As I read this string, it makes me glad we do not accept absentee ballots. If you want to cast a vote, you must attend the PTO meeting the night of elections. And, yes, you might be "surprised" by a nomination from the floor that night. Consider it a privilege of the democratic process.
Thanks KC for your reply. I don't think anyone is going to care if we mess up a little, and I think we already did. Our by-laws state what I said above (about the 4 weeks/2 weeks prior) the mistake is, when the Nom. Comm sent out the ballots, they put at the bottom "we would accept nominations from the floor that night" because a previous board member said we needed to. so for this year, I guess we'll accept nominations from the floor (if there even are any) and re-do a vote for that one position (if it happens). As for what the committee does, is basically collect nominations and then present a slate (which is why I thought the vote was contradictory) but our by-laws say we must put out a ballot of all nominations. What they try to do (as you know people are not beating our door down for these positions) is try to explain the duties involved for each position and try to "suggest" this person do this position, and that person do that, if they are willing, that way we can fill every position. I am just trying to follow the guidelines so things work the way they are supposed to...what are the chances of that??? Thanks again for your reply.
It sounds like your bylaws call for ballots distributed to membership, with a deadline for return. This is a different approach than a vote at the meeting. If the official votes are what people put on the ballots, then nominations from the floor at that meeting are out of order.
As for the nominating committee, what do they do? Is their job to present a slate, after which you accept additional nominations to add to the ballot? Or do they just collect the names nominated and prepare a ballot? Do they make sure you have a nominee for every office?
It is not necessarily contradictory to have a nominating committee in your case. And they may well be doing another job under the NomComm label. What I suspect in your case is that they are doing more jobs, all under one guise.
Can anyone help me out? Our bylaws state that we have to hold a vote by the general membership after asking for nominations 4 weeks in advance, then 2 weeks before the may meeting we send out a ballot for the general membership to vote, all this and we have anominating committee (which seems contradictory to me) only one position is being sought by two people, the rest are only one, so say the ballots come in and candidate #1 wins by the most votes, then on the night of the election meeting, someone nominates someone from the floor? If we have a vote, is it only for the people who showed up, or do we put another ballot out to the whole school? Our by-laws say nothing about this but they also don't say we have to accept nominations from the floor either. Any insight will be appreciated.
First off, if you expect there to be a vote -- and especially if you expect the results to be contentious -- establish the procedures before you begin. You should elect clerks to collect and tabulate the results, and have a clear understanding of who exactly is eligible to vote.
I'm not sure what Roberts Rules says on the mechanics of an election. You might want to have a motion made from the floor, which can be amended prior to adoption, to establish the rules of the election. Things like how many clerks, and what restrictions and qualifications are there? Are candidates allowed to address the assembly prior to the casting of ballots? How are eligible voters to be determined, and what shall be done in the case of disupted eligibility?
At our elections, we recieve the report of the nominating committee. Then we go down the slate, the name on the committee slate is placed in nomination and the floor is opened for additional nominations. A motion to close nominations is an iffy proposition -- I believe Roberts Rules says that nominations should continue until three successive calls by the chair for additional nominations are unanswered.
If there is only one nomination, our bylaws call for a motion to elect the single candidate by acclamation. If there are multiple nominees, then this is when your procedure come into play.
Hi. I'm new to this forum. Glad I found it. We've got a similar concern at our school. I'm PTA pres this year. The old PTA president and board was good. This year we built upon that and added new ideas and programs. We had a great year. Now our lone dissenter on the board has announced she's "taking me down." We are being extra careful to follow the bylaws, but we've never had an election before. Our nom. comm. recommends their slate and then we take nomiantions from the floor. I'm nervous and concerned as to how long will this take. (the actual election that night.) Any PTA suggestions to make the process smooth. Win or lose, I'm proud of what our board has done this year. Who has gone through this before? Thanks.
