May a non-voting member discuss a pending motion?

[Guest Jim]

In a club with a non-voting class of membership (who are also not counted for quorum purposes)...

Is it proper to allow the non-voting member to engage in discussion of a motion on the floor? Or should they not be allowed to participate because they cannot vote?

[Chris Harrison]

There is one school of thought that says that a class of membership that removes one of the rights of membership retains all of the other rights and there is another school that says that since this class of membership doesn't have all of the rights of membership that whatever rights that are to be retained must be specifically mentioned. It is up to you all to determine which of those schools (or there may be other schools as well) to attend. See RONR pp. 588-591 for some principles to help with that. However, even if you all determine that the nonvoting member doesn't have the right to speak in debate you can suspend the rules by a 2/3 vote to permit it (or if no question is pending the nonvoting member can be permitted to address the assembly by a majority vote).

[Tim Wynn]

In a club with a non-voting class of membership (who are also not counted for quorum purposes)...

Is it proper to allow the non-voting member to engage in discussion of a motion on the floor? Or should they not be allowed to participate because they cannot vote?

According to RONR, an individual who hasn't the right to vote is not a member. When your bylaws say otherwise, they supersede RONR, and it is up to your organization to decide the meaning of its bylaws.