Linden Heights Neighborhood Association

Proxy Voting for LNHA Elections

Sep 07, 2006

Proxy Voting is not permitted for the September 9, 2006 Board Elections under Robert's Rules of Order.


Excerpted from Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, 10th ed., Robert III et. al. (Perseus Pub., Cambridge, Mass. Oct. 2000).

SECT XIII (45) VOTING PROCEDURE- Absentee Voting

“It is a fundamental principle of parliamentary law that the right to vote is limited to the members of an organization who are actually present at the time the vote is taken in a legal meeting, although it should be noted that a member need not be present when the question is put. Exceptions to this rule must be expressly stated in the bylaws. Such possible exceptions include: (a) voting by postal or electronic mail, or facsimile transmission (fax), and (b) proxy voting. An organization should never adopt a bylaw permitting a question to be decided by a voting procedure in which the votes of persons who attend a meeting are counted together with ballots mailed in by absentees. The votes of those present could be affected by debate, by amendments, and perhaps by the need for repeated balloting, which those absent would be unable to adjust their votes to reflect these factors. Consequently, the absentee ballots would in most cases be on a somewhat different question than that on which those present were voting, leading to confusion , unfairness and inaccuracy in determining the result. If there is a possibility of any uncertainty about who will be entitled to vote, this should be spelled out unambiguously and strictly enforced to avoid unfairness in close votes.”


SECT XIV (46) NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS – Proxy Voting.

“A proxy is a power of attorney given by one person to another to vote in his stead; the term also designates the person who holds the power of attorney. Proxy voting is not permitted in ordinary deliberative assemblies unless the laws of the state in which the society is incorporated require it, or the charter or bylaws of the organization provide for it. Ordinarily it should neither be allowed or required, because proxy voting is incompatible with the essential characteristics of a deliberative assembly in which membership is individual, personal, and nontransferable…”