Mastering Specialty Votes: Navigating Runoffs, Mergers, Bylaws, and More

Types of Specialty Votes

• Runoffs and Tiebreakers
• Mergers and Capital Sales
• Bylaw Amendments
• Unforeseen Departures / Leadership Votes
• Redistricting Votes

Board elections are important, but they’re relatively straightforward. What happens if your organization needs to amend its bylaws? Or if you need to redistrict?

Voting is much more than just electing board members. Specialty votes — like runoffs, mergers, bylaw amendments, and unforeseen leadership changes — are essential to keep your organization running.

Understanding how to manage these specialty votes is crucial to a smooth voting process and accurate outcomes, especially in hybrid voting systems. From bylaw votes that change your organization’s operations to unforeseen departures and runoffs, follow these tips to master the nuances of specialty votes.

Handling Runoffs and Tiebreakers

Runoffs are a marker of competitive elections. A runoff election happens when candidates don’t secure a majority of votes (which is defined in your bylaws) in the first round of voting. Organizations schedule runoffs, or tiebreakers, between the top two or three candidates in a second vote to decide on a winner. Runoffs help organizations emerge with a clear winner after an election, but lower voter participation in runoffs can reduce the level of member engagement and final support of the outcome.

You can also do instant runoffs through ranked-choice voting. With this option, voters rank candidates in order of preference. The voting system automatically eliminates the lowest-ranked candidates and redistributes their votes to members’ next favorite candidate. Your voting platform continues this process until a single candidate wins. However, ranked-choice isn’t without its hiccups. It needs to be allowed in your bylaws, and even then, some voters may not fully complete their ballots, which can impact the final tallies.

You can get ahead of these challenges with a transparent runoff election process. You should always have a runoff procedure in your back pocket, even if you aren’t expecting a competitive race. Follow these best practices to design effective runoffs and tiebreaking votes:

• Define your process: Clearly outline what will trigger a runoff vote or tiebreaker in advance and ensure that all members understand the process. Your bylaws may need to include options for random selection or voting by specific stakeholders.
• Educate members: Voters should understand why you need a second vote. Even if runoffs don’t happen frequently in your organization, members will be less likely to fight them if they understand their purpose.
• Communicate with members and candidates: Communication is vital for avoiding election mishaps. Announce dates, methods, and eligibility for the runoff election in advance. Stay in touch with members and candidates via email, your website, mail, and voting platform to push runoff participation.
• Follow up post-election: Follow up with everyone after tallying the runoff election results to announce the official results. A post-election meeting also allows members to ask questions and clarify any questions about the election process.

Navigating Mergers and Capital Sales

Is your organization planning a merger or a sale of assets? These moves have long-term implications for your organization. Mergers and sales are tricky enough, but emotional involvement, varying opinions, and high stakes can lead to a contentious voting process.

You can’t force members to change their opinions, but you can make the merger process as transparent as possible. Follow these best practices to turn down the heat on contentious elections:

• Be transparent: Explain the rationale for the merger or sale, its potential impact, and timeline well ahead of the vote. Offer multiple Q&A sessions to address member concerns. It takes effort, but connecting with members throughout the process fosters trust.
• Provide detailed voting instructions: Members need to understand how to place their vote. Ensure members understand voting deadlines and all the ways they can vote. Use clear language and make instructions accessible on multiple platforms.
• Use third-party voting providers: Use an independent third-party voting provider like Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS) to ensure transparent tallying. Opting for a reputable vendor increases trust through impartiality, which is helpful during contentious elections.

Handling Bylaw Amendments

Organizational bylaws are the cornerstone of your daily operations. However, bylaws are infamously tricky to adjust, repeal, or pass. Bylaws often require different thresholds, such as supermajority approval (2/3 of members or 2/3 of voting members), and directly impact governance.

