Conducting the election of officers

[patticolby]

Our by laws do not address by whom the actual election of officers should be conducted. We have a nomination committee that was appointed by the President, and the Committee Chair is the Vice President. Historically, the Nominating Committee Chair conducts the election of officers. However, the Chair is typically not an officer of the organization. Thus, my question, is it appropriate for a person being nominated for office to conduct the election process?

[Chris Harrison]

Our by laws do not address by whom the actual election of officers should be conducted. We have a nomination committee that was appointed by the President, and the Committee Chair is the Vice President. Historically, the Nominating Committee Chair conducts the election of officers. However, the Chair is typically not an officer of the organization. Thus, my question, is it appropriate for a person being nominated for office to conduct the election process?

The presiding officer should preside over the elections whether or not he is nominated.

[hmtcastle]

We have a nomination committee that was appointed by the President

Note, too, that RONR advises against the president having anything to do with the nominating committee.

[patticolby]

Note, too, that RONR advises against the president having anything to do with the nominating committee.

That may be but the By Laws for our organization specify that, and although there have been several attempts to amend them, those have failed.

[Gary Novosielski]

Our by laws do not address by whom the actual election of officers should be conducted. We have a nomination committee that was appointed by the President, and the Committee Chair is the Vice President. Historically, the Nominating Committee Chair conducts the election of officers. However, the Chair is typically not an officer of the organization. Thus, my question, is it appropriate for a person being nominated for office to conduct the election process?

You've got it a little bit backward. The nominating committee should properly be independent of the president and, arguably, the vice president as well.

The nominating committee chair should have nothing to do with the conduct of the election. Once the nominating committee presents its report, it ceases to exist. Do not confuse the process of making nominations with the process of holding elections. The two have surprisingly little to do with each other, except that one happens first, followed by the other.

You say your vice president is chair of the nominating committee, yet typically not an officer? What is the vice president, if not an officer?

In any case, the actual election is conducted by the current presiding officer, not the nominating committee chair. It makes no difference whether he is nominated for reelection, or for some other position, or not nominated at all.