Electronic meetings

[Guest Gary Popelka]

Can we hold a meeting using Zoom, or a similar audio-visual program?  Are votes valid?

[Richard Brown]

1 minute ago, Guest Gary Popelka said:

Can we hold a meeting using Zoom, or a similar audio-visual program?  Are votes valid?

Before we go any further, what, if anything, do your bylws say about electronic meetings?  Are they permitted at all?

If your bylaws are silent, electronic meetings are not permitted, but that does not necessarily mean that you absolutely, positively cannot have one.  Doing so can be risky, though.

So, tell us what your bylaws say about it.  It might also help if you can tell us, in a nutshell, what it is you think you need to accomplish via this electronic meeting.

[Richard Brown]

Guest Gary Popelka, supplementing my answer above, you might take note of pages 97-99 of the 11th edition of RONR regarding electronic meetings.  You might also find recently released Official Interpretation 2020-1 by the RONR authorship team  regarding electronic meetings helpful.  You can find it here:  https://robertsrules.com/interp_list.html#2020_1

Official Interpretations 2020-2 and 2020-3, which follow immediately behind No 2020-1 in the link above might also be helpful.

When reading No 2020-1, I caution to read it very slowly and carefully, and to read it more than once, paying close attention to every word.  Do not assume that it says something it doesn't say.  For example, do not assume that it says, as i recently heard someone say,that it says 'just do it anyway and then ratify it later".  It is not that simple and that is also not what it says.

I hope you find this information helpful.  Please let us know if you have more questions.  Good luck... lots of organizations are in the same predicament you are in.

Edited to add:  You might also pay attention to pages 124-125 of the 11th edition, particularly the bottom  of page 124, as to what actions may be ratified.   Note that nowhere does RONR say that "the actions taken at an illegal meeting can be ratified".  As with official interpretation 2020-1, these pages require careful reading.

Edited June 11, 2020 at 04:10 PM by Richard Brown
Added last paragraph