishes to take the position now, he is free to to do so. If he declines the position, another round of voting must be held for this seat only.