Nominations

[Guest Trina E.]

What does Robert's say about asking the question three times during the nominations/elections process. For example... "Are there any nominations for president? Are there any nominations for president? Are there any nominations for president?... nominations for president are now closed." Some say repeating is not necessary and only asking once will suffice, and others say it is still necessary. For either response, please share where this can be found in Robert's Rules of Order for my reference. Thank you! 

[Joshua Katz]

It does not say either way, leading to the conclusion that, like in other contexts, you simply ask once. 

[Atul Kapur]

This is a common practice but not supported by RONR, which specifically shows in an example that the chair just calls once.

The principle is that the chair should not be hasty in closing nominations but should allow everyone eligible to make a nomination to actually do so. In my opinion, the question of how to ensure that is only a big deal if someone wants to make it a big deal. However, if someone does, the reference is RONR (12th ed.) 46:20 (note the pauses to give members the opportunity to nominate).

Quote

When it appears that no one else wishes to make a nomination, the chair again asks if there are any further nominations; and if there is no response, he normally declares that nominations (for that office) are closed, without waiting for a motion to that effect, as follows:

CHAIR: Are there any further nominations for President? … [Pause.] If not … [pause], nominations are closed. [Or, “Without objection, … nominations are closed.”]

 

Edited May 17, 2023 at 06:04 AM by Atul Kapur

[Rob Elsman]

The important point is not the number of times the chair asks if there are any [further] nominations; the important point is that the chair ensures that members have a reasonable opportunity to make all the nominations they wish to make.

[Guest Trina E.]

Thank you all so much for your responses! These are helpful! 

[Gary Novosielski]

On 5/16/2023 at 7:10 PM, Guest Trina E. said:

What does Robert's say about asking the question three times during the nominations/elections process. For example... "Are there any nominations for president? Are there any nominations for president? Are there any nominations for president?... nominations for president are now closed." Some say repeating is not necessary and only asking once will suffice, and others say it is still necessary. For either response, please share where this can be found in Robert's Rules of Order for my reference. Thank you! 

There is no such rule in RONR, so it will be difficult to share where it can be found.  In short, it cannot be found.

For your amusement, you might want to hand a copy of RONR to those who claim it is necessary, and ask them to find it.