Voting Via Email

[Guest Chris Lund]

What is Robert's Rule on voting via email? Does it need to be established in an in person meeting or can the Committee move to vote via email then vote via email? 

[Joshua Katz]

It needs to be authorized in the bylaws.

[Richard Brown]

Voting by email is a form of absentee voting and is not permitted by RONR (Robert’s Rules) unless expressly authorized  in the bylaws or required by state law or an emergency proclamation by the governor due to COVID-19. 

[Richard Brown]

You might also take a look at official interpretation 2020-1 on the main website which can be found here: https://robertsrules.com

Scroll down to the bottom of the list. The interpretations are listed first by year and then by number sequence within each year.

You might also look at the first thread in this forum, which is frequently asked questions about electronic meetings. The bottom line is that electronic meetings and voting by mail and email are not permitted unless authorized in the bylaws. However, it is possible that some actions taken at electronic meetings or by email can be ratified, but it is a tricky process and not everything can be ratified.  Read official interpretation 2020-1 very carefully, paying attention to every word, and do not read more into it than it actually says.

Edited May 6, 2021 at 01:08 PM by Richard Brown
Typographical corrections

[Guest Chris Lund]

Right now our Governor does have an emergency proclamation; yet the group in questions is a local political organization and not a function of the government. Does that make a difference?

[Guest Chris Lund]

15 minutes ago, Richard Brown said:

You might also take a look at official interpretation 2020-1 on the main website which can be found here: https://robertsrules.com

Scroll down to the bottom of the list. The interpretations are listed first by ear and then Bob number sequence with it each year.

You might also look at the first thread in this forum, which is frequently asked questions about electronic meetings. The bottom line is that electronic meetings and voting by mail and email is not permitted unless authorized in the bylaws. However, it is possible that some actions taken at electronic meetings or by email can be ratified, but it is a tricky process and not everything can be ratified.  Read official interpretation 2020-1 very carefully, paying attention to every word, and do not read more into it than it actually says.

Thanks

[Josh Martin]

4 minutes ago, Guest Chris Lund said:

Right now our Governor does have an emergency proclamation; yet the group in questions is a local political organization and not a function of the government. Does that make a difference?

I don't know. You'd have to look at the proclamation to see what groups it applies to.

[Alicia Percell, PRP]

I think Robert's Rules is being overly polite when it says in a footnote at the bottom of page ONE (after saying that a "deliberative assembly" is the kind of gathering to which parliamentary law is generally understood to apply):

"A group that attempts to conduct the deliberative process in writing -- such as by postal mail, electronic mail (e-mail), or facsimile transmission (fax) -- does not constitute a deliberative assembly.  When making decisions by such means, many situations unprecedented in parliamentary law will arise, and many of its rules and customs will not be applicable (see also 9:30-36)."

Some groups insist on authorizing it in their bylaws anyway, and they forge ahead in spite of this warning, and it's just terrible!  The entire asynchronous nature of it is a disaster because timing matters a lot in parliamentary procedure.  All the timing issues with points of order go out the window.  Some people are already voting while other people are still debating by email, and then someone else finds a serious flaw and wants to offer an amendment though voting is underway.  If you're thinking of amending your bylaws to allow email voting...just don't.  If you're a Monty Python fan, just think, "Email voting is RIGHT OUT!"

If you go to the 9:30-36 reference in the above quote, you will find that it begins (emphasis exists in the original):

"Extension of Parliamentary Law to Electronic Meetings.  Except as authorized in the bylaws, the business of an organization or board can be validly transacted only at a regular or properly called meeting -- that is, as defined in 8:2(1), a single official gathering in one room or area -- of the assembly of its members at which a quorum is present..."

It goes on to explain that SIMULTANEOUS aural communication is a minimum condition for an electronic meeting if those are properly authorized in the bylaws, but the key thing to note from this as it relates to your question is that doing business in some way other than the basic in-person meeting must be authorized in the bylaws.

[Joshua Katz]

Echoing Alicia, I would add that, in the past, the benefits of asynchronous forms of voting may have outweighed the costs, particularly when meeting was impossible or very impractical. However, nowadays, technology has advanced, and we have better technological solutions, such as videoconferencing.

[Richard Brown]

17 hours ago, Guest Chris Lund said:

Right now our Governor does have an emergency proclamation; yet the group in questions is a local political organization and not a function of the government. Does that make a difference?

State and local political organizations are not generally considered public bodies or functions of government. However, that is ultimately a legal question and depends on the precise wording of the laws and emergency orders and proclamations in your own state.