Withdraw a motion

[Tomm]

Way crazy stuff just happened at a Board meeting. Here's how it went...

A member made the main motion

Another member made a primary amendment

Another member made a secondary amendment

The same member who made the secondary amendment amended his amendment. The Chair didn't call it Out of Order.

The Chair worked back down the ladder to the main motion when another member made a primary amendment. A vote was taken on the primary amendment and the motion passed.

After the primary amendment passed, the member who made the original main motion withdrew her motion on her own, without a vote from the assembly, and the Chair allowed that to happen.

Question:  If the main motion was allowed to be withdrawn, does that kill the entire motion or does the now approved Primary amendment become the new main motion? 

[Bruce Lages]

Well, clearly a number of things happened that were not proper procedure, but if the motion was withdrawn with the chair acknowledging the withdrawal, and no point of order raised  by anyone, the motion, together with any adhering amendments, is now dead. That same motion could be made again at the next session, but if the member who originally made the motion decided it should be withdrawn, that may not be likely.

 

[Josh Martin]

14 minutes ago, Tomm said:

Question:  If the main motion was allowed to be withdrawn, does that kill the entire motion or does the now approved Primary amendment become the new main motion? 

It would "kill" the entire motion.

Although another member could then simply make a new main motion (which happens to be the same as the previous main motion with the primary amendment incorporated). If a motion is withdrawn, the situation is as if it had never happened, so the motion may be made anew.

"The rules restricting renewal of motions do not apply to any motion that was last disposed of by being withdrawn. A motion that is withdrawn becomes as if it had never been made and can be renewed whenever it would be originally in order." RONR (12th ed.) 38:2

4 minutes ago, Bruce Lages said:

Well, clearly a number of things happened that were not proper procedure, but if the motion was withdrawn with the chair acknowledging the withdrawal, and no point of order raised  by anyone, the motion, together with any adhering amendments, is now dead. That same motion could be made again at the next session, but if the member who originally made the motion decided it should be withdrawn, that may not be likely.

It could actually be made again even at the same session.

I'm not sure it's that unlikely - the original motion maker may have requested to withdraw the motion because he strongly opposed the primary amendment. There may be (and presumably are) many members who support the main motion as amended, since there were enough supporters of the amendment to adopt it.

Edited March 30, 2021 at 03:47 PM by Josh Martin

[Rob Elsman]

The main motion and all that adheres to it is withdrawn.  Technically, it is not proper to say the main motion was "killed", since the main motion or substantially the same main motion can be renewed during the same session, which would not be possible were the motion "killed" by way of adoption of a motion to Postpone Indefinitely,

[Tomm]

So where does that leave the Primary amendment that was approved? Even though the whole procedure was incorrectly processed and the Chair allowed it to happen, is it a done-deal and the motion can actually go into effect? 

The motion was about a date to reopen amongst all this virus stuff. The main motion had one date and the primary amendment had another, which was approved. 

[George Mervosh]

Tomm, I think Messrs. Lages, Martin and Elsman have clearly indicated that nothing is pending or was formally adopted since the main motion, as amended, was withdrawn before it was voted on in its final form.

Edited March 30, 2021 at 04:58 PM by George Mervosh

[Dan Honemann]

26 minutes ago, Tomm said:

So where does that leave the Primary amendment that was approved?

Deader than a doornail.  🙂

[Richard Brown]

1 hour ago, Tomm said:

So where does that leave the Primary amendment that was approved? 

 

1 hour ago, Daniel H. Honemann said:

Deader than a doornail.  🙂

Well said! But Tomm hopefully he realizes that the motion may be made again at any time and may be made in it’s original form or in its amended form or in a form that is still different from either of the previous versions.  So, even though it is dead, it can be reincarnated. Or resuscitated and revived, with a chance of living a long life.  Or not. 🤔

[Josh Martin]

2 hours ago, Tomm said:

So where does that leave the Primary amendment that was approved?

It's withdrawn. What the primary amendment does is amend the wording of the main motion. If the main motion is withdrawn, then the main motion (as now amended) is withdrawn.

If the situation was different, and the primary amendment was still pending, it would be withdrawn too, since the amendment won't make any sense if the motion it seeks to amend is withdrawn.

As previously noted, however, a new main motion may be offered.

2 hours ago, Tomm said:

Even though the whole procedure was incorrectly processed and the Chair allowed it to happen, is it a done-deal and the motion can actually go into effect? 

I don't understand what you mean by "the motion can actually go into effect."  If the main motion is withdrawn, then nothing is going into effect. What exactly is this referring to?

In any event, it is a done deal that the motion is withdrawn. If members wanted to complain about the incorrect procedure, they should have done so at the time by raising a Point of Order, followed by an Appeal if necessary.

Edited March 30, 2021 at 06:50 PM by Josh Martin