Forfeiture of a Committee Seat

[Guest Tony9780]

Hello

 

I have a question regarding the rules of declaring a member has forfeited their seat. This would pertain to a political party. Our State Party enables the creation of County Committees, which enable the creation of District Committees. This question is for a District Committee. Our District does not yet have bylaws and our County Bylaws do not explain what happens when a member is absent for numerous consecutive meetings. Our State Party Bylaws read "Any State Committee Member who is personally absent from three consecutive meetings or who grants a proxy for three consecutive meetings shall forfeit his/her membership on the State Committee." 

We have six members whom have been absent in varying spans of 8 months to nearly two years. We found out that a member, who never showed up, passed away in November of 2023. 

We have members who would like to declare these seats vacant pursuant to state party rules governing state committee membership. Would we have the ability, as being governed by Robert's Rules to do so? Or do we need to first adopt bylaws at a District committee level?

[Gary Novosielski]

RONR has no advice on this situation.  You will need to search your local documents for an answer.  Whether your County Committee bylaws apply in the absence of District Committee bylaws, or whether you will need to adopt your own bylaws might be stated in the County Committee bylaws.

[Atul Kapur]

On 4/15/2024 at 1:03 PM, Guest Tony9780 said:

Our District does not yet have bylaws

Then, unless the bylaws of a superior level create a structure and membership for your district (or the districts generally), you have no formal structure or members who can be deemed to have vacated the seats that you don't formally have.

So, yes, it sounds like you "need to first adopt bylaws at a District committee level." 

Do the bylaws of your County committee give your district committee any structure / define the membership, or do they just "enable the creation of District Committees."

The quote you have provided regarding absent members appears to only apply to the State Committee itself, not any subordinate body.

Edited April 15, 2024 at 08:34 PM by Atul Kapur

[Josh Martin]

On 4/15/2024 at 12:03 PM, Guest Tony9780 said:

Our State Party enables the creation of County Committees, which enable the creation of District Committees. This question is for a District Committee. Our District does not yet have bylaws

So far as RONR is concerned, an organization doesn't really "exist" until it has bylaws.

Is there something in the rules of the state party or county party suggesting otherwise?

On 4/15/2024 at 12:03 PM, Guest Tony9780 said:

We have six members whom have been absent in varying spans of 8 months to nearly two years.

If you do not have bylaws, how do you know which persons are members, or how someone becomes a member, or how many members you have?

On 4/15/2024 at 12:03 PM, Guest Tony9780 said:

We have members who would like to declare these seats vacant pursuant to state party rules governing state committee membership. Would we have the ability, as being governed by Robert's Rules to do so?

Even setting aside the larger problem of not having bylaws, the answer is no.

First, the idea of "declaring these seats vacant" is nonsense, and I wish organizations would stop using that terminology. It makes no sense. A seat is either vacant or it isn't. When a seat is vacant, it's obvious, and there's no need to declare it. If the seat isn't vacant, then "declaring the seat vacant" is a euphemism for removal. If these persons have not resigned, been removed, or died, then the positions aren't vacant. What you're really asking is whether you can remove them due to their absences.

Under Robert's Rules, no. The only way to remove people under Robert's Rules is through formal disciplinary procedures, as specified in Ch. XX of RONR. Members do not automatically lose membership due to absences unless your bylaws so provide.

The fact that the state party provides that members of the state party committee automatically lose membership due to absences is irrelevant. Such a rule is not applicable to constituent units unless the bylaws so provide.

On 4/15/2024 at 12:03 PM, Guest Tony9780 said:

Or do we need to first adopt bylaws at a District committee level?

You need to adopt bylaws for a lot of reasons, but yes, if you want to provide that members automatically lose their membership on the basis of absences, the bylaws would need to provide as much.

Edited April 15, 2024 at 09:14 PM by Josh Martin