Jump to content
The Official RONR Q & A Forums

Voting


Guest Diane Smith

Recommended Posts

The president of our golf club has resigned. The V.P. will conduct the meeting in his absence. Can our V.P. be counted as part of the needed quorum (7) vote even though our By-Laws state he can only vote to break a tie.

We may need his vote during the meeting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The president of our golf club has resigned. The V.P. will conduct the meeting in his absence. Can our V.P. be counted as part of the needed quorum (7) vote even though our By-Laws state he can only vote to break a tie.

We may need his vote during the meeting.

Although I expect some discussion about this, IMO the VP sitting as president counts toward the quorum and can vote. (I expect your bylaws say the president and not the VP can vote only to break a tie.) However:

1. Unless your bylaws say otherwise, if the office of president becomes vacant (death, resignation, removal, etc.) the vice president automatically becomes the president.

2. You should review that clause. I suggest replacing it with, "...the president shall not vote except when his vote would affect the outcome..."

-Bob

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2. You should review that clause. I suggest replacing it with, "...the president shall not vote except when his vote would affect the outcome..."

Or, better yet, replace it with nothing. Then RONR's rules will apply, and the president may vote when his vote would affect the outcome, or whenever the vote is taken by ballot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The president of our golf club has resigned. The V.P. will conduct the meeting in his absence. Can our V.P. be counted as part of the needed quorum (7) vote even though our By-Laws state he can only vote to break a tie.

We may need his vote during the meeting.

Like Mr. Fish, I suspect that the rule in your Bylaws is actually regarding the President, not the Vice President, but I could be wrong. If your rule actually applies to the Vice President as well (or if the VP has become President), then this is a question of Bylaws interpretation that the society will have to determine for itself. See RONR, 10th ed., pgs. 570-573 for some Principles of Interpretation.

more to the point of the original question, the issues of counting him towards a quorum and him breaking or causing ties are two entirely different things!

Not necessarily. A quorum is defined as the number of voting members who must be present to conduct business. Under the rules of RONR, the terms "member" and "voting member" are synonymous (unless a member's right to vote has been suspended through disciplinary action). When the Bylaws strip members of the right to vote in certain circumstances (or in all but certain circumstance), however, it becomes questionable whether the member should be counted toward the quorum. It does seem questionable to me whether an individual who may vote only to break a tie should be considered a "voting member." As others have noted, the best solution is to remove the provision entirely, but in the meantime, interpreting it may be difficult.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When the Bylaws strip members of the right to vote in certain circumstances (or in all but certain circumstance), however, it becomes questionable whether the member should be counted toward the quorum.

There was a recent discussion on this very issue and, if I recall correctly, the prevailing view was that the president's contribution towards the quorum would not reasonably come and go depending on whether a particular vote happened to be tied. I suspect Trina could find that topic (though I have to admit I don't know how she does it!).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a recent discussion on this very issue and, if I recall correctly, the prevailing view was that the president's contribution towards the quorum would not reasonably come and go depending on whether a particular vote happened to be tied. I suspect Trina could find that topic (though I have to admit I don't know how she does it!).

I would suggest that if he does not routinely have the right to vote, he should not be counted towards a quorum.

The closest analogy I can think of is that the Vice President of the U.S. can vote in the Senate only to break a tie. He is not counted toward (or against) a quorum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a recent discussion on this very issue and, if I recall correctly, the prevailing view was that the president's contribution towards the quorum would not reasonably come and go depending on whether a particular vote happened to be tied.

Well, I don't know about that, but I do recall a similar discussion about a "conflict of interest" sort of rule, which can be found here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...