Pending Motion

[ErnieCunn]

In a recent meeting of our organization a motion was made and seconded. The chair immediately went to vote on the motion. A voice vote was called for and the motion was resoundingly approved. The chair permitted discussion on the motion after the vote was taken. The chair made no declaration as to passage or failure of the motion. I sense several things are wrong with the proceedings; no debate was called for before voting; discussion was permitted after voting; no declaration as to passage or failure was made by the chair. The motion was not tabled and the chair then went forth with other business. What is the status of this motion? Is it still pending as unfinished business? What action, if any, is appropriate to deal with this issue. Your comments and recommendations please. Thank you.

[Dan Honemann]

In a recent meeting of our organization a motion was made and seconded. The chair immediately went to vote on the motion. A voice vote was called for and the motion was resoundingly approved. The chair permitted discussion on the motion after the vote was taken. The chair made no declaration as to passage or failure of the motion. I sense several things are wrong with the proceedings; no debate was called for before voting; discussion was permitted after voting; no declaration as to passage or failure was made by the chair. The motion was not tabled and the chair then went forth with other business. What is the status of this motion? Is it still pending as unfinished business? What action, if any, is appropriate to deal with this issue. Your comments and recommendations please. Thank you.

 

Well, you have pointed out the errors which occurred, and apparently no one present raised a point of order or otherwise objected in any way. Since you say that the motion was resoundingly approved by a voice vote, it would appear that the members simply overlooked the chair's failure to formally declare the result of the vote.

 

As a practical matter, your question as to the status of this motion is going to be resolved when the minutes of the meeting are presented for approval at the beginning of your next meeting.

[Robert B Fish]

As a practical matter, your question as to the status of this motion is going to be resolved when the minutes of the meeting are presented for approval at the beginning of your next meeting.

 

However, nothing in Dan's response should be taken to infer that the approval of the minutes can be used as a way to "rewrite history."  As the post said, the motion was "resoundingly approved" and no member raised a timely point of order about the irregularities presented in the post.  Therefore, the status of the motion should be that it passed and the minutes should confirm that outcome.

 

-Bob

[ErnieCunn]

Robert B Fish, Parkersburg, WV. Greetings from one hillbilly to another. Born and raised in the northern panhandle, Wellsburg. Now reside in Ohio. Still love my native land and visit it frequently.

[Robert B Fish]

Thanks, Ernie.  This forum is a wonderful resource.

 

-Bob

[Guest Kevin Pilla]

I have a similar situation where a motion to fund a youth trip was made and seconded correctly. However, after debate on the motion they moved to a vote and the motion was passed unanimously. After the meeting it was pointed out by a member that was not present for the vote that this was an "illegal" vote because it was in excess of the amount our bylaws allow to be voted on without carrying the motion to the next monthly meeting. This was correct. We are having a difficult time figuring out what the status of that motion is since the vote was invalid. Please assist!!! If you can direct me to a source as a point of reference I would greatly appreciate it.

[Hieu H. Huynh]

I have a similar situation where a motion to fund a youth trip was made and seconded correctly. However, after debate on the motion they moved to a vote and the motion was passed unanimously. After the meeting it was pointed out by a member that was not present for the vote that this was an "illegal" vote because it was in excess of the amount our bylaws allow to be voted on without carrying the motion to the next monthly meeting. This was correct. We are having a difficult time figuring out what the status of that motion is since the vote was invalid. Please assist!!! If you can direct me to a source as a point of reference I would greatly appreciate it.

 

A new topic on this question was started here.