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Chapter 6: General Assembly
ARTICLE 6-1. SUPREME AUTHORITY:
The General Assembly shall constitute the supreme authority of the National Organization. It shall direct the affairs of the National Organization and shall retain all rights and privileges not specifically assigned to the Board of Directors, the President, or any other National Organization officer.
BYLAW 6-2. EXCLUSIVE PREROGATIVES:
The General Assembly shall have the exclusive prerogative to vote on any and all of the following matters:
- Election of all elective officers.
- Approval of appointments of non-elected members of the Board of Directors.
- Affiliation and disqualification of Chapters with the support of the Board of Directors.
- Approval of the National Organization program(s) of activity for the ensuing year.
- Approval of the budget for the ensuing year.
- Determination of the National Organization Convention site.
- Approval of the Long Range Plan and reports
- Approval of the appointment of the honorary auditors for the forthcoming year.
- COMMENTS ON BYLAW 6-2:
- No one can serve as a member of this Board of Directors without having been elected or approved by the General Assembly
- The President may appoint other special assistants or directors without the approval of the General Assembly, but those appointees cannot be officers of the National Organization or members of the Board of Directors.
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BYLAW 6-3. SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:
The General Assembly shall receive and act upon reports and recommendations referred to it by the Board of Directors or any member of that body.
ARTICLE 6-4. COMPOSITION:
The General Assembly shall be composed of:
- The Board of Directors.
- The President of each Chapter.
In the event that the President of a member Chapter is unable to attend a meeting of the General Assembly, he shall notify the Secretary General in writing of his designated representative who must be a member of said Chapter.
ARTICLE 6-5. VOTING:
In any vote by the General Assembly, all Chapters whose current dues are paid as prescribed by the Constitution shall have a number of votes based on the following schedule:
- One vote where the membership of the Chapter is 20 members
- One additional vote for each additional ten (10) members or fraction thereof.
- COMMENTS ON ARTICLE 6-5:
- There are possible alternatives to these general rules:
- It might be advisable to avoid systematically giving one (1) additional vote per each additional ten (10) members or fraction thereof. Actually, a big Chapter with a large membership (not necessarily due to a good recruitment program but, rather, due to the size of the city) could become a superpower” compared to a little Chapter with a small membership based on the size of its town. As a result, a no proportional scale could be set as follows: one (1) additional vote for each additional ten (10) members or fraction thereof up to 50 members; one (1) additional vote for each additional fifteen (15) members or fraction thereof up to 95 members; one (1) additional vote for each additional (20) members or fraction thereof up to 155 members; and so on.
- The National Organization may consider that Chapters with less than 20 members should not have voting rights at the General Assembly.
- In addition to citing rules, a scale of voting rights based on Chapter membership can be useful:
| Membership | Voting Rights |
| 20 to 29 | 1 |
| 30 to 39 | 2 |
| 40 to 49 | 3 |
| 50 to 65 | 4 |
| 66 to 80 | 5 |
| 81 to 95 | 6 |
| 96 to 115 | 7 |
| 116 to 135 | 8 |
| 136 to 155 | 9 |
| 156 to 170 | 10 |
One additional vote for any additional 25 members or fraction thereof.
BYLAW 6-6. VOTING STRENGTH:
For the purpose of Article 6 5, the voting strength shall be based on declared and paid up membership of the Chapters at the time of any vote.
ARTICLE 6-7. PROXIES:
Proxies shall not be recognized.
- COMMENTS ON ARTICLE 6-7:
- An alternative is to allow a maximum of one proxy per Chapter.
ARTICLE 6-8. CASTING VOTE:
The President shall have the casting vote in cases of equality votes, except in the case of election of National Organization officers and the selection of the National Organization Convention site.
ARTICLE 6-9. QUORUM:
A quorum for the General Assembly shall comprise Chapter Presidents (or their authorized representatives) having fifty one (51) percent of the total possible votes provided by Article 6 5.
BYLAW 6-10. MEETINGS:
The Annual Meeting of the General Assembly shall be held at the National Organization Convention. Special meetings may be called by the President, the Board of Directors or by 1/3 of the votes of the General Assembly on a mail ballot.
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