motions

[Guest joe]

Can a motion be made to ammend a discussion topic at a general meeting ?

[David A Foulkes]

A motion can be made to amend a motion (assuming, of course, the motion is amendable). Not sure what you mean by "a discussion topic", but there really shouldn't be any "discussion" until a motion is made put before the assembly to take an action or make a decision. A few more details couldn't hurt.

[Guest joe]

At the annual meeting the by laws committe brought up new language to change a by law. After there presenation they wanted to send it out to vote by ballott with no discussion. I wanted to make a motion to ammend the by law wording and was not allowwed I hope this helps

[jstackpo]

It "helps" but raises a couple of more questions...

Is (presumably) mail or e-mail voting on issues, such as adopting bylaws, authorized in your bylaws?

Do the bylaws even grant the "we require a vote with no discussion" power to the Bylaws committee?

Sounds to me like your rights to debate and amend have been curtailed by whomever "didn't allow" you to propose an amendment. What rule was that based on?

[Guest Edgar]

I wanted to make a motion to amend the by law wording and was not allowed

Agreeing with Mr. Stackpole that the process seems to have been badly flawed, one thing to keep in mind if that if a motion requires previous notice (as motions to amend bylaws often do), any amendments made to that motion must fall "within the scope of the notice". That means, for example, if notice was given to amend the bylaws to raise the dues from $5 to $25, any proposed change in that amount could be no less than $5 and no greater than $25. So it's possible that your proposed amendment fell outside the scope of the proposed change. But that's certainly not up to the bylaws committee to determine.

And that still leaves the problem of "no debate".

[Trina]

At the annual meeting the by laws committe brought up new language to change a by law. After there presenation they wanted to send it out to vote by ballott with no discussion. I wanted to make a motion to ammend the by law wording and was not allowwed I hope this helps

Very odd process -- you listen to a presentation about proposed bylaws changes at the annual meeting (normally an occasion for decisions to be made). No decision-making (i.e. debate, possible amendments, and voting) takes place at the AGM. Then, sometime later, ballots are sent out, so that the members can make a decision via absentee voting?? If so, is this odd process prescribed by your bylaws?

Or, when you say "they wanted to send it out to vote by ballott," do you actually mean that ballots were handed around at the AGM, but that no debate or amendment was allowed prior to that step?

[David A Foulkes]

What do your bylaws say as far as the procedure for amending? If, as they should, your bylaws contain an article on the procedure for amending them, that is what you must follow.

[Gary Novosielski]

The right to debate such a motion and to offer amendments is a basic right of membership. It can only be abridged by explicit language in the bylaws.

[George Mervosh]

The right to debate such a motion and to offer amendments is a basic right of membership. It can only be abridged by explicit language in the bylaws.

Or by the assembly itself with the appropriate motions requiring a 2/3 vote.