Who has voting privileges on a committee? Does a non-voting member on a committee have a vote for the chairperson?

[Guest Julie]

Our covenants for the ARC allows for three voting members. One is the chairperson. There is nothing that addresses additional people on the committee however they have been considered to have a role to learn to eventually take over. They do not vote on violations or submissions but can voice their opinion. Does a non-voting committee member have a vote for the chairperson when it’s supposed to be 3 voting members appointed by the BoD? 

[Josh Martin]

On 2/10/2023 at 12:04 PM, Guest Julie said:

Our covenants for the ARC allows for three voting members. One is the chairperson. There is nothing that addresses additional people on the committee however they have been considered to have a role to learn to eventually take over. They do not vote on violations or submissions but can voice their opinion. Does a non-voting committee member have a vote for the chairperson when it’s supposed to be 3 voting members appointed by the BoD? 

Since you say that "There is nothing that addresses additional people on the committee," it's not clear to me that it is accurate to describe these persons as "non-voting members" of the committee. The committee would have "non-voting members" only if provided for in the organization's rules. So far as I can tell, these persons are non-members of the committee, but the committee customarily permits these persons to attend meetings and voice their opinion. In that situation, the answer to whether these persons can vote is clearly "No."

Even in the event the organization's rules do provide for "non-voting members," while RONR does not define what rights a "non-voting member" has, it would seem clear to me that a "non-voting member," by definition, does not have the right to vote. Any exceptions to this would need to be defined in the rules creating the non-voting members. So I would still say the answer is "No."