Guest Greg Posted February 23, 2011 at 03:49 PM Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 at 03:49 PM Our organization does not have by-laws and from what I am told we follow Robert's Rules on parlimentary procedure. My question is in regards to proper voting procedures. Our organization decided to take a vote on reducing a long standing retirement benefit that is paid out to members. The vote was taken at a meeting that was poorly attended. At this meeting a motion was made and seconded to reduce the benefit. The final vote was taken by a show of hands in the room and the benefit was subsequently reduced. Is this a legal vote? If not, according to Robert's Rules what is the proper procedure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted February 23, 2011 at 03:53 PM Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 at 03:53 PM Our organization does not have by-laws and from what I am told we follow Robert's Rules on parlimentary procedure. My question is in regards to proper voting procedures. Our organization decided to take a vote on reducing a long standing retirement benefit that is paid out to members. The vote was taken at a meeting that was poorly attended. At this meeting a motion was made and seconded to reduce the benefit. The final vote was taken by a show of hands in the room and the benefit was subsequently reduced. Is this a legal vote? If not, according to Robert's Rules what is the proper procedure?So are you saying that you have no Bylaws, no Constitution, not Articles of Incorporation, no Governing Documents at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Greg Posted February 23, 2011 at 04:03 PM Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 at 04:03 PM So are you saying that you have no Bylaws, no Constitution, not Articles of Incorporation, no Governing Documents at all?That is what I was told. I am not sure the elected officers have a firm understanding of what is out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Goldsworthy Posted February 23, 2011 at 04:08 PM Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 at 04:08 PM Our organization does not have by-laws and from what I am told we follow Robert's Rules on parlimentary procedure. My question is in regards to proper voting procedures.Our organization decided to take a vote on reducing a long standing retirement benefit that is paid out to members. The vote was taken at a meeting that was poorly attended. At this meeting a motion was made and seconded to reduce the benefit. The final vote was taken by a show of hands in the room and the benefit was subsequently reduced. Is this a legal vote? If not, according to Robert's Rules what is the proper procedure?"The vote was taken at a meeting that was poorly attended." Do you mean, there was no quorum?What is your quorum?The final vote was taken by a show of hands in the room and the benefit was subsequently reduced. Is this a legal vote? Yes, voting by raising hands is a legitimate form of voting.Is that what you were challenging? That the vote was taken by raising hands? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted February 23, 2011 at 04:13 PM Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 at 04:13 PM Our organization does not have by-laws and from what I am told we follow Robert's Rules on parlimentary procedure. My question is in regards to proper voting procedures. Our organization decided to take a vote on reducing a long standing retirement benefit that is paid out to members. The vote was taken at a meeting that was poorly attended. At this meeting a motion was made and seconded to reduce the benefit. The final vote was taken by a show of hands in the room and the benefit was subsequently reduced. Is this a legal vote? If not, according to Robert's Rules what is the proper procedure?It's impossible to know.Without bylaws, you have no members, except those who happen to show up. You have no quorum requirements, because you do not know how many members you have. You have no officers. You have no right to collect dues, so I have no idea where your benefit is coming from. Nor do you have any way of knowing whom it should go to.Without bylaws, your organization does not exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Greg Posted February 23, 2011 at 04:17 PM Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 at 04:17 PM My concern is that besides the four elected officers there was only ten other members in attendance. Our organization has 48 members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted February 23, 2011 at 04:22 PM Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 at 04:22 PM My concern is that besides the four elected officers there was only ten other members in attendance. Our organization has 48 members.How do you know? Without bylaws you have no members. Oh, and you don't have four elected officers either, because officers must be in your bylaws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Goldsworthy Posted February 23, 2011 at 04:24 PM Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 at 04:24 PM My concern is that besides the four elected officers there was only ten other members in attendance.Our organization has 48 members.• If you have a known fixed number of members (some organizations never compile a roll, and thus never "know" how many voting "members" they have, such as churches), and• If you have no other quorum rule already in place,• Then, the quorum for 48 members in an organization would be MORE THAN HALF, i.e., 25.You cannot transact business in the name of the organization without a quorum.If you had no quorum present, then the answer to your question is "No." You cannot decrease or increase anything without a quorum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Greg Posted February 23, 2011 at 04:33 PM Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 at 04:33 PM I guess I have to do more research on the history of our organization. Thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted February 23, 2011 at 10:40 PM Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 at 10:40 PM Our organization does not have by-lawsWell, that's your first problem. If you have no Bylaws (or the equivalent), you have nothing to define the organization. If this is correct, your society should fix that ASAP. Read RONR, 10th ed., Section 54 for more information.Our organization decided to take a vote on reducing a long standing retirement benefit that is paid out to members. The vote was taken at a meeting that was poorly attended. At this meeting a motion was made and seconded to reduce the benefit. The final vote was taken by a show of hands in the room and the benefit was subsequently reduced. Is this a legal vote? If not, according to Robert's Rules what is the proper procedure?A quorum for a mass meeting or temporary society is simply the members who are present. From the facts provided, the vote is valid.My concern is that besides the four elected officers there was only ten other members in attendance. Our organization has 48 members.If your organization has no Bylaws, you only have two officers - the Chairman and the Secretary. I'm not sure how you know that your organization has 48 members if you have no document which defines how someone becomes a member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tctheatc Posted February 23, 2011 at 10:49 PM Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 at 10:49 PM maybe 48 get the retirement benefit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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