Thursday, March 12, 2009

Resolve LNC Mail Ballot Ambiguity

Problem: The Bylaws currently specify that a majority vote shall carry any proposal considered by the LNC via a mail ballot, even if the same proposal considered at a face-to-face meeting requires a super-majority (specified in the LNC's Policy Manual). However, the Bylaws also specify higher voting requirements for some types of motions by incorporating Robert's Rules of Order as our parliamentary authority.

Solution: Don't specify the fraction necessary to pass a mail ballot proposal, as this is already covered adequately by RONR.


ARTICLE 8: NATIONAL COMMITTEE

9. The National Committee may, without meeting together, transact business by mail. The Secretary shall send out mail ballots on any question submitted by the Chair or by at least 1/5 of the members of the Committee. Fifteen days shall be allowed for the return of the votes cast, by mail, to the Secretary. The Secretary shall establish procedures for identifying voters in a mail ballot, and may accept votes through any mail system, including facsimile and electronic mail, for which such procedures have been established. Votes from alternate regional representatives will be counted, in accordance with the ranking procedure of the region, only if the regional representative fails to respond to the ballot. If, at the expiration of the applicable period, a quorum of the Committee have not returned their votes, the measure being voted upon shall be deemed to have failed[; in all other cases, a majority of the votes returned shall carry the measure, except where a higher vote is required by the Bylaws]. The Secretary shall preserve all such votes until the next meeting of the National Committee, at which meeting the Committee shall order the disposition of such votes.

1 comment:

The Mudslinger said...

Nope.

The simpler solution is to make the mail ballots and face-to-face ballot pass numbers consistent with each other, whether they be a majority or 2/3. This simplifies it for the LNC considerably and doesn't rely on the inane and arcane intricacies of RONR to create loopholes and unnecessary parliamentary games where common sense should prevail.