Is there a specific procedure to elect a new council member?

[Guest Taylor]

We had one of our council members resign and I was wondering if all we had to do was hold another election or if there was a special procedure we needed to do to elect a new council member. Thank you.

[Richard Brown]

19 minutes ago, Guest Taylor said:

We had one of our council members resign and I was wondering if all we had to do was hold another election or if there was a special procedure we needed to do to elect a new council member. Thank you.

For openers, please tell us if this "council" is a government body of  some sort.  If it is, everything changes!  

Second, it will help if we know just what this "council" is.  Is it a non profit organization of some sort?  Is it the governing body of a larger organization, like a board of  directors?

Assuming you are not referring to a governmental entity and that this is an organization comprised of general members, what do your bylaws say about vacancies?  Vacancies are usually covered in bylaws and those provisions trump the rules in RONR.   If your bylaws are truly silent, then you conduct a special election to fill the vacancy.  This would normally be your general membership.  If you have an executive board, your board might have the power to fill vacancies.  We would need to more about the powers granted to the board in the bylaws.

If your rules are truly silent and you have no executive board that can fill vacancies, then the membership would conduct a special election with previous notice to elect someone to fill the vacancy.  Previous notice to the members is required unless your bylaws provide otherwise.

Edited to add:  The following language starting on page 467 of RONR regarding vacancies will probably be helpful:

Vacancies
The power to appoint or elect persons to any office or board carries with it the power to accept their resignations, and also the power to fill any vacancy occurring in it, unless the bylaws expressly provide otherwise. In the case of a society whose bylaws confer upon its executive board full power and authority over the society's affairs between meetings of the society's assembly (as in the example on p. 578, ll. 11–15) without reserving to the society itself the exclusive right to fill vacancies, the executive board is empowered to accept resignations and fill vacancies between meetings of the society's assembly. For particular vacancies, see page 457, lines 22–30 [page 468] (president-elect), page 458, lines 7–18, and page 575, lines 6–17 (president and vice-presidents). See also page 177 (vacancies in a committee).

Notice of filling a vacancy in an office (including a vacancy in an executive board or executive committee) must always be given to the members of the body that will elect the person to fill it, unless the bylaws or special rules of order clearly provide otherwise.

Edited November 1, 2018 at 03:52 PM by Richard Brown
Added quote from RONR