Uniform Voting Procedures for the Committee

Approved by the Troop 9 Committee, April 9th, 2002

Eligibility to Vote:

  1. Every Parent of a registered scout has one vote.
  2. Every Registered Adult Scouter has one vote.
  3. Other interested parties at the discretion of the Chairman will have one vote. (e.g. step parents, or other relatives of scouts acting in the interest of a scout, alumni of the troop, or other persons knowledgeable of scouting)
  4. No person shall have more than one vote.
  5. The Chairman will maintain a list of active eligible voters, and will announce the number of votes required for a simple majority. At their request, or with their permission, inactive voters will be allowed to opt out of the pool. Furthermore, If an otherwise eligible voter has not participated in a committee meeting, or email discussion, during the last 3 months, or is otherwise deemed inactive by the Chairman, he may be removed from the list of active eligible voters. The Chairman will from time to time publish the active eligible voter list to the Scoutmaster and the Charter Organization Rep for verification. The purpose of this rule is not to limit voting, but to keep the voting pool up to date of active members of the committee.
  6. An otherwise eligible voter may opt back onto the voting list with notification to the Chairman, or by simply participating in a regularly scheduled committee meeting.

Voting at Committee Meetings:

  1. A Committee Meeting must be held at it's regularly scheduled time, or a special notice given 7 days in advance.
  2. A quorum will be defined as 5 eligible voters
  3. The Chairman must be present, or have designated a Chairman pro tempore.
  4. Motions may be presented by members of the executive subcommittee (The Chairman, Scoutmaster, or Charter Organization Rep) without a "second".  The Chairman may, at his discretion, move any motion forward without a "second". The purpose of this rule is to facilitate the smooth flow of a meeting in a small informal setting.
  5. Voters should clearly state "yea or nay", "yes or no", "agree or disagree" or any other clear intent.
  6. A voter may wish to "abstain" to make it clear that he had his chance to vote, but withheld it. A vote to "abstain" is the same as not voting.
  7. A supermajority (defined here as 3/5ths) of votes cast, or a simple majority of all active eligible voters, are required to pass a motion. A vote of "abstain" would have no effect when calculating the supermajority of votes cast, but would effectively be a "no" vote when calculating the simple majority of active eligible voters.

Voting via email:

  1. A quorum exists if 5 votes are cast. Votes to "abstain" are not counted in this requirement. In no  case will fewer than 5 votes cast as "yea or nay" be considered valid
  2. Voters without email may ask another voter to cast his vote by proxy. Advance notification to the Chair is required.
  3. Voters that share an email address, or otherwise have common ties can vote with one email response, provided that it is clear of that intent, and no conflicting vote later appears individually.
  4. Motions may be presented by members of the executive subcommittee (The Chairman, Scoutmaster, or Charter Organization Rep) without a "second".  The Chairman may, at his discretion, move any motion forward without a "second". The purpose of this rule is to facilitate the smooth flow of business in an E-mail environment.
  5. The "Call for Vote" must be submitted by the Chairman to ensure an up to date mailing. The Chairman will announce in advance the number of eligible voters.
  6. The voting period shall be from the time the "Call for Vote" is sent, until midnight 2 days later, excluding Saturday and Sunday. A "Call for Vote" submitted on a Saturday or Sunday will expire at midnight Tuesday. A longer voting period may be announced with the "Call for Vote".
  7. The vote will be public by responding to the "Call for Vote" by hitting the "reply all" button.
  8. Any vote returned directly to the Chairman, and is deemed to be intended as a vote, will be simply forwarded to the committee by the Chairman, and treated as if it were sent to the committee by the original sender.
  9. The first line of the reply should clearly spell out the intent of the voter "yea or nay", "yes or no", "agree or disagree" or any other clear intent. Violation of this rule will not invalidate the vote if, in the opinion of the Chairman,  it is otherwise clear.
  10. A vote must be on the motion. Any qualifications attached to the vote shall make the vote unclear.
  11. Any unclear vote will be noted and returned by the Chair, and copied to the entire committee of voters, whenever possible. Any voter that has an unclear vote, may vote again, provided that the voting period is still open.
  12. Any voter that wishes to change a vote during the voting period, may do so before the closing deadline.
  13. A voter may wish to "abstain" to make it clear that he had his chance to vote, but withheld it. A vote to "abstain" is the same as not voting.
  14. An otherwise eligible voter, may opt out of the vote, either permanently, or on a per motion basis. This must be done prior to the close of voting, and has the effect of reducing the number of eligible voters for that vote.
  15. A supermajority (defined here as 3/5ths) of votes cast, or a simple majority of all eligible voters, are required to pass a motion. A vote of "abstain" would have no effect when calculating the supermajority of votes casts, but would effectively be a "no" vote when calculating the simple majority of eligible voters. If a voter opts out of a vote, this reduces the required number of votes needed for a simple majority of eligible voters.

Other considerations:

  1. The Chairman will decide how long to allow discussion before calling for a vote. In the case of email, discussion can be public or private. Further, in the case of email, it is assumed that public or private discussion may continue until the voting deadline.
  2. If an issue concerns a member of the committee, or their scout, those members will not be eligible to vote. This clause is intended primarily for elections and commendations. It is preferred that these issues are resolved at a regular committee meeting.
  3. Concerning disciplinary actions, where privacy or sensitivity is an issue, decisions will be made by the executive subcommittee,  the Chairman, the Scoutmaster, and the Organization Representative, or their alternates. Only if the decision is challenged, will it become a matter of the whole committee.
  4. Motions passed via email will be effective immediately, and the vote registered in the minutes of the next committee meeting.

Disputes:

  1. The executive subcommittee (Chairman, Scoutmaster, and Charter Organization Rep, or their appointed alternates) will decide all disputes.