Who can make a motion to accept the previous meeting's minutes as read?

[debmac]

Good Afternoon All!

 

I have a quick question (obviously lol)..  At a meeting, who is able to accept the minutes as read from the previous meeting? I have been a part of other groups, and am under the impression that no one can accept the last meeting's minutes as read - make a motion, or second - if they were not in attendance.  I am probably looking too hard, and missing it in the Robert's Rules book.  I really would like to do things properly in the minutes, as I'm pretty sure it has never been done so before! 

[Josh Martin]

At a meeting, who is able to accept the minutes as read from the previous meeting? I have been a part of other groups, and am under the impression that no one can accept the last meeting's minutes as read - make a motion, or second - if they were not in attendance.

 

Your impression is not correct. Any member may make a motion to approve the minutes (and I suppose any member can second such a motion), although such a motion is not necesary and the procedure for approving the minutes is the same regardless of whether such a motion is made. After the minutes are read, the chair (without waiting for a motion to approve the minutes) should ask if there are any corrections. After any corrections are handled, the chair declares the minutes approved as read (or as corrected). Corrections are usually handled by unanimous consent, but a majority vote will suffice if there is disagreement. No final vote is taken on the approval of the minutes.

 

Members who were not present at the previous meeting are free to participate fully in this process. Such members may still have valuable input to offer. For instance, some corrections may not be about what happened at the previous meeting, but about whether the minutes conform with the rules in RONR. The fact that the member was absent from the previous meeting would not affect his knowledge of such rules. It's also possible that the minutes note that the member made a motion, which the member will know is obviously incorrect.

 

Of course, if there is a disagreement over the facts of what happened at the previous meeting, then a member who was not in attendance at that meeting may well choose to abstain, but even then he retains the right to vote.

[Gary Novosielski]

Good Afternoon All!

 

I have a quick question (obviously lol)..  At a meeting, who is able to accept the minutes as read from the previous meeting? I have been a part of other groups, and am under the impression that no one can accept the last meeting's minutes as read - make a motion, or second - if they were not in attendance.  I am probably looking too hard, and missing it in the Robert's Rules book.  I really would like to do things properly in the minutes, as I'm pretty sure it has never been done so before! 

 

No, you're not missing it, because it is not in there.  Get out from under that impression, and you'll be fine.

[Thomas Ralph]

To do things properly, you start by not having anyone propose or second or vote on accepting the minutes. Once they've been read, the chair invites members (any members) to offer corrections if they feel same are necessary, and when no further corrections are forthcoming, the chair declares the minutes approved.