Copyright

Copyright © 2020 by the Robert’s Rules Association

Copyright © 1970, 1981, 1990, 2000, 2011, by Henry M. Robert III,
Trustee for the Robert’s Rules Association
Copyright © 1943, 1951 by Isabel H. Robert
Copyright © 1876, 1893, 1904, 1915, 1918, 1921 by Henry M.
Robert
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Twelfth Edition Hardcover, Paperback, and Deluxe Editions:

September 2020
Published by PublicAffairs, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a
subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The PublicAffairs name and
logo is a trademark of the Hachette Book Group.

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For questions and answers and further information on parliamentary

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied

for.

ISBNs: 978-1-5417-9771-0 (hardcover); 978-1-5417-3669-6

(paperback); 978-1-5417-9805-2 (deluxe); 978-1-5417-5109-5
(ebook)

E3-20200821-JV-NF-ORI
 CONTENTS

Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
The Editions of This Manual
Cite This Book
Section and Paragraph Numbering
Abbreviations in This Book
Preface to the Twelfth Edition
Introduction
Principles Underlying Parliamentary Law

I
THE DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLY: ITS TYPES AND THEIR RULES

§1 The Deliberative Assembly

1:1 Nature of the Deliberative Assembly
1:9 Types of Deliberative Assembly
1:24 Applicability of Modified Parliamentary Rules in Small
Boards and in Committees
§2 Rules of an Assembly or Organization
2:5 Corporate Charter
2:8 Constitution; Bylaws
2:14 Rules of Order
2:23 Standing Rules
2:25 Custom
 II
THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS IN A DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLY

§3 Basic Provisions and Procedures

3:3 Minimum Composition of a Deliberative Assembly
3:9 Pattern of Formality
3:15 Call to Order; Order of Business
3:21 Means by Which Business Is Brought Before the Assembly
3:30 Obtaining and Assigning the Floor
§4 The Handling of a Motion
4:2 How a Motion Is Brought Before the Assembly
4:25 The Consideration of a Main Motion: Basic Steps
4:58 Adoption of a Motion, or Action Without a Motion, by
Unanimous Consent
4:64 Relation of Other Motions to the Main Motion

III
DESCRIPTION OF MOTIONS IN ALL CLASSIFICATIONS

§5 Basic Classifications; Order of Precedence of Motions

5:1 Classes of Motions
5:3 Secondary Motions as an Underlying Concept
§6 Description of Classes and Individual Motions
6:1 Main Motions
6:3 Subsidiary Motions
6:11 Privileged Motions
6:15 Incidental Motions
6:25 Motions That Bring a Question Again Before the Assembly
§7 Standard Descriptive Characteristics of Motions

IV
MEETING AND SESSION

§8 Meeting, Session, Recess, Adjournment

 8:1 Explanation of Terms
8:3 Interrelation of the Concepts
8:11 Significance of Session
§9 Particular Types of Business Meetings
9:1 Regular Meeting
9:13 Special Meeting
9:17 Adjourned Meeting
9:20 Annual Meeting
9:24 Executive Session
9:28 Public Session
9:30 Electronic Meetings

V
THE MAIN MOTION

§10 The Main Motion

10:2 Distinction Between Original Main and Incidental Main
Motions
10:8 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
10:9 The Framing of Main Motions
10:26 Main Motions That Are Not in Order
10:28 Treatment of Main Motions
10:37 Notes on Example Format Throughout the Book
10:38 Form and Example
10:44 Previous Notice of Motions
10:52 Motion to Adopt and Motion to Ratify

VI
SUBSIDIARY MOTIONS

§11 Postpone Indefinitely

(To drop the main motion without a direct vote on it)
11:2 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
11:3 Further Rules and Explanation
11:6 Form and Example
§12 Amend
12:7 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
12:8 Further Rules and Explanation (with Forms)
12:92 Filling Blanks
§13 Commit or Refer
13:7 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
13:8 Further Rules and Explanation
13:25 Form and Example
§14 Postpone to a Certain Time (or Definitely)
14:4 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
14:5 Further Rules and Explanation
14:20 Form and Example
§15 Limit or Extend Limits of Debate
15:5 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
15:6 Further Rules and Explanation
15:19 Form and Example
§16 Previous Question
(Immediately to close debate and the making of subsidiary
motions except the motion to Lay on the Table)
16:5 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
16:6 Further Rules and Explanation
16:20 Form and Example
§17 Lay on the Table
(To interrupt the pending business so as to permit doing
something else immediately)
17:3 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
17:4 Further Rules and Explanation
17:20 Form and Example

VII
PRIVILEGED MOTIONS
§18 Call for the Orders of the Day
(To demand to take up the proper business in order)
18:4 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
18:5 Further Rules and Explanation
18:9 Form and Example
§19 Raise a Question of Privilege
19:6 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
19:7 Further Rules and Explanation
19:11 Form and Example
§20 Recess
20:5 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
20:6 Further Rules and Explanation
20:8 Form and Example
§21 Adjourn
21:6 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
21:7 Further Rules and Explanation
21:16 Form and Example
§22 Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn
22:6 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
22:7 Further Rules and Explanation
22:12 Form and Example

VIII
INCIDENTAL MOTIONS

§23 Point of Order

23:2 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
23:3 Further Rules and Explanation
23:12 Form and Example
§24 Appeal
24:3 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
24:4 Further Rules and Explanation
24:9 Form and Example
§25 Suspend the Rules
25:2 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
25:3 Further Rules and Explanation
25:17 Form and Example
§26 Objection to the Consideration of a Question
26:2 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
26:3 Further Rules and Explanation
26:8 Form and Example
§27 Division of a Question
27:3 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
27:4 Further Rules and Explanation
27:12 Form and Example
§28 Consideration by Paragraph or Seriatim
28:2Standard Descriptive Characteristics
28:3 Further Rules and Explanation
28:10 Form and Example
§29 Division of the Assembly
29:4 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
29:5 Further Rules and Explanation
29:8 Form and Example
§30 Motions Relating to Methods of Voting and the Polls
30:3 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
30:4 Further Rules and Explanation
§31 Motions Relating to Nominations
31:2 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
31:3 Further Rules and Explanation
§32 Request to Be Excused from a Duty
32:2 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
32:3 Further Rules and Explanation
§33 Requests and Inquiries
33:2 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
 33:3 Further Rules and Explanation (with Forms)
33:3 A. Parliamentary Inquiry
33:6 B. Request for Information
33:11 C. Request for Permission (or Leave) to Withdraw or
Modify a Motion
33:20 D. Request to Read Papers
33:22 E. Request for Any Other Privilege

IX
MOTIONS THAT BRING A QUESTION AGAIN BEFORE THE
ASSEMBLY

§34 Take from the Table

34:2 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
34:3 Further Rules and Explanation
34:8 Form and Example
§35 Rescind; Amend Something Previously Adopted
35:2 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
35:3 Further Rules and Explanation
35:7 Form and Example
35:13 Rescind and Expunge from the Minutes
§36 Discharge a Committee
36:4 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
36:5 Further Rules and Explanation
36:12 Form and Example
§37 Reconsider
37:9 Standard Descriptive Characteristics
37:10 Further Rules and Explanation
37:36 Form and Example
37:46 Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes

X
RENEWAL OF MOTIONS; DILATORY AND IMPROPER MOTIONS
§38 Renewal of Motions
38:4 Nonrenewability During the Same Session, and Exceptions
38:8 Conditions That May Impede Renewal at a Later Session
§39 Dilatory and Improper Motions
39:1 Dilatory Motions
39:5 Improper Motions

XI
QUORUM; ORDER OF BUSINESS AND RELATED CONCEPTS

§40 Quorum
40:2 Rules Pertaining to the Quorum
40:11 Manner of Enforcing the Quorum Requirement
40:13 Call of the House
§41 Order of Business; Orders of the Day; Agenda or Program
41:5 Usual Order of Business in Ordinary Societies
41:37 Taking Up Business out of Its Proper Order
41:40 Orders of the Day
41:58 Agenda or Program

XII
ASSIGNMENT OF THE FLOOR; DEBATE

§42 Rules Governing Assignment of the Floor

42:2 Recognition of a Member
42:6 Assignment of the Floor When More Than One Person
Claims It
42:18 Interruption of a Member Assigned the Floor
§43 Rules Governing Debate
43:4 Summary of Procedures Incident to Debate
43:8 Length and Number of Speeches
43:14 Modification of General Limits of Debate
43:19 Decorum in Debate
43:29 Rule Against the Chair’s Participation in Debate
 43:31 Occasions Justifying Brief Discussion Outside Debate
43:35 Principles Governing the Debatability of Motions

