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Unapproved Minutes


Guest karen

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The Board voted to approve a measure (the vote was 3 for, 2 against). Within 24 hours, one member retracted his vote by email. The Secretary recorded the minutes for the meeting as the motion having passed. The members of the Board who voted against the measure and the member that retracted his vote will not approve the minutes. The Secretary's position is that minutes are a record of what happened at the meeting. The retraction was not a part of the meeting. How show we proceed with this. Thank You!

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The Secretary is absolutely correct, the minutes are a record of what was done at the meeting. On the other point, under RONR a member cannot change a vote after the result has been announced. Your rules may vary, of course, but RONR cannot help you [or your Secretary] if you allow e-mail changes to in-person votes hours or days later.

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The Secretary is absolutely correct, the minutes are a record of what was done at the meeting. On the other point, under RONR a member cannot change a vote after the result has been announced. Your rules may vary, of course, but RONR cannot help you [or your Secretary] if you allow e-mail changes to in-person votes hours or days later.

To be precise, a vote can be changed after the result has been announced by the chair, but the request requires unanimous consent and is undebatable. See RONR (10th ed.), p. 46, ll. 9-13; p. 395, ll. 9-12.

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The Board voted to approve a measure (the vote was 3 for, 2 against). Within 24 hours, one member retracted his vote by email.

Robert's Rules doesn't allow that.

The Secretary recorded the minutes for the meeting as the motion having passed.

That's proper (provided the motion requires a majority vote and wasn't without any necessary notice).

The members of the Board who voted against the measure and the member that retracted his vote will not approve the minutes.

Approving the minutes is not their job. The minutes are declared "approved" by the chair, when no further corrections are offered. See RONR(10th ed.), p. 343, l. 10 - 35.

When a member offers a correction, the assembly decides if it is made.

The Secretary's position is that minutes are a record of what happened at the meeting.

That's RONR's position as well. See p. 451, l. 25-28.

The retraction was not a part of the meeting.

That's why it didn't happen. RONR doesn't allow for changing a vote outside of a meeting.

How show we proceed with this. Thank You!

Well, this isn't a problem with the minutes. The minutes have to reflect what was done at the meeting. So, that is cut and dry.

This situation seems to be about the member wanting to change the effect of the motion. This can be done by Rescinding the motion, provided that it didn't cause something to be done that cannot be undone. See RONR(10th ed.) p. 293 - 299.

This situation illustrates why it's important for the minutes to be approved. It allows the members to know exactly where a motion stands, by stating where the assembly thinks it stands.

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To be precise, a vote can be changed after the result has been announced by the chair, but the request requires unanimous consent and is undebatable. See RONR (10th ed.), p. 46, ll. 9-13; p. 395, ll. 9-12.

Yes, but there's a very narrow window in which to do so. After the next item of business has been stated by the chair, it's too late for a member to change his vote, even by unanimous consent. (Official Interpretation 2006-21) Since the original poster said that the member retracted his vote "within 24 hours by e-mail," I suspect it was after the meeting adjourned. Thus, it was much too late for the member to change (or retract) his vote, unless the assembly has some customized rules in its Bylaws.

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Yes, but there's a very narrow window in which to do so. After the next item of business has been stated by the chair, it's too late for a member to change his vote, even by unanimous consent. (Official Interpretation 2006-21) Since the original poster said that the member retracted his vote "within 24 hours by e-mail," I suspect it was after the meeting adjourned. Thus, it was much too late for the member to change (or retract) his vote, unless the assembly has some customized rules in its Bylaws.

Amen.

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