Therefore, from the very beginning of its existence as an incorporated entity, the General Council of the TS included Additional Members, some of whom were not resident in India. This was – and is – a necessary consequence of the Society’s international character.
In early 2009, after the controversies which followed the Presidential elections in 2008, and for the first time in the Society’s history, a complaint was made by some members that the election of four Additional Members in 2008 was ‘illegal’. They based their complaint on their interpretation of the following Rule of the Rules and Regulations of the TS:
2(b) The General Council shall include not fewer than 5 and not more than 12 Additional Members, among whom all past Presidents while in good standing shall automatically have place. Other members shall on the nomination of the President be elected for a term of three years by vote of the General Council at its Annual Meeting, their names having been sent to the Members of the General Council at least three months before the Annual Meeting.
While the complainants based their claim of ‘illegality’ regarding the above mentioned election on their assumption that the use of Voting Slips is not warranted by Rule 2(b), they did not take into account the following Rule which governs elections within the General Council:
5(b) At all meetings of the General Council, members thereof may vote in person, or in writing, or by proxy duly given to another member of the General Council for the particular meeting concerned. Except as aforesaid no member shall exercise more than one vote. No member shall be allowed to exercise more than 5 proxy votes.
A study of the Annual Reports of the TS, covering an extensive period of time, as we shall document below, which contain the Minutes of the General Council meetings, shows that the method of electing Additional Members involves sending with the Agenda papers for the annual meeting both a Proxy Form, for those who may be unable to attend, and a Voting Slip, in which the Council member may vote for or against the names nominated by the President.
The long established practice of Voting Slips in elections within the General Council guarantees full democratic participation for all its members who are spread around the world. Various members are not able to be in attendance at the General Council meeting every year. At its meeting, after the announcement of voting results, the Council confirms the election of the Additional Members who had been previously nominated.
A further analysis reveals an important, and historically established, practice and method within the General Council of the Theosophical Society: the number of votes received for each Additional Member is always higher than the number of Council members present at the Council’s annual meeting. In other words, Council members have traditionally cast their votes on signed Voting Slips and sent them to the Secretary of the Society. At the annual meeting of the Council at Adyar in December the Secretary announces the voting results which are then confirmed. The evidence which is shown below clearly indicates that there is no actual election at the Council meeting itself.
The following are extracts from the Minutes of the General Council meeting held in December 1945:
At this meeting there were twelve members present, with two Proxies, and the total number of votes received for each Additional Member was 30.
The extracts from the Minutes of the Council meeting held in December 1955 show the following:
As shown above, there were ten Council members present, with eight Proxies. The total number of votes received for each Additional Member being 43 and 44.
The extract of the Minutes of the General Council meeting held in December 1960 is given below:
At that meeting there were seven Council members present with eight Proxies. Voting results for each Additional member were 40 and 41.
Below are extracts of the Minutes of the General Council meeting in December 1965:
Seven Council members were present, with 15 Proxies. Voting results varied from 35 to 37.
The following are extracts from the Minutes of the Council meeting held in 1970:
Ten members were preset at the meeting, with 18 Proxies. Voting results were 39.
Extracts from Minutes of the Council meeting in December 1980 are shown below:
At that meeting there were fourteen Council members with 14 Proxies. The total number of votes received for each Additional Member was 37.
Below are extracts of the General Council Minutes for the meeting held in December 1985:
There were eleven Council members present with 23 Proxies. The total voting result numbered 38.
The extracts of the Minutes for the meeting held in 1990 show the following:
Ten Council members were present, with 20 Proxies. The total voting results for each Additional Member were 33.
Below are extracts of the Minutes of the General Council meeting held in December 2004:
Fifteen Council members were present, with 18 Proxies.
The voting results are shown below:
The evidence supplied above, extracted from the Minutes of the meetings of the General Council of the Theosophical Society over a long period of time, clearly indicates that the election of Additional Members to that Council does not take place at the Council meeting itself, but through signed and mailed Voting Slips.
In view of such evidence the claim that the election of Additional Members in 2008 was ‘illegal’ is unwarranted and without foundation.
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