XIII
VOTING

§44 Bases for Determining a Voting Result

44:1 Majority Vote—the Basic Requirement
44:3 Two-Thirds Vote
44:7 Modifications of Usual Bases for Decision
44:11 Plurality Vote
44:12 Tie Votes and Cases in Which the Chair’s Vote Affects the
Result
§45 Voting Procedure
45:1 Rights and Obligations in Voting
45:11 Regular Methods of Voting on Motions
45:17 Other Methods of Voting

XIV
NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

§46 Nominations and Elections

46:1 Nominations
46:30 Elections

XV
OFFICERS; MINUTES AND OFFICERS’ REPORTS

§47 Officers
47:2 Principles Applying to Holding of Office
47:5 Elected Officers
47:43 Appointed Officers or Consultants
47:57 Vacancies
§48 Minutes and Reports of Officers
 48:1 Minutes
48:17 Reports of Officers

XVI
BOARDS AND COMMITTEES

§49 Boards
49:3 The Executive Board of an Organized Society
49:8 Ex-Officio Board Members
49:11 Officers of Boards
49:12 Bodies Subordinate to a Board
49:15 Conduct of Business in Boards
§50 Committees
50:11 Appointment of Committees
50:21 Conduct of Business in Committees
§51 Reports of Boards and Committees
51:2 General Considerations Affecting Board and Committee
Reports
51:20 Board Reports
51:23 Form and Reception of Committee Reports in General
51:30 Disposition of Particular Types of Committee Reports
51:60 Oral Reports; Partial and Minority Reports
§52 Committee of the Whole and Its Alternate Forms
52:4 Committee of the Whole
52:19 Quasi Committee of the Whole (Consideration as if in
Committee of the Whole)
52:24 Informal Consideration
52:28 Aids to the Crystallization of Opinion

XVII
MASS MEETINGS; ORGANIZATION OF A PERMANENT
SOCIETY

§53 Mass Meetings

 53:1 Distinguishing Characteristics of a Mass Meeting
53:3 Organization of a Mass Meeting
53:14 Transaction of Business Specified in the Call
53:28 Adjournment
53:32 Series of Mass Meetings; Temporary Society
§54 Organization of a Permanent Society
54:2 First Organizational Meeting
54:11 Work of the Bylaws Committee
54:14 Second Organizational Meeting
§55 Merger, Consolidation, and Dissolution of Societies
55:1 Combining of Societies
55:4 Dissolution of a Society

XVIII
BYLAWS

§56 Content and Composition of Bylaws

56:1 Nature and Importance of Bylaws
56:3 Committee to Draw Up Bylaws
56:16 Content of Bylaw Articles
56:58 Sample Bylaws
56:68 Some Principles of Interpretation
§57 Amendment of Bylaws
57:2 Method of Handling Bylaw Amendments
57:10 Amending a Proposed Amendment to the Bylaws
57:14 Giving Notice of Amendments
57:15 Time at Which a Bylaw Amendment Takes Effect
57:18 Captions, Headings, and Article and Section Numbers

XIX
CONVENTIONS

§58 Conventions of Delegates

58:6 Basic Provisions in Bylaws
 58:11 Convention Members and Alternates
58:19 Caucuses
§59 Organization of a Convention of an Established Society
59:2 Advance Preparation
59:9 Services of a Parliamentarian
59:10 Formal Organization Procedure at the Convention
59:14 Credentials Committee
59:27 Committee on Standing Rules
59:48 Program Committee
59:61 Convention Arrangements Committee
59:67 Resolutions Committee
§60 Conventions Not of a Permanent Society

XX
DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES

§61 Discipline of Members and Guests

61:6 Dealing with Offenses in a Meeting
61:22 Offenses Elsewhere Than in a Meeting; Trials
§62 Removal from Office and Other Remedies for Dereliction of
Duty in Office or Misconduct
62:2 Remedies for Abuse of Authority by the Chair in a Meeting
62:16 Removal from Office
§63 Investigation and Trial
63:2 Rights of the Society and the Accused
63:7 Steps in a Fair Disciplinary Process
63:38 Committee on Discipline

CHARTS, TABLES, AND LISTS

I. Chart for Determining When Each Subsidiary or Privileged
Motion Is in Order
II. Table of Rules Relating to Motions
III. Sample Forms Used in Making Motions
IV. Motions and Parliamentary Steps
• Which Are in Order When Another Has the Floor and Do Not
Require a Second
• Which Are in Order When Another Has the Floor but Must Be
Seconded
• Which Are out of Order When Another Has the Floor but Do Not
Require a Second
V. Motions and Parliamentary Steps
• Which Are Not Debatable and Not Amendable
• Which Are Not Debatable but Are Amendable
• Which Are Not Amendable but Are Debatable
• On Which Debate Can Go into the Merits of the Main Question
or the Question Which Is the Subject of the Proposed Action
VI. Motions Which Require a Two-Thirds Vote
VII. Motions Whose Reconsideration Is Prohibited or Limited
• Cannot Be Reconsidered At All
• A Negative Vote Cannot Be Reconsidered
• An Affirmative Vote Cannot Be Reconsidered
VIII. Table of Rules for Counting Election Ballots

Discover More
APPENDIX: Sample Rules for Electronic Meetings
About the Authors
Index
Explore book giveaways, sneak peeks, deals, and more.

Tap here to learn more.

 This edition, published on the 50th anniversary of the first in the
Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised series, is dedicated to the
memory of Sarah Corbin Robert, William J. Evans, and Henry M.
Robert III, who were principally responsible for its creation.

Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his
own eyes, there is the least of real liberty.
—HENRY M. ROBERT

It is difficult to find another branch of knowledge where a small

amount of study produces such great results in increased
efficiency in a country where the people rule, as in
parliamentary law.
—HENRY M. ROBERT
See text version of this list
 CITE THIS BOOK
with section and paragraph numbers as in the following
examples:

RONR (12th ed.) 12:67

RONR (12th ed.) 12:7(1)(a)
RONR (12th ed.) 35:10–12

Footnotes may be cited as follows: RONR (12th ed.)

56:49n1

This Twelfth Edition supersedes all previous editions and is

intended automatically to become the parliamentary authority in
organizations whose bylaws prescribe “Robert’s Rules of
Order,” “Robert’s Rules of Order Revised,” “Robert’s Rules of
Order Newly Revised,” or “the current edition of” any of these
titles, or the like, without specifying a particular edition. If the
bylaws specifically identify one of the eleven previous editions
of the work as parliamentary authority, the bylaws should be
amended to prescribe “the current edition of ‘Robert’s Rules of
Order Newly Revised’” (see 56:66).
 SECTION AND PARAGRAPH NUMBERING
(13) A boldface number, usually enclosed in parentheses, refers to
an entire section (here section 13).
13:1Two numbers, separated by a colon, refer to a paragraph. The
first number indicates the section in which the paragraph is
located and the second number indicates which paragraph
within that section is referenced (here the first paragraph in
section 13).
 ABBREVIATIONS IN THIS BOOK
cf. compare to (“confer”)
e.g.for example (“exempli gratia”)
ff. and the paragraphs following the given paragraph
n The letter n following a paragraph number indicates a footnote.
Notes are numbered consecutively within each chapter.
p., page, pages
pp.
t48 A number preceded by the letter t indicates a page within the
“Charts, Tables, and Lists,” whose pages are tinted gray on the
outer edges.
Also see 10:37, “Notes on Example Format Throughout the Book.”
 PREFACE
to the Twelfth Edition

