Tie Vote

[Guest Rhonda Friemoth]

We currently have 6 board members (one recently resigned).

What do we do in the event of a tie vote?

[puzzling]

plain and simple 

The vote on the motion is lost. so the motion is not adopted

[Weldon Merritt]

Or, if it's in an election, you vote again, as often as necessary, until one candidate gets a majority.

[Richard Brown]

On 10/17/2022 at 2:15 PM, Guest Rhonda Friemoth said:

We currently have 6 board members (one recently resigned).

What do we do in the event of a tie vote?

Agreeing with puzzling and Mr. Merritt, a motion fails on a tie vote. A majority vote is required to adopt a motion and a tie vote is not a majority so the motion fails just as much as if the vote has been one yes vote and five no votes. The motion is not left hanging in limbo: it failed to pass.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 10/17/2022 at 3:15 PM, Guest Rhonda Friemoth said:

We currently have 6 board members (one recently resigned).

What do we do in the event of a tie vote?

To be adopted, a main motion requires a majority vote, i.e. more Yes votes than No votes.

In the event of a tie vote, the above requirement is not met.

Therefore, the motion is not adopted.  The result is the same as if everyone voted against it.

[Alicia Percell, PRP]

Piling on just to give a citation.  Please see RONR (12th ed.) 44:1 for more details, but it includes that:

"The word majority means 'more than half';"

When it says "more than" half, it means that exactly equal to half is not sufficient to meet the standard for a majority vote.  It needs "more" than that.  Any amount more will suffice, even if it's a tiny fraction over half, but then with only 6 people you're not dealing with tiny fractions.  If 6 people cast either a yes or a no vote, then you need at least 4 voting yes to meet the majority requirement.