Previous question

[Fennis1963]

If a motion is made and seconded via email, can the previous question be called before any discussion has begun.

[J. J.]

21 minutes ago, Glenn R Hoffman said:

If a motion is made and seconded via email, can the previous question be called before any discussion has begun.

You would have to draft your own rules on e-mail voting. 

[Atul Kapur]

RONR does not recommend that you try to conduct the deliberative process in writing as this does not constitute a deliberative assembly because there is not the opportunity for simultaneous oral communication (RONR 11th ed., p. 98, lines 1-19).

For conference calls or video conferencing, "Various additional rules ... may also be necessary or advisable regarding the conduct of electronic meetings," (p. 99, lines 6-10) and it is up to your organization to draft and adopt those rules.

In an in-person meeting, the person who wishes to move the Previous Question would have to get recognized by the chair. However, the mover of the original motion has preference in recognition so, normally, there would be debate by at least the mover before the other person could get the floor to move the previous question.

 

Edited April 11, 2020 at 05:11 PM by Atul Kapur

[Fennis1963]

32 minutes ago, Atul Kapur said:

RONR does not recommend that you try to conduct the deliberative process in writing as this does not constitute a deliberative assembly because there is not the opportunity for simultaneous oral communication (RONR 11th ed., p. 98, lines 1-19).

For conference calls or video conferencing, "Various additional rules ... may also be necessary or advisable regarding the conduct of electronic meetings," (p. 99, lines 6-10) and it is up to your organization to draft and adopt those rules.

In an in-person meeting, the person who wishes to move the Previous Question would have to get recognized by the chair. However, the mover of the original motion has preference in recognition so, normally, there would be debate by at least the mover before the other person could get the floor to move the previous question.

 

So, Unless there are already established rules regarding email voting, the previous question can be called with no discussion?

[Fennis1963]

So, Unless there are already established rules regarding email voting, the previous question can be called with no discussion?

[J. J.]

2 minutes ago, Glenn R Hoffman said:

So, Unless there are already established rules regarding email voting, the previous question can be called with no discussion?

That  will be up to your assembly to decide.  Note that the motion Previous Question requires a second an a 2/3 vote.

[Greg Goodwiller, PRP]

What the 11th Edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR) says about email voting is on pages 424-5. It is essentially a particular kind of voting by mail - which must be authorized in an assembly's bylaws (although some states have a statute that mandates it). 

When authorized in the bylaws, such voting is generally not for the purpose of holding a meeting where motions can be made and/or debated - because email is simply a voting method, not a form of a meeting (or "deliberative assembly," as my colleague noted). Such a provision in bylaws or statutes is often titled "Action Between Meetings," and the provision generally includes a statement about how the action will be recorded (such as, that it will be reported by the Secretary at the next regular meeting and entered into the minutes as an action taken between meetings).

In any such scenario, no motion for the previous question could be made, because the setting is only a vote, not a meeting, and no discussion is allowed anyway.

[Atul Kapur]

50 minutes ago, Glenn R Hoffman said:

So, Unless there are already established rules regarding email voting, the previous question can be called with no discussion?

No. Unless there are already established rules authorizing email voting, then you can't do it at all.

If you have rules authorizing it, then your group has to figure it out for yourself. It would have been better, as noted by others, for this to have been done beforehand. Since that wasn't done, I explained what would happen in an in-person meeting; you can decide if that is a helpful analogy that helps your group decide how to proceed.

[Josh Martin]

20 hours ago, Fennis1963 said:

If a motion is made and seconded via email, can the previous question be called before any discussion has begun.

I would note that in an ordinary meeting, the Previous Question could theoretically be called before any discussion has begun, although this could be done only if the motion maker is the one who is making the motion for the Previous Question, or if the motion maker otherwise does not wish to speak to his motion. The motion maker has preference in recognition over other members, and recognition is required to move the Previous Question. How this would apply to an email discussion is not entirely clear to me, but it's something to work with.

Making motions and voting by email is not permitted at all unless it is authorized in the organization's bylaws. So if the organization has not authorized this in its bylaws, that makes the question regarding the previous question moot.

If the organization does adopt rules authorizing conducting business in this manner (which RONR strongly recommends against), the group should also adopt rules defining how this works, since RONR has no idea. Such rules should address this question (and many others). If the organization has failed to adopt rules clarifying this matter, the organization will have to interpret whatever rules it does have on the subject, unless and until the organization actually adopts rules on this subject.

"A deliberative assembly—the kind of gathering to which parliamentary law is generally understood to apply—has the following distinguishing characteristics:

...

The group meets in a single room or area or under equivalent conditions of opportunity for simultaneous aural communication among all participants." (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 1)

"A group that attempts to conduct the deliberative process in writing—such as by postal mail, electronic mail (e-mail), or facsimile transmission (fax)—does not constitute a deliberative assembly. When making decisions by such means, many situations unprecedented in parliamentary law will arise, and many of its rules and customs will not be applicable (see also pp. 97–99)." (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 1, footnote)

"Except as authorized in the bylaws, the business of an organization or board can be validly transacted only at a regular or properly called meeting—that is, as defined on pages 81–82, a single official gathering in one room or area—of the assembly of its members at which a quorum is present." (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 97)

"Various provisions for electronic meetings are possible, so that more than the minimum standard of an audioconference may be required. Thus, if the bylaws provide for meeting by videoconference (but not merely by "teleconference" or "audioconference"), the meeting must be conducted by a technology that allows all participating members to see each other, as well as to hear each other, at the same time. Provision may also be made for the use of additional collaborative technology to aid in the conduct of a meeting.

It is important to understand that, regardless of the technology used, the opportunity for simultaneous aural communication is essential to the deliberative character of the meeting. Therefore, a group that attempts to conduct the deliberative process in writing (such as by postal mail, e-mail, "chat rooms," or fax)—which is not recommended—does not constitute a deliberative assembly. Any such effort may achieve a consultative character, but it is foreign to the deliberative process as understood under parliamentary law." (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 98)

Edited April 12, 2020 at 12:52 PM by Josh Martin

[Gary Novosielski]

9 hours ago, Fennis1963 said:

If a motion is made and seconded via email, can the previous question be called before any discussion has begun.

If the rules in RONR apply, motions can neither be made nor seconded via email, since e-mails do not constitute a deliberative assembly.

However, in general, there is no rule against moving the Previous Question before discussion has begun.  But since the mover has priority in claiming the floor after the motion is stated, someone else would at least have to wait to seek recognition until after the mover finishes.  Of course it is also possible that the mover could move the Previous Question.