This Twelfth Edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised

(RONR) is issued one hundred forty-four years after the 1876
publication, by then-Major (later Brigadier General) Henry M. Robert,
of the first in the series of books familiarly known as “Robert’s Rules
of Order.” A complete list of the editions is shown on page vi, and
their history is told in the Introduction.
This Twelfth Edition in the entire series is the sixth edition of the
second complete reworking of the subject matter first published in
1970. It is the only book in print containing the completely developed
body of rules understood as “Robert’s Rules of Order.”
Users of this work should be aware of three important resources
that supplement RONR.
First, for some time there had been a felt tension between the
need for a parliamentary manual lengthy enough to provide rules as
comprehensive and unambiguous as possible so as to cover the
great number and variety of parliamentary issues that may arise in a
deliberative assembly, on the one hand, and the desirability of a
book simple and straightforward enough to allow the ordinary
meeting-goer easily to learn and use the basic rules that are
sufficient for most meetings, on the other hand.
When this book last underwent complete revision in 1970, a
concerted effort was made to enhance the value of the work for the
study of parliamentary law—to the extent consistent with its primary
purpose as a reference manual. For those who will brave it, it is
written to serve as a self-explanatory text that can be read through,
with topics presented in an order that will best convey an overall
understanding of the subject matter. Nevertheless, it is recognized
that this project may be a bigger challenge than many newcomers to
parliamentary procedure will find themselves at first able or willing to
take on.
In 2005, to meet the need for a simple and short book, Robert’s
Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief was first published. A new
edition of In Brief, updated and revised so as to mesh with this
Twelfth Edition, has now been published. This Twelfth Edition of
RONR, the complete rule book, now contains 633 pages of text, plus
tables and charts. All of its content has to be included because it
may be needed and has at some time come up as a question of
procedure somewhere. This book is designed as a reference
providing, as nearly as possible, an answer to any question of
parliamentary procedure that may arise.
To gain an introductory familiarity with meeting rules, however,
many people will find it useful to start with the In Brief book. In only
thirty minutes, the average reader can learn the bare essentials, and
with about ninety minutes’ reading can cover all the basics.
Additional chapters give suggestions on how most efficiently to use
this Twelfth Edition of RONR as a reference manual and guidance to
those chosen as convention delegates or alternates, or as president,
vice-president, secretary, or treasurer of an organization. Helpful
tables at the end give both the chair and the ordinary member the
proper wording to use in handling the most common motions and
conducting a meeting.
It cannot be stressed too strongly, however, that In Brief is an
introductory supplement to, not a replacement for, this book. Only
this book is comprehensive enough to be suitable for adoption as the
rule book governing an assembly, and it covers many essential
matters—from the content of bylaws to disciplinary procedures—that
are hardly touched on in the shorter work.
Second, the current edition is, for the first time, being published
as an e-book as well as in the traditional print format. Rapid search
ability and hyperlinked cross-references are particularly useful
features of the e-book. Several previous editions had been formatted
to facilitate citations to the rules in them by page and line number.
Largely motivated by an attempt to maximize the utility of the e-book,
this edition inaugurates a system of reference by paragraph number,
with consecutive numbers within each section shown in the margins.
Users are encouraged to cite rules in this edition by these numbers,
as shown in the “Cite This Book” box on page vii.
In addition, the new editions of both RONR and In Brief are again
being made available through American Legal Publishing as a PC-
based software application with powerfully sophisticated search and
browsing features as well as helpful bonus material, such as
instructions for tellers and timekeepers, sample forms, and step-by-
step explanations of secondary amendments.
Third, the Robert’s Rules Association—the organization of the
original author’s descendants that oversees the management and
regular updating of the work—sponsors a website at
www.robertsrules.com. On its “Question and Answer Forum,” one
may post queries and conduct discussion about any aspect of
parliamentary procedure.
Since the publication of the first edition of Robert’s Rules in 1876,
General Robert and, since his death, his successors have been
receiving and replying to questions of parliamentary law. As the
Introduction notes concerning the 1915 revision, “The reorganization,
expansion, and clarification represented by Robert’s Rules of Order
Revised was largely the outgrowth of hundreds of letters received by
the author over the years, submitting questions of parliamentary law
arising in organizations and not covered in the earlier editions.”
Questions asked on the Question and Answer Forum have made an
integral contribution to the authors’ continuing task of identifying
matters in need of clarification while preparing this new edition.
The website also includes “RONR Official Interpretations” on
issues of parliamentary law arising between editions that RONR’s
authors deem useful to address. These interpretations are not
technically binding on an organization that has adopted Robert’s
Rules of Order Newly Revised as its parliamentary authority, but they
are nonetheless definitive interpretations of the work by the current
authors and should therefore be treated as highly persuasive. It is
thus advisable for presiding officers, or the parliamentarians who
advise them, to consult them for guidance on matters they address.
 This Twelfth Edition of RONR clarifies, modifies, and expands
upon the rules in previous editions, as situations occurring in
assemblies point to a need for more fully developed rules to go by in
particular cases.
In this edition, a number of sections or subsections have been
substantially revised, most notably in the following respects:

1. Section 14 covering Postpone to a Certain Time, to have this

motion’s Standard Descriptive Characteristics 1 and 2 more
closely comport with the rules relating to Point of Order and
Appeal; to avoid unnecessary repetition of the rules found in
section 41 dealing with procedures to be followed when
postponed items are taken up again; and to clarify the rules
concerning the effect of postponement on motions adhering to
the motion postponed and on subsequent debate and methods
of voting.
2. Section 15 covering Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, to clarify
the varying effects that adoption of the different forms of this
motion will have on the making of subsidiary motions, and to
eliminate the distinction between motions that provide only for
closing debate and those that also specify when the vote shall
be taken.
3. Section 17 covering Lay on the Table, to rearrange these rules
into a more orderly and logical sequence.
4. Section 23 covering Point of Order, to clarify and expand upon
the rules setting forth remedies for violations that have given
rise to a continuing breach.
5. Section 34 covering Take from the Table, to clarify the rules that
impose time limits on taking questions from the table and the
rules setting forth the status of motions taken from the table.
6. Section 37 covering Reconsider, by the insertion at the
beginning of the section of a summary of the rules relating to
reconsideration of votes, followed by a substantial
 rearrangement of the order in which the rules in this section are
discussed.
7. The rules relating to the device of filling blanks (12:92–113), to
provide substantially greater guidance concerning the proper
procedure to be followed in making, debating, and voting on
suggestions.
8. The rules relating to the office of vice-president (47:23–31), for
purposes of clarification and in order to incorporate relevant
provisions previously found only scattered elsewhere throughout
the book.
9. That portion of section 48 which deals with minutes (48:1–15),
to more clearly present the various procedures for their
approval; to state how an assembly may specify the inclusion of
different information than that prescribed by this book, either for
a particular meeting or on a regular basis; to more clearly
identify those occasions when the number of votes on each side
of a question is to be recorded; to provide that the secretary
may include as an attachment committee reports that the
assembly has ordered to be entered in; and to describe how
corrections made to previously adopted minutes are recorded.

Some of the other more important points of revision include the

following:

10. Refinement of the rules governing the sending of notice (the

“call”) of regular meetings, including the conditions under which
notice is required to be sent (9:2–4).
11. Clarification of what the obligation of secrecy of an executive
session does and does not entail, and how the secrecy may be
lifted (9:26–27).
12. Clarification of the circumstances in which the assembly may
adopt an incidental main motion that conflicts with a provision of
the bylaws in the nature of a rule of order (10:26(1)n1).
 13. Clarification that the prohibition against making a motion to
Amend that raises a question already decided applies only
during the session at which the decision was made (12:13,
12:25, 12:28, 12:48, 12:63, 12:65, 12:74, 12:90).
14. Recognition of circumstances in which use of electronic devices
such as voting keypads can fulfill a requirement that voting be
by ballot (45:42).
15. New provisions regarding debate on nominations (46:27–29).
16. More detailed provisions governing the completion of an
election and its relation to filling a vacancy in office (46:44–45).
17. Clarification of procedures for making minutes of a board
available to others who are not board members (49:17–19).
18. Recognition that, when the bylaws specify the number of years
in a term of office, the actual term of office may be more or less
than a whole number of calendar years (56:27).
19. Requirement that a bylaws revision is in order only when
prepared by a committee authorized to draft it (57:5).
20. Clarification of the procedure to be followed for presentation
and adoption of convention standing rules (59:30–34).
21. Expanded explanation of the procedure for making and
enforcing points of order and appeals in the subsection
Remedies for Abuse of Authority by the Chair in a Meeting
(62:2–7).
22. Inclusion of an appendix containing sample rules for electronic
meetings.

