Illegal Vote

[Guest Rebecca]

I was recently at a small organization board elections meeting.  The meeting was called to order and attendance was taken.  All officer positions had one nominee each.  I was nominated from the floor.  I accepted nomination which led to the position then having 2 nominees.  There were 16 members present, including the chairperson who placed a vote.  The vote was split.  The chairperson then called 3 other members to arrive to do a re-vote.  Should this vote have been tabled? Or was the chair person allowed to call in more votes after the meeting had already been called to order and a vote already taken place?

[J. J.]

If there is a tie for an election, the assembly votes again.  Members arriving by that point may vote (45:56).

[Joshua Katz]

Hmm. The vote was tied, so the appropriate thing to do is to vote again, and that's what was done. But calling specific people does not strike me as impartial behavior for the chair.

[J. J.]

On 4/11/2024 at 2:24 PM, Joshua Katz said:

Hmm. The vote was tied, so the appropriate thing to do is to vote again, and that's what was done. But calling specific people does not strike me as impartial behavior for the chair.

What if the body recessed and he did it then? 

[Joshua Katz]

I would say it falls into an area where no rule prohibits it but I would not recommend it.

[Josh Martin]

On 4/11/2024 at 1:17 PM, Guest Rebecca said:

Should this vote have been tabled?

I assume you actually mean "postponed." But in any event, I can't answer that. That's a judgment call for the assembly to make.

When an election is incomplete, the proper course of action is to conduct the election again. By default, that means immediately. The assembly could postpone the election if it wished. That requires a majority vote. In the alternative, the assembly is free to complete the election at the same meeting.

On 4/11/2024 at 1:17 PM, Guest Rebecca said:

Or was the chair person allowed to call in more votes after the meeting had already been called to order and a vote already taken place?

People are free to arrive to a meeting late, and it violates no rule for the chair (or anyone else) to call people to come to the meeting.

On 4/11/2024 at 1:24 PM, Joshua Katz said:

Hmm. The vote was tied, so the appropriate thing to do is to vote again, and that's what was done. But calling specific people does not strike me as impartial behavior for the chair.

I don't know that we know for sure that the chair only called specific people. But assuming this is in fact what occurred, I agree that I'd be more comfortable if the chair had notified all absent members, rather than singling out specific individuals.