No nominee gets a majority vote

[Guest Gman1st]

We have a small organization and our bylaws require a nominee to receive a majority vote to be elected.  What happens if no nominee receives a majority vote.  Does the person with the most votes get elected?

[George Mervosh]

Just now, Guest Gman1st said:

We have a small organization and our bylaws require a nominee to receive a majority vote to be elected.  What happens if no nominee receives a majority vote.  Does the person with the most votes get elected?

No, you continue to vote until someone receives a majority of the votes cast.  Make sure there are write-in spaces on the ballot and consider re-opening nominations prior to the next round of balloting.  

[Guest Gman1st]

After doing the things in your reply, and we are still in the same (stale mate) position, then the position must stay unfilled?

[Weldon Merritt]

22 minutes ago, Guest Gman1st said:

After doing the things in your reply, and we are still in the same (stale mate) position, then the position must stay unfilled?

No, you keep voting, as often as necessary, until someone gets a majority.

[Richard Brown]

20 minutes ago, Guest Gman1st said:

After doing the things in your reply, and we are still in the same (stale mate) position, then the position must stay unfilled?

Per the rules in RONR, you keep voting until someone wins. Of course, the assembly may vote to postpone the completion of the election until another time. Also, the candidates may agree between themselves that one of them will voluntarily withdraw based on the flip of a coin, drawing straws, etc.

Still further, if there are more than two nominees on the ballot, the assembly may vote to suspend the rules and remove from the ballot the candidate with the smallest number of votes. However, that candidate still remains eligible for election and members may nonetheless write in his name on the ballot. 

[Atul Kapur]

1 hour ago, Guest Gman1st said:

After doing the things in your reply, and we are still in the same (stale mate) position, then the position must stay unfilled?

Another option is to

1 hour ago, George Mervosh said:

consider re-opening nominations prior to the next round of balloting.

Perhaps a compromise candidate will be nominated.

[Josh Martin]

2 hours ago, Guest Gman1st said:

After doing the things in your reply, and we are still in the same (stale mate) position, then the position must stay unfilled?

The assembly must continue voting, as many times as is necessary, until a candidate receives a majority vote.

In the event that the assembly postpones the election until a later time, what happens in the interim depends on whether the bylaws provide that officers shall serve until their successors are elected. If the bylaws have such a provision, then the current person in the position will continue to serve until the election is completed. If the bylaws do not have such a provision, then the position will be vacant until the election can be completed.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 1/14/2020 at 10:23 AM, Guest Gman1st said:

After doing the things in your reply, and we are still in the same (stale mate) position, then the position must stay unfilled?

No, you continue to vote until someone achieves a majority.

[Gary Novosielski]

Just now, Gary Novosielski said:

No, you continue to vote until someone achieves a majority.

 

[anon]

I'm going out on a limb here and assuming a second part to this question is not out of order.

Can elections be closed if there are more positions open than available nominees or write-ins following announcement of initial ballot results, re-opening nominations, and even re-balloting at least once with hopes for write-ins?

Damage may be minimal if the bylaws allow vacancies to be filled by the board at their discretion when a willing candidate is identified.

[Richard Brown]

1 hour ago, anon said:

Can elections be closed if there are more positions open than available nominees or write-ins following announcement of initial ballot results, re-opening nominations, and even re-balloting at least once with hopes for write-ins? 

What do you mean by “can elections be closed . . . “?

[Atul Kapur]

3 hours ago, anon said:

Can elections be closed if there are more positions open than available nominees or write-ins

I am assuming that a ballot vote is required by the bylaws.

The elections are still incomplete.

[anon]

8 hours ago, Richard Brown said:

What do you mean by “can elections be closed . . . “?

I thought this was just a way of talking about the status of ballot elections as being complete or incomplete.

Is the chair supposed to make a formal statement regarding closure of elections after announcement of final ballot results (i.e., re-balloting will not continue absent nominees or write-ins for unfilled positions)?

If elections are incomplete as Dr. Kapur has indicated, is any further action required by the chair? Or are we just agreeing there will be no further action on elections at the annual meeting, having fulfilled the obligation (albeit rather poorly) to conduct a ballot vote to fill open board positions to the best of our abilities as required by the bylaws? And if we are agreeing to this, should the chair make a motion to close elections despite remaining vacancies due to a lack of volunteers willing to serve on the board?

[Dan Honemann]

10 hours ago, anon said:

I'm going out on a limb here and assuming a second part to this question is not out of order.

I suggest you read this again. 

[Josh Martin]

1 hour ago, anon said:

I thought this was just a way of talking about the status of ballot elections as being complete or incomplete.

Is the chair supposed to make a formal statement regarding closure of elections after announcement of final ballot results (i.e., re-balloting will not continue absent nominees or write-ins for unfilled positions)?

If elections are incomplete as Dr. Kapur has indicated, is any further action required by the chair? Or are we just agreeing there will be no further action on elections at the annual meeting, having fulfilled the obligation (albeit rather poorly) to conduct a ballot vote to fill open board positions to the best of our abilities as required by the bylaws? And if we are agreeing to this, should the chair make a motion to close elections despite remaining vacancies due to a lack of volunteers willing to serve on the board?

As has been previously noted, if positions are unfilled, balloting continues as many times as is necessary until the election is completed. This is the case regardless of whether the reason for the inability to fill the position is due to heated competition (as in the original post) or due to a distinct lack of interest in the position. Neither the chair nor the assembly may declare the election “closed.” An election is not closed until the position is filled.

What the assembly can do is to postpone the election to an adjourned meeting or to the next regular meeting. This requires a majority vote. The chair cannot make this decision on his own.

[Dan Honemann]

4 minutes ago, Josh Martin said:

What the assembly can do is to postpone the election to an adjourned meeting or to the next regular meeting. This requires a majority vote. The chair cannot make this decision on his own.

Or the assembly can simply adjourn.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 1/16/2020 at 8:14 AM, anon said:

I thought this was just a way of talking about the status of ballot elections as being complete or incomplete.

Is the chair supposed to make a formal statement regarding closure of elections after announcement of final ballot results (i.e., re-balloting will not continue absent nominees or write-ins for unfilled positions)?

If elections are incomplete as Dr. Kapur has indicated, is any further action required by the chair? Or are we just agreeing there will be no further action on elections at the annual meeting, having fulfilled the obligation (albeit rather poorly) to conduct a ballot vote to fill open board positions to the best of our abilities as required by the bylaws? And if we are agreeing to this, should the chair make a motion to close elections despite remaining vacancies due to a lack of volunteers willing to serve on the board?

The obligation is not merely to conduct a ballot vote, it is to complete the election.  If it takes 158 ballots to do so, then that is the requisite number.  If elections are incomplete, then the action required of the chair is to take another ballot, or take some other action to complete the election, such as entertaining a motion to reopen nominations, or to set a time for an adjourned meeting at which balloting will continue.  There is no such thing as a motion to close elections.

If there is a persistent insufficiency of volunteers to fill critical offices, it might be time for the society to seriously consider taking actions to dissolve the organization.