Lori Lukinuk Posted July 5, 2010 at 02:21 PM Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 at 02:21 PM What advice would be in order if an election occurs and a few members mailed in their votes and they were counted and later (two days)it is pointed out that the use of mail in votes are not addressed in the by-laws. The member pointing out the concern wants a new election as he feels the election was tainted. All ballots including the mail in ballots have been destroyed and the mail in votes may or may not have made a difference in the election results as the final vote was very close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted July 5, 2010 at 02:27 PM Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 at 02:27 PM Absentee voting is prohibited in any form unless specifically authorized by your bylaws, and the member may make a point of order at the next meeting as the election is null and void. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STA Posted July 5, 2010 at 02:33 PM Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 at 02:33 PM Since there is evidence that those illegal absentee votes made a difference in the result you should ballot again, after proper notice. RONR p402 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Lukinuk Posted July 5, 2010 at 02:38 PM Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 at 02:38 PM Since there is evidence that those illegal absentee votes made a difference in the result you should ballot again, after proper notice. RONR p402There is no way to know one way or the other if the mail in votes made a difference as they no longer exist. The potential is there though and I agree, since that potential is there a new election is in order. Would there be a need for a new election if the result of the election was a landslide for the successful candidate and it was obvious that the mail in votes would not have made a difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmtcastle Posted July 5, 2010 at 02:40 PM Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 at 02:40 PM There is no way to know one way or the other if the mail in votes made a difference as they no longer exist. The potential is there though and I agree, since that potential is there a new election is in order. Would there be a need for a new election if the result of the election was a landslide for the successful candidate and it was obvious that the mail in votes would not have made a difference?What's required is evidence that the illegal votes could have made a difference.If the outcome was a "landslide" and there were not more than a handful of illegal votes, such evidence would be hard to come by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Lukinuk Posted July 5, 2010 at 04:54 PM Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 at 04:54 PM What's required is evidence that the illegal votes could have made a difference.If the outcome was a "landslide" and there were not more than a handful of illegal votes, such evidence would be hard to come by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Lukinuk Posted July 5, 2010 at 04:56 PM Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 at 04:56 PM If the election occurred at an AGM and the members have dispursed and it would be difficult to reconvene the members, how would you proceed with another election? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Elsman Posted July 5, 2010 at 05:20 PM Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 at 05:20 PM My guess is that this one is in the books, as they say. Although it deals mainly with conventions, RONR, Off. Interp. 2006-11 may have some applicability to this situation, as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted July 5, 2010 at 05:30 PM Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 at 05:30 PM And, since Lori kinda departed from RONR's system of counting votes at the election meeting and fully announcing the results then and there (near as I can tell from her postings), there isn't much we RONR-geeks can do for her.About all we can do is point to pp. 243-244 and suggest that since no point of order was raised at the time of the election, it is now too late to do anything about things. The election stands. If all the ballots had been preserved, and the improper mail-in votes could be identified and removed, then there would be a good reason to call a special meeting (bylaws permitting) to raise a point of order related to the use of improper votes, but, absent all those "ifs", it's over, as Rob suggests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Lukinuk Posted July 5, 2010 at 05:51 PM Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 at 05:51 PM So...there are Mervosh, STA, and Mountcastle suggesting a re-election may be in order and Elsman and Stackpole saying election stands. Back to the drawing board. Because this was an AGM and it would be very difficult if not impossible to reconvene the members for another election, I believe the election stands and the association should take a close look at their by-laws and make amendments to address their concerns. If the association wishes to allow mail-in voting they need to have a clear process for that in their by-laws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Elsman Posted July 5, 2010 at 06:04 PM Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 at 06:04 PM So...there are Mervosh, STA, and Mountcastle suggesting a re-election may be in order and Elsman and Stackpole saying election stands. Back to the drawing board. Because this was an AGM and it would be very difficult if not impossible to reconvene the members for another election, I believe the election stands and the association should take a close look at their by-laws and make amendments to address their concerns. If the association wishes to allow mail-in voting they need to have a clear process for that in their by-laws.If it helps any, I'm not disagreeing with Mr. Mervosh's assessment of the applicable rule. What I'm saying is that the evidence needed to apply the rule will have been long gone by the time the assembly can meet again. Realistically, when an assembly is not going to meet again for a long time and the ballots are to be destroyed in the interim, it is important for all the possible issues to be dealt with before the final adjournment; otherwise, there will not be much to do later than shout at one another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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