For a more extensive list of changes in the Twelfth Edition, see

www.robertsrules.com.
The authors wish to acknowledge their indebtedness to Mark
Corsey of Eclipse Publishing Services, and for the editorial
assistance of Robert Pigeon, editor; Melissa Raymond, managing
editor; and Clive Priddle, publisher of PublicAffairs Books, a member
of the Perseus Books Group, a division of Hachette Book Group.
 Henry M. Robert III
Daniel H. Honemann
Thomas J. Balch
Daniel E. Seabold
Shmuel Gerber
 INTRODUCTION

This book embodies a codification of the present-day general

parliamentary law (omitting provisions having no application outside
legislative bodies). The book is also designed as a manual to be
adopted by organizations or assemblies as their parliamentary
authority. When the manual has been thus adopted, the rules within
it, together with any special rules of procedure that may also be
adopted, are binding upon the body and constitute that body’s rules
of order.
Parliamentary law originally was the name given to the rules and
customs for carrying on business in the English Parliament that were
developed through a continuing process of decisions and precedents
somewhat like the growth of the common law. These rules and
customs, as brought to America with the settling of the New World,
became the basic substance from which the practice of legislative
bodies in the United States evolved. Out of early American
legislative procedure and paralleling it in further development has
come the general parliamentary law, or common parliamentary law,
of today, which is adapted to the needs of organizations and
assemblies of widely differing purposes and conditions. In legislative
bodies, there is often recourse to the general parliamentary law in
situations not covered by the rules or precedents of the particular
body—although some of the necessary procedure in such a case
must be proper to that type of assembly alone.
The kind of gathering in which parliamentary law is applicable is
known as a deliberative assembly. This expression was used by
Edmund Burke to describe the English Parliament, in a speech to the
electorate at Bristol in 1774; and it became the basic term for a body
of persons meeting (under conditions detailed in 1:1) to discuss and
determine upon common action.
Acting under the general parliamentary law, any deliberative
assembly can formally adopt written rules of procedure which, as
fully explained in 2:14–22, can confirm, add to, or deviate from
parliamentary law itself. As indicated above, the term rules of order,
in its proper sense, refers to any written parliamentary rules so
adopted, whether they are contained in a manual or have been
specially composed by the adopting body. The term parliamentary
procedure, although frequently used synonymously with
parliamentary law, refers in this book to parliamentary law as it is
followed in any given assembly or organization, together with
whatever rules of order the body may have adopted.
Thomas Jefferson speaks of “the Parliamentary branch of the
law.” From this country’s beginning, it has been an underlying
assumption of our culture that what has been authoritatively
established as parliamentary law is in the nature of a body of law—in
the sense of being binding within all assemblies except as they may
adopt special rules varying from the general parliamentary law. But
since there has not always been complete agreement as to what
constitutes parliamentary law, no society or assembly should attempt
to transact business without having adopted some standard manual
on the subject as its authority in all cases not covered by its own
special rules.
 Early Origins of the English Parliament
The holding of assemblies of the elders, fighting men, or people
of a tribe, community, or city to make decisions or render opinions on
important matters is doubtless a custom older than history. The
ancient Athenian historian Thucydides (c. 460–400 B.C.), in his
History of the Peloponnesian War (between Athens and Sparta),
cites numerous cases of determinations by the peoples of cities
being decided in assembly by vote. In one passage (Book I, 86–87),
describing the assembly at Sparta in which, in the beginning, the
Peloponnesian alliance reached the decision to declare war on
Athens, he records a specific instance of what we now know as a
voice vote (referred to, however, as a decision “by acclamation”),
where the device that developed in modern parliamentary times as a
Division of the Assembly (see 29:1–8) was resorted to, in its original
form. His account of the incident reads, in part, as follows:

Sthenelaïdas, one of the ephors1 at this time, came forward last and spoke
to the Lacedaemonians in the following way:… [delivering a brief indictment
summarizing a pattern of conduct by the Athenians that, he argued,
constituted a breach of a thirty year treaty of truce which he found totally
unacceptable].
After making this sort of speech, he himself as ephor put the question to
the assembly of the Lacedaemonians. And he stated that he could not
distinguish which shout was the louder (for they decide by acclamation, not
by vote) but said, because he wanted them to become more eager for war
by revealing their opinions openly, “Lacedaemonians, those of you who
think that the treaty has been broken, and the Athenians are aggressors,
stand over there,” pointing out the place to them, “and those who do not
think so, on the other side.” They stood up and separated, and there were
many more who thought the treaty had been broken.

According to a widely held view, our own tradition of

parliamentary process may be traced to ways of life in Anglo-Saxon
tribes before their migration to the island of Britain starting in the fifth
century A.D. Among these peoples on the continent of Europe, the
tribe was the largest regularly existing political unit. From analogy
with the customs of other Germanic tribes, it is supposed that
freemen were accustomed to come together in the “Village-moot,” to
make “bye-laws” for their village and to administer justice. These
groups also chose men to represent them at the “Hundred-moot,” of
the district, which acted as a court of appeal and arbitrated
intervillage disputes. Still higher in authority, and similarly
constituted, was the “Folk-moot,” which was also the citizen army of
the tribe.
The same institutions, it is believed, were carried into Anglo-
Saxon England, where the Folk-moot became the “Shire-moot.”
There is little historical knowledge of events in the island of Britain
during the two hundred years after the first Anglo-Saxon invasions
early in the fifth century. When a picture of Anglo-Saxon England in
its formative stages does emerge, the Shire-moot—later called the
“Shire Court”—is found to be an instrument of local government
subject to crown supervision, under a king advised by a national
assembly known as the “witan,” or “witenagemot.” Originally
established in each of the separate early English kingdoms and
supposed to include all freemen who held land, the witenagemot in
the united and Christianized England normally met at the call of the
king and was composed of such major landholders, ealdormen,
king’s officers, bishops, and abbots as he might wish to summon.
Although the witenagemot was not in practice a democratic
institution, the king’s authority was held to derive from its consent,
and it might exert influence in the choice of a new king.
The Norman Conquest in 1066 brought England under tight
military control by a French-speaking administration, but the
structure of Anglo-Saxon governmental machinery was left largely
intact.
The Norman kings assembled councils composed of court
officials, barons, and prelates—of whom the number present
depended on the importance of the business to be discussed. In its
fullest form this assembly was known as the “Great Council,” and
was looked upon as constitutionally a continuation of the
witenagemot. Under the feudal system, it was the duty of each baron
to advise the king on any matter on which he might request the
baron’s opinion. The early Great Councils were feudal assemblies
summoned by the king for the purpose of obtaining such advice.
The conversion of the Great Council into what we now know as
Parliament came about during the thirteenth and early fourteenth
centuries. The word parliament was in use slightly earlier to describe
any important meeting held for the purpose of discussion. This word
was first officially applied to certain Great Councils of a particular
character in the time of Henry III (reigned 1216–1272). The
distinguishing feature of the early parliaments was the fact that the
barons of the Council were invited not only to express their opinions
individually on matters laid before them by the king, but to discuss,
with each other, the overall “state of the realm”—the business “of
king and kingdom” rather than only “the king’s business.” The
earliest parliament clearly identifiable as of this character was held in
1258.
A second important change in the English national assembly
began soon afterward with the introduction into Parliament of
representatives of the shires (knights) and of the towns or boroughs
(burgesses)—that is, taken together, representatives of the
communities, or Commons. Although a number of precedents for
such a step had been set earlier, the first national parliament in
which the Commons were included was that held by Edward I in
1275. Initially, the primary purpose in summoning the Commons was
usually to obtain their approval for measures of taxation, and they
were included in Parliament only on occasions when such support
was desired. After 1311, however, the Commons were in attendance
at every parliament. Separation of Parliament into the two branches
which later became known as the House of Lords and the House of
Commons took place by degrees and was completed shortly after
1340.
 Development of Procedure in Parliament
“The proceedings of parliament in ancient times, and for a long
while,” Thomas Jefferson wrote more than four and a half centuries
later (in the preface to his famous Manual, discussed below), “were
crude, multiform, and embarrassing. They have been however
constantly advancing towards uniformity and accuracy.…”2
Many of the advances in the parliamentary system alluded to by
Jefferson occurred from the latter part of the sixteenth century
through the seventeenth century. This was a period of prolonged
internal conflict over the prerogatives of Parliament—as opposed to
those of the king—which stimulated an increased interest in
procedure, especially in the House of Commons. During this same
time, the Journal of the House of Commons, which was first
undertaken by the clerk of the House on his own initiative in 1547,
became established as a source of precedent on matters of
procedure. The first recorded instance of such use of this Journal
was in 1580 or 1581. The Journal was given official status as a
document of the Commons about 1623.
Roughly concurrent with the initiation of the Journal of the House
of Commons was the development of a body of writing on its
procedure. The earliest formal treatment of the Commons’ procedure
in English was written between 1562 and 1566 by Sir Thomas Smyth
and was published in 1583, six years after the author’s death, as
part of a larger work, De Repvblica Anglorvm: The manner of
Gouernement or policie of the realme of England. Activity by other
authors in writing treatises on parliamentary precedents and
practices followed. In 1689, the small book Lex Parliamentaria
(London), variously attributed to George Petyt or George Philips,
listed as references thirty-five earlier parliamentary works or sources.
The book—a pocket manual prepared for the convenience of
members of Parliament—includes entries from the Journal of the
House of Commons relating to procedure, of which the following
examples illustrate the gradual evolution of parliamentary law and
are readily recognized as early wordings of present-day principles
and rules:

