Petition presented to revoke membership due to dishonorable behavior -

[Heather S]

2 Board members signed the petition - can they remove their names from the petition as our Bylaws' require that this matter be brought to the Board. 

[Joshua Katz]

That will depend on your rules.

[Richard Brown]

@Heather Swe need a lot more information in order to help you. 

[Heather S]

Thank you for the reply.

Here's some background - in our By Laws:

REVOCATION OF MEMBERSHIP Members may have their membership cancelled at the discretion of the Board of Directors under the following conditions:

a) Failure to pay prescribed dues or assessments by the defined deadline for receipt and 30 day in arrears from date of second notice; to be posted at the Clubhouse.

b) On complaint of misconduct or dishonorable action made in writing to the Board of Directors by at least three (3) members of the Club.

Such complaint must be acted by the Board of Directors by directing the Secretary to give written notice to the accused member at least ten (10) days prior to a Board of Directors Meeting called to take action on the charges, at which the accused member will be given full opportunity to be heard. Membership cancellation shall therefore be considered, and only an affirmative vote of five (5) of the seven (7) Board members, shall the cancellation be made effective and the member under review be notified thereof in writing.

Two Board members signed the petition, which does include 12 other signatures. 

The question is - can they void out their signatures? 

[Atul Kapur]

Why do they want to do that? I don't think it affects their ability to participate and vote during the board meeting, at least not based on the limited information that you have provided.

It sounds like the complaint has already been "made in writing to the Board of Directors," so I don't think it can be altered now.

[Josh Martin]

7 hours ago, Heather S said:

Here's some background - in our By Laws:

REVOCATION OF MEMBERSHIP Members may have their membership cancelled at the discretion of the Board of Directors under the following conditions:

a) Failure to pay prescribed dues or assessments by the defined deadline for receipt and 30 day in arrears from date of second notice; to be posted at the Clubhouse.

b) On complaint of misconduct or dishonorable action made in writing to the Board of Directors by at least three (3) members of the Club.

Such complaint must be acted by the Board of Directors by directing the Secretary to give written notice to the accused member at least ten (10) days prior to a Board of Directors Meeting called to take action on the charges, at which the accused member will be given full opportunity to be heard. Membership cancellation shall therefore be considered, and only an affirmative vote of five (5) of the seven (7) Board members, shall the cancellation be made effective and the member under review be notified thereof in writing.

Two Board members signed the petition, which does include 12 other signatures. 

The question is - can they void out their signatures? 

Could you explain why exactly it matters whether the board members can (or cannot) "void" their signatures? Based upon the facts presented, it appears to make no difference whether or not these signatures are "voided," since the petition will still have the required number of signatures in any event.

RONR has no rules pertaining to petitions of this nature. As a result, it has no direct answer to whether or not such signatures can be "voided." On the other hand, this also means that RONR does not attach any significance to whether persons have signed such a petition. So unless your rules provide otherwise, whether a person has (or has not) signed such a petition makes no difference in regard to the member's rights in related proceedings or in the operation of any other parliamentary rule.

[Richard Brown]

Since I am the one who asked Heather for the additional information, I will add that I agree with the comments by Dr. Kapur and Mr. Martin. RONR does not address whether the board members can remove or “void out“ their signatures, but I don’t see where that makes any difference or where it affects their ability to hear the case. In addition, there are apparently more than enough additional signatures. 

I will note, however, that it is not clear whether the original poster is asking if only the directors can void out their signatures or if she is asking whether all of the signers can void out their signatures. Regardless, RONR does not provide an answer to that question. I would think, however, that those members who originally signed the petition can advise the board that they no longer believe the member in question deserves to be disciplined or removed from membership.