What happens if a planning committee has been making decisions
unconstitutionally? In my area it turns out no one knew that the Chair
of a planning committee was entitled to vote, so decisions have been
made that could have gone the other way if the Chair had voted like
all the other Members. I am not talking about abstaining - I am
talking about not being invited to vote, not being expected to vote,
not ever voting at all, and no one querying it. Yet the Constitution
clearly states that the Chair has a normal vote plus a casting vote in
a tie.
What are the legal implications for this on every decision so made?
And especially for those that came so close they could have gone the
other way? Whose responsibility is it to ensure that everyone knows
who's entitled to vote? The Members, the Dem Services Officers and
Legal Officers all seem to have been unaware that the Chair has a vote
for as long as anyone can remember. Where should this be reported? Or
doesn't it matter?
