Legal Question in Business Law in Illinois

I'm on the board of directors of a nonprofit organization. I've been debating our organizations' member voting age with another director. Currently, in our corporate by-laws, the minimum voting age is set at 16. I contend that because it says 16 in the by-laws, that's what we must go by at the next organization election of the board of directors. He contends that because Illinois' legal voting age is 18, we must follow that law even though our bylaw states otherwise. I've been researching and cannot find any document anywhere that says that the legal voting age applies to nonprofits and corporations. Everything I find states that corporations follow what is stated in your own by-laws. I'm open to changing the age to 18 (16 was set a long time ago), but believe that we must follow the by-law at the current election. Anyone with any knowledge of this area of law care to chime in, or provide a link/document that answers this question? Thanks.


Asked on 9/13/10, 8:31 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Messutta

You need to follow the corporate structure until it is properly amended. Whether it's wrong or not is really a risk if those under 18 are excluded from voting. You are right; the Illinois NFP corporation act does not impose age qualifications on directors; it doesn't even insist that directors be residents of Illinois or even members of the corporation. It points to the by-laws for qualifications. So unless those who are insisting you have to be 18 to vote can point to something, it's their obligation to follow their by-laws too.

The response given is not intended to create, nor does it create an ongoing duty to respond to questions. The response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor is it intended to be anything other than the educated opinion of the author. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. The response given is based upon the limited facts provided by the person asking the question. To the extent additional or different facts exist, the response might possibly change. Attorney is licensed to practice law only in the State of Illinois. Responses are based solely on Illinois law unless stated otherwise.

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Answered on 9/18/10, 2:49 pm


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