Double Voting

[Guest PHR]

If voting on a motion by email, and a person uses two different emails and votes twice (once for and once against), which votes counts?  The first one of the last one?

[Guest Zev]

I would either ask the voter or ask the assembly when the vote totals are announced. But I would definitely not choose one and not report that fact to the assembly.

[Rob Elsman]

Neither vote is a legal vote cast by a legal voter, since it is a fundamental principle of parliamentary law that voting is restricted to those who are actually present in the meeting room or area.

Edited September 4, 2021 at 02:50 AM by Rob Elsman

[Joshua Katz]

I'm going to disagree slightly with both of my colleagues and say the answer depends on your own bylaws and rules. If your bylaws do not authorize email voting, then I agree with Mr. Elsman. If they do, then hopefully they contain some rules that can be interpreted by the assembly as applied to this situation. If not, my personal thought is that neither vote should count, but for a different reason - it's akin to a ballot with too many options selected, which is an illegal ballot. 

[Josh Martin]

On 9/3/2021 at 7:25 PM, Guest PHR said:

If voting on a motion by email, and a person uses two different emails and votes twice (once for and once against), which votes counts?  The first one of the last one?

As some of my colleagues have noted, the first question to ask is whether the organization's rules or applicable law authorize email voting in the first place. RONR does not.

In the event the organization has such rules but those rules are silent on this subject, I concur with Zev that the best solution is to ask the member what their intent was. In the event that fails (perhaps the member does not respond), I would generally say the latter vote should be counted. The fact that the person "uses two different emails," however, may complicate things. It could also be reasonably argued that the email address which matches the email address the organization has on file for the member is the vote which should be counted.

As Zev notes, this might be viewed as a vote where the meaning is unclear, in which case it would be counted as an illegal vote if the vote could not affect the result. If it could affect the result, the facts should be described to the assembly without revealing how the result would be affected. Such as "A member cast two different votes on the motion at two different times from two different email addresses. Which vote, if any, should be counted?" The assembly will have the last word on the matter.

On 9/4/2021 at 6:40 AM, Joshua Katz said:

I'm going to disagree slightly with both of my colleagues and say the answer depends on your own bylaws and rules. If your bylaws do not authorize email voting, then I agree with Mr. Elsman. If they do, then hopefully they contain some rules that can be interpreted by the assembly as applied to this situation. If not, my personal thought is that neither vote should count, but for a different reason - it's akin to a ballot with too many options selected, which is an illegal ballot. 

I'm not sure about that. It may be more like a member changing their vote.

[Joshua Katz]

On 9/4/2021 at 10:21 AM, Josh Martin said:

I'm not sure about that. It may be more like a member changing their vote.

Fair point. There is an unusual time element here. Ultimately, the organization will need to decide. I am now indifferent between the two possibilities, at least without thinking more about it.