Electing an "unqualified" officer

[rbk]

Our bylaws say that "the election of the president... shall be held at the Annual Meeting." To be qualified to run for that office, you must meet certain requirements, e.g., you must have been a member of the organization for at least 5 years. There is a provision in our bylaws that allows members to waive the years-of-service requirement with a majority vote by ballot. What would our organization do if our only candidate for president needed a years-of-service waiver but did not get it?

[Richard Brown]

10 minutes ago, rbk said:

What would our organization do if our only candidate for president needed a years-of-service waiver but did not get it?

You have to find someone else or amend the bylaws. Unless your  by laws prohibit it, write in candidates are eligible and someone can be elected by members writing  in his name. Two or three votes might even be enough to elect someone in that manner. Heck, one vote will be enough if there are no votes for anyone else.

Also, someone who doesn’t really want the job and is not seeking it might well be willing to accept it if he is nominated and elected.

Edited May 29, 2021 at 06:34 PM by Richard Brown
Typographical corrections

[rbk]

So not filling the office is not an option? Our bylaws say that "the election of the president... shall be held at the Annual Meeting," but they don't explicitly say that the position shall be filled.

[Richard Brown]

What exactly do your bylaws say about the terms of office of officers? In particular, do they say anything anywhere to the effect that officers shall continue to serve “until their success source are elected”? Please quote the relevant language verbatim, don’t paraphrase.  It might be that your current president continues to serve until his success or is elected.  It might be that your current president continues to serve until his successor is elected.

 

Also, if you do not yet have a candidate, when you get to the election of the president, that particular election (and any others) may be postponed  until the next meeting. That might give you time to find someone or to amend the bylaws.

 

[Atul Kapur]

1 hour ago, rbk said:

What would our organization do

You keep looking until you find someone who either meets the requirements or for whom the membership will approve the waiver.

 

As Mr. Brown says, whether that leaves you with a vacancy or whether the incumbent continues depends on your bylaws.

1 hour ago, Richard Brown said:

Unless your  by laws prohibit it, write in candidates are eligible

Richard, that assumes that they are having a ballot vote for the election. From what I read, I see a requirement that the vote on granting the waiver requires a ballot, but not that the acclamation requires a ballot. So I'm not sure there is an opportunity for a write-in vote. It may just be that the ballots ask: Do you approve of granting the waiver for this candidate, Yes or No?

[Richard Brown]

44 minutes ago, Atul Kapur said:

that assumes that they are having a ballot vote for the election.

Yes, that is what my assumption is based on. If they are not voting by ballot, then, of course, there will be no write in votes. The OP has not made a statement either way as to whether the elections are by ballot, only that they must vote by ballot when voting to waive the length of membership  provision for president.

[J. J.]

31 minutes ago, Richard Brown said:

Yes, that is what my assumption is based on. If they are not voting by ballot, then, of course, there will be no write in votes. The OP has not made a statement either way as to whether the elections are by ballot, only that they must vote by ballot when voting to waive the length of membership  provision for president.

Unless the group  is prohibited by some higher rule, they could certainly order a ballot vote, by majority vote. 

[Gary Novosielski]

5 hours ago, rbk said:

So not filling the office is not an option? Our bylaws say that "the election of the president... shall be held at the Annual Meeting," but they don't explicitly say that the position shall be filled.

If the position is not filled then the election is not completed, and continues until it is.  There's no loophole, sorry.

[rbk]

1 hour ago, Gary Novosielski said:

If the position is not filled then the election is not completed, and continues until it is.  There's no loophole, sorry.

My original question now boils down to this: What do we do if we can't fill (in a timely manner) an office that the bylaws say must be filled? What does "the election continues until the position is filled" mean in practice? Must the election end before we can do anything else? Can we adjourn the meeting and continue the election at our next meeting?

[Atul Kapur]

First, you should check your bylaws as Mr. Brown suggested earlier

6 hours ago, Richard Brown said:

What exactly do your bylaws say about the terms of office of officers? In particular, do they say anything anywhere to the effect that officers shall continue to serve “until their success source are elected”? Please quote the relevant language verbatim, don’t paraphrase.  It might be that your current president continues to serve until his success or is elected.

 

[rbk]

6 hours ago, Richard Brown said:

What exactly do your bylaws say about the terms of office of officers? In particular, do they say anything anywhere to the effect that officers shall continue to serve “until their success source are elected”? Please quote the relevant language verbatim, don’t paraphrase.  It might be that your current president continues to serve until his success or is elected.  It might be that your current president continues to serve until his successor is elected.

 

Also, if you do not yet have a candidate, when you get to the election of the president, that particular election (and any others) may be postponed  until the next meeting. That might give you time to find someone or to amend the bylaws.

 

"Persons elected to these offices shall serve for a term of one year, or until their successors have been duly elected."

[Richard Brown]

12 hours ago, rbk said:

"Persons elected to these offices shall serve for a term of one year, or until their successors have been duly elected."

That provision mange means that in the event you are not able to elect a new president at your annual meeting, your current president continues to serve as president until you do elect one.

Edited May 30, 2021 at 02:19 PM by Richard Brown
Typographical correction as indicated

[Josh Martin]

12 hours ago, rbk said:

My original question now boils down to this: What do we do if we can't fill (in a timely manner) an office that the bylaws say must be filled? What does "the election continues until the position is filled" mean in practice? Must the election end before we can do anything else? Can we adjourn the meeting and continue the election at our next meeting?

The election, while it is pending, may be postponed to an adjourned meeting or to the next regular meeting (if that meeting is within a regular interval). The meeting may also be adjourned while the election is pending, in which event the election would become unfinished business for the next regular meeting. The incumbent President will continue to serve in the office until the election can be completed.

Edited May 30, 2021 at 01:50 PM by Josh Martin