Robert's Rules of Order: Difference between revisions

Preferential voting is mentioned in recent editions of RONR. While RONR advocates the use of the majority vote in situations in which an assembly is physically gathered together, it views IRVpreferential voting as superior to plurality in other situations. Specifically, the book notes, "In an international or national society where the election is conducted by mail ballot, a plurality is sometimes allowed to elect officers, with a view to avoiding the delay and extra expense that would result from additional balloting under these conditions. A better method in such cases is for the bylaws to prescribe some form of preferential voting" (RONR [10th ed.], p. 392, l. 8-13).

RONR mentions [[cumulative voting]]. The book states, "A minority group, by coordinating its effort in voting for only one candidate who is a member of the group, may be able to secure the election of that candidate as a minority member of the board. However, this method of voting, which permits a member to transfer votes, must be viewed with reservation since it violates a fundamental principle of parliamentary law" (RONR [10th ed.], p. 429, l. 23-29).

While it is possible to adopt a different voting system by ''adopting'' or ''amending'' the rules, it is probably impossible to do so by ''suspending'' the rules. While certain rules of procedure contained in the bylaws can be suspended, this is not true in the cases of rules which embody fundamental principles of parliamentary law and rules protecting absentees or a basic right of the individual member (RONR [10th ed.], p. 254-255). According to Paul McClintock, PRP, an election cannot be held by a system other than the majority voteplurality if the bylaws are silent on the issue[http://www.paulmcclintock.com/imo.htm#Question%204].