Board vs General Vote

[Guest Judy]

Our constitution indicates the vote for Board takes place at our May meeting and there is the opportunity to nominate from the floor.  Due to the current environment our Board is suggesting we do the vote by email and thereby not having the option of nominating from the floor.  My question, can the board make this decision or does this change need to be brought to a vote of the membership to change this procedure.

[George Mervosh]

Does your constitution expressly authorize email or absentee voting?  If not, it cannot be used no matter what entity has the authority to decide this matter (most likely the membership).

[Gary Novosielski]

3 hours ago, Guest Judy said:

Our constitution indicates the vote for Board takes place at our May meeting and there is the opportunity to nominate from the floor.  Due to the current environment our Board is suggesting we do the vote by email and thereby not having the option of nominating from the floor.  My question, can the board make this decision or does this change need to be brought to a vote of the membership to change this procedure.

No.  Matters concerning voting are decided by the assembly that actually votes.  The board cannot set the rules under which they themselves are elected (unless your constitution is quite unusual).  And they would not be allowed to infringe on the rights of members to nominate from the floor.  The board has only the powers that are granted to them in the constitution/bylaws.

But there's more: unless the bylaws authorize e-mail voting, it is prohibited entirely.  So even the general membership can't authorize it, unless they do so by the process of amending the bylaws.  And if the bylaws require ballot voting that's going to be hard to accomplish via e-mail.  How would you plan to preserve the secrecy inherent in a ballot vote, if cast by e-mail?

[Richard Brown]

8 hours ago, Guest Judy said:

Our constitution indicates the vote for Board takes place at our May meeting and there is the opportunity to nominate from the floor.  Due to the current environment our Board is suggesting we do the vote by email and thereby not having the option of nominating from the floor.  My question, can the board make this decision or does this change need to be brought to a vote of the membership to change this procedure.

What do your bylaws say about the terms of office of the officers?  Specifically, is there a provision to  the effect that officers continue to serve until their successors are elected?  If so, and if you cannot properly hold a meeting now, those officers continue to serve until such time as their successors are elected.  If your bylaws do not contain that language, then it may well be that their terms have expired (or will  soon expire) and you will have no officers until you can elect new ones.  If this incorporation organization is incorporated, state law might contain a provision about officers holding over which might apply.

Edited May 20, 2020 at 01:07 AM by Richard Brown
Corrected typo in last sentence. Thanks to Mr. Merritt for pointing it out!

[Weldon Merritt]

1 hour ago, Richard Brown said:

If this incorporation is incorporated ....

I think you meant to say, "If this organization [or "entity"] is incorporated ...."

[Richard Brown]

6 minutes ago, Weldon Merritt said:

I think you meant to say, "If this organization [or "entity"] is incorporated ...."

Yep, you're right!

Edited to add:  I just fixed it and thanked you for  pointing it out.

 

Edited May 20, 2020 at 01:08 AM by Richard Brown
Added last sentence