ANNUAL ELECTION OF OFFICERS

[MOBYZORRO]

Usually in our organization, as the Presiding Officer asks for nominations of 1 of 8 different Officers, a member moves that a Unanimous Ballot be Cast for John Q Public for the Office of President then the motion is repeated and voted upon and always carries. This year we had a member who wanted to move things along and she made a motion that the entire slate of Officers (being only one known nomination for each) be elected by Unanimous Ballot. ROBERTS is our GUIDE, and I would like to know if this shortcut is ever legal and proper for all Officers AT ONCE? If it is not legal, could you please site the arguments against such practice. NOMINATIONS are not legal from our floor, in that each Officer Nominee must place her name (signed by two members) on the Dais prior to the opening of the meeting.

[jstackpo]

A critical piece of information is needed: do your bylaws require ballots when voting for the officers?

[Josh Martin]

ROBERTS is our GUIDE, and I would like to know if this shortcut is ever legal and proper for all Officers AT ONCE? If it is not legal, could you please site the arguments against such practice.

Whether the practice is in order depends on whether your Bylaws require that the vote be by ballot. If they do, then the practice is not in order. If they do not, the practice is in order, however, it is antiquated and unnecessary. The proper procedure when a ballot vote is not required would be for the chair to declare the officer(s) elected by acclamation. The assembly may, however, still order that a ballot vote be taken, in order to allow for write-ins. These answers apply whether the motion is for a single officer or all officers.

[MOBYZORRO]

A critical piece of information is needed: do your bylaws require ballots when voting for the officers?

[MOBYZORRO]

Yes, however we only ballot if 2 or more are nominated for the same office. Otherwise it's just the "all in favor" of a unanimous ballot motion and a voice vote. My only concern is doing all 8 officers as ONE slate.

[Josh Martin]

Yes, however we only ballot if 2 or more are nominated for the same office. Otherwise it's just the "all in favor" of a unanimous ballot motion and a voice vote. My only concern is doing all 8 officers as ONE slate.

If that is what your Bylaws say, then the chair should declare all of the nominees elected by acclamation, unless the assembly orders that a particular office be voted on by ballot. The unanimous ballot procedure is an antiquated procedure and should not be used. Whether it is one office at a time or all at once makes no difference.

I'm not sure I understand your concern. Are you just making sure it is "technically correct" under RONR or is there something more to it than that? Since you say that nominations from the floor are prohibited, unless someone intends on moving for a ballot vote so there can be a write-in campaign, it would seem logical to go through this process as quickly as possible.

[hmtcastle]

A critical piece of information is needed: do your bylaws require ballots when voting for the officers?

Yes, however we only ballot if 2 or more are nominated for the same office.

Do you mean, "yes, our bylaws require a ballot vote but we only do so when there is more than one nominee", or "yes, our bylaws only require a ballot vote when there is more than one nominee"?

[MOBYZORRO]

Do you mean, "yes, our bylaws require a ballot vote but we only do so when there is more than one nominee", or "yes, our bylaws only require a ballot vote when there is more than one nominee"?

2009

III-95

This is all our Bylaws cover ???(2) Nomination. Nominations shall be made for all the elective offices,

shall be in writing, and shall consist of the name of the office, the name of

the nominee, the signatures of two members making such nomination, and a

consent to such nomination over the signature, or by telegram, cablegram or

radiogram, of the nominee. Each nomination shall be separate, and complete

on one slip of paper. Neither the absence of any of such persons, nor any

irregularity of form only, shall invalidate a nomination. The nomination

shall be placed on the dais at any time before the Chapter

proceeds with the election to the office for which the nomination is made.

Before the ballot for each office is taken, the Presiding Officer shall announce

the office and the name of each nominee, allowing each one to rise as his or

her name is called.

Any member may vote for any eligible person for any office, whether

nominated therefore or not.

