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Electronic voting


Guest Kathy Patscheck

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Guest Kathy Patscheck

My group is interested in using an electronic process for official votes and I would appreciate any input regarding how this may be done properly and in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order. Our group consists of the staff members of a college, and we propose using the same secure voting process we use for other matters before the college at large.

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My group is interested in using an electronic process for official votes and I would appreciate any input regarding how this may be done properly and in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order.

If you mean the members are present but voting by pressing a button, RONR has no problem with that. If you mean that members would be casting votes from remote locations, you'll need to amend your bylaws to permit such absentee voting (which is otherwise prohibited by RONR).

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Remote voting is what I mean, such that a secure link would be sent to each eligible employee by email. The employee would click on the link and enter a secure site and cast an electronic (and anonymous) vote.

Yes, as stated, absentee voting is stricty prohibited without bylaw authorization. RONR, pp. 408-409

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Guest Kathy Patscheck

Thank you, I guess what I am looking for at this point is recommendations for wording an amendment to the bylaws. Does anyone already have such a provision in their bylaws that I could review and perhaps modify for our use? Or do you have suggestions how this should be done?

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Thank you, I guess what I am looking for at this point is recommendations for wording an amendment to the bylaws. Does anyone already have such a provision in their bylaws that I could review and perhaps modify for our use? Or do you have suggestions how this should be done?

I think it is going to be a little more complicated than just adopting an amendment to the bylaws to authorize some method of absentee voting. In addition, it is likely that the assembly will have to adopt all the necessary special rules of order to set out the proper procedures to be followed.

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Thank you, I guess what I am looking for at this point is recommendations for wording an amendment to the bylaws. Does anyone already have such a provision in their bylaws that I could review and perhaps modify for our use? Or do you have suggestions how this should be done?

You might find this article useful: http://aipparl.org/pdf/AIPemeet5.PDF

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Does anyone already have such a provision in their bylaws that I could review and perhaps modify for our use? Or do you have suggestions how this should be done?

Discussing potential Bylaws amendments, special rules of order and absentee voting methods is beyond the scope of this forum. You might want to try contacting some of your colleagues at other colleges to see if they have developed similar systems. I would consider contacting student governments as well, either at your college or others, as they also frequently use online methods of voting.

You may also be interested in reading RONR's recommendations for votes by mail, as RONR does note that these procedures could be modified for electronic voting, although what that may involve is beyond the scope of the text. See RONR, 10th ed., pgs. 409-411 for more information.

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