Quorum

[Guest karenk]

I have several questions regarding quorums. Is a quorum required to conduct business or just to vote? When you have an exoficio (non-voting) member, does his presence count in obtaining a quorum or does a quorum require 2/3 of voting members be present. When voting, is a quorum count based on the total members or members present? Meeting had 6 of 10 members present but one was non-voting member, one abstained from voting so only 4 votes were cast. Could a motion have passed under these circumstances?

[Louise]

1. According to RONR, a quorum is "the minimum number of members who must be present at the meetings of a deliberative assembly for business to be validly transacted" (p. 21). So if your bylaws don't indicate something different, achieving a quorum allows your assembly to conduct business.

2. In terms of ex officio/non-voting members, I think it would depend on what exactly your bylaws state regarding such members...or perhaps more accurately, what your organization has interpreted your bylaws to mean in this regard.

3. By definition, a quorum is a count of the number of members present at a meeting. Your bylaws should indicate what this number needs to be. Do you know what that number is?

4. Yes, if a quorum was present at the meeting. If your bylaws indicate that a motion needs a "majority vote" to pass, then a motion could pass if only one person voted for the motion and all the rest abstained.

[Gary Novosielski]

A quorum is required to conduct any substantive business. Without one, about all you can do is figure out how to get a quorum, and how long to wait, or when you want to meet again if you can't get one.

According to RONR, members (including ex-officio members) have the right to vote. So if you have a bylaws provision that creates a type of member known as ex-officio-non-voting, you'll need a rule telling you how they count toward a quorum. The only rule in RONR regarding this is that if the bylaws provide that the president is, ex officio, a member all committees (with possible exceptions) then he does not count either way in quorum calculations. He does, however have a vote if he shows up, as do all members, so that rule doesn't seem to help you.

A quorum in RONR requires a majority of members, not 2/3, so I assume that rule is from your bylaws. If so, it's a fairly high number, but perhaps workable for a small society of 10 members.

The quorum count is based on the number of members present. Whether they actually vote or not is immaterial as long as they members, and therefore, allowed to vote. So your non-voting member is neither fish nor fowl. But that would not matter in this particular case, since 6 members is less than 2/3 of ten members, and even if all 6 were full members you do not have a quorum, presuming you're right about that 2/3 figure. The smallest whole number that is at least 2/3 of 10 is 7.

So an ordinary motion could NOT be passed, or for that matter rejected, since it could not be made at all, in the first place.

[Dan Honemann]

A quorum is required to conduct any substantive business. Without one, about all you can do is figure out how to get a quorum, and how long to wait, or when you want to meet again if you can't get one.

According to RONR, members (including ex-officio members) have the right to vote. So if you have a bylaws provision that creates a type of member known as ex-officio-non-voting, you'll need a rule telling you how they count toward a quorum. The only rule in RONR regarding this is that if the bylaws provide that the president is, ex officio, a member all committees (with possible exceptions) then he does not count either way in quorum calculations. He does, however have a vote if he shows up, as do all members, so that rule doesn't seem to help you.

A quorum in RONR requires a majority of members, not 2/3, so I assume that rule is from your bylaws. If so, it's a fairly high number, but perhaps workable for a small society of 10 members.

The quorum count is based on the number of members present. Whether they actually vote or not is immaterial as long as they members, and therefore, allowed to vote. So your non-voting member is neither fish nor fowl. But that would not matter in this particular case, since 6 members is less than 2/3 of ten members, and even if all 6 were full members you do not have a quorum, presuming you're right about that 2/3 figure. The smallest whole number that is at least 2/3 of 10 is 7.

So an ordinary motion could NOT be passed, or for that matter rejected, since it could not be made at all, in the first place.

For a more complete statement, see:

Can ex-officio members vote, and are they counted in determining whether a quorum is present?