Bylaws Silent on Voting Rules

[Guest Louise]

Our club's bylaws are silent as to what is required for a passing vote, except for a few specific instances (election of officers, dissolution of the club). If the bylaws are silent, is it assumed that a majority vote is required, and if so, is it a majority of those present or a majority of those voting?

[jstackpo]

Majority of those actually voting, or, putting the same answer another way: a majority of the votes cast. (Abstentions are not counted.)

[Guest Edgar]

If the bylaws are silent, is it assumed that a majority vote is required . . . ?

But note that there are some common motions (e.g. the motion to amend something previously adopted) for which the voting threshold is higher (e.g. a two-thirds vote).

[David A Foulkes]

Our club's bylaws are silent as to what is required for a passing vote, except for a few specific instances (election of officers, dissolution of the club). If the bylaws are silent, is it assumed that a majority vote is required, and if so, is it a majority of those present or a majority of those voting?

Robert's Rules (RONR) specifies the voting threshold for every type of motion you'll come across, Your bylaws (which supersede RONR) can state specifically what the voting threshold is in select cases, and should in certain circumstances (such as amending them), but will most likely (and wisely) not cover all of them. I'd say it would be an error to assume that if it's not specified in your bylaws, it's a majority vote. In the back of RONR is a list of motions that require a 2/3 vote, unless your bylaws stipulate otherwise. But even some of these motion can be adopted with a majority vote if previous notice is provided. And in some cases, a majority of the entire membership is an alternative that can be easier to reach.

[Gary Novosielski]

If the bylaws are silent, is it assumed that a majority vote is required, and if so, is it a majority of those present or a majority of those voting?

If the bylaws are silent, the vote threshold listed in RONR is required. If, for the particular motion, that turns out to be a majority vote, that means a majority of those present and voting. In other words, any time the Yes votes outnumber the No votes.