Nominee withdraws / No other nominees for position

[Guest Anthony]

Hi,

I am wondering if I can be helped please.

I am a member of a small club in the UK that had its committee disbanded and is currently under the control of a temporary committee.

The membership have been offered the opportunity to nominate a new permanent committee which they have done and the candidates will be sent out for vote very soon.

My issue is the nominee for vice chairperson has withdrawn and there is no other candidate.

Our constitution while serves the purpose of the club is not to a standard where issues like this would be included.

How would we lawfully proceed

Many Thanks

 

Anthony

 

[Josh Martin]

23 minutes ago, Guest Anthony said:

I am a member of a small club in the UK that had its committee disbanded and is currently under the control of a temporary committee.

 

The membership have been offered the opportunity to nominate a new permanent committee which they have done and the candidates will be sent out for vote very soon.

 

My issue is the nominee for vice chairperson has withdrawn and there is no other candidate.

 

Our constitution while serves the purpose of the club is not to a standard where issues like this would be included.

 

How would we lawfully proceed

The election will still need to be held and write-in votes are permitted. In the event that no person is elected, then the position of Vice Chairperson will be vacant until someone who is willing to serve in the position can be found. The only duties of the Vice Chairperson (unless your rules provide otherwise) are to perform the duties of the Chairperson in their absence and to become Chairperson in the event of a vacancy, so this shouldn't be that big of a problem in the short term.

Edited November 18, 2020 at 03:14 PM by Josh Martin

[Atul Kapur]

Since you tell us that you are in the UK, I must ask whether you are using RONR as your parliamentary authority or whether you use a British authority such as Citrine?

[Guest Anthony]

Thank you Josh for that.

I understand what you are saying re the position being filled following the vote. Can I ask please, if there is just one person nominated for the position and he withdraws before voting can a new nomination be made for the now vacant position. If this is possible bearing in mind there is little time to canvas members again how could it be done ?

Mr Kapur, I can in all honesty not answer your question as I said we are a small club with a constitution which has barely been changed in 50 years

 

Many Thanks

 

Anthony

[Josh Martin]

34 minutes ago, Guest Anthony said:

Can I ask please, if there is just one person nominated for the position and he withdraws before voting can a new nomination be made for the now vacant position. If this is possible bearing in mind there is little time to canvas members again how could it be done ?

Yes, a new nomination could be made. I am unclear on whether nominations have already been closed, but even if they have been, they may be reopened by majority vote. Furthermore, write-in votes are also in order.

These answers are based on Robert's Rules of Order, which is the leading parliamentary authority in the United States, but not, I think, in the United Kingdom. I do not know if the answer would be different in the leading parliamentary authorities in the UK.

36 minutes ago, Guest Anthony said:

Mr Kapur, I can in all honesty not answer your question as I said we are a small club with a constitution which has barely been changed in 50 years

Does the constitution currently define a parliamentary authority for the club? If it does not, it would be desirable to amend the constitution to provide for one.

In the interim, the club would follow its own rules and the common parliamentary law, to the extent that there is agreement among the members regarding what the common parliamentary law is.

[Guest Anthony]

Quote

Yes, a new nomination could be made. I am unclear on whether nominations have already been closed, but even if they have been, they may be reopened by majority vote. Furthermore, write-in votes are also in order.

Nominations are closed yes

Re-Opened - Can this be done by the Chairperson in place and a new nomination be made for the vacant position or does the opening need to be opened by committee vote ?

 

Can you explain Write-in vote please this really not my field ?

Thanking you

 

Anthony

[Richard Brown]

Guest Anthony, you keep referring to "the committee".  What committee are you referring to?  What is the role of this committee? 

[Richard Brown]

55 minutes ago, Guest Anthony said:

Nominations are closed yes

Re-Opened - Can this be done by the Chairperson in place and a new nomination be made for the vacant position or does the opening need to be opened by committee vote ?

 

Can you explain Write-in vote please this really not my field ?

Thanking you

 

Anthony

Under the rules in RONR, nominations can be re-opened by a majority vote of the assembly.  Someone moves to re-open nominations, there is a second, and then it is voted on. The motion to re-open nominations is not debatable.

A write-in vote is a vote cast in a ballot vote for someone who has not been officially nominated. The name of the person being voted on is "written in" on the ballot, thus the term "write-in" vote.

As both Dr. Kapur and Mr. Martin have suggested it is probably in your best interests to find out if a parliamentary authority (a parliamentary manual, such as RONR) is specified in your bylaws or special rules of order of if one is being used as a matter of custom.  The rules in that manual might be different from the rules in RONR.

