Member categories
Passive members do not or do no longer use the association’s facilities. At most, they pay a reduced membership fee. If they are also excluded from voting rights, they are not members in the legal sense of the word, but rather persons close to the association. Certain members may be exempt from paying membership fees, for instance, because they are working hard or have done a lot for the association. Sponsors usually pay more than the stipulated membership fee. Honorary members are fully or partially exempt from the obligation to pay contributions. Collective members are several persons (a family, for instance) or a legal person who pay a special contribution and are usually represented at the general meeting by one vote. The articles of association may stipulate different fees and rights of use for each member category. The respective articles of association may define their own categories or provide for other regulations than those mentioned here. Since, in principle, all members have the same rights and obligations, a derogation from this principle must be regulated in the articles of association.
Question
Our association includes various member categories (individuals, families, associations, companies). What is the situation now with respect to the number of votes? Generally speaking, does each category have a single vote?
Answer
Provided they do not contradict the relevant legal provisions, the association's articles of association are the decisive factor here. The Swiss Civil Code (ZGB) governs a few details under Article 67:
1. All members have equal voting rights at the general meeting. Deviations from this principle must be recorded in the articles of association.
2. Resolutions require a majority of the votes of the members present.
Generally speaking, natural persons and legal entities (e.g. associations) are each entitled to a single vote, i.e. each member can cast one vote. The articles of association may require the representation of a specially designated individual (principle of delegation).
Benefactors do not normally have any voting rights. With respect to families, the question is whether the family as a whole has entered into a single membership or whether it pays a reduced membership fee that is higher than that charged for a single membership. In the first case, only one family member is entitled to vote, while in the second case all present adult members can vote. Ideally, the relevant regulations should be laid down in the articles of association. Example: a family pays the same membership fee as an individual member or a family pays more (e.g. twice the amount). In both cases, all family members are full members of the association and can make use of its services.
Question
In our association, trainees and students do not pay a membership fee. Are they still entitled to vote?
Answer
As all members have the right to equal treatment, members who are exempted from the payment of a membership fee also have full voting and electoral rights. In fact, equal treatment would also apply to the membership fee. It is, however, possible to govern objectively justified differences in the articles of association.
