Immediately after the counting of votes and announcement of winners, the current President of the Board moved that all officers remain in the same positions as they had in the past year. Can the President make that motion?

Since one member was absent, the vote on the motion was tied because the current President voted with one other member. Several attempts were made to break the tie, but the tie persisted. According to Robert's Rules, should the President have voted only to break a tie? If the absent member had been present, the motion would not have carried and a new set of officers would have been installed. Help! - Dottie, Dec. 1, 1998

A: Whether the motion was in order depends upon what your bylaws say. If they specify how the officers are to be determined, that's the procedure to use; if they don't, then an election is required. (RONR p. 474.)

"Several attempts" to break a tie are out of order. Once the group votes, one way or the other, the motion cannot be renewed until the next session. So, the motion did not pass because a majority did not vote in favor of it on the first vote. (RONR pp. 330-331.) Re-balloting would be proper if, for example, there were two candidates for an office and none receives a majority of the votes cast (as would be the case with a tie vote). (RONR p. 433.)

The President (Chairman) of the board can vote regardless of how the other members have voted. Boards have more freedom than regular assemblies. (RONR p. 477-478.) In regular assemblies, the presiding officer may not vote unless his vote would change the outcome; e.g., to break or create a tie if a majority is required; or unless all votes were secret, such as by ballot. (RONR pp. 400-401.)