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List of Grand Lodge policies on Past Masters voting rights

Past Masters’ Voting Rights in each U.S. Grand Lodge

The information on this chart comes from information supplied on Masonic email and listservs.

If anyone has definite information about the rules in each Grand Lodge on whether Past Masters can vote in Grand Lodge, please send email to Paul M. Bessel so I can update this chart.

 

State

Can Past Masters Vote in Grand Lodge?

Alabama No
Alaska

Masonic Code, Section 2.01 Constitution / Officers and Members:
Members of this Grand Lodge are: …
2. Each Past Master of a Chartered Lodge of this jurisdiction while he is a member of a Lodge of this Jurisdiction.
3. Each Past Master of a Lodge of another Jurisdiction which is recognized by this Jurisdiction while he is a member of a Lodge of this Jurisdiction.

Arizona In Arizona, all Past Masters of Arizona Lodges have an
individual vote at Grand Lodge. However, they must be
present to exercise it — no proxies.
Arkansas In Arkansas only the Junior Past Master has a vote. With the 3 principal officers, this gives each lodge the same number of votes.
California Collective vote
Colorado No
Connecticut No
Delaware
District of Columbia Most votes are informal, saying “aye”, raising hands, or standing up, in which case everyone attending can vote. On roll call votes, to elect Officers or when requested by 2 or more lodges, all PM’s from each Lodge have 1 collective vote.
Florida
Georgia Yes
Hawaii
Idaho Those eligible to vote are the Master and Wardens of each lodge (may be by proxy) or a Certified Past Master of an Idaho Lodge. To become a voting member of Grand Lodge as a Past Master, must give all 3 lectures
Illinois Yes
Indiana No
Iowa No
Kansas Yes
Kentucky
Louisiana No
Maine
Maryland PM’s of each lodge have 1 collective vote
Massachusetts No
Michigan No
Minnesota No
Mississippi
Missouri Yes
Montana Yes
Nebraska
Nevada Nevada has one collective Past Master Vote per lodge at Grand Lodge.
New Hampshire No
New Jersey Yes. PM’s have the right to vote on anything, including elections.
From an email:  Sitting master and wardens each have one vote by virtue of their offices, which are cast individually. Each Past Master having completed his full one year term of office has one vote. On issues requiring a hand vote only, the voter must be present. On issues requiring a written ballot (principally electing Grand Lodge officers and Trustees) the votes for absent Masters and Wardens are cast by the senior of the three present. If all three are absent, the lodge’s elected proxy votes all three. Each Past Master has one vote, which may be in addition to his vote as an elected Master (second term or greater) or warden. One vote for a Past Master is not affected by multiple terms as Master, nor by having served as Master in multiple lodges. Thus a Past Master sitting as Master or Warden or elected proxy, in the absence of the other elected officers, can cast as many as four ballots.
New Mexico No
New York No
North Carolina No. Defeated a proposal to give all PMs a vote in Grand Lodge in 2001.
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania Yes, by one year’s service (?)
Rhode Island Yes
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee Yes
Texas Yes
Utah
Vermont
Virginia All PM’s from all Lodges (hundreds of them, acting together) have a total of 1 collective vote in Grand Lodge. This is not very significant, compared with the votes (1 each) of each of the 350 or so Lodges, plus PGM’s and GLO’s who have individual votes.
Washington Yes
West Virginia PMs have a 1/4 vote. In 1997 a motion to give a full vote to PMs was laid over and was defeated.
Wisconsin No
Wyoming Yes
TOTALS 18 13

 

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