Voting Issues

[Guest Kim Goldsworthy]

TW,

>>Our by-laws require 2 weeks notice before voting in new officers.<<

kg: Okay. If you say so.

>>Our board doesn't seem to know what the bylaws say and tend to operate how they choose.<<

kg: Sorry"

[Guest H.Wm.Mountcastle]

Assuming the general membership elects the board members, who elects the officers? In some organizations it's also the general membership, in others, it's the board (from among the board members).

In any case, your questions can only be answered "

[Guest Trina]

> In any case, your questions can only be answered by reading your bylaws in their entirety, something that's beyond the scope and purpose of this forum. <

Nonetheless, if Tracy W. were to provide a bit more information (for example, answer"

[Guest Tracy Walton]

Thanks for your replies.

Our by-laws say that the organization is managed by a board, elected by the general membership at the last meeting of the year. The new officers assume their respective responsibilities on June 1. The last meeting of th"

[Guest Chris H]

You will need to give us the EXACT language defining the term of office for the Board members for us to answer your first question. To answer your 2nd question the election would not be valid if proper notice wasn't given (RONR p. 244 a,e)."

[Guest H.Wm.Mountcastle]

>>If there is an election without proper notice, does that invalidate the results?<<

Don't confuse the failure of the nominating committee to do its job with proper notice of the election.

If everyone knows that the election "

[Guest Tracy Walton]

There really isn't a distinction between officers and the board in the by-laws.

I think most of the membership knows about the meeting- it was advertised beginning in April. However, elections were not mentioned until just last week. 3 of the curre"

[Guest Trina]

> ...the election would not be valid if proper notice wasn't given (RONR p. 244 a,e). <

I don't think p. 244(a) applies in any case, since that refers to a motion passed which stands in conflict with the bylaws (not to a process which may h"

[Guest Tracy Walton]

I wondered about accepting nominations from the floor, but since it says "2 weeks notice" can we still do that? Procedurally- would that be ok?"

[Guest Trina]

> I just cut in Article VI from the by-laws... <

If the bylaws contain nothing further about terms of office, then the old board members probably are out on June 1... all the more important to actually conduct an election at the specified l"

[Guest Trina]

> I wondered about accepting nominations from the floor <

Nominations from the floor are allowed by default (under RONR), so such nominations are proper unless they are expressly ruled out by the bylaws."

[Guest Tracy Walton]

Thanks for your thoughts. I wish that we could just accept nominations from the floor. However, our last meeting is a picnic and people come and go. The ballot box is open for 2 hours and you only have to present to vote- not for the entire time. That "

[Guest H.Wm.Mountcastle]

>>There really isn't a distinction between officers and the board in the by-laws.<<

What I was asking was, how, for example, are the president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer elected? Do you have such offices?"

[Guest Tracy Walton]

They are elected by the general membership for a two year term. Both of those positions are up for election this year. It gets a little tricky- the board selects those to run and notifies the membership. This year, no-one volunteered for president so the"

[Guest Chris H]

Can you give us the EXACT language from the bylaws where it says that they serve a 2 year term? The language you gave before didn't answer my question."

[Guest Tracy Walton]

Directly from Article V: The Board of Directors

Terms of service will be for two consecutive years, and will not necessarily be restricted to the same office or Board duties during the term. These terms shall begin with a staggered election proce"

[Guest Chris H]

Ok. Sounds like the seat becomes vacant as soon as the 2 years are up."

[Guest Tracy Walton]

So, in summary, just because the Nominating committee (the board) did not fulfull the by-law requirement to notify the membership of the candidates to be voted on, does not invalidate having the vote at the scheduled time. Right?"

[Guest Trina]

> So, in summary, just because the Nominating committee (the board) did not fulfull the by-law requirement to notify the membership of the candidates to be voted on, does not invalidate having the vote at the scheduled time. Right? <

If the"

[Guest H.Wm.Mountcastle]

>>Is there even a formal meeting (call to order, etc.) during the day's festivities?<<

There better be. It's one thing to keep the polls open throughout the day but that doesn't meet a meeting isn't required.

I also don't thi"

[Guest Tracy Walton]

They do call the meeting to order- sort of. It is supposed to be the 1 business meeting of the year.

However, there are members ( not on the board) who have already complained about this issue. They might very well call point of order. Or more l"

[Guest Trina]

> Or more likely, they will expect a response from the board BEFORE the actual meeting starts. So, does the board ignore their concerns or should they address them- and if so, how? <

One very important thing to keep in mind is that if this "

[Guest Kim Goldsworthy]

Tracy,

>>. . . just because the Nominating committee did not fulfill the bylaw requirement to notify the membership of the candidates to be voted on, does not invalidate having the vote at the scheduled time. Right?<<

kg: Right.