Announcing Board member eletion results

[Guest Meg]

Regarding the election of Board members, when and how are the election results/totals revealed, announced?  I have scoured Robert's Rules and cannot find this specific topic. 

 

Thanks.

[Dan Honemann]

12 minutes ago, Guest Meg said:

Regarding the election of Board members, when and how are the election results/totals revealed, announced?  I have scoured Robert's Rules and cannot find this specific topic. 

 

Thanks.

The rules in RONR are written primarily to pertain to elections that are held during a meeting, and I think the information you are looking for is found in RONR, 12th ed., 45:37-41.

How has this election to which you refer been conducted? 

[Guest Email and paper ballot]

Mr. Honemann,

 

Thank you so much for getting back to me.  The election of Board members was held by secret ballot, via email and snail mail. 

[Guest Email and paper ballot]

Thank you for getting back to me, Mr. Honemann.  Ballots were cast by email and paper ballot via USPS. 

[Dan Honemann]

Then I'm afraid that you are right when you say that you cannot find this in RONR.

Since voting by mail is something that must be expressly permitted in the bylaws, RONR expects that the bylaws, or special rules adopted pursuant thereto, will spell out the details as to how the results are to be announced.

[MegB]

To clarify:  The meeting was held on Zoom.  The membership voted by email and by paper/traditional post BEFORE the meeting date. The issuance and counting of the ballots was handled entirely by a property management company.   The names only, not the number of votes each candidate received,  of the two Board members who received the most votes were announced during the meeting.  Several days after the meeting, a member requested the vote counts.  It is my understanding that if any member asks for the vote count AFTER the meeting, it must be provided to him.  I can see no useful reason for withholding this information (which WILL be recorded in the minutes), but I CAN see that announcing the numbers during the meeting might be insensitive to the person(s) who were not elected.  Thank you again for your responses. 

[J. J.]

2 hours ago, MegB said:

To clarify:  The meeting was held on Zoom.  The membership voted by email and by paper/traditional post BEFORE the meeting date. The issuance and counting of the ballots was handled entirely by a property management company.   The names only, not the number of votes each candidate received,  of the two Board members who received the most votes were announced during the meeting.  Several days after the meeting, a member requested the vote counts.  It is my understanding that if any member asks for the vote count AFTER the meeting, it must be provided to him.  I can see no useful reason for withholding this information (which WILL be recorded in the minutes), but I CAN see that announcing the numbers during the meeting might be insensitive to the person(s) who were not elected.  Thank you again for your responses. 

Under RONR, the results of a ballot vote, i.e. how many votes each option received,  should be announced at the meeting.  Unless bylaws or applicable statute provide for mail voting, it is not permitted. 

[MegB]

Thank you, J.J. However, this was an election of persons, not options.  We did not release the vote count in the meeting out of regard for the person(s) who did not gain a seat on the Board.  I may be splitting hairs, but because I cannot find my issue addressed in RONR, I am appealing to this forum for a definitive answer that I can annotate and/or a source I can quote. 

[Richard Brown]

1 hour ago, MegB said:

We did not release the vote count in the meeting out of regard for the person(s) who did not gain a seat on the Board.  I may be splitting hairs, but because I cannot find my issue addressed in RONR, I am appealing to this forum for a definitive answer that I can annotate and/or a source I can quote. 

The vote count for each candidate should be read in full to the membership and included in the minutes.  Here is what RONR says about it in sections 45:38 - 45:40:

45:37  Tellers’ report and the chair’s declaration of the result. The chairman of tellers, standing, addresses the chair, reads the tellers’ report, and hands it to the chair without declaring the result. In the case of an election, the report follows this form: TELLERS’ REPORT Number of votes cast…… 97 Necessary for election (majority)…… 49 Mr. Miller received…… 51 Mr. Wilson received…… 24 Mr. Strong received…… 14 Illegal Votes Mr. Friend (ineligible)…… 7 Two ballots for Mr. Wilson folded together, rejected…… 1   (Note:  I could not get the copy and paste to show this list in list form the way it appears on the book).

45: 39 The tellers’ report does not include the number of members eligible to vote nor the number abstaining. In a local society or other body in which membership continues on a long-term basis, only the officer responsible for maintaining the membership roll, and in a convention only an immediate updated report of the credentials committee, can validly determine the number of members eligible to vote if this figure becomes needed. The reporting teller never declares the result of a ballot vote. The result is always declared by the chair, who also reads the tellers’ report before he does so. In an election, the chair separately declares the election of each officer (see also 46). In balloting on a motion, the chair announces the result.

45: 40 The tellers’ report is entered in full in the minutes, becoming a part of the official records of the organization. Under no circumstances may this be omitted in an election or in a vote on a critical motion out of a mistaken deference to the feelings of unsuccessful candidates or members of the losing side.  (Emphasis added)

 

 

Edited March 21, 2021 at 11:24 PM by Richard Brown
Typographical correction

[J. J.]

2 hours ago, MegB said:

Thank you, J.J. However, this was an election of persons, not options.  We did not release the vote count in the meeting out of regard for the person(s) who did not gain a seat on the Board.  I may be splitting hairs, but because I cannot find my issue addressed in RONR, I am appealing to this forum for a definitive answer that I can annotate and/or a source I can quote. 

Voting for a person is an option.  The results should be announced at the meeting, unless your rules provide otherwise.