At our last Board of Managers meeting we worked on a bylaw change that prevents hostile takeovers like the one you mentioned.
Part of the change included nominees being presented no later than 20 days before the vote.
We also have it in our bylaws that members
"shall be elected by ballot in the month of April at a meeting(month varies depending on the school)...Only members may vote...However if there is only one nominee...may be by voice vote"
"Officers shall assume their official duties following the close of the meeting in May."
Having the months named and that the election takes place at a meeting, ensures a time line.
Also, where bylaws are vague, Robert's Rules take over. That is standard procedure.
We also have a vote very well publicized and per our bylaws by a show of hand or ballot but you must be at the meeting to vote and the nominations commitee must oversee this process. Good Luck
I don't have the exact wording but our elections must be done in person at the April PTA meeting. A quorom of 15 is required. We just use a show of hands and since no one runs against anyone it's always unanimous. Can't stuff a ballot if they have to be present.
We have a moderate amount of this covered in our bylaws. But if we felt the need to really document the exact process, I think we would develop a policy or a standing rule. It could cover as much detail as you wanted without making your bylaws too tedious.
Here's a link to a discussion pertaining to the election process from a ROR site.
Having recently gone through an ugly PTO election - our bylaws state that the election happens once a year, but does not go through the "nuts and bolts" on who counts the votes, when the election is officially over, and who reports the winners...
The "old guard" attempted to stuff the ballet box, and even had school staff helping!
Sounds crazy, but maybe we should write all this down in the bylaws....instead of reinventing the wheel, does anyone have any specific election rules and regulations that seem to work...most of the sample bylaws I have seen on the site are just as vague as ours...PS there might be spelling errors in here - kind of in a hurry....
