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DrEntropy

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  1. RONR 12th 13:22 states that an assembly can, by majority vote, give a committee 'subsequent instructions'. It seems that by this means you can instruct a committee to report on a motion referred to it at a time sooner than originally planned. This seems like a loophole to get around the 2/3 vote (or majority with previous notice) requirement of discharging a committee ? Or perhaps it is not in order to give instructions to a committee to report at the same meeting that the instructions are given?
  2. Received my copy, love the new citation system!
  3. Hi John, thanks for sending your article, I meant to post a reference to it here for the benefit of others, as I had just rediscovered it a few days ago while searching through the PJ index ! Cheers
  4. Thanks for your contribution to my thinking on this. I took a look in Parliamentary Law and there is a nice discussion about it that I will not repeat here, but it says that it should be "the same vote as required for suspending the rules", since in some sense it suspends the normal rules of debate. I note that the US House under it's current rules also requires a 2/3 vote to suspend the rules, but I don't know the history of that particular rule, but intend to pursue it! As for why "2/3" , I think it is a bit arbitrary, but it is also natural in that it is the next bigger fraction that is easy to calculate ( "twice as many for as are against").
  5. Has anyone investigated the source of the two-thirds vote requirement for "previous question" (and a few other things of course). I can't find anything in RONR 11th, but in the 1st edition the General mentions: "In ordinary societies more regard should be paid to the rights of the minority, and a two-thirds vote be required, as in this Manual, for sustaining an objection to the introduction of a question, or for adopting a motion for the Previous Question, or for adopting an order closing or limiting debate. In this respect the policy of the Pocket Manual is a mean between those of the House and Senate." I believe at that time the House (as now) used a majority vote, and the Senate had no such motion. Older sources seem to require a majority vote (e.g. Cushings) Was this a creation of the General?
  6. The most important person you have to convince is the presiding officer. I have found that you can more easily bring people on board by emphasizing that (at least for RONR) the rules themselves specify a somewhat relaxed attitude for most cases, especially for committees and small boards (where, for example, seconds are not required, and one can speak on a subject when no motion is pending). And consider this: RONR 11, page 456 "The president should never be technical or more strict than is necessary for the good of the meeting. Good judgment is essential; the assembly may be of such a nature, through its unfamiliarity with parliamentary usage and its peaceable disposition, that strict enforcement of the rules, instead of assisting, would greatly hinder business." Even if RONR is not your authority, I recommend it for becoming acquainted with the general principles of parliamentary law. And the little "RONR in Brief" which is a great resource for understanding the essentials.
  7. Ah, hand typing up cheat sheets. I remember doing that for this and a few other things ! Nice job on this one, it is tricky to get that formatting right on a typewriter!
  8. Are you asking about adopted motions, or motions temporarily but not finally disposed of?
  9. p506 l. 9-11 RONR11, although it is stated the other way around: Someone else should report if the committee chair is the presiding officer of the assembly.
  10. Your say your society has bylaws addressing how to bring charges, so you will have to be the judge on how that meshes up with what is in Section 63 in RONR 11th. But in the end the action must be started by a member, perhaps one of the board members, maybe you? Most likely a member will have to make a motion offering charges, something like what is done on page 657 ll 5-17.
  11. Hah! Indeed. This is what tends to happen. Consider coming upon a scene with a fallen man lying on the ground. He is suffering grave injury. You have some EMT training and try to help, but someone has to call an ambulance. There are two people who have gathered near. Which strategy is more effective: a) "Someone call an ambulance", or b_) "YOU call an ambulance", pointing at one of the co-observers. ?? I know this has been harped on many times in this forum, but I don't think it can really be emphasized enough: Don't have co-anythings. But if you insist, be prepared to invent the rules for how to deal with the messes it creates.
  12. Under Robert's Rules of Order, any statement that begins "Under Robert's Rules of Order" has a 90% chance of being incorrect.
  13. If a member believes that it would be strongly undesirable for the motion to be considered (for example, it is offensive) then, before any debate has begun, the member rises (without seeking recognition) and states something like "Mr President, I object to the consideration of the motion". A vote is immediately called for, and a two-thirds vote AGAINST consideration is required to prevent consideration of the motion. If the chair is reasonably certain that the member jumping up to "table" the motion intends something like this, he can assume the motion to object and put the question immediately. However, I would note that situations where objection to consideration is warranted are few and far between. Most genuine motions can benefit from some debate, and if the assembly in the end decides it would not like to make a direct statement on the subject, they can adopt the motion to postpone indefinitely.
  14. A member that has been recognized by the chair can use the floor for any proper purpose, including making of secondary motions that are in order at that time. But note that the member who made the motion has preference in recognition if he claims the floor in a timely manner (RONR Page 31). So if the maker of the motion has something to say about it, he gets his chance before anyone else can move to postpone, lay on the table or what have you. If a member is jumping up and shouting "I move to table that motion!", that is not in order, and most likely the member is misusing the motion lay on the table (As Hieu pointed out, see FAQ 12 and 13 on this site).
  15. Is there a citation for this? I can't find a clear citation of what to do when the body that elects is different than the body that can fill the vacancy.
  16. The resignation is basically a "Request to be excused from duty" and like any other request, is not effective until granted. There should be a motion (or a motion can be assumed) and a vote to accept the resignation. Until that happens, there is no vacancy. I am not sure which body should act on this as I don't know how your society is organized. Generally it is the assembly of the members that would vote, since usually they are the ones that elected the officer.
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