Are Email Votes Legal

First of all, there is no guarantee that the recipients of an email will open and address it in a timely manner, let alone receive it. And since one of the main reasons to put an issue to a vote is to stimulate a thoughtful and solid discussion, email voting inherently suppresses a thorough discussion and can even lead to a possible breach of the duty of loyalty. I belong to a virtual organization. I understand that a legal meeting is a meeting where everyone can listen. If a conference call is scheduled and held, is it necessary for an email vote to be unanimous? It would not be a vote of the board of directors, but a vote of all the members, which is carried out after the meeting. Comments, please. We will start by discussing the laws, then look at the pros and cons, and finally come up with guidelines and a sample guideline for the use of email voting. Thirty-one states, Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands allow certain voters — usually military or foreign voters or voters with disabilities — to vote by mail/mail by electronic mail, fax (sent by phone, or the Internet). ), by e-mail or online portal. More states allow some voters to electronically receive blank mail-in ballots and then print that ballot for return by mail or in person. However, no state intends to hold elections entirely on the Internet now or in the near future. While few states have specific rules for voting via email, nonprofits often follow the rules to conduct a written vote, i.e., unanimous written consent. In Arizona, board action may be taken without a meeting provided that the vote (1) is unanimous and (2) in writing (see A.R.S.

10-3821). 5. Each director must sign the written consent and return it to the secretary within 24 hours by email (scanned copy of the signed consent) or by fax, unless a different time limit is specified in the email. Consents signed in the original will be mailed to the Secretary or delivered in person at the next Meeting of the Board of Directors. I strongly support organizations that use private boards-only sites to discuss and vote instead of emails. Email has a way to “relax” – people click Reply To All or bcc other people off the board. With a private website based on login, all someone has to do is send the email that says, “Urgent matter, please sign up.” These sites also usually track who has signed up, so you can see who hasn`t attended yet and make a call. The sites also offer historical backups – tracking conversations, document versions, and more. Finally, agree that electronic discussions and voting should be used rarely and only if they are urgent (the issue cannot wait for a meeting). Many nonprofits use absentee voting rules to control their email voting process. This may include an email to each director detailing the proposed action and an email response from each director with their vote. In a state of “unanimous written consent”, the action is taken when all directors vote in the same way.

I am currently an active former committee member of a religious non-profit organization in Pennsylvania. We have a Nomination and Election Commission (NEC) which has 1 Chief Electoral Commissioner (CEC) and 5 Electoral Commissioners (EC). The CEC is the wife of the administrator for life and was appointed by her husband, who is the current administrator of the institution, for a term of 6 years. The rest of the European Commission`s appointments were made by the Management Board, which is all part of a group that prepared the list of heads of the new administration for the new mandate (2017-2018). The selection process was done through appointment and the list was prepared in favour of a group led by the current director to take full control of the board of directors and the former committee to which I currently belong. Since I raised the issue of conflict, ethical violation, nepotism and nepotism, I have not been taken into account and selected in the new list that was recently published. The (NEC) violated all the rules set out in the statutes, including the prohibition of the possibility of giving individuals the opportunity to go through a significant delay in the release of public officials (scheduled for 31 September). March 2016), not providing a form for eligible members to submit their candidacy, failing to provide a list of all eligible members to give a candidate the opportunity to win a vote, and setting short deadlines for submitting and holding elections in mid-winter to prevent voters from participating and voting outside the state. So what are the remedies and course of action in this case? Can I get an injunction against NEC because the current BOT and the former committee are powerless? Even the pioneering directors, who have the final say in all matters under the articles of association, have been set aside and have stated that NEC is first and foremost and does not have to comply with or obey the articles of association.

I am happy to receive any contribution, help or guidance you can provide. Thank you, but while email is common in many organizations because of its ease of use, especially for busy, geographically diverse volunteers who sit on nonprofit boards, there are several reasons to think twice before using emails for your next important nonprofit board vote. Do committees` email votes also have to be unanimous? There are two types of postal voting systems. Some states have what is known as universal “mail-in voting,” in which states send ballots to all voters. However, in most states, absentee voting is done by absentee ballot, which requires the voter to request an absentee ballot. In 2016, nearly a quarter of U.S. votes (33 million) were cast by absentee ballot or absenteeism ballot. In the event that a CEO requested an email vote and the motion was accepted, but one of the board members later learned that one or more board members had been hacked and that some of the votes were not really from the board members, this would cancel the vote. This type of situation creates the conditions for problems between board members, problems for the board and management, and has a high potential for prosecution. A lawsuit by written consent may be admissible under state law, even if your regulations are silent on the matter (this is the case in California and under the Revised Model Nonprofit Corporation Act). However, you must ensure that your articles and articles do not prohibit actions by written consent or written consent by email. And it would not be a bad idea to set out in the by-laws the requirements for valid written consent as determined by the board (e.g., handwritten signature).

Thanks for the kind words, Dan!- Gene Finally, while the risk is probably low in most cases, there is no guarantee that emails sent for a large vote won`t be the target of malicious cyberhacking schemes. In extreme cases, legal action could be taken against the directors and the nonprofit if it is determined that a previously ratified board lawsuit took place as a result of a fraudulent vote. What is very important is whether a colleague on the board is who they claim to be when they receive emails, or whether they are a hacker pretending to be a colleague on the board. Between meetings, it may be more convenient to take action by the board of directors by written consent by email. But email voting can also be used to effectively prevent rigorous discussions. One of the problems with email voting is that it has to take place in a valid meeting. A small number of states have allowed mail-in voting, and it is possible that more mail-in voting laws will soon be passed. When it comes to board voting, one of the biggest questions is whether emails should be considered the same as a signed written consent. While board members can overcome the legality of email voting, a board`s bylaws must also allow email voting for it to be binding. Laws may establish rules in areas that are not regulated by law. For example, bylaws may require an organization to have committees, while state laws generally do not require committees.

If you`re in California, email voting is legal if you follow the guidelines, but only if your regulations allow it or don`t address the issue. While there are many disadvantages to voting by email, in some cases, the pros may outweigh the disadvantages and risks. Here are some important considerations to ensure that your next speech and/or email vote remains excessive. How do the Roberts Rules apply to email voting? A Roberts rules expert told me you couldn`t vote by email.