President Elect reaches term limit

[Guest Confused]

Our ByLaws have a term limit provision of 10 years. For some reason that is unclear to me, a president elect candidate was presented to the board as qualified and voted in as President Elect for 2018. This person is serving their 10th year. He cannot serve as President because this person has reached their limit. The 2019 board has already met per our Bylaws and elected the 2019 Slate. The current board now realize they have an issue and the current President Elect has proposed our bylaws and policy change to adapt to this station. The current board is not showing signs of being in favor of this proposed change. Should the current President Elect remove themselves from this position and if so, the current president must  immediately appoint a new president elect. If the president chooses to apppint the person that holds the office of president- elect for 2019 as president elect for 2018 (and thereby President for 2019), does this mean that person will be President for 2 years? Or would it be a more appropriate action for the board to allow the vacancy to happen when the new board succeeds, leaving the elected VP to automatically move up to the Presidents role?

* our bylaws say the president can appoint a director/officer vacancy with approval from the board

**Our board elections are held in September and officer elections held in October  

***we do not have a BOD meeting in December and install new board members at the annual meeting held in December  

****New BOD succeed in January  

 

[Guest Zev]

Please clarify for us whether the board is the highest authority in this organization or whether there is a general assembly of members.

Also, please clarify if you really meant to say that the president can actually appoint a president-elect that has resigned.

Most of the experts in this field are just about now rubbing the sand out of their eyes and getting the morning coffee. In a few hours you should have an answer.

[Richard Brown]

Guest confused, for starters why don't you tell us exactly what your bylaws say about this 10-year term limit. Please quote exactly, verbatim. Do not paraphrase.

Also, like guest Zev, I question whether your bylaws permit the president to appoint a president elect to fill a vacancy in that office. Are you sure your bylaws permit this? It might be helpful if you can quote the exact bylaw language regarding the filling of vacancies.

Do you have any vice presidents, or only a president-elect who also serves in the capacity of Vice President?  ** (See edit in last paragraph).

Finally (for now), you said you have Board elections in September and officer elections in October. What body of people elects the board and what body of people elects the officers?

Edited to add: are your officers elected from among the board members or are they elected from the general membership without regard to whether they are also board members?

**Edited again to add:  I just re-read your original  post and see that you do indeed have both a president-elect and a vice president.  Please quote for us exactly your bylaw language regarding the duties of the vice president and especially language regarding him filling a vacancy in the office of president (and any other language regarding a vacancy in the office of the president).

Edited October 22, 2018 at 02:30 PM by Richard Brown
Added last two paragraphs

[Guest Who's Coming to Dinner]

Much hinges on the precise wording of the term limit provision. If it says no one may serve more than 10 years in any office, then the 2018 President-Elect will be out of office at the end of the 10 years, whether he is President-Elect or President at that time. The vacancy would be filled according to the procedure in the bylaws.

If the bylaws say no one may be elected to serve more than 10 years, then the election of the 2018 President-Elect is null and void and a point of order may be raised to this effect. The election would then stand incomplete and another vote taken. If the election is completed after the beginning of the 2019 Presidential term, then the new President-Elect would instantly become President.

[Richard Brown]

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

If the bylaws say no one may be elected to serve more than 10 years, then the election of the 2018 President-Elect is null and void and a point of order may be raised to this effect. The election would then stand incomplete and another vote taken. If the election is completed after the beginning of the 2019 Presidential term, then the new President-Elect would instantly become President.

I'm not convinced this is completely accurate.  Among other things, this organization does have a vice president who might automatically become president if a vacancy in the presidency exists on the day the new officers assume office.  We do not know what the bylaws say about the duties of the vice president or about a vacancy in the office of the president.  The original poster indicates that the  vice president becomes president.  Also, I'm not sure the election of someone ineligible for office results in an incomplete election rather than a vacancy.  In addition, his election as president-elect might well be valid but he would not be eligible to become president in a year.  He might well have additional  duties as president-elect which he could continue to perform during his year as president-elect.

I think we need some  clarifications and additional  information from the original  poster.  There is too much we don't know.

Edited October 22, 2018 at 02:45 PM by Richard Brown
Added last part of last sentence in next to last paragraph (as indicated).

[Guest Who's Coming to Dinner]

If the Vice-President automatically becomes President, then that is "the procedure in the bylaws," whether explicit or by adoption of the parliamentary authority. I didn't say the vacancy could not be filled this way. 

RONR tells us that "If an individual does not meet the qualifications for the post established in the bylaws, his or her election is tantamount to adoption of a main motion that conflicts with the bylaws" and constitutes an ongoing breach (11th ed., p. 445, l. 19–20). As I see it, the office was never legitimately filled and a vacancy is not created when the election is ruled invalid; the office is awaiting election of a valid candidate.

[Guest Zev]

16 hours ago, Guest Confused said:

Our ByLaws have a term limit provision of 10 years.

You might as well give us the exact bylaws quote for this one, while you are at it.

16 hours ago, Guest Confused said:

 If the president chooses to apppint the person that holds the office of president- elect for 2019 as president elect for 2018 (and thereby President for 2019), does this mean that person will be President for 2 years?

The answer would depend on what your bylaws say about the length of the terms of office and what opinion the general membership has concerning this question.  

16 hours ago, Guest Confused said:

Or would it be a more appropriate action for the board to allow the vacancy to happen when the new board succeeds, leaving the elected VP to automatically move up to the Presidents role?

This is entirely up to your organization to decide.