Nominating Committee Procedures

[Guest Jodi S.]

Is there a recommended procedure a Nominating Committee should follow? Such as should incumbent members be asked if they plan to continue (by-laws allowing) before seeking other candidates?

[Gary Novosielski]

The charge of the bylaws committee is to come up with the best possible list of nominees for positions on the ballot of an upcoming election.  In many organizations this means one nominee per office, but RONR does not insist on that.

An incumbent office holder does not get the nomination automatically, unless you have some local rule requiring that.  Elections are an essential way for the membership to get rid of officers who are performing poorly.  The nominating committee should not be complicit in keeping ineffective incumbents in office.  But that sometimes requires a good deal of courage, and a need to be prepared for possible blowback.  

One important task is to make sure the nominees would accept the office if they are elected.  Another is to make sure the nominees understand the duties of the office.  For example, you want to make sure that the vice-presidential nominee understands that they will become president automatically in the case of a vacancy in the presidency.  It is probably the most important single duty of the VP position.  The nominee should understand that there will be no opportunity to decline, if that happens.

But there is no one set of procedures that will work in every organization.  Discussing the procedures that apply best in your situation should be among the first discussions that the committee will have.  

[Guest Darlene]

Gary, in your answer you stated one nominee per office. Can a nominating committee place more than one?  I have seen where they place e no one (better left open than just finding someone who doesn’t really want it). 
 

If two people were interested for the same position and both equally qualified what would you suggest if neither wants another position?

thanks,

darlene

[Gary Novosielski]

In the usual case, nominating committees nominate one name per position, and in some cases this is required in the bylaws (check yours).  If not, though, it would be up to the nominating committee to decide whether to include more than one name.  Nothing in RONR would prohibit the practice.

In any case, after the nominating committee presents its report to the assembly, the chair must call for additional nominations from the floor, if any.

[Josh Martin]

On 1/16/2024 at 9:00 AM, Guest Darlene said:

Gary, in your answer you stated one nominee per office. Can a nominating committee place more than one?

Yes, although this is somewhat unusual. The purpose of the Nominating Committee, as defined in RONR, is to recommend the best candidate for each office, in the committee’s opinion. If there are other interested candidates, they can be nominated from the floor.

There may arise situations, however, where there are two equally qualified candidates.

On 1/16/2024 at 9:00 AM, Guest Darlene said:

 I have seen where they place e no one (better left open than just finding someone who doesn’t really want it). 

Leaving a position vacant isn’t an option. If the Nominating Committee really can’t find anyone, I suppose there is no other choice than to make no nomination for that position. But nominating no one doesn’t solve anything - it just kicks the can down the road and makes it the assembly’s problem.

On 1/16/2024 at 9:00 AM, Guest Darlene said:

If two people were interested for the same position and both equally qualified what would you suggest if neither wants another position?

Based specifically on the “both equally qualified” language, I suppose the committee would nominate both candidates.

Edited January 16, 2024 at 11:07 PM by Josh Martin

[Weldon Merritt]

I was once a member of an organization whose bylaws required the NC to nominate two candidates for each office. A very bad idea IMO, and one that I eventually was able to convince them to eliminate. There was once member in particular who saw the proposed change as an attempt to "limit their choices." Fortunately, most of the group did not buy her argument.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 1/16/2024 at 6:53 PM, Weldon Merritt said:

I was once a member of an organization whose bylaws required the NC to nominate two candidates for each office. A very bad idea IMO, and one that I eventually was able to convince them to eliminate. There was once member in particular who saw the proposed change as an attempt to "limit their choices." Fortunately, most of the group did not buy her argument.

The General agrees:

46:11
Nominees. Although it is not common for the nominating committee to nominate more than one candidate for any office, the committee can do so unless the bylaws prohibit it. It is usually not sound to require the committee to nominate more than one candidate for each office, since the committee can easily circumvent such a provision by nominating only one person who has any chance of being elected (see also 56:25). 

[Weldon Merritt]

On 1/17/2024 at 2:05 PM, Gary Novosielski said:

The General agrees:

46:11
Nominees. Although it is not common for the nominating committee to nominate more than one candidate for any office, the committee can do so unless the bylaws prohibit it. It is usually not sound to require the committee to nominate more than one candidate for each office, since the committee can easily circumvent such a provision by nominating only one person who has any chance of being elected (see also 56:25). 

Indeed! And that's one of the arguments I made that (I think) helped persuade them to ditch the rule.