Voting at a Board Meeting

[Guest Jim]

When a motion is made by a member of a seven person committee, where the simple majority is 4, do all seven members have to vote or is 4 in favor enough?

[Josh Martin]

On 9/28/2023 at 8:36 AM, Guest Jim said:

When a motion is made by a member of a seven person committee, where the simple majority is 4, do all seven members have to vote or is 4 in favor enough?

Generally, a majority vote is sufficient for adoption.

[Weldon Merritt]

On 9/28/2023 at 7:38 AM, Josh Martin said:

Generally, a majority vote is sufficient for adoption.

i agree. And in fact, you don't necessarily need four in favor. All you need is more in favor than against. So. for example, if only three vote, two in favor and one opposed still adopts the motion. Assuming, of course, that a quorum is present and that the usual majority vote requirement applies (i.e., there is no rule requiring a majority of the entire membership or a majority of those present).

[Gary Novosielski]

On 9/28/2023 at 9:36 AM, Guest Jim said:

When a motion is made by a member of a seven person committee, where the simple majority is 4, do all seven members have to vote or is 4 in favor enough?

Well, the title says board, and the question says committee, but I think the answer will be the same for either one.

One vote in favor is enough, if nobody else votes.

Unless the vote requirement is conditioned in some non-standard way, a majority vote is sufficient to adopt an ordinary main motion.  A majority vote, more specifically means a majority of those present and voting.  Which means more than half of the votes cast must be in favor.  If there are more Yes votes than No votes, then this threshold is met.  So one vote in favor and none opposed is a majority.   

In the case where everyone is present and does vote, a 4-3 vote is the minimum required.  But 3-2, 2-1, and 1-0 are also acceptable.  People who abstain, or doze off, or go to the powder room are not voters, and don't affect the outcome.

You say a "simple majority" is 4.  I think you might mean that the quorum is four.  That just means there must be at least four members present, but they don't all have to be voting.  

Edited September 28, 2023 at 08:33 PM by Gary Novosielski