• One subject at a time: 1581. When a Motion has been made that
Matter must receive a Determination by the Question, or be laid
aside by the general Sense of the House, before another be
entertain’d. (Lex Parliamentaria, p. 158.)
• Alternation between opposite points of view in assignment of the
floor: 1592. It was made a Rule, That the Chairman shall ask the
Parties that would speak, on which side they would speak… and
the Party that speaketh against the last Speaker, is to be heard
first. (ibid., p. 209.)
• Requirement that the chair always call for the negative vote:
1604. [I]t is no full Question without the Negative part be put, as
well as the Affirmative. (ibid., p. 161.)
• Decorum and avoidance of personalities in debate: 1604. He that
digresseth from the Matter, to fall upon the Person, ought to be
suppressed by the Speaker.… No reviling or nipping words must
be used. (ibid., p. 157.)
• Confinement of debate to the merits of the pending question:
1610. A Member speaking, and his speech, seeming impertinent,
and there being much hissing and spitting, it was conceived for a
Rule, that Mr. Speaker may stay impertinent Speeches. (ibid., p.
156.)
• Division of a question: 1640. If a Question upon a Debate
contains more Parts than one, and Members seem to be for one
Part, and not for the other; it may be moved, that the same may
be divided into two, or more Questions: as Dec. 2, 1640, the
Debate about the Election of two Knights was divided into two
Questions. (ibid., p. 169.)
 The Parliamentary Process Brought to America
The same period when the procedure of the House of Commons
was undergoing its new development was also the time during which
permanent English colonies were established in the Western
Hemisphere, beginning with Virginia in 1607. The founding of this
colony was soon followed by the institution of the first representative
assembly in America, authorized for Virginia by the governor acting
for the London Company in 1619. This body consisted of a House of
Burgesses as an elected lower chamber and a small Governor’s
Council as an upper chamber. As additional colonies were founded,
similar assemblies were established in them, and succeeding
generations of English settlers brought along the parliamentary
processes they had known in the old country.
Into each legislature—into county, town, and parish meeting—the
colonists transplanted the rules and customs of Parliament, as far as
these rules and customs were applicable under the particular
company charter, proprietary grant, or similar instrument by which
the colony was established. This new type of self-government,
through general parliamentary principles operating under
specifications contained in a written basic document, represented a
phase in the development of parliamentary law that was peculiar to
America, since in England the Constitution was unwritten. Thus,
each colony acquired the beginning of a body of experience later to
go into the framing of individual state constitutions. The manner in
which these rules and customs were adapted to meet the situation
within each colony may account for the local variance in
parliamentary tradition which persisted among people in America
long after the founding of the United States, and that would
eventually be one of the conditions that led to the writing of Robert’s
Rules of Order.
When policies of the mother country in the 1700s had gradually
changed with the growth of the British Empire in such a way as to set
the stage for the American Revolution, representatives of the
different colonies considered common resistance to the actions of
Parliament. In these deliberations, the colonists were able to function
effectively by depending on procedures originally developed in
Parliament itself!
The First Continental Congress, convening in Philadelphia on
September 5, 1774, was made up of delegates largely unacquainted
with the representatives of colonies other than their own, and most of
the advance planning among the colonies had been by
correspondence. Thus, the accomplishments of the first two days of
the Congress are worth mentioning as an indication of the grounding
and experience of the members in parliamentary methods, and of
the thoroughness of their preparation. By September 7 the
Continental Congress had: (1) examined the credentials of, and
certified as delegates, the accredited representatives; (2) completed
its own organization by adopting four “rules of conduct to be
observed in debating and determining the questions”; and (3) made
progress toward carrying out its purposes to the extent of adopting
resolutions for the appointing of committees to study the colonies’
rights and to examine statutes affecting their trade and
manufactures.
Under existing rules and customs, the Second Continental
Congress carried on the war; it also directed the framing of, and
adopted, the Declaration of Independence. In assemblies in each
state, through similar proceedings somewhat modified by local
tradition, colonial charters were amended to conform to an
independent status, or new state constitutions were drafted. Many of
the provisions thus codified had been gradually arrived at by the
separate colonies over periods of more than a hundred years. These
state constitutions in turn—stemming from a common experience
with English law and adapting that law to the new conditions—
provided the material from which the Constitution of the United
States was produced at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, in the
face of seemingly deep and discouraging disagreements.
By the close of the eighteenth century, the stages through which
the parent English parliamentary methods had passed in America
may be summarized as follows:
• the use, within each colony, of such parliamentary rules as were
applicable under its individual charter or other authorization for
the establishment of the colony;
• the application of these same practices in intercolonial gatherings
when representatives of the colonies met to act in their common
interest; and
• the use of parliamentary procedure as an instrument for
implementing the processes of representative government under
a written constitution.
 Jefferson’s Manual
Despite this progress, the parliamentary system of the young
United States needed further codification. As presiding officer of the
Senate while serving as Vice-President of the United States (1797–
1801), Thomas Jefferson saw this need, which he described—with
respect to the situation in the Senate—in this way:
The Constitution of the United States… authorizes each branch of [the
Congress] “to determine the rules of its own proceedings.” The Senate
have accordingly formed some rules for their own government; but these
going only to few cases, they have referred to the decision of their
President, without debate and without appeal, all questions of order arising
either under their own rules or where they have provided none. This places
under the discretion of the President [of the Senate] a very extensive field
of decision… which, irregularly exercised, would have a powerful effect on
the proceedings and determinations.… The President must feel… the
necessity of recurring… to some known system of rules.… But to what
system… is he to recur, as supplementary to [the rules] of the Senate?3

Parliament, Jefferson concluded, provided the most practical

model for the Congress. It had “served as a prototype to most of” the
existing state legislatures. It was “the model which we have all
studied, while we are little acquainted with the modifications of it in
our several states.… Its rules are probably as wisely constructed for
governing the debates of a deliberative body, and obtaining its true
sense, as any which can become known to us.…”4
“Considering therefore the law of proceedings in the Senate as
composed of the precepts of the constitution, the regulations of the
Senate, and, where these are silent, of the rules of Parliament,”5
Jefferson compiled his Manual of Parliamentary Practice, published
in 1801. In it, he extensively cited about fifty English works and
documents on parliamentary law and related subjects. Among his
sources, however, Jefferson in his preface to the Manual (p. xv)
acknowledges primary indebtedness to Precedents of Proceedings
in the House of Commons by John Hatsell, who was clerk of the
House of Commons from 1768 to 1820. First published in 1781,
Hatsell’s work is today the best authority on eighteenth-century
procedure in the House of Commons.
The position of Jefferson’s Manual is unchallenged as the first to
define and interpret parliamentary principles for our democratic
republic and to offer a basic pattern of rules and a measure of
uniformity for the legislative processes of the United States. The
authority of the Manual became established through its adoption by
state legislatures and by other groups. The House of
Representatives also adopted Jefferson’s Manual; however,
differences between the House and the Senate would cause the
House to develop and become governed by a separate body of rules
and practices largely superseding Jefferson’s work.
 Cushing’s Manual
Within a few decades after Jefferson wrote his Manual, the
formation of societies of various kinds—political, cultural, scientific,
charitable, and religious—began to create an increasing need for a
body of rules adapted to the requirements of nonlegislative
organizations. It seems to have been early recognized that such
societies have a deliberative character which calls for the application
of essentially the same principles of decision as in a legislative body.
Yet certain differences in their conditions—as compared with those
of the legislative body—must be taken into account in the formulation
of any system of rules suitable for the occasional meeting or the
nonlegislative organization. For example:

• Congress and most state legislatures are composed of two

Houses, with sessions (8:2(2)) usually lasting from several
months to nearly a year; but sessions of an ordinary local society
rarely last longer than one meeting of two or three hours.
• The members of a legislative body are generally paid to attend its
daily meetings and can be legally compelled to do so, so that the
quorum—in Congress, for example—is a majority of the
members; but the quorum in a voluntary society must be much
less if the organization is to be able to function.
• The business of a legislative body is vastly greater in volume and
more complex than that of the typical ordinary society, so that
most of the work in legislative bodies is done in standing
committees, whereas in a local society it is handled by the
assembly or, if necessary, is assigned to special committees.

