Guest SRB Posted September 21, 2011 at 08:11 PM Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 at 08:11 PM Our rules state the following: Quorum Four members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; but a lesser number may meet and adjourn.Lately this is being interpreted to mean that four votes are required to pass any motion. I'm looking for a good definition of quorum in this context, as it is my contention that in this context the word transact only means conduct a valid meeting. There are certain types of motions that have specific vote requirements so I am focused on all those not otherwise specified in our rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted September 21, 2011 at 08:24 PM Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 at 08:24 PM The quorum is the minimum number of voting members that must be assembled at a properly called meeting in order to conduct business.But the "standard" by which RONR judges a motion passed is a majority (more than half) of votes cast. Let's quickly state here that abstentions (when a member does not vote aye or no) do not count.So, if you have four members present, but for a motion only 3 vote, 2 for and 1 against, then the motion passes. The same would hold true in this case for a motion that required a 2/3 vote to pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted September 21, 2011 at 08:27 PM Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 at 08:27 PM RONR p. 20 says:The minimum number of members who must be present at the meetings of a deliberative assembly for business to be legally transacted is the quorum of the assembly.and p. 334 says:As indicated on pages 20-21, a quorum in an assembly is the number of voting members (see definition, p. 3) who must be present in order that business can be legally transacted. The quorum refers to the number of such members present, not to the number actually voting on a particular question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Elsman Posted September 21, 2011 at 09:23 PM Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 at 09:23 PM Our rules state the following: Quorum Four members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; but a lesser number may meet and adjourn.Lately this is being interpreted to mean that four votes are required to pass any motion. I'm looking for a good definition of quorum in this context, as it is my contention that in this context the word transact only means conduct a valid meeting. There are certain types of motions that have specific vote requirements so I am focused on all those not otherwise specified in our rules.The "but..." clause needs to be gotten rid of. It's inclusion could rightly be interpreted to prohibit the other actions that an assembly can take under the rules in the absence of a quorum, RONR (10th ed.), pp. 336, 337, 571. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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