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Nominations from the floor, even if not called for by Chair


Polly Reeder

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I wanted to confirm that the specific wording of our Bylaws does not exclude nominations from the floor. Applicable excerpts (There are other Bylaws items here and elsewhere that should be fixed...) are below. Ballot voting is only required for contested positions.

No officer shall be eligible to hold the same office for more than two (2) consecutive terms unless no new nominations for that position are received prior to April 15th. ... Interested parties shall communicate with the PTO by the 15th day of April if he or she would like to fill a position. The Secretary will compile a list of all candidates seeking elected office and notify all members of the election at least two weeks prior to the meeting at which the election will take place.

My understanding is that given there is no specific exclusion of nominations from the floor, that alone is sufficient.

Additionally, "Interested parties shall" (my emphasis) is not a requirement. However, "The Secretary will compile a list of all candidates" (my emphasis) is more problematic. But again, I think that this is basically irrelevant bc the member right of nominations from the floor is not explicitly excluded in our Bylaws.  Also, the last sentence's "at least two weeks prior" could be grammatically argued to pertain only to notifying members of the election itself, or at a minimum be unclear in its reference.

I do still need to check applicable CT statutes, however.

Please advise. And thanks for sharing your expertise!

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1 hour ago, Polly Reeder said:

I wanted to confirm that the specific wording of our Bylaws does not exclude nominations from the floor. Applicable excerpts (There are other Bylaws items here and elsewhere that should be fixed...) are below. Ballot voting is only required for contested positions.

No officer shall be eligible to hold the same office for more than two (2) consecutive terms unless no new nominations for that position are received prior to April 15th. ... Interested parties shall communicate with the PTO by the 15th day of April if he or she would like to fill a position. The Secretary will compile a list of all candidates seeking elected office and notify all members of the election at least two weeks prior to the meeting at which the election will take place.

My understanding is that given there is no specific exclusion of nominations from the floor, that alone is sufficient.

Additionally, "Interested parties shall" (my emphasis) is not a requirement. However, "The Secretary will compile a list of all candidates" (my emphasis) is more problematic. But again, I think that this is basically irrelevant bc the member right of nominations from the floor is not explicitly excluded in our Bylaws.  Also, the last sentence's "at least two weeks prior" could be grammatically argued to pertain only to notifying members of the election itself, or at a minimum be unclear in its reference.

I do still need to check applicable CT statutes, however.

Please advise. And thanks for sharing your expertise!

My interpretation of the quoted bylaw provisions is the same as yours:  I do not believe your bylaws prohibit nominations from the floor.  However, as always, interpretation of an organization's bylaws is something only the members of that organization may do.  It is ultimately up to the members of your organization to determine whether the bylaws prohibit nominations from the floor.

Such an interpretation can be obtained by means of a member moving to open nominations from the floor at your election meeting, having someone make a point of order that floor nominations are not allowed (or the chair can raise the point on his own), the chair makes a ruling on the point of order, and then his ruling is appealed to the assembly.

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