Is FLGenWeb, Inc. holding an illegal election?
The FLGenWeb Bylaws stipulate that an officer of the court Conducts the
election. From the Bylaws, this sequence is supposed to happen:
The FLGenWeb, Inc.'s Secretary sends the Officer of the Court the membership
list and the slate of candidates. The Officer of the Court then sends out
the ballots; the marked ballots are returned to the Officer of the Court and
they are counted and recounted. They certify the results. They then transmit
the results Directly to the members (by electronic mail), not to the Board.
The Elections Official makes the announcement. This prevents Board and any
member(s) from influencing or manipulating the election.
Neither the Board nor any member(s) is/are supposed to have any part in the
vote collecting process.
http://www.flgenweb.net/volunteers/bylaws.html
Article X - NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS
Section A - NOMINATIONS
1. A nominating committee of three members shall be appointed by the
President at the Regular January meeting following election of Officers. The
member first named shall be chairman. At the regular June meeting the
committee shall present names for each office.
2. The committee shall survey the eligible Coordinator membership to find
candidates to fill the positions of Officers, Regional Directors and
Representative At Large. They may also compile a list of members willing to
serve in other capacities.
3. The Nominating Committee shall present a candidate for each position to
the membership at the regular meeting in June. The candidates must have
agreed to fulfill all responsibilities of the office if elected.
4. Additional nominations for each position may be made from the floor at
that time. The nominees must have agreed to fulfill all responsibilities of
the office if elected.
Section B - ELECTIONS
1. Elections shall take place in September with ballots being counted and
winners announced by October 15.
2. If there is one candidate for each office, the ballot may be dispensed
with and the vote recorded as unanimous.
3. Voting shall be by electronic mail to an Officer of the Court or a
Certified Public Accountant.
4. In the event of a runoff, final elections shall take place in October
with ballots being counted and winners announced by November 15.
(end)
I submit that no Board of Directors person of FLGenWeb, Inc. is an Officer
of the Court in the State of Florida. Even if they were, it would be a
conflict of interest for them to conduct the election and tabulate the vote
count.
Further, see above item: "2. If there is one candidate for each office, the
ballot may be dispensed with and the vote recorded as unanimous." (end)
In this election, there is not only One candidate for Each office. Some have
one candidate and some have more than one candidate. Therefore, the vote can
not be recorded as unanimous. Write-in votes must be allowed.
In Roberts Rules of Order, Ballot Election, page 427, lines 20 -25, state:
"If the bylaws require the election of officers to be by ballot and there is
only one nominee for an office, the ballot must nevertheless be taken for
that office unless the bylaws provide for an exception in such a case. In
the absence of the latter provision, members still have the right, on the
ballot, to cast "write-in votes" for other eligible persons." (end)
The fact that the Nominating Committee was perverted into a political tool
by withholding the completed Nom Com report until the last two hours of the
Nominating Period (July), requires that FLGenWeb, Inc. execute this election
by the book. Short-cutting the election by declaring a Unanimous vote is
invalid for all of the reasons mentioned above.
I ask again. Who is going to count the votes?
Charles B.