Voting

[Guest Kurt Martin]

18 Members present,  Vote is 7 - Yes, 1-No and 10 abstention  how do you rule on this?

[Gary Novosielski]

A vote of 7-1 is certainly a majority of those present and voting. It is also at least 2/3.  So whatever it was apparently passes, as long as 18 members satisfies the quorum requirement.

Abstentions are not votes and are not called for, counted, or recorded, except in rare circumstances.

[Hieu H. Huynh]

1 hour ago, Guest Kurt Martin said:

18 Members present,  Vote is 7 - Yes, 1-No and 10 abstention  how do you rule on this?

It is a majority vote.

[Josh Martin]

1 hour ago, Guest Kurt Martin said:

18 Members present,  Vote is 7 - Yes, 1-No and 10 abstention  how do you rule on this?

See FAQ #6.

[Richard Brown]

Agreeing with my colleagues, a vote of seven to one is a majority vote and a motion would carry unless you have a specialized rule to the contrary which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the members present. Any such rule would have to be clearly stated.

Edited February 20, 2018 at 12:17 AM by Richard Brown

[J. J.]

6 hours ago, Guest Kurt Martin said:

18 Members present,  Vote is 7 - Yes, 1-No and 10 abstention  how do you rule on this?

As indicated by others, this would be a majority vote, but to be illustrative, this would be:

A majority vote, 7 is more than half of 8.  (This is also present and voting.)

A 2/3 vote, 7 is equal to or more than 2/3 of 8.

Not a majority of those present, as 7 is not more than half of 18.

Not 2/3 of those present, as 7 is not equal to or more than 2/3 of 18.