Election without nominations

[Tomm]

Due to the Corona virus shut-down our organization hasn’t been able to hold any meetings. We have elections coming up but our Election Committee was never able to establish candidates.

I’m trying to establish the fairest way to vote with minimum confusion on the various positions assuming that we will be holding a general membership meeting before the end of the year.

We have 4 officer positions and 6 board member positions.

Step 1: Would be to accept nominations from the floor for officer positions only.

Step 2:  Any officer who is running unopposed would be declared the winner by acclamation.

Because no meetings were permitted, all ballots are blank and must be write-in.

Step 3 w/question: Should the votes for those officer positions with 2 or more candidates be on one ballot or should there be a separate vote for each officer position?

Step 4: Identify those board members who will be running for another term.

Step 5: Accept additional nominations from the floor.

Step 6:  Simply have member’s write-in the names of the six candidates of their choice.

Question: Does this sound like a reasonable method of holding this year’s elections, am I missing something or am I looking for trouble? Please advise.

 

[Josh Martin]

25 minutes ago, Tomm said:

Step 2:  Any officer who is running unopposed would be declared the winner by acclamation.

Do your bylaws require a ballot vote? If not, this is permissible.

26 minutes ago, Tomm said:

Step 3 w/question: Should the votes for those officer positions with 2 or more candidates be on one ballot or should there be a separate vote for each officer position?

Either is permissible. It is at the assembly's discretion.

23 minutes ago, Tomm said:

Step 4: Identify those board members who will be running for another term.

I would note that this step is not strictly necessary, although I do not see any harm in it, so long as additional nominations from the floor are accepted.

25 minutes ago, Tomm said:

Step 6:  Simply have member’s write-in the names of the six candidates of their choice.

I would note that if there are six or fewer nominees (and the bylaws do not require a ballot vote), election by acclamation would be acceptable here as well. Assuming there are at least seven nominees (or if the bylaws require a ballot vote), this is the correct procedure.

24 minutes ago, Tomm said:

Question: Does this sound like a reasonable method of holding this year’s elections, am I missing something or am I looking for trouble? Please advise.

Yes, this seems like a reasonable method of holding this year's elections. I would be sure to check that the bylaws do not require a ballot vote, but otherwise I do not think you are missing anything.

[Richard Brown]

27 minutes ago, Tomm said:

Due to the Corona virus shut-down our organization hasn’t been able to hold any meetings. We have elections coming up but our Election Committee was never able to establish candidates.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head all of your questions/possibilities, so I will ask a couple of pretty basic questions.

First, Do you have a nominating committee?  You referenced an "election committee". 

Second, If so, why was the committee unable to  come up with nominees?  If you are following the rules in RONR,  committees are not necessarily required to have in-person meetings.

[Tomm]

7 minutes ago, Richard Brown said:

First, Do you have a nominating committee?  You referenced an "election committee". 

Second, If so, why was the committee unable to  come up with nominees?  If you are following the rules in RONR,  committees are not necessarily required to have in-person meetings.

Yes we have an election committee tasked with finding candidates, also, we live in a senior citizen community and for health concerns all meeting were canceled, which I'm sure you can understand.

Our Bylaws place the responsibility of generating ballots with the Election Committee so, in response to Mr. Martin, I guess that eliminates calling a winner by acclamation?

[Josh Martin]

12 minutes ago, Tomm said:

Yes we have an election committee tasked with finding candidates, also, we live in a senior citizen community and for health concerns all meeting were canceled, which I'm sure you can understand.

Yes, we understand why all in-person meetings were canceled, but as Mr. Brown noted, committees have somewhat more flexibility in this regard. Since the committee in question appears to be expressly established by the bylaws, the committee cannot generally hold electronic meetings unless authorized by the bylaws to do so. In the event that every one of the committee's members can agree on its contents, however, the committee can adopt a report. The agreement of the committee's members in this regard could be obtained by an electronic meeting or outside of a meeting altogether, such as by email.

So the election committee could potentially still complete its work, except in those respects where the members cannot reach agreement.

"Except as noted in this paragraph, a report of a board or committee can contain only what has been agreed to by a majority vote at a regular or properly called meeting of which every member has been notified (or at an adjournment of one of these meetings, 9:17–19)—where a quorum of the board or committee was present. A presentation of facts or recommendations made merely upon separate consultation with every member of a board must be described thus to the parent assembly, and not as an official report of the board (see also 49:16). In the case of a committee, however, if it is impractical to bring its members together for a meeting, the report of the committee can contain what has been agreed to by every one of its members." RONR (12th ed.) 51:2

"As in the case of a board or any assembly, committees that are expressly established by the bylaws can hold a valid electronic meeting only if authorized in the bylaws to do so." RONR (12th ed.) 9:35

12 minutes ago, Tomm said:

Our Bylaws place the responsibility of generating ballots with the Election Committee so, in response to Mr. Martin, I guess that eliminates calling a winner by acclamation?

I hesitate to answer this question without knowing exactly what the bylaws say in this regard.

Edited September 8, 2020 at 06:51 PM by Josh Martin

[Richard Brown]

5 minutes ago, Tomm said:

Yes we have an election committee tasked with finding candidates, also, we live in a senior citizen community and for health concerns all meeting were canceled, which I'm sure you can understand.

Yes, I understand that.  I'm just trying to make the point that the committee can conduct its business by telephone, email, snail mail, etc.  They can also reach out to the residents in the same way, plus the use of bulletin boards,  to  try to find candidates.  It is not necessary that they meet at all if they all agree on their report.   If it was impossible for them to do any of that, then so be it. You are where you are.

[Tomm]

Well, first of all I would respond by saying our Bylaws don't address the use of electronic meetings.

Bylaws state:

"Responsible for recruiting candidates, posting date and location of the election, producing ballots, conducting the election, counting ballots and announcing results."

 

[Josh Martin]

1 hour ago, Tomm said:

Well, first of all I would respond by saying our Bylaws don't address the use of electronic meetings.

Okay. But the provision in RONR which provides that "In the case of a committee, however, if it is impractical to bring its members together for a meeting, the report of the committee can contain what has been agreed to by every one of its members." applies even if the bylaws are silent on the subject of electronic meetings.

1 hour ago, Tomm said:

Bylaws state:

"Responsible for recruiting candidates, posting date and location of the election, producing ballots, conducting the election, counting ballots and announcing results."

I am not certain that these rules in fact require a ballot vote or if they simply mean that the committee is required to produce ballots to prepare for the possibility of a ballot vote, and likewise that the committee is required to count ballots in the event that a ballot vote in fact occurs.

Edited September 8, 2020 at 08:25 PM by Josh Martin

[Atul Kapur]

1 hour ago, Tomm said:

Our Bylaws place the responsibility of generating ballots with the Election Committee so, in response to Mr. Martin, I guess that eliminates calling a winner by acclamation?

You want to look at the bylaws articles on the officers and directors. Also check anything about the annual meeting or elections to see if they require a ballot vote.