Nominations and Voting process

[PAPS]

Since we are a very small hobby club getting volunteers to step up for Club Officers and Board is always a challenge. We seldom have a competing ballot. So, my questions are -

1) At our November meeting, do I need to cite each position for nominations off the floor or can I just ask if there are any positions that are being brought forth for nominations?

2) If there are no oppositions for the nominees brought forth by the Nominating Committee, does each position have to be voted individually or can they be voted in by General Consent?

Thank you,

Amy

[Weldon Merritt]

On 9/20/2021 at 12:56 PM, PAPS said:

1) At our November meeting, do I need to cite each position for nominations off the floor or can I just ask if there are any positions that are being brought forth for nominations?

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking, but you do need to call for nominations from the floor for each office after the Nominating Committee has presented its nominations. The preferred way to do this (at least my preference; I'm not positive that it's an actual RONR rule) is to first call for nominations for president; then when no further nominations for president are forthcoming, call for nominations for vice president; and so on until you have called for nominations for all offices.

On 9/20/2021 at 12:56 PM, PAPS said:

2) If there are no oppositions for the nominees brought forth by the Nominating Committee, does each position have to be voted individually or can they be voted in by General Consent?

If there is only one nominee for each position (or in the case of multiple identical positions, if there are no more nominees than positions to be filed) and if the bylaws do not require a ballot vote, the chair should simply declare the nominees elected without calling for a vote or general consent. But note the very important "if." If the bylaws require a ballot vote and don't include an exception, then a ballot vote must be held, and the ballots must include a space for write-ins. 

[Gary Novosielski]

RONR advises that each office (in the order listed in the bylaws) be opened for nominations in turn.  I don't think it would be a large problem to do it as you suggest, particularly if you're expecting few or no nominations from the floor, but then again it takes only a few seconds to say:

"Are there any further nominations for President?  [pause] If not... [pause] nominations are closed.  Are there any further nominations for Vice president? [pause] ...", etc.

It is more important that any desired nominations should be properly recognized than it is to adhere perfectly to procedure.

As for the election, it will depend on your bylaws.  If your bylaws specify that a ballot vote, without any exception for unopposed offices, then that is what is required, and the rule may not be suspended.  The ballot must allow for write-in votes unless they are prohibited by the bylaws, which would be unusual.

But if a ballot is not mandatory, and if only one candidate has been nominated for an office, the chair simply announces that the single  nominee is elected by acclamation (without any vote).  

There are two basic ways to run nominations and elections  You may take nominations for, say president, and then elect the president; then move on to the next office and repeat.

Or, you may get all nominations made first, then close nominations, and run the election for all offices.

Which method is used may be a matter of custom in your organization, or can be decided by the membership, or if there is no objection, by the method suggested by the chair.

 

[PAPS]

This is wonderful...thank you for taking the time to explain.

Amy

 

[PAPS]

"If there is only one nominee for each position (or in the case of multiple identical positions, if there are no more nominees than positions to be filed) and if the bylaws do not require a ballot vote, the chair should simply declare the nominees elected without calling for a vote or general consent. But note the very important "if." If the bylaws require a ballot vote and don't include an exception, then a ballot vote must be held, and the ballots must include a space for write-ins. "

Question: There are no additional nominations for our vote in November. We are voting to change our By-Laws to allow for voting without a written ballot via ZOOM right now via postal mail which is allowed in our existing bylaws.
What verbiage do I use the President to declare the nominees elected? Would you also direct me to the chapter and section? 

Thank you!
Amy

[Tom Coronite]

You’ve cited it yourself, there in red.

Something along the lines of “As there are no other nominations, Joe Shmoe is elected to the officer of dog catcher.” should work.

[PAPS]

Okay, I thought there was something more formal I should say...thanks!

Amy

 

[Gary Novosielski]

On 10/1/2021 at 12:49 PM, PAPS said:

Okay, I thought there was something more formal I should say...thanks!

Amy

 

Well, you could dress it up:  "As there are no further nominees for the office of president, Mr. Coolidge is elected by acclamation."  

[PAPS]

Is it permissible to say, "As there are no further nominees for ALL offices, the list of recommended nominees is elected by acclamation or unanimous consent"?

Thank you,

Amy

[Tom Coronite]

On 10/1/2021 at 6:39 PM, PAPS said:

Is it permissible to say, "As there are no further nominees for ALL offices, the list of recommended nominees is elected by acclamation or unanimous consent"?

Thank you,

Amy

Personally, I’d drop the strike-through text.

[PAPS]

Okay! I was trying to eliminate having to go through the entire list of nominees since there were no opposing candidates.

Thank you,

Amy

 

[Dan Honemann]

I assume this is all happening at an in-person meeting, and if so, I think it is much better to handle each office individually, and not all lumped together as you seem to prefer.

[PAPS]

Hi, no this is not for an in-person meeting.
I am in the process of updating our By-laws via postal mail (which is presently allowed in our Bylaws) for Electronic Meetings. The votes will return by end of this month which I expect will pass. With our hobby club, it's been difficult to get members out of the mode of being so casual.
So for our November meeting, I wanted to know how to best announce the voting for the candidates via ZOOM. I have no problems with announcing each candidate. The idea for 'lumping' them together was more for efficiency since there are no opposing candidates.
Thanks,
Amy

 

 

[Dan Honemann]

On 9/20/2021 at 2:56 PM, PAPS said:

1) At our November meeting, do I need to cite each position for nominations off the floor or can I just ask if there are any positions that are being brought forth for nominations?

