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Calling the question after speaking on the motion


Guest CJ King

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Is it proper for a person to speak on a subject and upon completion also call the question?  I understand the procedure to be followed after the question is called, but is it allowable for an individual to speak for or against and then call the question?

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Yes, however one person cannot "call the question".  There is no such thing as "calling the question".  That is a common misconception.  There is, however, a motion to Move the Previous Question".  It requires a second and a two thirds vote.  A member who is speaking on a motion may conclude his remarks by "moving the previous question".   It is a motion to end debate.

The motion requires a second, is undebatable, and requires a two thirds vote for adoption.  One person cannot single handedly cut off debate. 
 

Edited to add:  Note:  If a member shouts "I call the question", the chair may (and probably will) treat it as a "motion for the previous question".  Also, a member must first be recognized in order to move the previous question.  The chair may ignore people who just shout it out without having been recognized.

Edited by Richard Brown
Added last paragraph
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And if someone gives you an argument, show him/her page 378, line 1ff.

Incidentally, the clarification of that rule (the legitimacy of debating then ending remarks by moving the PQ) first appeared in the 1990 edition of RONR, and then, with a slight augmentation, in the 2000 edition, only after considerable (heated-?) debate in one or more of the professional parliamentary journals.  Guess which side of the debate the principal author of RONR (at that time) was on.

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