New Information/presentation of that information. New Vote?

[Guest Brian Miller]

Our Board needs to elect a new officer due to that officer’s resignation. There are two candidates interested in the position. Both candidates were given an opportunity to state their interest and credentials for the position, and a vote was taken at the meeting, with a deadlocked result. There was one Board member absent from the meeting, and it was proposed that both candidates write an email, to be shared with the entire Board, for the purpose of convincing the absent Board member to vote for them (also by email, as allowed by the organization’s bylaws) and break the tie. 

We think that because there was a new presentation of the candidates’ credentials for the position, there needs to be an entire new vote by the entire Board, and not just the single vote to break the tie. 

We request your opinion on this matter. 

[George Mervosh]

An additional round of voting by the board is required since no candidate received a majority of the votes cast in the first round. So, basically, the board keeps voting until a candidate receives a majority of the votes cast.   See RONR (11th ed.), pp. 438-41

[Atul Kapur]

I agree with Mr. Mervosh. The recommended method also preserves the secrecy of the absent board member's vote.

[Gary Novosielski]

3 hours ago, Guest Brian Miller said:

Our Board needs to elect a new officer due to that officer’s resignation. There are two candidates interested in the position. Both candidates were given an opportunity to state their interest and credentials for the position, and a vote was taken at the meeting, with a deadlocked result. There was one Board member absent from the meeting, and it was proposed that both candidates write an email, to be shared with the entire Board, for the purpose of convincing the absent Board member to vote for them (also by email, as allowed by the organization’s bylaws) and break the tie. 

We think that because there was a new presentation of the candidates’ credentials for the position, there needs to be an entire new vote by the entire Board, and not just the single vote to break the tie. 

We request your opinion on this matter. 

If the rules in RONR apply, it would have been proper to continue to take a second and possibly subsequent ballots at the meeting, to see if the deadlock was as solid as it first appeared..  If voting took so long that the meeting had to be adjouned, you could have set an adjourned meeting or, if your bylaws allow it, an absentee vote. 

If you have now scheduled the second ballot on an absentee vote, all members must be notified and given the opportunity to vote. You should definitely not schedule a vote that attempts to count absetenee votes along with in-person votes.