The first author who attempted to meet the procedural needs of

the country’s growing number of voluntary societies was Luther S.
Cushing (1803–1856), Clerk of the Massachusetts House of
Representatives and a noted jurist. His small volume, Manual of
Parliamentary Practice: Rules of Proceeding and Debate in
Deliberative Assemblies—which became known as “Cushing’s
Manual”—was published in 1845, with a section of further notes
being added in 1847. This work, the author said, was intended for
“assemblies of every description, but more especially for those which
are not legislative in their character.”6 Cushing accordingly omitted
from his manual rules applicable only to lawmaking bodies, but he
included those that he considered suitable for both legislative and lay
assemblies.
Among Cushing’s observations and conclusions with respect to
nonlegislative assemblies in particular were the following:

1. The general parliamentary rules in Jefferson’s Manual formed

“the basis of the common parliamentary law of this country.”
(Cushing’s Manual, p. 4.)
2. Through modifications by state legislatures, “a system of
parliamentary rules [had] been established in each state,
different in some particulars from those of every other state.”
(ibid., p. 13.)
3. Some ordinary meetings were conducted “not merely according
to the general parliamentary law” but also following the system
of the individual state. (ibid., p. 14.)
4. For such societies to be considered bound by the parliamentary
practice of a particular state legislature in this way, Cushing
held, was “erroneous.” (ibid., p. 14.)
5. The “occasional assembly” or ordinary organization was
properly subject only to the common parliamentary law and to
such rules as the body would specially adopt for itself. (ibid., p.
14.)

In adherence to the last proposition, Cushing confined his book to

what he considered “common parliamentary law,” and prescribed
that on all other necessary matters of procedure, each organization
or assembly should adopt rules of its own (rules of order)—much as
Congress and legislatures do.
 Although Cushing’s Manual was concisely written, was well
received, and became a classic accepted as standard, it was to
prove insufficient to the needs of the assemblies for which it was
intended. The devising of an adequate supplementary system of
rules of order by each assembly for its own use—as envisioned by
Cushing—was to prove a task beyond the capacity of the average
organization. In the years following the Civil War, the confusion that
still existed in parliamentary practice among the multiplying number
of lay associations and meetings became a matter of concern to
Henry Martyn Robert.
 Genesis of Robert’s Rules of Order
Henry Martyn Robert7 (1837–1923) was an engineering officer in
the regular army—finally attaining the rank of Brigadier General as
chief of his corps—who was active in church organizations and civic
and educational work wherever he was stationed, as much as
military duties allowed him time. He was the son of Dr. Joseph
Thomas Robert (1807–1884), successively a physician, Baptist
minister, and educator, who became the first president of what is
now Morehouse College. Henry Robert’s interest in parliamentary
law—as he often related—had been precipitated in 1863 at New
Bedford, Massachusetts, where he had been transferred from more
strenuous war duty after a recurrence of tropical fever. Without
warning, he was asked to preside over a meeting—said to have
related to the defense of the city in the event of Confederate attack
from the sea and to have lasted for fourteen hours—and did not
know how. But he felt that the worst thing he could do would be to
decline. “My embarrassment was supreme,” he wrote. “I plunged in,
trusting to Providence that the assembly would behave itself. But
with the plunge went the determination that I would never attend
another meeting until I knew something of… parliamentary law.”8
Afterward, in a small book on another subject he found a few
pages of “rules for deliberative assemblies.” From these he copied
information “showing four or five motions according to rank” (see
5:10–13), “two or three… that could not be debated and some that
could not be amended” and carried it on a slip of paper in his wallet
for several years afterward. With this, he hoped he would be safe.
In 1867 Robert was promoted to Major and ordered to San
Francisco, which was then a turbulent community made up of people
recently arrived from every state. As he and his wife worked with
persons from different parts of the country in several organizations
seeking to improve social conditions there, they found themselves in
the midst of a strange situation. Remarking on it many years later, in
a lecture in Cincinnati, he stated that “Friction as to what constituted
parliamentary law was indeed no uncommon thing.” Each member of
these organizations had brought from his home state different and
often strong convictions as to what were correct parliamentary rules,
and a presiding officer usually followed the customs of the locality
from which he came. Under these conditions, confusion and
misunderstanding had reached a point where issues of procedure
consumed time that should have gone into the real work of the
societies.
Robert doubted that these organizations would be able to function
efficiently until there could be better agreement as to what
constituted parliamentary law. In his words:
So I inquired at the largest book store for the best books on the subject.
Cushing’s Manual was handed me and also Wilson’s Digest, a book
containing about 2400 decisions made in the English Parliament and our
Congress. Then I sent for the Congressional Manual, which contained
Jefferson’s Manual—…[,] The Rules of the House of Representatives and
Barclay’s Digest of Rules and Practice of the House.…
A careful reading of these books showed that it was not an easy matter
to decide what was parliamentary law.… For instance, both Jefferson and
Cushing gave an equal rank to the motions for the Previous Question, and
to Postpone Definitely, and Indefinitely, and to Commit; the House of
Representatives makes them rank thus: Previous Question, Postpone
Definitely, Commit, Amend, and Postpone Indefinitely at the foot of the list;
and the Senate does not allow the Previous Question and instead of
placing Indefinitely Postpone at the foot, it puts it at the head of the list.
Also if a motion to strike out a paragraph is lost, the paragraph can
afterwards be amended according to the rules and practice of both Houses
of Congress, but it could not be amended according to Jefferson and
Cushing and the practice of the English Parliament. In Congress the
question would be stated and put on striking out the paragraph whereas
according to the other authorities it should be put on whether the paragraph
shall stand as a part of the resolution.
Again, as to debate: The U.S. Senate allowed each member to speak
twice on the same day to the same question without any limit as to time; all
the other authorities allowed only one speech from each member on any
question, and the House of Representatives also limited that speech to one
 hour. Also in Congress certain motions are undebatable, whereas the other
authorities did not allude to such a thing as an undebatable motion, except
that Cushing said in a note that legislative bodies usually, to quote, “provide
that certain questions, as for example, to Adjourn, to Lay on the Table, for
the Previous Question, or as to the Order of Business, shall be decided
without debate.”
These examples will… show the difficulties in the way of [anyone]… who
was anxious to know enough [parliamentary law] to enable him to
cooperate with others in effective work in lines in which he was interested.

