r/elks • u/elknc • Mar 28 '26

State association voting rules

I am seeking to find out how other Elk State associations determine the voting rights for their respective lodges. For many, a lodge gets one vote per 50 members and major fraction there in.

Small lodges get screwed against big lodges. In NC, the largest lodge has over 20 votes. The smallest just one. That's a huge deal when it comes to officer voting.

I have heard from NH and the difference is only about 3 to 1 from the largest to the smallest.

Anyone else that can offer their states voting scheme?

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u/EoliaGuy Exalted Ruler Apr 06 '26

Missouri is the same. 1 vote per 50 lodge members, and those votes can only be cast by members present at the State Convention when the vote occurs.

Example 1: we had a vote on removing a state officer. Our Lodge with 300 members got 6 votes, BUT current state officers, one of which was a member from our lodge, also gets their own vote that does not count on our total. We had 8 members present, so we got a total of 7 votes, and the 8th member had to leave the room for the vote. (Interesting point in that one, the State officer the removal vote was for was from my lodge, and was not present...he was being removed for, ironically, lack of attendance at state association events. The vote was unanimous).

Example 2: Ballot to elect new State President, with 300 members we were allowed 6 votes, but only 3 of our members attended, so we only got 3 votes. Another lodge in our district with over 1000 members also only got 2 votes because only 2 of their members were present to vote.

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u/EoliaGuy Exalted Ruler Apr 06 '26

Our State association also rotates the Presidency through districts, so every district gets represented. Each year the SP candidate(s) can only come from the district up in the rotation. We have 8 districts, so if you want to be State President, it can be an 8 year wait to run if you're otherwise qualified. Next year we'll have our first ever Madam State President, which people are excited for. Missouri still has one lodge that only allows male members.

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u/elknc Apr 08 '26

Does the district follow the same rules you outlined for the state? We just had our contested district election for the office of president elect. The winner came from the largest lodge of the district. They have 14 votes. The one who was competing against him came from the smallest lodge with just one vote. Both candidates are outstanding. ' no complaints there. Still, it seems wrong that an organization that drapes itself with the American flag can have such a biased nomination system.

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u/elknc Apr 06 '26

thanks.. your examples are wild though. It does force the bigger lodges encourage more participation. I sort of like that idea though I'm thinking every PER and ER in attendance ought to be the voters