Presenting 24/25 Slate without a Presidential Candidate

[Guest Donna]

PTO is presenting Slate for the 24/25 school year in June..  We don’t have a President Candidate so that’s blank on the Slate.  All other positions filled.  What do we do?  Can we still present and figure out Presidential  candidate after the fact or will the PTO need to be dissolved?   Please advise.  

[Richard Brown]

What do your bylaws say about nominations and elections?   Unless your bylaws provide otherwise, and if RONR is your parliamentary authority, you can and should take nominations from the floor.  Also, write-in candidates are permitted.  So, even if your nominating committee (assuming you have one) has not recommended anyone for president, you can still elect one by means of a nomination from the floor or write-in votes.  More information on what your rules say about nominations and elections would be very helpful.

In addition, if no one is elected president at this meeting, you will have an incomplete election which should be completed as soon as possible.   Depending on the wording in your bylaws of terms of office, it may be that your current (and outgoing president) will continue to serve until a successor is elected.  What, EXACTLY, do your bylaws say about the terms of office and when they end?  Do officers serve until their successors are elected?  If so, please give us the EXACT, VERBATIM language from your bylaws.  A very minor variation in wording can make a big difference.  So, please quote EXACTLY, don't paraphrase.

[Atul Kapur]

After the slate is presented, there must be an opportunity for further nominations from the floor; this gives an opportunity to nominate one or more people.

If you find that there is no one willing to lead, then yes, this may be an indication that it's time to dissolve. Alternatively, are there some aspects of the position that could be transferred to others? Perhaps the duties of the office have unnecessary and onerous tasks.

[Gary Novosielski]

Another thing to consider is that if you elect everyone on the list and do not elect a president, your Vice President candidate will become president at some point.

[Josh Martin]

On 4/7/2024 at 11:19 AM, Guest Donna said:

PTO is presenting Slate for the 24/25 school year in June..  We don’t have a President Candidate so that’s blank on the Slate.  All other positions filled.  What do we do?  Can we still present and figure out Presidential  candidate after the fact or will the PTO need to be dissolved?   Please advise.  

I might first suggest looking to the person nominated for the office of Vice President and see if they are willing to serve as President. The primary duty of the Vice President (and indeed, in many organizations, the only duty of the Vice President) is to fulfill the duties of President in the president's absence (at least within the context of meetings), and to become President in the event of a vacancy in that office. So someone who is willing to serve as Vice President should be willing to serve as President. Especially since the VP may well end up becoming President anyway if no one is elected to that office.

Failing that, nominations from the floor (and write-in votes) are in order. So perhaps a President will end up being elected.

If the meeting adjourns without electing a President, what happens next depends on whether the bylaws provide that officers serve "until their successors are elected."

• If the bylaws contain an "until their successors are elected" clause, then the current President will continue to serve until a new President is elected, or the current President resigns.
• If the bylaws do not contain an "until their successors are elected" clause (or if they do, but the President resigns), then the newly elected Vice President will get a very fast promotion, and the resulting vacancy in the office of Vice President will be filled in accordance with the organization's bylaws.

Even if the organization were without a President entirely, there are still workarounds, so it is not the case that the PTO needs to be dissolved. But certainly the organization should seek to resolve the situation as soon as possible.

[Rob Elsman]

If the rules in RONR (12th ed.) are controlling, candidates do not stand for election as a "slate" or "ticket". Each one stands individually.

When it is said "the PTO", I assume what is meant is the Nominating Committee. Although it is not ideal, it is quite possible for the committee to report that it has reached no conclusions about a nominee for president. This might happen because the committee members cannot reach agreement, a suitable person cannot be found, or no one can be found who would be willing to stand for election.

In this case, the election should proceed without a recommendation.