Guest Carol Ann Posted June 17, 2014 at 12:52 PM Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 at 12:52 PM We have 10 board members and one was absent for the meeting which was noted in the beginning of the minutes. A roll call vote was taken during the meeting and 9 voted yes. Can I say that it unanimously carried upon roll call vote or do I have to mention the one being absent? Is it considered a unanimous vote since all members voting, voted yes? If I have to mention the one being absent, do I say something like, "which carried upon roll call, with 9 voting yes, and one member absent." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted June 17, 2014 at 12:59 PM Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 at 12:59 PM If it was really a roll-call vote, then you should list the names of each member who voted, and their individual vote. There is no need to record absentees/abstentions except when needed to establish that a quorum was present, which does not appear to be the case here. While you can truthfully "say" that the vote was unanimous, there is no point to including that in the minutes. If your rules call for listing attendees/absentees in the minutes, it won't be difficult to figure out who didn't vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted June 17, 2014 at 01:00 PM Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 at 01:00 PM With a roll-call vote you'll record the name of each member (present) and how he or she voted. Don't call it "unanimous". Don't mention the absentee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted June 17, 2014 at 01:02 PM Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 at 01:02 PM I'd go with your last version, not using the word "unanimous". Although it is technically correct to call that a unanimous vote, it could lead to confusion -- the absent member could think he was included in the unanimity somehow and might not like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted June 17, 2014 at 01:08 PM Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 at 01:08 PM "which carried upon roll call, with 9 voting yes, and one member absent."I'd go with your last version, not using the word "unanimous". Although it is technically correct to call that a unanimous vote, it could lead to confusion -- the absent member could think he was included in the unanimity somehow and might not like that.The problem there is that it was a roll-call vote, not merely a counted vote. The form above doesn't tell me who voted how, which I should not have to piece together by figuring out who the absentee was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted June 17, 2014 at 01:20 PM Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 at 01:20 PM Ah, quite right. Whether the OP really meant "Roll Call" in the RONR sense (p. 420) or just a counted vote will be for Carol Ann to tell us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Carol Ann Posted June 17, 2014 at 02:05 PM Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 at 02:05 PM It was a roll call vote and all 9 that were present voted "yes". We do not list who voted how. We state the vote carried or failed on a vote of x - x. We've never had a motion where 9 voted yes, and one member was absent. Usually we have a least one person who votes no. So in this instance I thought it would be unanimously carried, but I had a person question that it was not unanimous since we had one member absent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted June 17, 2014 at 02:10 PM Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 at 02:10 PM It was a roll call vote and all 9 that were present voted "yes". We do not list who voted how.Well, if it's a roll-call vote then you must record how each member voted. That's what it means to have a roll-call vote. So in this instance I thought it would be unanimously carried, but I had a person question that it was not unanimous since we had one member absent.There are two problems with recording it as a "unanimous vote". Firstly, it serves no purpose. Secondly, it might mislead people into thinking that everyone voted in favor when, in this instance, one member didn't (and, even if present, he could have abstained). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted June 17, 2014 at 03:50 PM Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 at 03:50 PM So in this instance I thought it would be unanimously carried, but I had a person question that it was not unanimous since we had one member absent. It was unanimously carried, but since that is of no parliamentary significance, it doesn't belong in the minutes. This has the added advantage that people will never be able to question something that is not there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Lages Posted June 17, 2014 at 10:17 PM Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 at 10:17 PM It was a roll call vote and all 9 that were present voted "yes". We do not list who voted how. We state the vote carried or failed on a vote of x - x. We've never had a motion where 9 voted yes, and one member was absent. Usually we have a least one person who votes no. So in this instance I thought it would be unanimously carried, but I had a person question that it was not unanimous since we had one member absent. If you do not list 'who voted how', then it probably wasn't a roll call vote as RONR describes it (11th ed. pp. 420-423). In particular, pay attention to lines 9-15 on p. 422 for how to record a roll call vote. Even if you actually polled each member individually when voting, recording the result as 'carried or failed on a vote of x-x', means that no one reading the minutes will know that you polled each member separately, nor how they voted. And as others have stated, there is no reason to indicate a vote was unanimous unless your rules have some such requirement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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