BOD election

Started by AlM1 • 7 replies • 1274 views

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AlM1 (Georgia)
Posts: 6

Posted:

The only reference our by-laws make to election is the the Board shall be made up of not less than 3 or more than 7. We have 9 candidates. Present Board wants the members to only vote for 5. Top 5 vote number becomes new Board. Anyone see a problem with only 5.

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

Unless your bylaws give the Board the authority to limit or set the number of board members within the guidelines, the answer is NO.

If 9 run, then 7 are elected because there are people who want to serve in the alloted slots.

Nice problem.

AlM1 (Georgia)
Posts: 6

Posted:

My unrest comes from deciding if we can only ask members to vote on 5 because some of the present Board do not like a few of the others who have asked to be a candidate. By-laws say nothing about giving the Board the authority to limit the number of candidates. By-laws only say max number can be 7. Must we allow 7 to be elected which means all 9 can receive votes but only the 7 who receive most votes win.

KirkW1 (Texas)
Posts: 1,665

Posted:

Evidently you have people on hend who do not understand the idea of representational government.

The number of people on the Board should be put to the membership. If there are currently five then the membership should decide if this number remain or if the Board should now have 7 positions. Later they can vote to put it down to 5 if need be.

Aside from the cheap tactic, what makes the Board members who have chosen to not like certain people think that the "correct" people will be elected anyway?

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Alm, your Board does not have the authority to decide. The members may vote for up to 7 of the 9 candidates and the top seven vote getters are elected to the Board. It is a no brainer.

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

Alm,

I've never heard of bylaws that limit the number of candidates. The bylaws will only speak to the number of board members allowed. If yours say "not less than 3 or more than 7" it may also give the BOD the authority to determine the exact number. If they have chosen 5 then only 5 can be elected. The slate can contain as many candidates as there are members interested in running but only the top 5 can be elected. I see nothing wrong with a 5-member board. IMO, 7 is usually too many (4 oficers and 3 directors at large). Unless there are specific functions for those 3 directors they will sit idly by while the officers do the bulk of the work.

Consider yourselves lucky -- 9 candidates vying for 5 positions!!!! Most assn's are lucky if they can get 1 person to run for 1 open seat.

MicheleD (Kentucky)
Posts: 4,491

Posted:

Correction, Mary. They apparently have 9 candidates running or up to 7 slots.

The board can not limit the number of candidates, nor can they tell people to only vote for 5, nor can they limit the number of board slots to 5 since the by-laws allow up to 7.

This was posted in another thread, only in that one the numbers stated were that the by-laws say they can have 9 board members, but want to tell people to only vote for 7.

Either way, the actual numbers are irrelevant.

The board cannot manipulate the election to arrive at a number it wants.

The board must abide by the by-laws.

If the by-laws say up to 7 members are allowed, then the top 7 vote getters now comprise the new board. Whether the old board of 5 members likes that outcome or not.

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

Michele,

I stand corrected. After re-reading one of Alm's messages I noticed he did state the bylaws do not give the board the authority to choose the number of board members. I guess I was thinking of the bylaws of my former assn. which stated not less than 3 nor more than 5 members. But the board had the authority to decide on 3 or 5. I think this is rather unusual, but that's the way it was.

To be IAW Alm's bylaws, the only way the number of directors can be less than 7 is if there aren't enough candidates running to fill all the vacancies. I hope they know how lucky they are to have so many people wanting to serve on the board.

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