In some cases, bylaws follow national and state legal requirements. Even if your organization remains relatively stable over time, any changes in the regulatory landscape could require you to adjust your bylaws. That’s why it’s so important to understand the nuances of bylaw amendment votes before you actually need them.

Bylaw amendments come with challenges like voter education and high voting thresholds. Follow these best practices to pass bylaw amendments with fewer headaches:

• Educate voters: Voter education is critical — members need to fully understand what they’re voting on. Simplify complex bylaw amendments into digestible points and clarify how each change will affect the organization. If you aren’t sure whether the language is clear enough, run it through a free grade-level calculator. Aim to write at an eighth-grade level or lower to improve comprehension. Adding visuals, like infographics, can also help voters understand the changes. 
• Hold informational sessions: Organize webinars, meetings, or town halls to explain the proposed amendments. Include Q&A sessions to address members’ concerns and gather feedback before the vote.
• Remind voters about thresholds: You need a lot of member engagement to pass bylaw amendments. If members know how crucial it is to participate ahead of time, they’re more likely to show up for your organization. Clearly state the voting thresholds required for the amendments to pass (e.g., 2/3 of voting members) and what’s at stake if the amendment doesn’t pass.

Dealing with Unforeseen Departures

You put a lot of effort into electing a board. But what happens if your board chair leaves unexpectedly? In this situation, your organization will need an interim leadership vote.

Follow this quick playbook to manage unplanned departures with a level head:

• Create contingency plans: Don’t wait until a board member leaves early to create a backup plan. Create a plan today so you aren’t scrambling at the last minute. Have bylaws in place that outline a straightforward procedure for emergency or interim leadership votes.
• Communicate with members: You don’t need to tell members why a leader is leaving; you just need to explain the reason for the interim vote and your plan to fill the seat. Be open and transparent about how you plan to fill the position, including voting methods and timelines.
• Consult with legal counsel: Some organizational bylaws make it difficult to operate without a certain number of board members or board chair. If you aren’t sure about the legalities of holding a new election, chat with an attorney about the interim leadership process. They can help you stay compliant with your bylaws and state-specific statutes.
• Use a secure voting system: You may need to host last-minute leadership votes to stay compliant. In this situation, having a secure voting system that deploys quickly is helpful. SBS is a great partner to have in your corner, helping you conduct leadership votes in a timely manner without compromising the validity of your elections.

Managing Redistricting Votes

In some organizations, board members represent certain zones or districts. This approach is excellent for ensuring member representation, but these boundaries might not make sense for your organization over time.

Redistricting allows you to adjust the boundaries for board representation or member zones. However, this move can be controversial because it could shift voting power or representation. Proceed very carefully with redistricting to ensure complete transparency throughout the process. You can do that by:

• Providing detailed data: Offer detailed maps and demographic data to explain the rationale for redistricting. Don’t shy away from the impact it will have on representation. If the changes hurt a specific segment of members, return to the drawing board and come up with a different solution.
• Engaging members early: Hold open forums or meetings to gather member input and answer questions. Frequently update members on redistricting progress and explain how their input influences the map. The more empowered members feel during the process, the more likely they are to vote favorably for redistricting.
• Working with an independent body: Use an independent body like SBS to oversee the process and ensure a fair vote. External vendors don’t have skin in the game, giving members peace of mind that the election avoids conflict of interest.

Better Specialty Votes Start Here

Run-of-the-mill votes keep your organization moving, but odd situations will come up over time. It’s best to learn how to manage these tricky situations today, before they’re on your front doorstep, to take appropriate action.

Managing specialty votes requires a structured approach, whether for runoffs, bylaw amendments, leadership transitions, mergers, capital sales, or redistricting. Communication, transparency, and clear procedures will get you far, but that might not be enough.

When your organization’s future is on the line, partner with Survey & Ballot Systems. Our secure online and hybrid voting solution works for both everyday voting processes and specialty votes. Handle these critical votes with confidence: Contact us now for stress-free voting.