Article IV.

General Voting Procedures

Section 1. General Voting Procedures

A.    Each General Assembly representative shall have the right to vote on the behalf of his/her residence hall as described in this document.

B.     The General Assembly must cast a majority of votes in the affirmative to conduct business and enact legislation. A majority vote is defined as one (1) more vote in favor of a motion than the combined votes in opposition and abstentions. 

C.     Each General Assembly representative shall have the power to vote absentee on any issue on the agenda at the beginning of a meeting for which they are present. The General Assembly representative should either write "Yes," "No," or "Abstain" on the voting ballot and give it to an Executive Board member before the General Assembly member leaves the meeting. If the motion is amended following the submission of an absentee ballot, the vote is nullified. Absentee votes are not allowed during elections.

D.    In the event that a residence hall has more representatives eligible to vote  than are allowed as defined by this document, the resolution is to have all of the representatives cast a vote with the RHA liaison, who would then cast the building’s votes in proportion to those votes cast. All rounding would be done by the RHA liaison.

E.     Resident Assistants (RAs) may not serve as more than one-third of any voting representatives of any residence hall.

F.      The default method of voting is a placard vote; other methods may be used to approve other motions throughout the meeting.

G.    Any vote on a main motion, an issue dealing with money, a change to the bylaws, or a constitutional amendment must be taken by placard vote, roll call, or secret ballot. Any General Assembly representative or Executive Board member may move to vote by any of these methods. 

H.    All Executive Board officers are entitled to vote on all issues. The President may only vote in the case of a tie, excluding Executive Board elections when a tie is decided by a runoff election.  Should there be a tie after two consecutive Executive Board runoff elections; the President shall make the decision with the advice of the Residence Hall Association.

Section 2. Loss of Voting Rights for General Assembly

A.  A General Assembly representative shall lose his/her voting rights after accumulating four unexcused absences from weekly General Assembly meetings and/or weekly committee meetings. 

B. Voting rights may be regained by attending two consecutive General Assembly meetings. All absences are unexcused, but may become excused in one of the following cases:

1. If the Administrative Aide or president is notified prior to a General Assembly meeting, and a valid reason is given, or 

2. If that General Assembly representative’s respective committee head is notified prior to their committee meeting, and a valid reason is given.