Vote on Member

[Guest George]

Strange situation. My club requires a new member to be voted in. We have a member that kind of snuck in under a family membership. The rest of his family were voted in, and then he just started coming to meetings. He has never been voted on, and now a good number of the club members that dislike him would like him to be voted on just like everyone else had to be.

Can the vote be taken now, although he has been a member for a while?

[Rob Elsman]

Strange situation. My club requires a new member to be voted in. We have a member that kind of snuck in under a family membership. The rest of his family were voted in, and then he just started coming to meetings. He has never been voted on, and now a good number of the club members that dislike him would like him to be voted on just like everyone else had to be.

Can the vote be taken now, although he has been a member for a while?

It seems to me that the crux of the issue lies in the interpretation of the bylaws, a matter that lies outside the purpose and scope of this forum.

[hmtcastle]

My club requires a new member to be voted in. We have a member that kind of snuck in under a family membership. The rest of his family were voted in, and then he just started coming to meetings. He has never been voted on, and now a good number of the club members that dislike him would like him to be voted on just like everyone else had to be.

Can the vote be taken now, although he has been a member for a while?

Has he?

If your rules require being voted on and he has not been voted on, why is it you think he's a member? Just because he acts like one? That's acting, not membership.

If you sneak into the movies without paying, the management doesn't have to let you stay.

[Guest George]

Good Point. Thanks!

[Gary Novosielski]

Strange situation. My club requires a new member to be voted in. We have a member that kind of snuck in under a family membership. The rest of his family were voted in, and then he just started coming to meetings. He has never been voted on, and now a good number of the club members that dislike him would like him to be voted on just like everyone else had to be.

Can the vote be taken now, although he has been a member for a while?

It doesn't sound like he has been a member for a while. It sounds like he has just been coming to meetings for a while. It's up to the club to decide whether he's a member if, as you say, you require members to be voted in.

There's no reason the vote can't be taken now. Better late than never.

[Tim Wynn]

Strange situation. My club requires a new member to be voted in.

That part's not so strange.

We have a member that kind of snuck in under a family membership. The rest of his family were voted in, and then he just started coming to meetings.

It's not that strange for nonmembers to attend meetings, either. A nonmember shouldn't be participating as a member, though.

He has never been voted on,

Neither have I. Does that make me a member of your organization, too?

and now a good number of the club members that dislike him would like him to be voted on just like everyone else had to be.

If they want him to be prevented from participating as a member, a point of order should be raised that he's not a member. The chair will then rule on the point. The ruling can be appealed, in which case the assembly will decide, and as Mr. Elsman has pointed out, it will most likely involve bylaw interpretation.

A member who wants a vote on making this person a member of the organization should make a motion to that effect.

Can the vote be taken now, although he has been a member for a while?

If there's doubt, you had better decide if he's a member first. From what you've posted, he's not.

If, for whatever reason, he is a member, you can't expel him by voting to "not admit" him. You would have to follow the procedure for expelling a member.