Guest David Posted February 19, 2021 at 04:26 PM Report Posted February 19, 2021 at 04:26 PM Electing multiple persons to serve on a committee Can you require that all ballots must contain an exact number of votes? Example: you want to elect 4 persons and have 10 nominated for the positions. The question is can you require that all ballots must contain 4 votes? Obviously if the number of votes exceeds the number of those to be elected then the ballot is not valid nor counted. I would appreciate some feedback. Quote
Josh Martin Posted February 19, 2021 at 04:54 PM Report Posted February 19, 2021 at 04:54 PM 26 minutes ago, Guest David said: Electing multiple persons to serve on a committee Can you require that all ballots must contain an exact number of votes? Example: you want to elect 4 persons and have 10 nominated for the positions. The question is can you require that all ballots must contain 4 votes? Obviously if the number of votes exceeds the number of those to be elected then the ballot is not valid nor counted. I would appreciate some feedback. No, you can't require this. Members may vote for up to four candidates in such a case. Additionally, it is not quite correct that "if the number of votes exceeds the number of those to be elected then the ballot is not valid nor counted." Such a ballot is counted as an illegal vote. That is, it is counted in the number of total votes cast, but is not credited to any particular candidates. Such ballots may affect whether candidates obtain a majority. "By the same token, when an office or position is to be filled by a number of members, as in the case of a committee, or positions on a board, a member may partially abstain by voting for less than all of those for whom he is entitled to vote." RONR (12th ed.) 45:3 "In an election of members of a board or committee in which votes are cast in one section of the ballot for multiple positions on the board or committee, every ballot with a vote in that section for one or more candidates is counted as one vote cast, and a candidate must receive a majority of the total of such votes to be elected." RONR (12th ed.) 46:33 "All ballots that indicate a preference—provided they have been cast by persons entitled to vote—are taken into account in determining the number of votes cast for purposes of computing the majority. Each such ballot is credited to the voter’s preferred candidate or choice if the meaning of the ballot is clear and the choice is valid. Unintelligible ballots or ballots cast for an unidentifiable or ineligible candidate are treated instead as illegal votes—that is, they are counted as votes cast but are not credited to any candidate or choice. Similarly, a ballot that contains votes for too many candidates for a given office is counted as one illegal vote cast for that office, because it is not possible for the tellers to determine which candidate(s) the voter prefers." RONR (12th ed.) 45:32 Quote
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