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quorum to "have " the mtg or vote


Guest Cindy

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Hello - do you need a quorum just to call the mtg to order or for every vote? We have 10 people who vote on the board. Our bylaws define quorum as a simple majority of the voting members of the BOD (so 6). We have 6 as the mtg is called to order, but during the mtg, 1 person leaves. Can votes still be cast on items with only 5 present? Thank you

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1 minute ago, Guest Cindy said:

We have 6 as the mtg is called to order, but during the mtg, 1 person leaves. Can votes still be cast on items with only 5 present? Thank you

No. Unless you have a superior rule or state law to the contrary, once you lose a quorum you cannot conduct any substitutive business. These the only four things you can legitimately do in the absence of a quorum:

1. Adjourn

2. Recess, to wait for additional members to arrive or to contact absent members.

3. Take action to obtain a quorum, such as calling absent members.

4. Set an adjourned meeting, such as adopting a motion  to meet again tomorrow night at the same time and place.

 

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1 hour ago, Richard Brown said:

No. Unless you have a superior rule or state law to the contrary, once you lose a quorum you cannot conduct any substitutive business.

And you can't conduct any substantive business, either. 😉

Edited by Atul Kapur
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20 hours ago, Guest Cindy said:

Hello - do you need a quorum just to call the mtg to order or for every vote? We have 10 people who vote on the board. Our bylaws define quorum as a simple majority of the voting members of the BOD (so 6). We have 6 as the mtg is called to order, but during the mtg, 1 person leaves. Can votes still be cast on items with only 5 present? Thank you

Normally you wait for a quorum before starting the meeting, but if it's obvious you're not going to get a quorum, and your rules require, say, monthly meetings, you can obey the rule by calling the meeting to order with less than a quorum, but you can then only do the things noted in Richard Brown's post above, such as adjourn.

And if a quorum is lost during a meeting, you would not need to stop a person who was debating an already pending motion, but it is the chair's (and for that matter, all members') duty to be certain not to hold a vote or introduce any new business (except as noted above) when a quorum is not present.

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