The elections for our PTO Board are coming up soon in May. The current PTO Board is having trouble deciding just who has the right to vote at that election. My question is two-fold: 1.)who has the right to vote at an election, & 2.) does a family membership imply that there is only one vote counted per family, or do all members of the family(ie: husband and wife) get to vote?
This election will be held during the May general PTO meeting. Everyone in the school is invited to attend the meeting, whether they are a member of the PTO this year or not. Some members of the Board believe that only current members of the PTO should be allowed to vote. That means to only give out ballots at the meeting to those who are members, the rest wouldn't receive a ballot.
And if a husband and wife came to the meeting from the same family, only one would be allowed to cast a ballot.
Our by-laws really don't address this issue, especially about family membership. In past years this subject was never brought up and anyone who attended the May meeting received a ballot and were able to vote. It seems to be only an issue this year because the Board has decided to give out absentee ballots a week or two before the election. There was discussion on who to sent the absentee ballots to and it was decided by a majority of the Board to send them to PTO members only.
We offer a 'family membership' to the PTO throughout the school year at a cost of $5.00. There is no 'single' membership offered. Does family membership imply one vote per family? Or does it imply each member of the family gets a voting privilege?
Our by-laws do state under general meetings and fund requests "only PTO members with dues paid for the current year shall have the privilege of introducing ideas at meetings, participate in discussions, and vote." When it was written it was meant for meetings where money disbursement requests were made and needed to be voted on.
If only PTO members are allowed to vote at an election, how does one start up a new PTO, where there aren't any members yet and officers need to be elected?
