Quorum

[Guest AlicePA]

Our bylaws do not mention the quorum amount for membership meetings/special meetings/ or regular meetings of our association. The Directors have to have a quorum for their Executive session but that is it.

My understanding reading RONR is that if there is NO quorum advised in the bylaws then the MAJORITY of the membership must be present. So lets say we have 100 members, 51 need to be present. The voting then would be broken down further based on the situation of what the vote is about ie 75% of the members present or majority of those members present. If that 51 is not met, no business can be voted on and it would be a point of order and no business decision/changes can be conducted, correct?

[Tim Wynn]

Correct, no business can be transacted without a quorum, and the default quorum in RONR is a majority of the membership.

[Gary Novosielski]

No.

Your understanding of the default quorum is correct. If the bylaws are silent, a quorum is a majority: the presence of more than half of the members.

But the voting, once you have established a quorum, is usually not dependent upon how many people are present, but only on those that actually vote. Abstentions do not count as votes at all: neither Yes nor No. But people who are there (and abstain) still count toward a quorum. Most votes are majority votes, but that means a majority of those (present and) voting. Some votes (that protect the rights of the minority) are 2/3 votes, but that's about it.

Without a quorum, there is no substantial business that you can properly conduct.

[David A Foulkes]

If that 51 is not met, no business can be voted on and it would be a point of order and no business decision/changes can be conducted, correct?

No.

I think this is one of those rare cases where no means yes.