Robert decided to prepare a few rules of order—expected to run

to about sixteen pages—which he hoped would be suitable for the
societies to which he and his wife belonged. If these organizations
adopted such rules, “each member could know what motions could
be debated and amended, which ones required a two-thirds vote,
and what was the order of precedence.”9 When a few sheets had
been printed, he began to try them out. The reception was
encouraging, but the pamphlet was never completed. He came to
the conclusion that the real problem would not be solved by “a half
dozen societies having a system of parliamentary law of their own.”
At about this time (1871), Robert was transferred to duty based in
Portland, Oregon. Although he was obliged to lay aside
parliamentary studies because of heavier responsibilities, such
contact with organizations as he had time for strengthened ideas
which had begun to crystallize in San Francisco: (1) In the country at
large, the average society would find it difficult to have an adequate
set of rules of order prepared specially for its own use, as Cushing
had apparently expected it to do. Few ordinary organizations had, in
fact, done so. (2) Even if a society were in a position to work out a
satisfactory set of rules, this would only create further multiplicity.
The need was the reverse—to enable civic-minded people to belong
to several organizations or to move to new localities without
constantly encountering different parliamentary rules. (3) Conditions
in ordinary societies, different as the purposes of those societies
might be, were sufficiently similar from a parliamentary point of view
to be guided by practically the same rules of order. (4) As far as any
trend could be seen, it appeared that the best presiding officers were
following the practice of the U.S. House of Representatives on basic
points, such as the order of precedence of motions, which motions
could be debated, and so on. The practice of the House was then
approaching an established form after marked evolution during the
preceding decades—during which it had become considerably
different from the “old common parliamentary law” as laid down by
Jefferson and Cushing.
Robert thus became convinced of the need for a new kind of
parliamentary manual, “based, in its general principles, upon the
rules and practice of Congress, and adapted, in its details, to the use
of ordinary societies. Such a work should give, not only the methods
of organizing and conducting the meetings, the duties of the officers
and the names of the ordinary motions, but in addition, should state
in a systematic manner, in reference to each motion, its object and
effect; whether it can be amended or debated; if debatable, the
extent to which it opens the main question to debate; the
circumstances under which it can be made, and what other motions
can be made when it is pending.”10
Writing such a manual as Robert envisioned would amount to
weaving into a single whole a statement of existing parliamentary
law and a set of proposed rules of order. His idea was that the book
should be written in a form suitable for adoption by any society,
without interfering with the organization’s right to adopt any special
rules it might require. In the manual, rules taken from the practice of
the House should be used except in specific cases where analysis
showed that some other rule was better for the conditions in an
ordinary organization—which did not, for example, have the
enormous volume of business to be handled, the sharp division
along party lines, or the extended length of congressional sessions
with daily meetings. Sometimes the Senate practice might be
preferable, such as allowing each member to speak twice to the
same question on the same day.
Robert had no time to begin writing until January 1874 in
Milwaukee, when a severe winter tied up army engineering services
along Lake Michigan for about three months. By October he had a
revised manuscript of the rules of order proper, for which he was
ready to seek a publisher. This manuscript, which would have made
up the complete book as he originally conceived it, became the first
part of the work that was finally published. When early efforts to
obtain a publisher failed, he decided to have 4,000 copies made by a
job printer at his own expense and under his direction. Since
Robert’s military duties often would not permit him to correct proofs
promptly, the printer could only spare enough type to set and print
sixteen pages at a time—the type then being distributed and used
again for the next sixteen pages.
The printing slowly progressed in this manner through most of the
year 1875. Soon after it began, Robert—having concluded, at least
partly through his wife’s influence, that more information should be
added for the benefit of persons with no experience in meetings—
wrote and added a second part, to which he gave the title
“Organization and Conduct of Business.” Because of its purpose and
the nature of its contents, Part II was written in a simpler style, and it
contained such repetition of material from Part I as the author
thought would be useful to the intended reader. By the end of 1875,
the printing of the two parts of the Pocket Manual of Rules of Order
for Deliberative Assemblies (176 pages) was completed.
Even then, with his 4,000 “ready-printed” copies, the author was
able to obtain a contract with a publisher only by making unusual
concessions. In the face of the latter’s skepticism as to the demand
for such a work, Robert agreed to pay for binding the 4,000 copies
and to bear the expense of giving 1,000 copies of the book to
parliamentarians, educators, legislators, and church leaders
throughout the country. The first edition of the manual accordingly
was published by S. C. Griggs and Company of Chicago on
February 19, 1876. The publisher placed on the cover the title
Robert’s Rules of Order. That first edition is now long a rare book.
Robert expected the 3,000 copies available for sale to last two
years, during which he planned to prepare a revision on the basis of
comments and suggestions from users. But the edition—received
with immediate and enthusiastic acclaim—was sold out in four
months. Six weeks after the original publication, work was begun on
a second edition, with sixteen more pages, which was ready at the
end of July 1876.
The following year, the portions of the second 1876 edition
comprising the elementary Part II, “Organization and Conduct of
Business,” and the “Table of Rules Relating to Motions”—which, with
continuing development, has been found in all editions but was
originally a new and unique feature of the Pocket Manual—were also
offered separately in paperback under the title Parliamentary Guide
(price twenty-five cents). The Guide did not remain long in print,
however, as the demand apparently was for the complete Robert’s
Rules of Order (then priced at seventy-five cents). The latter volume
gained another twenty-six pages through changes and additions
made by the author in a third edition issued in 1893.
In 1896, when the Griggs firm went out of business, the then
recently formed Scott, Foresman and Company purchased the
former publisher’s list and thus acquired the publishing rights to
Robert’s Rules of Order. The designation “Robert’s Rules of Order,”
the short title printed on the cover of the Pocket Manual, properly
refers only to the three earliest editions, the last of which was
superseded in 1915. At that time, the three editions of the Pocket
Manual had totaled more than a half million copies.
 Subsequent Revisions
Robert’s Rules of Order Revised, the first complete revision, was
the product of three years of the original author’s full-time effort,
beginning in 1912, with his second wife, Isabel Hoagland Robert, a
former teacher, acting as his secretary and editorial assistant. (His
first wife, Helen Thresher Robert, who influenced him to include the
elementary portion in the first edition, had died in 1895.) The revision
was published on May 5, 1915. Shortly afterward, General Robert
wrote that much more work had been put into it than into the three
previous editions combined. The 1915 revision, expanded by 75
percent from the 1893 edition, had less than one fourth of its content
taken directly from that edition. The reorganization, expansion, and
clarification represented by Robert’s Rules of Order Revised was
largely the outgrowth of hundreds of letters received by the author
over the years, submitting questions of parliamentary law arising in
organizations and not covered in the earlier editions.
Upon General Robert’s death in 1923, his only son, Henry M.
Robert, Jr.—a professor of mathematics, and later economics, at the
United States Naval Academy, who also taught parliamentary law at
Columbia University during each summer session—took over the
author’s office under a trust that his father had established. In that
capacity, Henry Jr. continued his father’s practice of replying to
parliamentary questions from users of the book. It had been the
original author’s wish that after his death his son should further
revise the manual as developments might dictate. Henry Jr. looked
forward to doing this following his retirement from the Naval
Academy, but he died in 1937 before that time came.
The trusteeship of Robert’s Rules of Order Revised then passed
to Henry Jr.’s widow, Sarah Corbin Robert—like Isabel, a former
teacher. At General Robert’s request, she had served as a critical
reader in the preparation of his last two books, the elementary text,
Parliamentary Practice (1921), and the work he considered his
definitive explanatory effort, Parliamentary Law (1923). She had also
substituted in teaching her husband’s courses at Columbia when
Henry Jr. had to give up doing so because of an increased workload
at the Naval Academy.
In 1943, changes that General Robert had recorded between
1915 and the time of his death, for inclusion in the next revision of
the manual, were incorporated within the 1915 pagination with Isabel
and Sarah Robert serving as editors. Under their authorship,
additional front and end matter was inserted and further in-page
changes were made for the Seventy-fifth Anniversary Edition of
1951. Under the title of Robert’s Rules of Order Revised, the manual
thus remained in basically the 1915 typesetting until 1970, by which
time a combined total of 2.65 million copies of all editions issued until
then had been in use.
About 1960, work was begun on a second complete revision of
the book under the direction of Sarah Corbin Robert. She was joined
in this project by her son, Henry M. Robert III, and by William J.
Evans, a Baltimore lawyer, with James W. Cleary later serving as an
editorial adviser to the publisher. This undertaking had a twofold
goal: (1) a thorough overhauling of the parliamentary content
dictated by two generations’ use of the then-existing work, and (2)
the new development of a reference book that would both be
suitable for adoption by organizations as their parliamentary
authority, and at the same time be as readable and as near to
completely self-explanatory as possible—equally useful to a
presiding officer, organization member, parliamentarian, and
instructor in parliamentary procedure. Achieving this dual goal to the
authors’ best ability proved to be a task whose magnitude was only
dimly perceived at the outset. The resulting general revision of the
book was published as Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised on
the ninety-fourth anniversary of the publication of the first edition,
February 19, 1970. As the original author stated that more work had
been put into the 1915 revision than into the three previous editions
combined, so it is believed that more work went into the production
of the 1970 edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised than
into all six editions brought out previously.
An additional key figure in guiding the authorship affairs of the
book since that time, particularly in their commercial aspect, was
John Robert Redgrave, a great-grandson of the original author and
the business representative of the Robert’s Rules Association, which
replaced the first trust after the death of General Robert’s last
surviving child.
Consistent with the earlier practice of publishing partial revisions
containing in-page changes within the same pagination, a 1981
edition prepared by Henry M. Robert III and William J. Evans made a
number of clarifications throughout the work. These changes were
the result of experience in using the book in the eleven-year period
following the 1970 revision. Some of the more important areas of
clarification related to the Previous Question, the motion to Lay on
the Table, the nature of a board as a form of assembly, the rule
prohibiting interruption of actual voting, and the rules governing
amendment at the expiration of the allotted time under different kinds
of orders limiting debate or setting a time for voting. The 1981 edition
was issued additionally in paperback format by Scott, Foresman and
Company in 1984. This was the first time that a current edition of the
complete manual had been offered in paperback.
In 1990, the same process was carried further with the issuance
of a ninth edition of the work, again authored by Henry M. Robert III
and William J. Evans, with Daniel H. Honemann, also a Baltimore
attorney, then joining to assist them. Under new technology applied
to that edition, however, a complete resetting of the book became for
the first time an easy matter. This fact permitted a greater variety of
changes and the incorporation of more additional material than
would otherwise have been feasible. Two of the most significant of
the revisions were the reinsertion, in improved form, of a subsection
on hints to inexperienced presiding officers found in earlier editions,
and a new treatment of some standard principles of interpretation of
bylaws and other documents.
The tenth edition was published as the Millennium Edition of the
year 2000. It was the work of four coauthors, with Henry M. Robert
III, William J. Evans, and Daniel H. Honemann joined by Thomas J.
Balch, a member of the Illinois bar residing in Virginia. A listing of the
more important areas of revision in the 2000 edition appears in its
preface. Among them were clarification of the role of “established
custom” in relation to written rules, and greater specification of the
cases in which an action is null and void so that a Point of Order that
would otherwise be untimely may be raised and, correlatively, those
circumstances in which the rules may not be suspended.
The eleventh edition was published in 2011. With the passing of
William Evans, that edition was the work of Henry M. Robert III,
Daniel H. Honemann, and Thomas J. Balch, joined by Daniel E.
Seabold, a professor of mathematics at Hofstra University in
Hempstead, New York, and Shmuel Gerber, who was at that time the
chief copy editor for the weekly print edition of the Five Towns
Jewish Times, a New York–area newspaper. Among its revisions
were expanded treatments of electronic meetings and disciplinary
proceedings, a new subsection on challenging the announced result
of elections, and permitting notice to be sent by e-mail to members
who consent.
This Twelfth Edition responds anew to the ever continuing need
for further refinement of interpretation and for answering newly
arising questions. As the Twelfth Edition was nearing completion, the
authorship team lost the grandson of the original author: Henry M.
Robert III, who had been intimately associated with the work for six
decades, died at the age of 98 in January 2019.
All editions of the work issued after the death of the original
author have thus been prepared by persons who either knew and
worked with him or are connected to such persons in a direct
continuity of professional association.
 Influence of Robert
The crux of Robert’s Rules of Order’s initial contribution was in
making it possible for assemblies and societies to free themselves
from confusion and dispute over rules governing the use of the
different motions of parliamentary law. In this respect the book filled
the need that the author accurately stated in the quotation from his
preface found on page xli of this Introduction.
In basing his rules on the practice of the U.S. House of
Representatives in the manner already described, Robert stated that
this practice—except where obviously unsuited to ordinary societies
—had come to determine the actual common parliamentary law of
the country, just as the practice of the House of Commons had done
in England. Within any assembly or organization, however, it was his
idea that the authority of his rules should rest on formal adoption of
his manual by the particular body. But the book was soon cited
increasingly as an authority apart from individual adoption—in such a
manner as to constitute acknowledgment of its rules as
parliamentary law itself. Thus Robert—by offering a codification of
the rules and practices of the House of Representatives adapted to
ordinary societies—gave formal direction to a movement toward
establishing a more complete common parliamentary law, built upon
congressional practice. In this way, Robert had a central role in
bringing the parliamentary law of the United States to a stability and
a stage of development that led former House parliamentarian
Clarence Cannon to describe it as a “system of procedure adapted
to the wants of deliberative assemblies generally and which, though
variously interpreted in minor details by different writers, is now in
the main standardized and authoritatively established.”11
In an often quoted statement, the original author said: “The great
lesson for democracies to learn is for the majority to give to the
minority a full, free opportunity to present their side of the case, and
then for the minority, having failed to win a majority to their views,
gracefully to submit and to recognize the action as that of the entire
organization, and cheerfully to assist in carrying it out, until they can
secure its repeal.”12 But this same man, as he headed many
engineering boards in the later phases of his professional career,
became known for guiding them to produce reports that were
unanimously concurred in by the board members. His record as a
leader in civic, social-service, and church activities was similar. He
was loath to settle for less.
This was not the contradiction that it may at first seem. Robert
was surely aware of the early evolutionary development of
parliamentary procedure in the English House of Lords resulting in a
movement from “consensus,” in its original sense of unanimous
agreement, toward a decision by majority vote as we know it today.
This evolution came about from a recognition that a requirement of
unanimity or near unanimity can become a form of tyranny in itself.
In an assembly that tries to make such a requirement the norm, a
variety of misguided feelings—reluctance to be seen as opposing the
leadership, a notion that causing controversy will be frowned upon,
fear of seeming an obstacle to unity—can easily lead to decisions
being taken with a pseudoconsensus which in reality implies
elements of default, which satisfies no one, and for which no one
really assumes responsibility. Furthermore, what is apparently taken
to be the sense of the meeting may well be little more than a “least
common denominator” of such generality as to contribute little to the
solution of the practical problem involved, thereby leaving such
matters to officers or staff or the meeting’s organizers to work out
according to their own intentions. Robert saw, on the other hand, that
the evolution of majority vote in tandem with lucid and clarifying
debate—resulting in a decision representing the view of the
deliberate majority—far more clearly ferrets out and demonstrates
the will of an assembly. It is through the application of genuine
persuasion and parliamentary technique that General Robert was
able to achieve decisions in meetings he led which were so free of
divisiveness within the group.
Footnotes to the
Introduction
1. In Sparta during that period, the ephors were a board of five “overseers” elected
annually who were the top governing officials in the city.
2. Thomas Jefferson, preface to A Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the
Senate of the United States (1801; reprint, Old Saybrook, Conn.: Applewood Books,
1993), p. xv.
3. Jefferson, Manual, pp. xiii, xiv.
4. Ibid., p. xiv.
5. Ibid.
6. Luther Cushing, Manual of Parliamentary Practice: Rules of Proceeding and Debate in
Deliberative Assemblies, 7th ed. (Boston: Taggard & Thompson, 1847), p. 4.
7. Named by his parents after Henry Martyn (1781–1812), English Anglican missionary to
India who translated extensive portions of the Bible into Eastern languages, and perished
from the rigors of his missionary efforts. Martyn’s journals and letters were published
posthumously under the editorship of Samuel Wilberforce (1805–1873), noted Anglican
bishop, in 1837, the year Henry Robert was born.
8. Henry Martyn Robert, notes for a lecture in Cincinnati, c. 1916, in Henry M. Robert
Papers, Library of Congress. Further quotations of remarks by General Robert are from
the same source, except as noted.
9. That is, which motions can be made when which others are pending (see 5:8–13).
10. Henry M. Robert, preface to Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative
Assemblies, 1st ed. (Chicago: S.C. Griggs & Company, 1876), p. 3, carried with but slight
variation in several succeeding editions (emphasis added).
11. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1958 ed., s.v. “Rules of Order.”
12. Henry M. Robert, Parliamentary Law (1923; reprint, New York: Irvington Publications,
1975), p. 4.
 PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING PARLIAMENTARY
LAW

