election doesn't provide enough members to make a Board

[Guest Perc1]

As of today, our tentative ballot only has 8 people.  The bylaws specify "The ten members receiving the largest number of votes on the general election ballot shall constitute the Board of Directors for the next calendar year"   A couple of those on the ballot have previously raised questions about the makeup of the Board and I want to have an answer ahead of time.  If the bylaws call for 10 but only 8 end up on the ballot and there are no write-ins can we proceed with just those elected?  Or, do we have to have another election?

[Rob Elsman]

The ballot should be so constructed that the eight nominees are listed with ten blanks below the names.  Voters can vote for as many as ten people, either by checking the boxes next the nominees' names or writing in their own choices.  As many rounds of voting as necessary are held until there are ten people who have received a majority vote and have not declined the office.

This could be a long meeting if the members are really disinterested.

[Weldon Merritt]

On 8/24/2021 at 1:46 PM, Rob Elsman said:

As many rounds of voting as necessary are held until there are ten people who have received a majority vote and have not declined the office.

I agree with the part about "[a]s many rounds of voting as necessary." But I'm not so sure about "who have received a majority vote." Guest Perc1 told us:

On 8/24/2021 at 1:21 PM, Guest Perc1 said:

The bylaws specify "The ten members receiving the largest number of votes on the general election ballot shall constitute the Board of Directors for the next calendar year" 

If that is an accurate quote, it seems that Guest Perc1's organization uses plurality voting, and a majority would not be necessary.

[Richard Brown]

On 8/24/2021 at 6:56 PM, Weldon Merritt said:

it seems that Guest Perc1's organization uses plurality voting, and a majority would not be necessary.

I agree. 
 

On 8/24/2021 at 2:46 PM, Rob Elsman said:

The ballot should be so constructed that the eight nominees are listed with ten blanks below the names. 

I don’t no that is it really necessary to add 10 blank lines below the names of the nominees, but I suppose it is conceivable that some member may want to write in the names of 10 members and not vote for anyone who was nominated.

On 8/24/2021 at 2:46 PM, Rob Elsman said:

As many rounds of voting as necessary are held until there are ten people who have received a majority vote and have not declined the office.

I agree that this would be the ideal, but if no names are written in and after two or three rounds the assembly still only has eight people elected, at some point the election of the remaining two members could be postponed until the next meeting or the meeting can simply be adjourned.  In either case the pending election should come back up at the next meeting as unfinished business and general orders.

[Guest Perc1]

I understand the ballot design with the extra blanks for write-ins.  Would our only option to prevent this in the future be to revise the bylaws to create a Board of a lesser number of members. Or, could that particular subsection be waived by the current Board to preclude having to have "rounds of voting"?
 

[Richard Brown]

On 8/24/2021 at 8:06 PM, Guest Perc1 said:

Would our only option to prevent this in the future be to revise the bylaws to create a Board of a lesser number of members.

Reducing the size of your board is one option. Another option is to amend your bylaws to provide that the board shall consist of, for example, “ up to 10 members“. I don’t particularly like that type bylaw, but it is a provision used by some organizations.

On 8/24/2021 at 8:06 PM, Guest Perc1 said:

Or, could that particular subsection be waived by the current Board to preclude having to have "rounds of voting"?

No. A provision in the bylaws providing for the size of the board cannot be waived or suspended.

[Rob Elsman]

Yes, I seems the bylaws may play a superseding role in all this.  I can't help anyone with bylaws.  I can only help with what RONR says.  Bylaws?  You're on your own.