Meeting Attendance Signatures

[Guest Randy Fackler]

One Person has been signing several names on our meeting attendance. These monthly attendance sheets are used to see who is eligable to vote. Are the forged signatures legal ?

This was not caught all year until these papers were viewed to see who could vote. Should the Forged names be able to vote ? We cannot verify that they were at the actual meeting or not.

[Rob Elsman]

How would you know signatures are being forged? Does the register signer place his thumbprint next to his signature for comparison against the membership records?

[Richard Brown]

RONR Has no provisions or rules regarding the use of sign in sheets. These are your rules, so it is up to your organization to interpret them. As far as RONR is concerned, voting is limited to those who are physically present at a meeting, regardless of who may or may not have signed in,These are your rules, so it is up to your organization to interpret them. As far as RONR is concerned, voting is limited to those who are physically present at a meeting, regardless of whose names might appear on a sign in sheet.  A sign in sheet might be evidence of who is present, but it is not conclusive proof of who is president unless your rules provide otherwise. 

Edited December 9, 2019 at 04:51 PM by Richard Brown
Corrected typo

[Richard Brown]

Guest Randy, if you have members who are falsely signing in for other members, this strikes me as something that might be worthy of discipline. Disciplinary matters are covered in chapter xx of RONR and can range from a simple motion of censure to expulsion from membership. Perhaps the adoption of a rule prohibiting members from signing in for other members might be a good starting point.

[Rob Elsman]

I might suggest the use of a registrar who would compare a photo ID against the membership roll before permitting a person to sign the register (once) in the registrar's presence.

[Richard Brown]

43 minutes ago, Guest Randy Fackler said:

This was not caught all year until these papers were viewed to see who could vote. Should the Forged names be able to vote ? We cannot verify that they were at the actual meeting or not.

It is my understanding from the quotation above that the voting has already taken place. Under the rules in RONR, if you cannot determine who was actually present and entitled to vote, I do not see how you have grounds for setting aside an election or a vote. If you can prove that enough votes were cast by people not entitled to vote to change the outcome, the election could be set aside, but I do not see how you can determine that based on what you told us.

[Josh Martin]

53 minutes ago, Guest Randy Fackler said:

One Person has been signing several names on our meeting attendance. These monthly attendance sheets are used to see who is eligable to vote. Are the forged signatures legal ?

This was not caught all year until these papers were viewed to see who could vote. Should the Forged names be able to vote ? We cannot verify that they were at the actual meeting or not.

Could you clarify exactly what is meant by “These monthly attendance sheets are used to see who is eligable to vote”? What exactly do your rules say on this matter?

15 minutes ago, Richard Brown said:

It is my understanding from the quotation above that the voting has already taken place. Under the rules in RONR, if you cannot determine who was actually present and entitled to vote, I do not see how you have grounds for setting aside an election or a vote. If you can prove that enough votes were cast by people not entitled to vote to change the outcome, the election could be set aside, but I do not see how you can determine that based on what you told us.

I was under the impression that the issue regarding the sign-in sheets was that the society has a rule requiring members to attend a certain number of meetings in order to be eligible to vote, and therefore it was members’ eligibility to vote at future meetings which was in question.

[Richard Brown]

Just now, Josh Martin said:

Could you clarify exactly what is meant by “These monthly attendance sheets are used to see who is eligable to vote”? What exactly do your rules say on this matter?

I was under the impression that the issue regarding the sign-in sheets was that the society has a rule requiring members to attend a certain number of meetings in order to be eligible to vote, and therefore it was members’ eligibility to vote at future meetings which was in question.

Ahh, Good point. I was not looking at it that way. That is indeed a possibility.

[Rob Elsman]

I agree with Mr. Brown. "Clear and convincing proof" would be required. Like Mr. Brown, it is hard to see how an attendance sheet would provide that kind of proof.