[Josh Martin]

1 hour ago, Guest Anthony said:

Re-Opened - Can this be done by the Chairperson in place and a new nomination be made for the vacant position or does the opening need to be opened by committee vote ?

The assembly which is electing these persons would need to reopen nominations by majority vote.

1 hour ago, Guest Anthony said:

Can you explain Write-in vote please this really not my field ?

In a ballot vote, people can vote for any eligible person, including a person who has not been nominated. These votes are often referred to as "write-in votes," since in societies where the ballots are preprinted with the names of nominees, the names of other persons would need to be written in on the ballot in order to vote for them.

Edited November 18, 2020 at 07:21 PM by Josh Martin

[Guest Anthony]

45 minutes ago, Josh Martin said:

The assembly which is electing these persons would need to reopen nominations by majority vote.

In a ballot vote, people can vote for any eligible person, including a person who has not been nominated. These votes are often referred to as "write-in votes," since in societies where the ballots are preprinted with the names of nominees, the names of other persons would need to be written in on the ballot in order to vote for them.

Ok so I understand this please. 

A write-in vote is when, a member of a club during an election votes for someone who has not been nominated for a said position

 

Quote

The assembly which is electing these persons would need to reopen nominations by majority vote

By assembly I am assuming that would mean the members of the club in our case. There is no time to gain a vote by the members on re-opening as it would have to be done by post so this option is not open to us

 

Mr Brown we have nothing as fancy as bylaws we are a hobby club of 150 souls run by a committee ot 8 people.  We have a situation where nominations have been made for all positions and are ready for our club members to postal vote on the candidates. 

The Vice Chairman has withdrawn and I wanted to know how and if a new nomination could be made for that position now the nominations are closed. (we have 2 nominations for 1 position and 1 of these cold fill the vacant one)  I am steered to this forum as I would like to ensure things are done correctly.

 

Many Thanks Again

Anthony

 

[Josh Martin]

34 minutes ago, Guest Anthony said:

A write-in vote is when, a member of a club during an election votes for someone who has not been nominated for a said position

Yes.

34 minutes ago, Guest Anthony said:

By assembly I am assuming that would mean the members of the club in our case. There is no time to gain a vote by the members on re-opening as it would have to be done by post so this option is not open to us

Yes, that is correct. Write-in votes are still an option.

So I would think the most prudent course of action would be to first see if anyone is interested in running and then inform members regarding the interested person. This person will not technically be nominated, but members could still write-in the name of this person.

Edited November 18, 2020 at 08:42 PM by Josh Martin

[Guest Anthony]

1 hour ago, Josh Martin said:

Yes.

Yes, that is correct. Write-in votes are still an option.

So I would think the most prudent course of action would be to first see if anyone is interested in running and then inform members regarding the interested person. This person will not technically be nominated, but members could still write-in the name of this person.

 

 

There is a yearbook due to go out with all nominees and a voting paper to be returned.

If the members were made aware that Joe Bloggs was interested in the now vacant position in the year book the members could write in Joe Bloggs on the voting slip to be returned.

Am I correct

Scinario - Joe Bloggs and Burt Bee are both nominated for secretary. Joe has said he will fill the V Chair position. Does he have to withdraw from the secretary nomination inorder for the write-in to operate as if he does not he will receive votes for both positions ??

 

You are such a help Josh thank you !!

 

[Josh Martin]

5 minutes ago, Guest Anthony said:

If the members were made aware that Joe Bloggs was interested in the now vacant position in the year book the members could write in Joe Bloggs on the voting slip to be returned.

Am I correct

Yes.

5 minutes ago, Guest Anthony said:

Scinario - Joe Bloggs and Burt Bee are both nominated for secretary. Joe has said he will fill the V Chair position. Does he have to withdraw from the secretary nomination inorder for the write-in to operate as if he does not he will receive votes for both positions ??

He is not required to withdraw from consideration for Secretary. There is nothing wrong with him receiving votes for both positions. If he wishes to announce his intent to withdraw from consideration for Secretary, he is free to do so.

In the event that Mr. Bloggs wins both positions, then he would choose which position to keep and another round of voting would be held for the other position.

I would again repeat my caveat that these answers are based upon Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, which is the leading authority on the common parliamentary law in the United States. I am not an expert on the common parliamentary law in the United Kingdom. While American parliamentary law evolved from British parliamentary law and there are therefore likely considerable similarities, there may also be differences. I would also again urge the society to formally adopt a parliamentary authority.

