A necessary part of effective union management is knowing how to conduct elections so that the membership feels heard and represented. Union quorum is calculated as a percentage of eligible members required for a vote to be considered valid. This percentage is defined by the union’s constitution, bylaws, or labor laws.
Whether a union conducts their elections in person or using an online voting app, it’s of paramount importance that elections are transparent and that members trust the results.
The necessity of a quorum is easy to understand when organizations consider the two ends of the spectrum of representation. On one end, say there is a union meeting and out of 250 members, only two show up. It would not be representative of the group to allow those two members to pass laws or dictate the function of the entire organization.
At the other end of the spectrum, it can be debilitating for organizations to necessitate that every single member be present in order to conduct any business. This would mean that if one member fell sick and could not attend, nothing could be accomplished.
A quorum seeks to find a balance between these two scenarios.
There is no set standard for the number of members that must be present for union votes to be legitimate. Every group establishes its own rules, such as:
The union chooses a percentage and that share of membership must be present for votes to stand. It is rare for this percentage to be below 51%, guaranteeing that at least a majority of members have input.
The union establishes a number of members who must be present. This is more common in smaller groups, for example a board of seven people might establish that at least five must be present for them to conduct business. Quorums can also change over time if problems arise and adjustments are needed.
Election administrators and meeting supervisors can take a number of steps to ensure quorum is met and union business can be carried out.
Establish meeting and election dates early and keep lines of communication open with members. Participants can be overwhelmed by reminders, but some prompting is necessary leading up to meetings where votes will be held.
The easier it is for members to be present, the more likely they are to be. Online elections, for example, can help unions meet their quorum, as voters don’t need to travel to a specific place at a specific time.
Some unions choose to establish multiple quorums - for example, requiring a greater percentage of members to be present for election of leadership and a lower percentage for other decisions.
Union management can be complex, especially when member buy-in is at stake. Third party platforms designed to manage elections from beginning to end can help unions conduct fair and transparent votes their membership believe in.
ElectionBuddy does just that, explaining the benefits and downsides of full-managed versus self-managed elections and providing secure digital voting that can help ensure unions have a quorum every time!
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