 

On 9/20/2021 at 4:26 PM, Weldon Merritt said:

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking, but you do need to call for nominations from the floor for each office after the Nominating Committee has presented its nominations. The preferred way to do this (at least my preference; I'm not positive that it's an actual RONR rule) is to first call for nominations for president; then when no further nominations for president are forthcoming, call for nominations for vice president; and so on until you have called for nominations for all offices.

This is what I mean by handling each office individually. It is not a good idea to ask, after the Nominating Committee has submitted its report, if there are any further nominations for any of the offices to be filled (or, as you say, "{just ask if there are any positions that are being brought forth for nominations"). It's best to handle each office individually.

[PAPS]

I think I need to clarify....in September our Nominating Committee reported out their candidates. At this time, I, as the President DID ask if there were any nominations from the floor, citing each office individually. There were none.

My question has to do with our upcoming meeting in November since we don't have any opposing candidates. May I just ask for unanimous vote for the entire list at one time or should I cite each of them individually when there are no other opposing candidates?

Hope this clarifies.

Thank you,
Amy

[Dan Honemann]

On 10/2/2021 at 3:47 PM, PAPS said:

I think I need to clarify....in September our Nominating Committee reported out their candidates. At this time, I, as the President DID ask if there were any nominations from the floor, citing each office individually. There were none.

My question has to do with our upcoming meeting in November since we don't have any opposing candidates. May I just ask for unanimous vote for the entire list at one time or should I cite each of them individually when there are no other opposing candidates?

Hope this clarifies.

Thank you,
Amy

No, you must once again call for further nominations from the floor (see RONR, 12th ed., 46:18).

[Dan Honemann]

The truth is this is all rather troubling.

I gather a bylaw amendment authorizing zoom meetings was just voted on by postal mail as allowed by your existing bylaws. What do your existing bylaws say about how the result of this vote is to be announced?

[PAPS]

Results can be announced via email and our newsletter.

I'm not sure what you mean by "The truth is this is all rather troubling"? Sounds a bit cryptic....

We have 24 eligible voting members who received the By-law change ballot this month. Prior to COVID we had a face-to-face vote to allow for notifications by email through electronic means.

Since COVID restrictions, we have been trying to update our By-laws to adopt ZOOM as our meeting platform especially since we are spread across 3 states.

I was actually thinking we were doing a good job trying to update our By-laws, but your reply puzzles me....

Thank you,
Amy

 

[Dan Honemann]

On 10/2/2021 at 4:42 PM, PAPS said:

Results can be announced via email and our newsletter.

If true, this may make it rather difficult for any member to contest the announced result of the vote concerning the bylaw amendment.

In any event, what troubles me is that you continually mention this recent amendment of your bylaws in connection with your question concerning the procedure you should follow in handling nominations. Is this just to point out that you will be conducting your election during a Zoom meeting for the first time? 

 

[PAPS]

Ah...sorry, I wasn't trying to confuse the two.

Yes, we will be conducting the election during our Zoom mtg in November for the first time and in order to do that we needed the By-Law changes (thus the reference I made to it).

Amy

 

[Gary Novosielski]

On 10/2/2021 at 1:11 PM, PAPS said:

Hi, no this is not for an in-person meeting.
I am in the process of updating our By-laws via postal mail (which is presently allowed in our Bylaws) for Electronic Meetings. The votes will return by end of this month which I expect will pass. With our hobby club, it's been difficult to get members out of the mode of being so casual.
So for our November meeting, I wanted to know how to best announce the voting for the candidates via ZOOM. I have no problems with announcing each candidate. The idea for 'lumping' them together was more for efficiency since there are no opposing candidates.
Thanks,
Amy

Well, you won't know for certain that there are no opposing candidates until you call for further nominations from the floor at the November meeting.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 10/2/2021 at 4:42 PM, PAPS said:

Since COVID restrictions, we have been trying to update our By-laws to adopt ZOOM as our meeting platform especially since we are spread across 3 states.

I would recommend not specifying a particular platform by name in the bylaws, but rather use more generic terms, and specify the characteristics required for a platform that can be used for electronic meetings.  (Which Zoom would presumably meet.)   If for some reason Zoom is sold off or becomes unavailable, you are locked in to a situation that you cannot easily change.

[PAPS]

I have kept the word 'ZOOM' out of the new language and used 'electronic means' to keep it generic.

Thanks for the tip.

Amy

 

[PAPS]

Regarding this "Well, you won't know for certain that there are no opposing candidates until you call for further nominations from the floor at the November meeting."

I did ask for nominations from the floor at the September meeting as per our By-laws. We only allow for them at that meeting. No one stepped forward so we have an unchallenged list of candidates for each position to vote on in November.

Amy

 

[Weldon Merritt]

On 10/4/2021 at 6:44 PM, PAPS said:

I did ask for nominations from the floor at the September meeting as per our By-laws. We only allow for them at that meeting. No one stepped forward so we have an unchallenged list of candidates for each position to vote on in November.

Do your bylaws specifically say that nominations from the floor are allowed only at the September meeting? If not, then you still must call for them at the November meeting.

Edited October 5, 2021 at 04:33 AM by Weldon Merritt
Edited to correct a typographical error.