Point of Order

[Anonymous]

2 minutes ago, Atul Kapur said:

Now I'm confused again. Let me be very specific.

What month was the general student body meeting where the election occurred?

What month was the general student body meeting where the motion to Reconsider was made?

Was there another regular meeting of the general student body after the one where the motion to Reconsider was made? If so, what month was that meeting held? If not, what month was it scheduled to be held?

Okay so the election and the motion to reconsider was held in February. Another meeting was held on March 5.

[Atul Kapur]

If the March 5 meeting was a regular meeting, the suspending effect of the (improper) motion to Reconsider ended when the March 5 meeting adjourned (RONR 11th ed., p. 321, lines 15-19).

If the second election happened after that, then the error of the second election can be corrected at a board meeting, as we've discussed earlier.

[Anonymous]

4 minutes ago, Atul Kapur said:

If the March 5 meeting was a regular meeting, the suspending effect of the (improper) motion to Reconsider ended when the March 5 meeting adjourned (RONR 11th ed., p. 321, lines 15-19).

If the second election happened after that, then the error of the second election can be corrected at a board meeting, as we've discussed earlier.

Hey sorry, I don’t have access to the 11th edition at the moment. Would you mind posting the quote with that citation? But this is interesting....so are you saying that the motion would have had to been addressed directly after, or else it was void?

[Atul Kapur]

The logic thread is as follows:

Motion to Reconsider "suspends" the action that is to be reconsidered: the election of the president. Even if the motion was improper to begin with and should have been ruled out of order at the time (because the election was final and took effect), because no Point of Order was made in a timely manner, the election result is suspended
(there may be some on this forum who will argue this point, I'm accepting it for the purpose of this discussion).

There are limits on how long the suspension can last. In this case, it lasts until the next regular meeting is adjourned. The next regular meeting was March 5. When that meeting adjourned, unless the motion to Reconsider had been dealt with and was adopted, the suspension ended and the election was final.

If the board conducted the second election after that, then it was an error and, importantly, one that created a continuing breach (electing someone to a position that was already filled). Therefore, at the next meeting of the executive board, and board member can raise a Point of Order that the second election was improper, that it is null and void, and that the results of the first election stand.

Edited April 30, 2020 at 11:25 PM by Atul Kapur

[Anonymous]

Ah okay, thank you, that was helpful! 

1 hour ago, Atul Kapur said:

The logic thread is as follows:

Motion to Reconsider "suspends" the action that is to be reconsidered: the election of the president. Even if the motion was improper to begin with and should have been ruled out of order at the time (because the election was final and took effect), because no Point of Order was made in a timely manner, the election result is suspended
(there may be some on this forum who will argue this point, I'm accepting it for the purpose of this discussion).

There are limits on how long the suspension can last. In this case, it lasts until the next regular meeting is adjourned. The next regular meeting was March 5. When that meeting adjourned, unless the motion to Reconsider had been dealt with and was adopted, the suspension ended and the election was final.

If the board conducted the second election after that, then it was an error and, importantly, one that created a continuing breach (electing someone to a position that was already filled). Therefore, at the next meeting of the executive board, and board member can raise a Point of Order that the second election was improper, that it is null and void, and that the results of the first election stand.