election of committee members

[Guest John K]

If a committee has six members and there are ten nominees for the committee how should they be voted on?

Should the top six nominees make up the committee?

How should tie votes be handled?

[Gary Novosielski]

Well, this presumes that the members are selected by election.  So the rules are the same as for any election.

Voters should be instructed to vote for (up to) six candidates.  The top six candidates who receive a majority are elected. To calculate that, count the total number of ballots cast that had at least one name (discarding blank ballots).  The number of votes needed to elect is then a majority of that number---the smallest number greater than one-half of the total. 

If more than six people had a majority, the top six are elected.  If fewer than six had a majority, those who did are elected, and a second ballot is held for the remaining unfilled spots.  For example, if four people were elected, then on the second ballot, voters would be instructed to vote for (up to) two candidates. Otherwise, the rules are the same for the second or subsequent ballots.

[jstackpo]

1 hour ago, Gary Novosielski said:

those who did are elected, and a second ballot is held for the remaining unfilled spots

The opportunity for nominations should be given before the second (and third...) election.  Who knows, the two who were not elected (no majority) in Gary's example, may have lost for very good reasons and additional possibilities may have to be considered.