Is it wrong to say “the Board voted to approve the motion” as part of the minutes?

[Koleen]

Good afternoon - thank you in advance for your assistance.

I am doing research for my supervisor re: whether adding the above verbiage is necessary to show a motion has passed. From quick research in RONR 12th ED., I see nothing pertaining to specifically adding into the minutes that the motion passed. I did see in 4.41 that "A majority vote in the affirmative adopts any motion..." but I don't see anything in Section 48 regarding specifying in the minutes that a motion has passed. 

Thanks for your help!

Koleen

[Atul Kapur]

Did you look at 48:4(6b) regarding the disposition of the motion?

You don't need to use that specific wording, but have you ever seen minutes that just record a motion but don't record its fate?

[Guest Zev]

I do not understand why you say that section 48 is silent on this matter. In 48:8 "Form of the Minutes" it says on the second paragraph

Quote

The question put by the chair "that the bill be paid" was adopted.

On the third paragraph it says

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 The motion was adopted after debate.

Turning the page to page 450 2nd paragraph.

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The special committee that was appointed to investigate and report on suitable parking facilities near the Society's building reported, through its chairman, Mrs. Smith, a resolution, which, after debate and amendment, was adopted as follows:...

On the fifth paragraph on the same page 450

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... After amendment and further debate, the resolution was adopted as follows: ...

My answer is yes. Every motion that is made the minutes must indicate its disposition: withdrawn by the mover, postponed indefinitely, adopted, rejected, referred to a committee, or postponed to a future meeting.

[Josh Martin]

11 hours ago, Koleen said:

I am doing research for my supervisor re: whether adding the above verbiage is necessary to show a motion has passed. From quick research in RONR 12th ED., I see nothing pertaining to specifically adding into the minutes that the motion passed. I did see in 4.41 that "A majority vote in the affirmative adopts any motion..." but I don't see anything in Section 48 regarding specifying in the minutes that a motion has passed. 

The wording can be shortened a bit to simply say "The motion was adopted," but yes, it is required to specify the disposition of a motion. This information is necessary for the minutes to provide a complete picture of what happened. Without this information, it would not be clear whether the motion was adopted or defeated.

[Koleen]

In our minutes we say, for example, "It was MSC (Jones/Anderson) to approve the June 1, 2021 meeting minutes." So we have the moved/second/carried in there. Is there a reason why we need to further state that the motion was adopted? 

[Joshua Katz]

The form in RONR is "Mr. Jones moved to approve the June 1, 2021 minutes. After discussion, the motion was adopted." (Note: this is not a great example because there is no need for such a motion, and there should not be a vote on it. Rather, the chair should simply state that the minutes are approved once there are no further corrections.) It seems your form carries the same information, with a couple differences. First, there is no need to say the motion was seconded. If it was debated, then either it was seconded, or the lack of a second is now immaterial anyway. Second, the name of the seconder should not be included. 

But, so far as carried is concerned, if you say up front that the motion carried, I see no need to say it again later. But I would suggest simply following the RONR form in any event.

[Atul Kapur]

If you look at 4:49(a) you will see that "adopted," "agreed to," and "carried" are all synonymous.

As I said earlier, you don't need to use the specific wording that is the title of this thread. To which I add that you don't need to be repetitive, either.

[Koleen]

Thank you Joshua. Yes, minutes were a bad example. Let's try, "Mr. Jones moved to approve the 2021 Audit. After discussion, the motion was adopted."

[Richard Brown]

22 hours ago, Koleen said:

In our minutes we say, for example, "It was MSC (Jones/Anderson) to approve the June 1, 2021 meeting minutes." So we have the moved/second/carried in there. Is there a reason why we need to further state that the motion was adopted? 

I had absolutely no idea what “MSC” means until you explained it. In my opinion the minutes  should state affirmatively that “the motion was adopted” or words to that effect, not simply the letters “MSC”.   But, they are your minutes and you can do them any way  the organization wants them done.