Negotiating Team

[hofergregory]

Our bylaws require that our Union Negotiating Team must have a majority vote

to approve any tentative agreement before bringing the agreement to the membership

for a membership vote.

We have 6 people on the Negotiating Team and some feel this is a problem

because if there is an even number of people on the team, the vote could

end up being a tie.

I say a tie is a moot point because RONR would declare a tie as not passing,

since a majority vote is 50 percent plus 1.

Am I correct on this and if so, can some one quote me the language in RONR

that defines a majority vote?

[Guest Edgar]

Am I correct on this and if so, can some one quote me the language in RONR

that defines a majority vote?

Well, you're pretty close. Yes, a 3-3 tie vote defeats a motion just a much as, say, a 1-5 vote would (though a member might be absent or choose to abstain so a tie vote is hardly inevitable).

But a majority vote is simply more than half the votes cast, not "50% + 1" (and there are instances in which that would make a difference).

[David A Foulkes]

Also, having an odd number of members does not mean you can't have a tie vote. An odd number of members may be absent, or abstain, and the remaining (even number of) voters split to a tie.

[Trina]

'On a tie vote, a motion requiring a majority vote for adoption is lost, since a tie is not a majority.' (RONR 11th ed p. 405 ll. 28-29).

Majority is not 50% + 1; majority is more than half.

Majority vote is defined near the top of p. 4:

'approval... must be registered by more than half of the members present and voting on the particular matter...'

[Tim Wynn]

I say a tie is a moot point because RONR would declare a tie as not passing,

You have the right idea, though I've never warmed up to that particular use of the word "moot."

But that's a topic to be mooted at a different time and place.