[Lnc-business] Fwd: Point of order regarding abstention and alternate voting

[Caryn Ann Harlos]

I do not know if Mr. Wiener's email reached everyone so I am forwarding it
here.

I will be starting the appeal ballot later today - finishing up a few
others first.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Daniel Wiener <wiener at alum.mit.edu>
Date: Thu, Feb 14, 2019 at 2:13 AM
Subject: RE: Point of order regarding abstention and alternate voting
To: <LNC at libertarianparty.info>


Let me provide some historical context on this matter, since I was
responsible for some of the relevant wording in the Bylaws:

ARTICLE 13: ELECTRONIC MAIL BALLOTS Boards and committees may
transact business by electronic mail. The chair or secretary shall send out
electronic mail ballots on any question submitted by the chair or
cosponsored by at least 1/5 of the members of the board or committee. The
period for voting on a question shall remain open for seven days, unless
all members have cast votes, or have stated an intention to abstain or be
absent during the voting period, by electronic mail to the entire board or
committee. Votes from alternates will be counted, in accordance with
previously defined ranked order, in the absence of the corresponding
committee member(s). The outcome of each motion shall be announced
promptly and recorded in the minutes of the next meeting. The number of
votes required for passage of any motion shall be the same as that required
during a meeting. Motions dispensed through electronic mail ballots satisfy
the requirement of giving previous notice.

This Bylaw was carefully worded so as to allow voting to conclude in less
than seven days when time was of the essence.  It allowed for the
possibility that an LNC member might wish to explicitly "abstain" but still
not hold up potential early completion of the balloting.  This explicit
abstention would thus preclude an alternate from voting in the member's
place, since otherwise the LNC would still have to wait until the end of
the seven day period in case the alternate might choose to vote at the last
minute.  A second option would be for the member to explicitly declare an
"absence", thus allowing the alternate to vote in his or her place (and
also permitting the alternate to potentially complete the balloting in less
than seven days).  That's why Article 13 distinguishes between an
abstention and an absence.  A third option would be for the member to do
nothing, in which case an alternate's vote, if cast, would count but only
at the end of the seven day period after the member had failed to cast a
vote.

In the current situation, Justin O'Donnell stated that he was abstaining,
which thereby precluded Jeff Lyons' vote from being counted.  Perhaps that
was not Justin's intention, in which case he should have stated either that
he would be "absent" from the voting or else he could have clarified that
his abstention was actually for the purpose of allowing Jeff to vote.  It's
unfortunate that Justin and Jeff (and perhaps other members) may not have
been aware of this nuance of Article 13.  However, I think that Caryn is
correct in reporting that the final tally was 10-3-1, and that only 13
valid votes were cast, thus achieving the required 3/4 threshold to pass.
That is the way we have previously interpreted this Bylaw and how we have
treated explicit abstentions.  I believe the Chair's ruling is incorrect
and should be overturned on appeal.

Dan Wiener



-- 

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