No Officer Nominations

[Guest Alpo]

We hold Officer election in the spring every two years for President and VP.  The nominations are done via a self nominating process of eligible staff, this year that about 75 possible people.  We have a deadline as to when those nomination are to be submitted.  Voting is done electronically by eligible staff of which there are about 2000.  My question, which is not addressed in our bylaws is, if we fail to get any qualified and wiling nominations by the deadline, how do we move forward?

[Gary Novosielski]

I hope your electronic system is capable of handling write-in votes, because that is how you would move forward.

Very often if someone is elected who did not volunteer, they will agree to serve.

[Rob Elsman]

7 minutes ago, Gary Novosielski said:

Very often if someone is elected who did not volunteer, they will agree to serve.

Indeed. In fact, nothing in RONR prohibits election of a person who profusely indicated an unwillingness to serve, and it is not terribly uncommon for the person to accept his election in light of the clear judgment of the assembly.

[Richard Brown]

I think we need to more about the exact wording of guest Alpo’s bylaws regarding nominations, elections and voting before we can  properly answer his question. 

[Guest Alpo]

Here are some pieces form our bylaws and requirements:

A. Qualifications: The stipulated qualifications for President of Staff Council are the same as the requirements for Regular membership (cf. Article V.B.1.). In addition, the President shall have a minimum of six months of elected Staff Council experience within the previous six years. B. Election and Term of Office 1. The regular election for Staff Council President shall be held in May. Elections shall be by secret ballot, with at least one week allowed for balloting. 2. The president shall be elected to serve one two-year term, commencing July 1. They may choose to run for one additional two-year term as President at the conclusion of this term. After these two terms, they must wait at least one year before future service as Staff Council President. 3. The President shall be elected by and from the ranks of all staff members at the University of Vermont who are part of the Career/Pay System. a. Nominations for the office of President shall be placed on the official ballot by the Nominating Committee. b. To be elected, a candidate shall require a majority of affirmative votes. If there is more  candidate, the candidate with the most votes shall be elected. c. Two members of the Executive Board shall work with the Staff Council Office to review the election results. Any concern about the elections shall be forwarded to the Executive Board for appropriate action.

[Josh Martin]

7 minutes ago, Guest Alpo said:

Here are some pieces form our bylaws and requirements:

A. Qualifications: The stipulated qualifications for President of Staff Council are the same as the requirements for Regular membership (cf. Article V.B.1.). In addition, the President shall have a minimum of six months of elected Staff Council experience within the previous six years. B. Election and Term of Office 1. The regular election for Staff Council President shall be held in May. Elections shall be by secret ballot, with at least one week allowed for balloting. 2. The president shall be elected to serve one two-year term, commencing July 1. They may choose to run for one additional two-year term as President at the conclusion of this term. After these two terms, they must wait at least one year before future service as Staff Council President. 3. The President shall be elected by and from the ranks of all staff members at the University of Vermont who are part of the Career/Pay System. a. Nominations for the office of President shall be placed on the official ballot by the Nominating Committee. b. To be elected, a candidate shall require a majority of affirmative votes. If there is more  candidate, the candidate with the most votes shall be elected. c. Two members of the Executive Board shall work with the Staff Council Office to review the election results. Any concern about the elections shall be forwarded to the Executive Board for appropriate action.

Thank you. Based on these additional facts, I first concur with Mr. Novosielski and Mr. Elsman that write-in votes are permitted. Nothing in your rules appears to prohibit write-in votes. So the software should be modified to permit write-in votes, if it does not already do so. If a candidate is elected, the candidate may decide at that time whether to accept election. If no one is elected (or if the person who is elected declines), you'll need to vote again, and again, and so on until a candidate is elected and accepts.

Since your bylaws (unwisely) do not include an "until their successors are elected" clause, if no one is elected prior to July 1, then those offices will remain vacant until the elections can be completed.

[Guest Alpo]

So while there really is noting in our bylaws on this, is there an option for the membership to either vote to temporarily extend the current leadership term, or, vote to approve a Pro Tem leader from within the members until such time a true Pres / VP can be elected by the full staff?

[Atul Kapur]

Not really, and I'm not sure how this would help you.

If you have people willing to extend their terms (assuming they're not term-limited) or you have someone in the membership willing to serve as a pro-tem leader, then just elect them to the full position. If another candidate shows up during the year, then the person you elected can resign and you can fill the vacancy. Assuming your bylaws have provisions for filling vacancies.

I've seen occasions where people were convinced to run "just to occupy the position until we find someone to do it permanently.'