Re-opening Mtg after adjournment & Voting

[Guest Ray]

I recently attended a meeting of a volunteer organization I belong to.

Long story short...the meeting took place and then adjourned for the enjoyment of a social time.

After a few minutes, the meeting was "re-opened" and a vote (by show of hands) was taken on a matter involving

the planning of a future event. Not all people(myself included)voted in the affirmative.

Now I find myself asking if it was valid to "re-open" the meeting for the purpose of taking that

vote and whether or not the results of the voting would be valid according to RONR.

Thank you for any assistance you can give me on this question.

Ray

[hmtcastle]

Now I find myself asking if it was valid to "re-open" the meeting for the purpose of taking that vote and whether or not the results of the voting would be valid according to RONR.

Strictly speaking, no.

What you had was more like a recess than an adjournment but, if any members left thinking the meeting was over, you've got a problem. If not, it might be a case of no harm, no foul. Sloppy but, perhaps, something you can live with.

[Gary Novosielski]

I recently attended a meeting of a volunteer organization I belong to.

Long story short...the meeting took place and then adjourned for the enjoyment of a social time.

After a few minutes, the meeting was "re-opened" and a vote (by show of hands) was taken on a matter involving

the planning of a future event. Not all people(myself included)voted in the affirmative.

Now I find myself asking if it was valid to "re-open" the meeting for the purpose of taking that

vote and whether or not the results of the voting would be valid according to RONR.

Thank you for any assistance you can give me on this question.

Ray

If, in fact, the meeting was adjourned, and that word was used, a reasonable person would conclude that no further business was taking place that day. Such a meeting cannot be called back to order, and any business conducted is null and void.

This is not true of a recess, but that's why the two different terms are used. A recess is assumed to be temporary, but an adjournment is final, at least for that meeting. It's possible to "adjourn" a meeting to a different time or place, but that doesn't appear to be what happened here.