Bylaw amendments when two-thirds not available, is previous notice always necessary?

[djr]

Our bylaws state

 

"These Rules of Order may be amended at any meeting by two-thirds of the voting Membership."

  

 

No previous notice is required according to the bylaws.

 

So, I have two different issues:

 

Do we have to comply with previous notice if it's not explicitly stated?  This is all there is under the amendment section.  My reading is that, no, we do not.  Since we have an explicit rule regarding the amendment of bylaws that does not include it, it would not automatically require it just because it was in RONR.  In other words, we don't have to explicitly say "no previous notice is necessary" in order to prevent having to do it.

 

Is there a motion that, upon having given previous notice to the membership (all members are voting members, quorum is majority plus one), we can circumvent the necessity for two-thirds of the membership?  If there is no way, and there is no mention of voting by any means other than what would be default in RONR, what can be done to amend the bylaws even when two-thirds of the membership may never show up at a meeting all at once?  My interpretation of voting by mail and other such actions have to be written into the bylaws to be performed, but I could be taking too strict an approach.  Page 424 talks of a vote by mail "when authorized in the bylaws", but the "Other methods of voting" on page 412 says they can be expressly ordered by the assembly.

 

Thank you.

[Edgar Guest]

Is there a motion that, upon having given previous notice to the membership (all members are voting members, quorum is majority plus one), we can circumvent the necessity for two-thirds of the membership?  If there is no way, and there is no mention of voting by any means other than what would be default in RONR, what can be done to amend the bylaws even when two-thirds of the membership may never show up at a meeting all at once?

 

Nothing. You need to obey your rules. And even if your bylaws don't require previous notice for their amendment, I suspect you'll get better attendance if you provide previous notice.

 

Try offering free beer.

 

Our bylaws state: "These Rules of Order may be amended at any meeting by two-thirds of the voting Membership."

Not everything in bylaws are "rules of order". In fact, if you've adopted RONR as your parliamentary authority, you may not need any (additional) rules of order in your bylaws.

[Guest Nancy N.]

Our bylaws state

 

"These Rules of Order may be amended at any meeting by two-thirds of the voting Membership."...

 

So, djr ... Does the bylaws document refer to itself as Rules of Order, really?  And there is no other amendment process prescribed for the bylaws, per se?

 

As for p. 412:  note that the "other methods" all refer to voting at a meeting; and see p. 423, lines 17 - 23, as well as p. 424.  Mind what Mr. Guest says --  and remember that pizza goes well with beer.

[Josh Martin]

Do we have to comply with previous notice if it's not explicitly stated?

 

No. If the bylaws include an amendment process but are silent on notice (as opposed to the bylaws being completely silent on the amendment process), then previous notice is not required.

 

Is there a motion that, upon having given previous notice to the membership (all members are voting members, quorum is majority plus one), we can circumvent the necessity for two-thirds of the membership?  If there is no way, and there is no mention of voting by any means other than what would be default in RONR, what can be done to amend the bylaws even when two-thirds of the membership may never show up at a meeting all at once?  My interpretation of voting by mail and other such actions have to be written into the bylaws to be performed, but I could be taking too strict an approach.  Page 424 talks of a vote by mail "when authorized in the bylaws", but the "Other methods of voting" on page 412 says they can be expressly ordered by the assembly.

 

It's not entirely clear to me that the language in question requires a vote of 2/3 of the entire membership, but if it does, there is no motion which can be adopted to get around that and there is nothing that can be done. You are correct that absentee voting is not permitted unless ordered in the bylaws. The assembly can order other in-person methods of voting, but it can't order a method of absentee voting unless authorized in the bylaws.

[Guest Nancy N.]

 ...  It's not entirely clear to me that the language in question requires a vote of 2/3 of the entire membership, ...

 

 

Thanks:  I knew something else was bothering me....