Bylaw Amendments - Voting starts 2 days from now.

[Deb Parm]

A bylaw amendment packet has been sent to all our members for a voting starting in 2 days. One of the items is turning out to be very controversial. Can we pull that one item from the vote at this time?

[puzzling]

What do your bylaws say about amending them? 

But also why bother? If it is controversial I would imagine that 1 in 3 would vote against and then it is not adopted in the first place

[Josh Martin]

On 7/13/2023 at 2:09 PM, Deb Parm said:

A bylaw amendment packet has been sent to all our members for a voting starting in 2 days. One of the items is turning out to be very controversial. Can we pull that one item from the vote at this time?

I'm somewhat unclear on what is meant by "pulling" this amendment, but the answer is "yes" in either event.

If you mean that these bylaws amendments are being presented as a single package of amendments, to be voted on all together, yes, a member may indeed pull a particular amendment for separate consideration.

If what you mean is that the assembly wishes to delay consideration of this amendment in some manner, yes, the assembly may postpone the amendment to the next meeting (if within a quarterly interval) or refer it to a committee.

On 7/13/2023 at 11:15 PM, puzzling said:

But also why bother? If it is controversial I would imagine that 1 in 3 would vote against and then it is not adopted in the first place

I think it may be the case here, given the reference to the "amendment packet," that the intent is to adopt all of these amendments together, by a single vote. In such a case, it may well be desirable to "pull" the controversial amendment for a separate vote, in order to not jeopardize the adoption of the other amendments.

It may also be that, notwithstanding the controversial nature of the amendments, members still see value in the amendment, and wish to postpone it or refer it to a committee for further study. Perhaps a new, revised amendment which is more palatable to members could be developed.

[Gary Novosielski]

It sounded to me like the intent was to "pull" it from being considered at all.

But I wonder why the fact that it is controversial would make that much of a difference.  If it's too controversial it simply won't be adopted, and if not, it will.  There's a lot of truth in what actually happens.

But if the intent was simply to consider it separately, then I concur with Mr. Martin's advice.

[puzzling]

To me it also sounded like the members would be given a list of amendments and they could vote for or against each amendment. (Instead of voting on them with one vote)

I would like to see the bylaws on how this whole procedure is mend to  work,  before advising to change some part of it.

[Josh Martin]

On 7/13/2023 at 2:09 PM, Deb Parm said:

A bylaw amendment packet has been sent to all our members for a voting starting in 2 days. One of the items is turning out to be very controversial. Can we pull that one item from the vote at this time?

I realize at this point I perhaps should have asked who "we" is referring to in this sentence.

[puzzling]

On 7/15/2023 at 12:21 PM, Josh Martin said:

I realize at this point I perhaps should have asked who "we" is referring to in this sentence.

And it the "we" is permitted to change  a "bylaws amendment package"

[Atul Kapur]

The wording of the OP

On 7/13/2023 at 3:09 PM, Deb Parm said:

voting starting in 2 days.

makes me think that they are doing the voting outside of a meeting, either online or by mail. If so, and as RONR only allows for voting at meetings, then @Deb Parm will need to consult the organization's own rules.

And I agree with others that the defeat of a bylaws amendment is not, itself, a problem.