Should late mail votes be counted?

Parliamentary Procedure Q&A

Q: An election was held at a private country club to elect a new president. A month prior to the election, the club sent out ballots which could be mailed in as a vote. At the membership meeting an election was held with the members present voting. Also tallied were the "mail" votes which had come in. A new president was declared. The following day, sixty more mail votes came in. The post office informed the club that they mistakenly forgot to deliver them.

The question is: (1) Should the "mail" votes which were mistakenly not delivered on time be counted? Or, (2) should a new election be held? - Frank, Nov. 6, 1998

A: First, absentee voting must be explicitly authorized in your club's bylaws. If it's not, I suggest a new election, since the absent members had been led to believe they could vote by mail.

If voting by mail is authorized, then I suggest leaving the decision to your club. Whether you're going to count the late votes or hold a new election, the first step will be to rescind the election just held. This requires a two-thirds vote for adoption, or a majority if previous notice has been given (or a majority of the entire membership). If this fails, then the club has spoken: It's happy with the results. If it's adopted, then the club is saying that either it's unhappy with the results, it believes another election would be fairer and/or the late votes should be counted. A member could then move that the late votes be counted in the previous election. If this motion is adopted by a majority, then recount the ballots including the late votes and conclude your election; else, schedule a new election.

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