Seconder for motion

[Guest Mandy Fisher]

Greetings. When there are three individuals who have brought a motion forward, can one of these individuals move the motion and another of them second it, or does a member of the assembly not affiliated with the motion have to second it?

[Gary Novosielski]

One person (at most) can make a motion, no matter how many others support it.

A motion can be seconded by any member, who may or may not support the proposal, but is presumably in favor of it being discussed.

In RONR there is no such thing as being "affiliated" with a motion, and the whole purpose of debate is to change the minds of those who don't agree, so any affiliation with a motion is presumed to be temporary at best.

[Atul Kapur]

On 11/24/2023 at 6:48 PM, Guest Mandy Fisher said:

Greetings. When there are three individuals who have brought a motion forward, can one of these individuals move the motion and another of them second it, or does a member of the assembly not affiliated with the motion have to second it?

The purpose of a second is to prevent the assembly's time from being wasted on a motion that only one person wishes to be considered. That threshold is met, here, so definitely one of the three can move and another one can second.

Specifically, RONR (12th ed.) 4:12 says that the purpose of a second "is to prevent time from being consumed by the assembly’s having to dispose of a motion that only one person wants to see introduced."

So it is a pet peeve when it is used in a way that takes up time unnecessarily, such as by making it more cumbersome than necessary.

[Guest Mandy Fisher]

Thank you for your responses. Very helpful!!