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Voting when members abstain


Guest Jud Goodnow

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We have a five member board. Four members wre present. We had a vote where two members abstained from the vote and two members voted for the motion. Does this Motion pass?

Yes. With very few exceptions it is those who choose to vote who decide on the disposition of the motion and those who abstain are in effect saying they are willing to go along with what the members who voted decide.

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We have a five member board. Four members wre present. We had a vote where two members abstained from the vote and two members voted for the motion. Does this Motion pass?

Staying with the rules in RONR, the basic principle is that a motion must receive a majority (more than half) of votes cast to adopt. Since only two votes were cast, that principle is satisfied. Some motions require a 2/3 vote, meaning at least twice as many yes votes as no votes of votes cast. Thus, these two votes satisfy that as well. Abstentions are not votes and are not counted toward determining if a motion passed or failed.

Some motions might require a vote "of the members present" or "of the entire membership", and in these situations the abstentions have the effect of a no vote, although they are still not votes. In these cases, the motion would have failed. You don't indicate that either of these requirements was applicable, so by the basic principle the motion carried.

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