Amending the minutes

[Drake Savory]

A motion to approve the minutes is not out of order.  Suppose there is a change that needs to be made yet the motion to approve the minutes is on the floor.  It seems like you would have to Amend the motion to adopt to amend the minutes but for the life of me, I just can't think of what that amendment would look like.  If the motion is "I move to approve the minutes" would the amendment be something like:

I move to amend the motion to add at the end "with striking out Tom Landers and inserting Sonja Henie."

[Dan Honemann]

On 10/1/2023 at 9:37 AM, Drake Savory said:

A motion to approve the minutes is not out of order.  Suppose there is a change that needs to be made yet the motion to approve the minutes is on the floor.  It seems like you would have to Amend the motion to adopt to amend the minutes but for the life of me, I just can't think of what that amendment would look like.  If the motion is "I move to approve the minutes" would the amendment be something like:

I move to amend the motion to add at the end "with striking out Tom Landers and inserting Sonja Henie."

It is the minutes themselves that are amended.

 "41:10    A formal motion to approve the minutes is not necessary, although such a motion is not out of order. After the minutes have been read (or after their reading has been omitted by unanimous consent as described in the previous paragraph), and whether or not a motion for approval has been offered, the chair asks, “Are there any corrections to the minutes?” and pauses. Corrections, when proposed, are usually handled by unanimous consent (4:58–63), but if any member objects to a proposed correction—which is, in effect, a subsidiary motion to Amend—the usual rules governing consideration of amendments to a main motion are applicable (see 12)."  (Emphasis supplied.)

[Gary Novosielski]

On 10/1/2023 at 9:37 AM, Drake Savory said:

A motion to approve the minutes is not out of order.  Suppose there is a change that needs to be made yet the motion to approve the minutes is on the floor.  It seems like you would have to Amend the motion to adopt to amend the minutes but for the life of me, I just can't think of what that amendment would look like.  If the motion is "I move to approve the minutes" would the amendment be something like:

I move to amend the motion to add at the end "with striking out Tom Landers and inserting Sonja Henie."

A motion to approve is not out of order but, if made, it amounts to little more than a request to proceed to that item of business.  The actual approval is handled in the usual way, and amendments are offered in the form of "corrections" to the minutes.

The actual motion to approve, even if made, is never actually voted on, since rejection of the approval is not an option.  The only way to object to approval of the draft minutes as read is to offer a correction.

Edited October 1, 2023 at 03:25 PM by Gary Novosielski