Edited November 18, 2020 at 10:49 PM by Josh Martin

[Guest Anthony]

Problem

 

We dont have write-in in the uk

[Josh Martin]

4 minutes ago, Guest Anthony said:

Problem

We dont have write-in in the uk

I don't understand what this means. Is this statement based upon some manual regarding the common parliamentary law in the United Kingdom? If so, please let me know where you found it. I would be quite interested to learn more. Or perhaps you mean that there is some law providing that write-in votes in certain types of private societies are prohibited?

If you instead mean that you do not have write-in votes in elections for public office, that fact would have absolutely no relevance to whether write-in votes are permitted in elections in a private society.

Edited November 18, 2020 at 11:05 PM by Josh Martin

[Atul Kapur]

7 hours ago, Guest Anthony said:

if there is just one person nominated for the position and he withdraws before voting can a new nomination be made for the now vacant position.

The group that is allowed to make nominations can certainly follow the process to make another nomination for this position which is now without a candidate. Originally, could any single member make a nomination? If that was the case, then you should do your best to quickly get word out that this position has no willing candidate at the moment.

5 hours ago, Guest Anthony said:

Re-Opened - Can this be done by the Chairperson in place and a new nomination be made for the vacant position or does the opening need to be opened by committee vote ?

I would suggest that you try to follow the original nomination procedure as closely as possible. If the nomination was done by a nominating committee, then that same committee could meet again to complete the nominations. Alternatively, see my answer immediately above.

1 hour ago, Guest Anthony said:

We dont have write-in in the uk

Is it explicitly prohibited for an organization such as yours? In Canada and I, believe, the UK, it is not an option for elections to Parliament; that makes it less familiar but no less valid for private organizations.

Edited November 19, 2020 at 12:20 AM by Atul Kapur

[Guest Anthony]

Quote

I would suggest that you try to follow the original nomination procedure as closely as possible. If the nomination was done by a nominating committee, then that same committee could meet again to complete the nominations. Alternatively, see my answer immediately above.

Morning.

The statement above could possibly help me. The original procedure allows for the return of nominations from the membership for scrutiny by the committee before they are sent out for vote. Scrutiny in our case is not defined and the line in the constitution is pretty much what I have written. Given the committee has the power to do this is it possible that the situation of the vacant position can be remedied by the committee.

 

Quote

If you instead mean that you do not have write-in votes in elections for public office, that fact would have absolutely no relevance to whether write-in votes are permitted in elections in a private society.

Ah ok in public votes write-in it is said to spoil the nomination slip from what I can see

Would there not need to be something that says we accept writ-in votes in a private society or could it just be done ( think write-in vote would need explaining to the scruyineer

 

Thanks

Anthony

[Atul Kapur]

2 hours ago, Guest Anthony said:

The original procedure allows for the return of nominations from the membership for scrutiny by the committee before they are sent out for vote. Scrutiny in our case is not defined and the line in the constitution is pretty much what I have written. Given the committee has the power to do this is it possible that the situation of the vacant position can be remedied by the committee.

You have very many mentions of a "committee" fo me to understand without you being more specific. What committee are you speaking of here? Is it one of these committees that you mention in your first post?

19 hours ago, Guest Anthony said:

small club in the UK that had its committee disbanded and is currently under the control of a temporary committee.

 

The membership have been offered the opportunity to nominate a new permanent committee

It sounds like you are taking nominations for a new Executive Board (aka Board of Directors aka Executive Committee).

I'm not at all clear which committee is vetting or scrutinizing nominees. Is it the Temporary Committee ( I have no idea where they got their authority from, but I won't question it)? Is it a Nominations Committee? 

[Josh Martin]

7 hours ago, Guest Anthony said:

The statement above could possibly help me. The original procedure allows for the return of nominations from the membership for scrutiny by the committee before they are sent out for vote. Scrutiny in our case is not defined and the line in the constitution is pretty much what I have written. Given the committee has the power to do this is it possible that the situation of the vacant position can be remedied by the committee.

I would presume the purpose of such a provision is simply to verify that the nominees are eligible. It seems doubtful that it would permit the committee to add additional nominees.

7 hours ago, Guest Anthony said:

Would there not need to be something that says we accept writ-in votes in a private society or could it just be done ( think write-in vote would need explaining to the scruyineer

So far as Robert's Rules of Order is concerned, write-in votes are permitted unless the organization's rules specifically provide otherwise.