Abstaining from voting with majority vote

[Guest Heather]

If our board has a quorum of 3 members and 2 vote in favor and 1 abstains, does the motion pass since there would be at least 2/3 majority regardless of what the abstaining person's vote would have been or does it not because only 2 of the 3 in the quorum voted?

[Rob Elsman]

See FAQ #6 at the official Robert's Rules of Order website, www.robertsrules.com.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 9/15/2023 at 2:55 PM, Guest Heather said:

If our board has a quorum of 3 members and 2 vote in favor and 1 abstains, does the motion pass since there would be at least 2/3 majority regardless of what the abstaining person's vote would have been or does it not because only 2 of the 3 in the quorum voted?

The number of members that constitutes a quorum must only be present.  Whether they vote or not makes no difference, as long as they are in the meeting room.  As long as a quorum is present, business may be conducted.

And if there is a vote, and two members vote in favor and everyone else abstains from voting, then the motion passes, no matter how may are present--again, just as long as there is a quorum. 

In fact one could say that it passed unanimously, since there were no dissenting votes.  

Abstentions are not votes, and should neither be called for nor counted, as they are simply an act of non-voting, and have no effect on the outcome of either of the standard votes described in RONR, i.e., a majority, or a two-thirds vote.