Ballot count results

[Guest Elizabeth Muller]

When a Membership votes and a Board announces the results, are they obligated to announce the ballot count results or can they just say the majority won?

[jstackpo]

Obliged.

And the numbers also go in the minutes.

Why is "a Board" announcing the results? -- That is the job of the tellers at the election meeting. See RONR p. 403-404.

[hmtcastle]

When a Membership votes and a Board announces the results, are they obligated to announce the ballot count results or can they just say the majority won?

The complete results (known as the tellers' report) should be read and entered into the minutes. RONR has a sample.

(Whether your board should have a role in your elections is another question.)

[Gary Novosielski]

When a Membership votes and a Board announces the results, are they obligated to announce the ballot count results or can they just say the majority won?

When the membership votes, the Board shouldn't be the ones announcing the result at all.

The tellers should report to the chair, and the chair should announce the result.

In any vote by ballot, the results should include (and the minutes should record) the actual results, including numbers, as reported.

[Rev Ed]

Last time I checked, the tellers' report is read, and the Chairman declares the motion carried or defeated.

[David A Foulkes]

When a Membership votes and a Board announces the results, are they obligated to announce the ballot count results or can they just say the majority won?

Well, as I understand it, the chairman of the tellers reads the tellers' report (in full), and hands it to the meeting chairman, who again reads it in full, and then announces the result. That might be that the motion carried or was lost, or in the case of an election, who won or that there was an incomplete election if no candidate received a majority. (p. 403-404)

At a membership meeting, which I will assume here is what is going on, the "Board" is not present. That is, the Board members (who likely are also members of the society) are there, but not in their Board capacity, just simply as members. The Board President may be presiding, and the Board Secretary may be taking notes for the minutes, but otherwise there are no "Board" people there.