Absentee Ballot Process

[Lryan]

  Im trying to help an organztion write standing rules regarding absentee ballots 

Bylaws allow for absentee ballot , but organztion does not know how to handle the process of the absentee ballot. 

Some of their  questions are :

 What if there is an amendment ? Do all the absentee ballots get thrown out ?

Do the absentee ballot count towards quorum ? 

Do ballots get counted with live votes ? 

 

[George Mervosh]

Perhaps it is good to start here in your situation:  

" It is a fundamental principle of parliamentary law that the right to vote is limited to the members of an organization who are actually present at the time the vote is taken in a regular or properly called meeting, although it should be noted that a member need not be present when the question is put. Exceptions to this rule must be expressly stated in the bylaws. Such possible exceptions include: (a) voting by postal mail, e-mail, or fax, and (b) proxy voting. An organization should never adopt a bylaw permitting a question to be decided by a voting procedure in which the votes of persons who attend a meeting are counted together with ballots mailed in by absentees. The votes of those present could be affected by debate, by amendments, and perhaps by the need for repeated balloting, while those absent would be unable to adjust their votes to reflect these factors. Consequently, the absentee ballots would in most cases be on a somewhat different question than that on which those present were voting, leading to confusion, unfairness, and inaccuracy in determining the result. If there is a possibility of any uncertainty about who will be entitled to vote, this should be spelled out unambiguously and strictly enforced to avoid unfairness in close votes."   RONR (12th ed.), 45:56  emphasis added by me.

[George Mervosh]

On 3/16/2023 at 9:00 AM, Lryan said:

 What if there is an amendment ? Do all the absentee ballots get thrown out ?

No, which is why the citation above was provided.

On 3/16/2023 at 9:00 AM, Lryan said:

Do the absentee ballot count towards quorum ? 

Not under the rules in RONR.  The bylaws or some applicable rule in statute would have to provide for this.

On 3/16/2023 at 9:00 AM, Lryan said:

Do ballots get counted with live votes ? 

I don't see any other way, but someone else here might.

[Josh Martin]

On 3/16/2023 at 8:00 AM, Lryan said:

  Im trying to help an organztion write standing rules regarding absentee ballots 

I concur with Mr. Mervosh, and I would add that these rules would properly be special rules of order (and perhaps rules in the bylaws, in some instances), not standing rules.

Edited March 16, 2023 at 03:26 PM by Josh Martin