Proper way to vote and have votes read

[Guest Renee]

What is proper procedure for taking/ reading of votes?, example: board members vote on paper, gives votes to a board member, said board member takes votes to another room, reads them and returns stating "passed or not passed".  Shouldn't there be 2 people counting votes as to verify? and if meeting is already adjourned, can a board member request in writing a recount at next meeting if voting wasn't done properly?

[Gary Novosielski]

It's somewhat unusual to use ballot voting for ordinary board motions, but there's nothing improper about it.  Ballots are normally used to keep secret the votes of individual members.  Normally boards do most of their business with voice votes, or for publicly elected boards, roll-call votes. 

The procedure for balloting is that the chair appoints "tellers" to count the votes.  RONR recommends that for a small group, two or three tellers should be sufficient, but there is no hard rule on this.  Two is better than one, to ensure accuracy.  The tellers' duty is to collect, or accept the ballots, ensuring that no member votes more than once, and to count the votes and report the numbers.

Unless your board is large, counting should not take long, and can take place without leaving the room.  The tellers do not report whether the motion passed or failed--that is the chair's job.  The tellers report only the numbers of Yes and No votes, and the number of any spoiled ballots if any, such as one with both checked, or with some invalid written response.

They read their report, hand it to the chair, who reads it again and announces whether it passed or failed.

For more details, see RONR 12th ed. §45.

[Josh Martin]

On 10/6/2022 at 12:11 PM, Guest Renee said:

What is proper procedure for taking/ reading of votes?, example: board members vote on paper, gives votes to a board member, said board member takes votes to another room, reads them and returns stating "passed or not passed".

This is not quite the correct procedure for a ballot vote. Rather, it would be as follows:

• Board members vote on paper and hand their ballots to the tellers.
• The tellers count the votes, which may in be another room or in the same room, depending on the preferences of the board and the tellers.
• The tellers return and the head teller reads the results of how many members voted on each side, plus a few other things such as the total number of votes cast and the number of votes required for adoption.
• The head teller does not declare the motion adopted or lost. The chair makes that declaration, after reading the teller's report again.

Most votes are not taken by ballot. By default, votes are taken by the following procedure, assuming there is nothing in the organization's rules to the contrary:

• The vote is first taken by voice. Members voting in the affirmative vote "aye," and members voting in the negative vote "no."
• If it is unclear from a voice vote which side has it, a rising vote is taken, with members in the affirmative rising, followed by members in the negative.
• If it is still unclear, then the rising vote is repeated, but those rising on each side are counted.

The assembly may order other methods in a particular case, or other methods might be required in a particular case under the organization's rules. Common methods include a ballot vote (as you have described), a roll call vote (in which each member is called by name and responds with their vote), and a show of hands vote (which is similar to a rising vote, but with members raising their hands instead of standing up - only recommended in smaller assemblies).

On 10/6/2022 at 12:11 PM, Guest Renee said:

Shouldn't there be 2 people counting votes as to verify?

Generally there are at least two tellers, although this is not strictly required.

On 10/6/2022 at 12:11 PM, Guest Renee said:

and if meeting is already adjourned, can a board member request in writing a recount at next meeting if voting wasn't done properly?

If a ballot vote is taken, a motion for a recount is in order:

• During the same meeting
• During the next regular meeting, provided it is within a quarterly interval
• During a special meeting called for the purpose, provided it is within a quarterly interval and is prior to the next regular meeting

A motion for a recount requires a majority vote for adoption. A single member's request, whether in writing or not, is not sufficient.

But you say that the "voting wasn't done properly." A recount wouldn't help with that, because a recount involves (as the term suggests) recounting the votes which have already been cast. So it's to check whether the counting was done properly. It won't fix any errors with the voting.

If the voting was not done properly, then a member should raise a Point of Order to that effect. Generally speaking, a Point of Order must be raised promptly at the time of the breach, so the next meeting would be too late. But there are some exceptions.

It would be helpful if you could explain what you mean by "if voting wasn't done properly."

Edited October 6, 2022 at 10:37 PM by Josh Martin