(3) Unanimous Ballot. In the absence of objection, when there is

but one nominee for any office, the ballot may be dispensed with and the

nominee elected by motion properly made, seconded and carried; otherwise

the election to such office must proceed by written secret ballot.

[David A Foulkes]

Radiogram??? What - no email???

[Josh Martin]

2009

III-95

This is all our Bylaws cover ??? (2) Nomination. Nominations shall be made for all the elective offices,

shall be in writing, and shall consist of the name of the office, the name of

the nominee, the signatures of two members making such nomination, and a

consent to such nomination over the signature, or by telegram, cablegram or

radiogram, of the nominee. Each nomination shall be separate, and complete

on one slip of paper. Neither the absence of any of such persons, nor any

irregularity of form only, shall invalidate a nomination. The nomination

shall be placed on the dais at any time before the Chapter

proceeds with the election to the office for which the nomination is made.

Before the ballot for each office is taken, the Presiding Officer shall announce

the office and the name of each nominee, allowing each one to rise as his or

her name is called.

Any member may vote for any eligible person for any office, whether

nominated therefore or not.

(3) Unanimous Ballot. In the absence of objection, when there is

but one nominee for any office, the ballot may be dispensed with and the

nominee elected by motion properly made, seconded and carried; otherwise

the election to such office must proceed by written secret ballot.

The answers provided so far have, of course, been based upon the rules in RONR. Your Bylaws supersede RONR, and it is up to your organization to interpret its own Bylaws. See RONR, 10th ed., pgs. 570-573 for some Principles of Interpretation.

[Gary Novosielski]

2009

III-95

This is all our Bylaws cover ??? (2) Nomination. Nominations shall be made for all the elective offices,

shall be in writing, and shall consist of the name of the office, the name of

the nominee, the signatures of two members making such nomination, and a

consent to such nomination over the signature, or by telegram, cablegram or

radiogram, of the nominee. Each nomination shall be separate, and complete

on one slip of paper. Neither the absence of any of such persons, nor any

irregularity of form only, shall invalidate a nomination. The nomination

shall be placed on the dais at any time before the Chapter

proceeds with the election to the office for which the nomination is made.

Before the ballot for each office is taken, the Presiding Officer shall announce

the office and the name of each nominee, allowing each one to rise as his or

her name is called.

Any member may vote for any eligible person for any office, whether

nominated therefore or not.

(3) Unanimous Ballot. In the absence of objection, when there is

but one nominee for any office, the ballot may be dispensed with and the

nominee elected by motion properly made, seconded and carried; otherwise

the election to such office must proceed by written secret ballot.

You said earlier that you do not allow nominations from the floor, but it certainly appears as if you do, except there is a requirement that they be in writing and not offered by seeking recognition. I guess it depends on how you interpret the phrase. It might not be from "the floor" in the sense that nobody needs to obtain "the floor" to make a nomination, but people who are located on or near the area of the floor can apparently still make nominations, given a bit more advance planning, and the concurrence of two members.

Also you said that these must be handed in before the meeting starts, but I don't see the support for that in the language. It appears to say that they may be handed in at any time before the election for that particular office begins, which is about as last-minute as you can get.

Also, write-ins are specifically authorized (though this is unnecessary as RONR authorizes them), which makes me wonder what all the fuss is about regarding the nomination process. As a practical matter, it does not appear that failure to follow the intricate nomination process can actually disqualify anyone from being elected, as they can just be written in.

If nominations can be accepted at the last minute, I'm guessing you don't use ballots with the nominees names printed on them, thereby providing less of an advantage to nominees over write-in candidates than would be offered by a printed ballot.

Still, I've got to say, I do love the "radiogram" method. If you ever do want to send one, just get in touch with a ham radio operator. They still handle radiograms as part of their practice and preparedness for disaster communications. They look quite official too.

[Josh Martin]

It might not be from "the floor" in the sense that nobody needs to obtain "the floor" to make a nomination,

The procedure in RONR for nominations from the floor also doesn't require members to obtain the floor in order to make a nomination.