Abstaining from an email vote

[Martin George]

I have a question about this topic, although the comments so far are enlightening - thanks!   I am a member of a board of an international organisation that has a simple article in its Standing Rules that the Standing Rules can be 'amended by a majority vote of the board'. 

Sometime, the board meets physically, and at other times a vote is sent out electronically.  Clearly, we need to make our rule more explicit in terms of e-mail voting for SR amendments, but for now, assuming we allow e-mail voting, what happens if only some of the worldwide board members respond to a request to vote by email and the 'Yes' votes do not constitude a majority of the board?   The wording that is confusing me here is '...or a majority or two-thirds of the entire membership'.  In the case in which I am involved, the board constitudes only about 4% of the entire membership of the worldwide organisation.  Should I, therefore,

(1) take 'entire membership' in this case to mean 'entire membership of the board', so that an abstention has the same effect as a 'No' vote, or

or:

(2) assume that we need a majority or two-thirds of the votes actually cast by the board members to pass the vote?

Any help would be appreciated!

Martin George, Australia

 

[jstackpo]

On 5/5/2019 at 6:56 PM, Martin George said:

assuming we allow e-mail voting,

Do you?  That would have to be in your bylaws (or other Australia related laws) for it to be proper in the first place.

Otherwise, those votes are invalid no matter how you calculate them.

What parliamentary authority does your organization adhere to?  If not Robert's (RONR) we can't help you much here.

[Josh Martin]

On 5/5/2019 at 5:56 PM, Martin George said:

The wording that is confusing me here is '...or a majority or two-thirds of the entire membership'.

Where is this wording coming from? I thought you said that your rules provided that the standing rules may be “amended by a majority vote of the board.”

[Richard Brown]

On 5/5/2019 at 5:56 PM, Martin George said:

I am a member of a board of an international organisation that has a simple article in its Standing Rules that the Standing Rules can be 'amended by a majority vote of the board'. 

 

On 5/5/2019 at 5:56 PM, Martin George said:

for now, assuming we allow e-mail voting, what happens if only some of the worldwide board members respond to a request to vote by email and the 'Yes' votes do not constitude a majority of the board? 

Unless you have a rule to the contrary which you haven't quoted, a "majority vote of the board" means simply more yes votes than no votes, assuming a quorum is present (or voting).   Some organizations which permit email voting require that in order to pass a motion must receive the votes of a majority of the entire board, but that is not the default rule. If you have 20 board members and 10 vote yes, 5 vote no, and 5 don't vote, the motion has received a majority vote, although it did not receive the vote of a majority of the entire membership of the board. FWIW, that vote of 10 to 5 is also a two thirds vote because it received twice as many yes votes as no votes.

On 5/5/2019 at 5:56 PM, Martin George said:

The wording that is confusing me here is '...or a majority or two-thirds of the entire membership'.  In the case in which I am involved, the board constitudes only about 4% of the entire membership of the worldwide organisation. 

Where are you getting that wording about a majority or two thirds of the entire membership?  It isn't in your rule that you quoted.   That is an entirely different vote threshold than a "majority vote", which, by definition, means simply more yes votes than no votes.

On 5/5/2019 at 5:56 PM, Martin George said:

Should I, therefore,

(1) take 'entire membership' in this case to mean 'entire membership of the board', so that an abstention has the same effect as a 'No' vote, or

or:

(2) assume that we need a majority or two-thirds of the votes actually cast by the board members to pass the vote?

The latter unless you have a rule that specifically requires the vote of a majority or  two thirds of the entire membership.  Unless your rule specifies otherwise, a majority vote (or a two thirds vote) means a majority (or two thirds) of the votes cast.  Abstentions are ignored.  However, as I said above, the rule you quoted does not require a vote of a majority of the entire membership.  It requires an ordinary majority vote.

[Shmuel Gerber]

On 5/5/2019 at 6:56 PM, Martin George said:

The wording that is confusing me here is '...or a majority or two-thirds of the entire membership'.

 

29 minutes ago, Josh Martin said:

Where is this wording coming from?

 

26 minutes ago, Richard Brown said:

Where are you getting that wording about a majority or two thirds of the entire membership?

I think Mr. George is trying to understand FAQ 6.