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Shmuel Gerber

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  1. It can be said to apply to all pending questions, because when the allotted time for consideration of the main motion expires, all pending questions will be put to a vote without further debate or amendment. (15:12) Is there some other example of how the last sentence of 15:11 would apply that you think is more clearly in order?
  2. I think so, although perhaps it could be worded more clearly. The intention is to limit debate on the main motion and all secondary motions (that are pending or may become pending) so that a vote will be taken after no more than 20 minutes of debate.
  3. Well it seems that in this organization everything from voting to quorum to ratification to conflict of interest is defined or handled differently than in RONR, so I'm not sure we can be of much help here.
  4. A quorum is the number of members who must be present at a meeting in order to conduct business. It has nothing to do with the number of members who voted. You seem to be dealing with some sort of online election system with its own rules, so I have no idea what a quorum means in this context.
  5. This sentence does not make sense to me. There's no such thing as a candidate who did not meet quorum.
  6. I agree with Mr. Martin's explanation. In this sentence, "those motions" are the motions to Commit or to Postpone. So when the book says, "the remaining questions may be postponed or committed at the time those motions come to a vote," it simply means that the motions to Commit or Postpone are voted on as they normally would be — despite the adoption of the motion to Limit Debate — and, if they are adopted, they cause the remaining questions in the series (the main motion and the other pending motions adhering to the main motion) to be committed or postponed. For example, suppose a main motion and an amendment are pending, and it is moved to postpone the pending questions to the next meeting. While all these motions are pending, it is moved and adopted to limit debate on the main motion to 20 minutes. The same motion to Postpone could not have been moved after adoption of this motion to Limit Debate. However, it was moved beforehand and remains pending. The last sentence of 15:11 is telling us that, in this situation, the main motion and the amendment can still be postponed to the next meeting by the assembly's voting in favor of the pending motion to Postpone.
  7. But we've been told that there may be 75 candidates altogether. Under this system of taking two ballots, that would mean that on the second ballot, every member could vote for every candidate, which would be useless for purposes of ranking.
  8. But RONR does not discuss this particular situation, where the assembly is attempting to fill 50 delegate seats, and using the results of that election as a ranking mechanism for up to 50 additional alternates. I think the closest parallel that is discussed in RONR (46:34) is the election of directors with varying terms, in which those with more votes are given the longer terms.
  9. I don't see where the book says that the alternates are ranked in order of the number of votes received — although that is one possibility for the method of ranking. It also does not say that the number of alternates should always equal the number of delegates; it says the numbers frequently are equal.
  10. To (legally) obtain the text of RONR, you need to buy (or borrow) the book, which is available in several print and electronic editions. https://robertsrules.com/purchase/ Regarding your question: 4:16 "In principle, the chair must state the question on a motion immediately after it has been made and seconded, unless he is obliged to rule that the motion is not in order or unless, in his opinion, the wording is not clear." 4:17 "Rules and explanations relating to the conditions under which various motions are not in order will be found particularly in 5, 6, and 7; in 10:26–27; and in the first three of the “Standard Descriptive Characteristics” given in the sections on each of the parliamentary motions (11–37). When a member who has legitimately obtained the floor offers a motion which is not in order, the chair may be able, in certain instances, to suggest an alternative motion which would be in order and would carry out the desired intent to the satisfaction of the maker. If the chair is obliged to rule that the motion is not in order, he says, “The chair rules that the motion is not in order [or “is out of order”] because… [briefly stating the reason].” (He must not say, “You are out of order,” nor, “Your motion is out of order.” To state that a member is out of order implies that the member is guilty of a breach of decorum or other misconduct in a meeting; and even in such a case, the chair does not normally address the member in the second person. See 3:13; also 61.) If the chair rules that a motion is not in order, his decision is subject to an appeal to the judgment of the assembly. (For procedure regarding Appeal, see 24.)"
  11. Why not just move to limit debate by forbidding the making of any amendments?
  12. A motion to limit debate has the effect of suspending the regular rules relating to debate insofar as the adopted limits are incompatible with such regular rules, but it certainly does not suspend the rules relating to itself and to all the other rules in the book. Therefore I do not think it is helpful to generally think of adopting a subsidiary motion to limit debate as adopting a motion to suspend the rules.
  13. No need to suppose: 48:12 "Exceptions to the rule that minutes are approved at the next regular meeting (or at the next meeting within the session) arise when the next meeting will not be held within a quarterly time interval, when the term of a specified portion of the membership will expire before the start of the next meeting, or when, as at the final meeting of a convention, the assembly will be dissolved at the close of the present meeting. In any of these cases, minutes that have not been approved previously should be approved before final adjournment, or the assembly should authorize the executive board or a special committee to approve the minutes."
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