Asked Sept. 9 whether the proposed combination with the National Funeral Directors Association clears the two-thirds supermajority described in trade coverage since August, Selected Independent Funeral Homes' top executive said the number does not apply to this vote.
"It is not a two-thirds, it actually is a simple majority vote," Rob Paterkiewicz, Selected's CEO and executive director since 2007, told Obitley in a telephone interview.
The distinction, he said, is what kind of vote this is. Selected's constitution requires a two-thirds majority for changes to itself, and that is the figure the association has used for years. But the merger ballot asks members to approve the dissolution of the association, because Selected cannot remain a separate 501(c)(6) if the two organizations combine. Under D.C. nonprofit law, where Selected is incorporated, that kind of vote requires a simple majority.
"Our counsel pointed out to us that the two-thirds majority is what's required for change in our constitution, and that's what we've used for years and that's why we referenced that," Paterkiewicz said. "But this isn't a constitutional vote. It is in fact an organizational vote."
He said counsel raised the question "a couple of weeks ago, just prior to showing up to the annual meeting," and that the change was shared with members during the closed Annual Meeting in Louisville.
By the Numbers
What the law says
D.C. Code sec. 29-412.02 governs approval of dissolution for nonprofit corporations. Unless the articles of incorporation, the bylaws, or the board setting the vote require more, adopting a proposal to dissolve takes the approval of the members at a meeting at which a quorum exists. In other words, the default is a simple majority, and a higher bar exists only if Selected's own governing documents create one.
Paterkiewicz indicated no such higher bar applies. Obitley asked Selected's media contact, Mike Shefky of TRG Marketing, on Sept. 9 to confirm in writing that no governing document sets a higher threshold for dissolution. Shefky acknowledged the request the same morning and said he would check with Paterkiewicz and leadership, adding "we hope to be in touch in the days ahead." Responses are due by the end of the day Monday, Sept. 14, and this article will be updated with them.
The two-thirds figure has framed every public accounting of the vote's math: Connecting Directors reported it in August, and Obitley repeated it in three articles, on August 24, August 29 and September 3. This article corrects the record.
The math changes even if the head counts do not
The opposition's arithmetic survives the correction. Nathanael M. Billow, the sixth-generation Selected member who went public against the deal in August, told Connecting Directors that of 70 firms he had spoken with, "upwards of 85% have expressed a strong desire to vote 'no.'" A vote that one-sided fails under either threshold.
But the zone of outcomes that decide the association's future narrows to a single question: whether supporters of the deal cross the 50 percent line. Under the two-thirds reading, a 60-40 vote in favor would have killed the deal. Under the threshold Paterkiewicz described, it passes.
That also changes what leadership's own numbers mean. Outgoing Selected President Barbara Risher Welch told Connecting Directors in August that member response had been "overwhelmingly positive" and that "the majority do favor this merger." Under the correct threshold, a bare majority is all the deal needs.
A vote to dissolve
The threshold question connects to the objection Billow and Paul C. St. Pierre raised in August, that members are being asked to approve a letter of intent their own counsel calls confidential. The ballot's legal effect goes further than the "Better Together" campaign language suggests. NFDA's own FAQ describes the transaction as "an acquisition of Selected Independent Funeral Homes by NFDA." If members approve, an association founded in 1917 votes itself out of existence, with governance reduced to two minority seats on NFDA's board.
The ballot date moved
The vote will also start later than trade coverage had reported. Connecting Directors reported in early September that ballots were expected roughly two weeks after the Annual Meeting, which ended Sept. 5, placing them in mid-September. Paterkiewicz said the board has since moved the date: an electronic ballot launches Sept. 24 and remains open for 15 days. "There's still a number of folks who just feel like they need a little bit more time," he said.
Obitley found no public notice of the new date as of Sept. 9 outside the interview itself.
Defending the process
Paterkiewicz defended the nearly two-year process that produced the deal without member input, which Billow and St. Pierre said left members blindsided. Going to the membership earlier, he said, "that's a little reckless, because there was so much that had to be discussed and negotiated all along the way."
He said the board has held "well over 200 one-on-one conversations" with member firms before the Annual Meeting, and that of the roughly 200 contacted, "the overwhelming majority expressed understanding and even support." Those figures are Selected's own and cannot be verified from outside the association.
What This Means for You
Selected's CEO says the vote bar is a simple majority, and the two-thirds figure that ran in trade coverage since August, including Obitley's own three articles, is corrected here. The distinction matters because any result between 50 and 66.6 percent in favor now passes rather than fails.
The ballot launches September 24 as an electronic vote open 15 days, later than the mid-September timing trade coverage had reported.
Obitley has asked Selected in writing to confirm no governing document sets a higher bar. The response, or its absence, is due by Sept. 14 and will be added to this article.
*Sources: Obitley telephone interview with Rob Paterkiewicz, CEO and executive director, Selected Independent Funeral Homes, Sept. 9, 2026; D.C. Code sec. 29-412.02 (Approval of dissolution); Connecting Directors interview with sixth-generation members Nathanael Billow and Paul St. Pierre, Aug. 20, 2026; NFDA "Better Together" FAQ; Obitley, "selected-members-oppose-nfda-takeover" (Aug. 24, 2026), "selected-nfda-louisville-vote-preview" (Aug. 29, 2026), "selected-nfda-townhall-day" (Sept. 3, 2026); Obitley written request to Mike Shefky, TRG Marketing, Sept. 9, 2026.*
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