Guest Margie Posted March 10, 2012 at 10:58 PM Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 at 10:58 PM I am confused about what Roberts Rules states regarding the 2/3 vote. Our by-laws require a quorum of members to be present for a vote and a majority rules. Is this acceptable wording for amending the by-laws? Or does a by-laws revision require a 2/3 vote. If it requires 2/3, please explain 2/3 of what? Members present where a quorum is reached or 2/3 of the entire membership? I apologize for not having a copy of Roberts Rules to refer to. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted March 10, 2012 at 11:08 PM Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 at 11:08 PM What do your bylaws say is required for amendment? Do they have a separate section on amendment that defines the required vote to amend?RONR says "The bylaws should always prescribe the procedure for their amendment, and such provision should always require at least that advance notice be given in a specified manner, and that the amendment be approved by a two thirds vote. If the bylaws contain no provision for their amendment, they can be amended by a two-thirds vote if previous notice (in the sense defined on page 121) has been given, or they can be amended by the vote of a majority of the entire membership." (RONR 11th Ed, p. 580 ll. 25 - p. 581 l. 7) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Margie Posted March 10, 2012 at 11:32 PM Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 at 11:32 PM Current by-laws language: "These by-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of those present at any regular or special meeting of the association providing all members of the association have received, in writing, a copy of the proposed amendments at least ten days prior to the regular or special meeting at which action on the proposed amendment will be taken."My issue is that there is no mention of what the 2/3 is; 2/3 of the entire membership, or 2/3 of the vote at a meeting where a quorum is present. Our current by-laws also state that a quorum for all meetings shall consist of 30% of the membership. I believe that the currentl language states that we need to pass any revision to the by-laws by a 2/3 vote at a meeting where a quorum has been reached. However, there is some discussion going on that no matter how many people show up for a meetintg, we only need a 2/3 vote of whoever is there to revise the bby-laws, which could be far less than a quorum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trina Posted March 10, 2012 at 11:33 PM Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 at 11:33 PM I am confused about what Roberts Rules states regarding the 2/3 vote. Our by-laws require a quorum of members to be present for a vote and a majority rules. Is this acceptable wording for amending the by-laws? Or does a by-laws revision require a 2/3 vote. If it requires 2/3, please explain 2/3 of what? Members present where a quorum is reached or 2/3 of the entire membership? I apologize for not having a copy of Roberts Rules to refer to. Thank you.The unadorned use of 'two-thirds vote' means two thirds of those who are present and voting. Similarly, the use of the phrase 'majority vote' means more than half of those who are present and voting.If your bylaws contain provisions for their own amendment, follow what it says in the bylaws. If the language defining the use of majority vote in the bylaws is unclear (does it literally say "majority rules"?), it is up to your organization to determine the meaning of any unclear language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trina Posted March 10, 2012 at 11:42 PM Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 at 11:42 PM Current by-laws language: "These by-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of those present at any regular or special meeting of the association providing all members of the association have received, in writing, a copy of the proposed amendments at least ten days prior to the regular or special meeting at which action on the proposed amendment will be taken."My issue is that there is no mention of what the 2/3 is; 2/3 of the entire membership, or 2/3 of the vote at a meeting where a quorum is present. Our current by-laws also state that a quorum for all meetings shall consist of 30% of the membership. I believe that the currentl language states that we need to pass any revision to the by-laws by a 2/3 vote at a meeting where a quorum has been reached. However, there is some discussion going on that no matter how many people show up for a meetintg, we only need a 2/3 vote of whoever is there to revise the bby-laws, which could be far less than a quorum.The fact that a meeting must have quorum (in order to conduct almost all types of business) is a fundamental rule which will be in force even if you don't restate that rule in your bylaws.So, it's a given that a meeting must have quorum to amend the bylaws. The other language you quote, about the two-thirds vote, is never even activated if you don't have quorum, since an inquorate meeting simply can't amend the bylaws, period.Why do you say there is "no mention of what the 2/3 is" -- it seems to say quite clearly that you need a two-thirds vote of those present. That's certainly not the same as two-thirds of the entire membership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Margie Posted March 11, 2012 at 12:16 AM Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 at 12:16 AM OK, yes, it is not the same as 2/3 of the entire membership. Since it does clearly say 2/3 of those present, and since it is stated that a meeting must have quorum, I can safely say that we need a 2/3 vote of those present at a meeting at which a quorum is reached in order to revise the by-laws. The by-laws cannot be revised by a 2/3 vote at a meeting where a quorum is not reached because the by-laws also state that a quorum for all meetings shall consist of 30% of the membership. Got it! Thank you. This was being misinterpreted and I'm hoping to fix that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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