Voting on new council members

[Guest Ron]

Four openings on council. Four volunteers. How to proceed? a) present council approves the 4 volunteers and that's it.; b) full membership votes for all four by a show of hands; c) Or?

[Gary Novosielski]

I don't know what sort of "council" this is.  It appears that council members are elected, but by whom?  Why would the council approve itself, if its members are elected?  The fact that there is a "full membership" suggests that they are the ones who would do the electing.  

So we have a "council" of some sort that has more than four members (?) but has four open seats.  There are four volunteers (nominees), and no other nominees?  Was there an opportunity for additional nominations?   In any case, neither a) nor b) would be proper.

What do your bylaws say about electing council members?  Is a ballot vote required?  If so, is there an exception for uncontested seats?  What do the bylaws say about nominations?  How did the four volunteers get nominated?  Was there a nominating committee?

You'll have to provide at least a minimum amount of additional information if you want a credible answer.

[Guest Ron]

Thank you, Gary for your insightful reply. I will try my best to clarify. The council is made up of 7 persons. Four voted for in one year, 3 voted on in the next year. There was a nominating committee as provided for in the by-laws. 4 people submitted applications. ByLaws give no indication of a process if there are the same number of nominees as vacancies. Only refers to Roberts Rules as governing all meetings. There is an annual meeting where a quorum is required. The by-laws require an election process but gives no details if the # of candidates is the same as the # of vacancies. That's why I was hoping R.R. could shed some light. The council would like to simplify the process by a show of hands at our annual meeting thus saving ballots, time spent, etc. Any help would be appreciated.

[Gary Novosielski]

Does the language in the bylaws refer to a ballot vote?  If so, a ballot vote is mandatory.  If not, the assembly may choose another method.  

If the rules in RONR apply, the nominating committee will, at some point, report its list of nominees to the membership, either at the annual meeting or some prior meeting of the membership.  After the report is received, the chair must call for any additional nominations from the floor. 

But if at that point there are still four nominees for four seats, and if the bylaws do not require a ballot vote, the chair simply declares that the four nominees are "elected by acclamation".  There is no show of hands or other voting.