CLEARED BY 27 VOTES: NFDA APPROVES ITS HALF OF THE MERGER WHILE A JUDGE HOLDS THE OTHER

The half of the merger vote that could happen has happened. NFDA announced Friday morning that members approved the bylaws amendment creating temporary board seats for Selected Independent Funeral Homes, clearing the two-thirds threshold by 27 votes out of 873 cast. The other half of the vote, Selected's own ballot, remains under a court order in Akron: frozen, uncounted, and waiting on an October 23 hearing.

WHAT PASSED

The ballot question, shared with Obitley by NFDA on September 29, read: "I vote to APPROVE, contingent upon the merger of NFDA and Selected Independent Funeral Homes (SIFH), the proposed addition of language to Section IX(D)(7) of the NFDA Bylaws authorizing the SIFH Board Seats."

It passed with 69.8 percent voting yes (609 votes) and 30.2 percent voting no (264 votes). Voting concluded October 7. The seats exist only if the merger closes: two temporary positions on the NFDA board, filled by individuals nominated by Selected's Executive Council and approved through NFDA's existing committee appointment process, running two consecutive two-year terms from the 2026 convention through the 2030 convention.

A second question carrying technical updates passed as well, 78.8 percent to 21.2 percent (688 votes to 185). Those changes update the nondiscrimination policy, let the board nominate officer and at-large candidates when no eligible candidates come forward, and establish a process for removing a board member for cause. NFDA's release notes both proposals exceeded the required two-thirds majority of votes cast.

THE MARGIN

The release presents the results as percentages. The vote counts underneath them tell a tighter story. Two-thirds of 873 is 582. The merger question cleared it with 609. That is a margin of 27 votes.

Under NFDA's system, firm members cast two votes plus one for their primary contact, and individual members cast one. Because the release reports raw vote totals, the 27-vote margin cannot be restated as a number of members.

Each question drew exactly 873 votes, the same turnout on both. The gap between the questions shows up entirely in the switch from yes to no: 79 fewer votes against the housekeeping changes than against the merger seats. The same electorate that approved technical updates by a wide margin was nine points colder on the merger question.

The release does not say how many members were eligible to vote. NFDA describes itself as 20,000 individual members representing nearly 11,000 funeral homes, and the bylaws count firm and individual votes separately, so turnout cannot be calculated from the numbers published.

WHAT NFDA SAID ABOUT OHIO

The release's merger update contains the association's first public comment on the lawsuit since seventeen Selected member firms filed it on October 5: "NFDA is aware of a complaint filed in an Ohio court and a temporary restraining order that has delayed the vote by Selected members on the proposed merger. NFDA is not a party to the lawsuit."

That order, signed October 6 by Judge Christine Croce of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, restrains Selected from closing, tabulating, certifying, or acting upon its membership vote, including the ballot that was to close October 8. Ballots already cast are frozen. The plaintiffs, led by sixth-generation funeral director Nathanael Billow, want members to receive the disclosures required under the D.C. Nonprofit Corporation Act and 30 days to review them before any new vote. The preliminary injunction hearing is set for October 23 at 9 a.m. before Magistrate Kandi O'Connor.

CEO Christine Pepper framed the result as deference to the other membership: "While NFDA members have approved the Bylaws changes associated with the proposed merger, the ultimate decision about the proposed merger rests with Selected's members."

THE RULE THAT NEARLY STOPPED IT

Obitley reported on September 19 that the two memberships vote under different rules: NFDA amends its bylaws at two-thirds of members voting, while Selected's CEO said his members need only a simple majority to dissolve their association. The association doing the absorbing set the higher bar for itself.

This week both numbers did work. NFDA's own two-thirds rule came within 27 votes of rejecting the merger amendment. Measured against the simple-majority standard Selected's members were given, 69.8 percent would have passed with room to spare: the same result counts as a rout at one threshold and a near miss at the other.

And the ballot that could dissolve a 109-year-old association at half plus one sits in a court's custody, uncounted, because a judge found members are entitled to disclosures the law requires before any vote, and that a vote held without them would not be valid corporate action.

THE CALENDAR

The release states the merger "remains subject to the outcome of Selected's member vote and signing a final merger agreement." Both steps now run through Akron. If the injunction issues on October 23, the disclosures and the 30-day review period the plaintiffs seek would push any legitimate Selected ballot into late November at the earliest.

The deal's own paperwork tightens that window. The letter of intent runs until January 11, 2027, a date the court's order states independently, and the merger documents set December 31 as the targeted close, with a unified launch planned for January 1, 2028. NFDA's members have now said yes, narrowly. Whether Selected's members ever get to finish saying anything is a question for Magistrate O'Connor.

*Sources: NFDA news release, "NFDA Members Approve Proposed Bylaws Amendment," October 9, 2026 (Director of Public Relations Jessica Koth, emailed to Obitley); NFDA ballot question image shared by Koth, September 29, 2026; Obitley reporting September 19, 2026 ("Two Thirds to Buy, One Half to Sell") and October 7, 2026 ("Halted, for Real"); Temporary Restraining Order and Verified Complaint, Case No. CV 2026-10-4317, Summit County Court of Common Pleas.*