Dear Governance Matters:
A question has come up at our nonprofit library board of trustees: What are the legal voting options in New York State when there is difficulty getting together a quorum of the board? Would a regular conference call and voting from a distance be legal? Does the board have to see each other? If so, would a web-cam system be legal?

Stanley

Dear Stanley,
I pulled up some sections of from the New York Attorney General's website that I thought might be helpful. There is nothing like going right to the source!

Pay particular attention to§§707 through 709. Section 708 states that, if authorized by the certificate of incorporation or the by-laws, board members may participate in a meeting by "conference telephone or similar communications equipment allowing all persons participating in the meeting to hear each other at the same time."

You ask if participation by web-cam would be legal. Given §708, I think attendance by web-cam is fine, if authorized by the by-laws, since everyone being able to see each other would be even better than just being able to "hear each other at the same time!"

I hope that this helps!

Anne, editor
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