What is a Vote of No Confidence? (Overview, Definition, and Examples)

Follow these board voting procedures, based on Robert’s Rules of Order, to conduct a no confidence vote. Defer to any specific voting procedures listed in your board bylaws. 

Call for Vote of No Confidence

Any member may decide to officially make a call for a vote of no confidence against a particular leader of your organization, but this should only be done after attempting to resolve the situation. This helps ensure that a problem with a leader is genuinely causing a negative impact on your organization and not simply a disagreement between two individuals.

Obtain Signatures 

A failed vote of no confidence may reflect poorly on the members of your board that wanted it and needlessly draw negative attention to your organization. As such, the board should create a petition before an official vote to ensure the individual who called for a vote of no confidence has enough support for the vote to have a reasonable chance of passing. 

Allow the Leader in Question to Respond

Leaders may provide a written rebuttal to share more information about their sides of the story prior to an official vote of no confidence. The details provided in this rebuttal may convince the board not to hold a vote of no confidence, sway the decisions of individual voters, or have no impact on the overall outcome. 

Conduct a Vote of No Confidence

Once you have gathered enough signatures to determine that a vote of no confidence is an appropriate choice, your board can officially conduct a formal vote. Voting should be secret, secure, and follow local regulations to ensure it’s done legally. The results of the vote inform what the board should do next. 

Consider Next Steps 

Although a vote of no confidence does not automatically remove a leader from power, an overwhelming vote in favor of no confidence may be used as evidence when taking further action to do so. A failed vote or vote that passes by a slim margin likely indicates that taking further steps to remove a board member is not the best course of action and further mediation will better support changes that may need to be made. 

Procedures Across Parliamentary Systems 

Parliamentary votes of no confidence may have slightly different goals and outcomes than board of directors votes of no confidence, but they can provide a helpful starting point for determining specific procedure that your board should follow. Some variations on how these procedures work across parliamentary systems include: 

• Directing a vote of no confidence at a collective government or an individual politician
• Proposing a vote of no confidence that is unlikely to pass to make a point, or only doing so if it is already common knowledge that most voters will support the motion
• Only being allowed to propose a vote of no confidence within certain time limits, usually no more frequently than every three to six months 
• Requiring a specific number or percentage of voters to support a vote of no confidence for it to pass, or only needing a majority vote
• Allowing an individual to propose a vote of no confidence, or requiring a legislature