Moving a Motion

[Guest Guest]

If quorum does not include the Vice President, is the Vice President able to make a motion?

[Richard Brown]

41 minutes ago, Guest Guest said:

If quorum does not include the Vice President, is the Vice President able to make a motion?

We need a bit more information. For openers, how about answering these two questions: first, is the president a member of the body that is meeting? Second, why does he not count toward the quorum? 

Edited March 20, 2021 at 01:23 AM by Richard Brown
Typographical correction

[Rob Elsman]

I think the poster is talking about the vice president, not the president.

I do not understand why the vice president is not counted toward the quorum.  Is he not a member of the assembly?

[Richard Brown]

1 hour ago, Rob Elsman said:

I think the poster is talking about the vice president, not the president.

Good catch!  Thank you.  I meant the vice-president.  And like you, I wonder why he is not counted toward the quorum if he is a member of the assembly (or the body which is meeting.... it could be a committee).

[Guest Guest]

In our Bylaws, neither the president or vice president are counted towards quorum in a meeting.  We are not a committee.  The president may vote to break a tie and if the president is absent, the vice president may vote to break a tie.  With that said, it seems that the vice-president wouldn't even be able to vote then because they are likely chairing the meeting in the absence of the president.  Regardless, does this mean that the vice-president is not able to make motions during meetings if they are not counted towards quorum?

[Guest Guest]

I apologize, it looks like my previous post does not appear here. 

In our Bylaws, the president and vice-president do not count towards quorum.  Both the president and vice-president are present at these meetings.  The president may vote in the event of a tie and the vice-president may vote to break a tie if they are chairing in the absence of the president.  Does this mean that the vice-president also cannot move a motion or 2nd a motion because they are a non-voting member?

[Rob Elsman]

It is a sure bet that the vice president should not make motions like other members when he is the temporarily occupant of the chair.  Beyond that, I do not think anyone on this forum will be able to give you a definitive answer; the society itself is the dispositive interpreter of its (unusual) bylaws.  The society, in its sublime wisdom, has modified the common parliamentary law in some ways, so it will for the society itself to determine whether the vice president can make motions like other members when he is not in the chair.

[Richard Brown]

9 hours ago, Guest Guest said:

In our Bylaws, the president and vice-president do not count towards quorum.  Both the president and vice-president are present at these meetings. 

Please quote the precise language from your bylaws that states the president and vice president do not count towards the quorum.

The ultimate answer probably depends on what is in your bylaws, but regardless of whether the vice president counts for quorum purposes, if he is a member and is present at a meeting he would normally have all of the rights of any other member, including the right to make the motions, to speak in debate, and to vote.
 

The fact that you say he does not count for quorum purposes pursuant to your bylaws is quite an oddity. I think all of us would like to know exactly what that language is. There are many situations in which a member does not count for quorum purposes but still has all of the enumerated rights to make motions, speak in debate, and to vote.   The devil is in the details and I think we need to know those details.

[Bruce Lages]

If your bylaws are ambiguous on this matter, RONR describes two specific situations that are very similar to yours, as alluded to by Mr. Brown above. The two situations are when the bylaws specify that the president shall be, ex officio, a member of all committees (47:20), and when a person who is not a member of the society is made an ex officio member of the society's board (49:8). In each of these situations, RONR makes it clear that, while the ex officio member is not obligated to attend meetings, and is not counted in determining the presence of a quorum, they retain all the rights of membership in the committee or board. These include the right to make motions and to vote.

 

[Richard Brown]

@Bruce Lagesthank you for the extended response and explanation of how members can not be counted for quorum purposes but still retain all the rights of membership. I was tied up in a project yesterday and was not able to expand on my answer to make the points that you did. Thank you. I’m hoping we get a response from the original poster because I suspect the situation may be along the lines that you described. We really need more information from the original poster.  I am indeed curious!