succession

[rbk]

Does RONR say anything about succession in the event of a vacancy in the office of president or vice president? My group's bylaws do not address this topic.

[Richard Brown]

On 10/12/2022 at 5:33 PM, rbk said:

Does RONR say anything about succession in the event of a vacancy in the office of president or vice president? My group's bylaws do not address this topic.

Yes.  Unless your bylaws provide otherwise, RONR says very specifically that in the event of a vacancy in the office of the president, the vice-president (or 1st VP if there is more than one VP) automatically and instantly BECOMES PRESIDENT.  He doesn't just fulfill the duties of the president, he BECOMES the president for the remainder of the president's term.  He is not "interim" president, he is President. 47:28 and 56:32 RONR (12th ed.).

Edited to add:  The resulting vacancy will be in the office of the vice president, since he would have become president automatically in the event of a vacancy in the office of president.  The vacancy should be filled as soon as possible following the vacancy-filling procedures in your bylaws.  If your bylaws do not prescribe a procedure for filling vacancies, let us know. Generally, an election must be held to fill the vacancy.  See §47:57-58 for filling vacancies.

Edited October 12, 2022 at 11:00 PM by Richard Brown
Added §47:28 to citations and added last paragraph

[rbk]

On 10/12/2022 at 6:50 PM, Richard Brown said:

Yes.  Unless your bylaws provide otherwise, RONR says very specifically that in the event of a vacancy in the office of the president, the vice-president (or 1st VP if there is more than one VP) automatically and instantly BECOMES PRESIDENT.  He doesn't just fulfill the duties of the president, he BECOMES the president for the remainder of the president's term.  He is not "interim" president, he is President. 47:28 and 56:32 RONR (12th ed.).

Edited to add:  The resulting vacancy will be in the office of the vice president, since he would have become president automatically in the event of a vacancy in the office of president.  The vacancy should be filled as soon as possible following the vacancy-filling procedures in your bylaws.  If your bylaws do not prescribe a procedure for filling vacancies, let us know. Generally, an election must be held to fill the vacancy.  See §47:57-58 for filling vacancies.

I was wondering who would be 3rd in the presidential order of succession.

[Richard Brown]

On 10/12/2022 at 6:58 PM, rbk said:

I was wondering who would be 3rd in the presidential order of succession.

The only automatic succession provided for in RONR is that the vice president automatically succeeds to the presidency. If there is more than one vice president then they succeed in order, starting with the first vice president, second vice president, third vice president, etc. There is no provision in RONR for other officers to automatically become president. That could be provided for in the organization’s  own bylaws if so desired. Usually, only the vice presidents succeed to the presidency automatically except, perhaps, when there is a president-elect.

[rbk]

On 10/12/2022 at 9:05 PM, Richard Brown said:

The only automatic succession provided for in RONR is that the vice president automatically succeeds to the presidency. If there is more than one vice president then they succeed in order, starting with the first vice president, second vice president, third vice president, etc. There is no provision in RONR for other officers to automatically become president. That could be provided for in the organization’s  own bylaws if so desired. Usually, only the vice presidents succeed to the presidency automatically except, perhaps, when there is a president-elect.

What about the presiding officer of a meeting? Would anyone automatically assume that role if both the president and vice president were absent? Our bylaws assign the role of presiding officer to the president.

[Atul Kapur]

RONR (12th ed.) 47:11(3) says "If neither the president nor any vice-president is present, the secretary—or in the secretary’s absence some other member—calls the meeting to order, and the assembly immediately elects a chairman pro tem to preside during that session."

This only applies to the duty of presiding over that particular meeting, not to any other duties or powers of the president. 

Edited October 13, 2022 at 03:17 AM by Atul Kapur