The rules of parliamentary law found in this book will, on analysis,

be seen to be constructed upon a careful balance of the rights of
persons or subgroups within an organization’s or an assembly’s total
membership. That is, these rules are based on a regard for the
rights:

• of the majority,
• of the minority, especially a strong minority—greater than one
third,
• of individual members,
• of absentees, and
• of all these together.

The means of protecting all of these rights in appropriate measure

forms much of the substance of parliamentary law, and the need for
this protection dictates the degree of development that the subject
has undergone.
Parliamentary procedure enables the overall membership of an
organization—expressing its general will through the assembly of its
members—both to establish and empower an effective leadership as
it wishes, and at the same time to retain exactly the degree of direct
control over its affairs that it chooses to reserve to itself.
Ultimately, it is the majority taking part in the assembly who
decide the general will, but only following upon the opportunity for a
deliberative process of full and free discussion. Only two thirds or
more of those present and voting may deny a minority or any
member the right of such discussion.
In this connection, there is an underlying assumption of a right
that exists even though it may not always be prudent or helpful for it
to be exercised. Each individual or subgroup has the right to make
the maximum effort to have his, her, or its position declared the will
of the assembly to the extent that can be tolerated in the interests of
the entire body.
Another important principle is that, as a protection against
instability—arising, for example, from such factors as slight
variations in attendance—the requirements for changing a previous
action are greater than those for taking the action in the first place.
Fundamentally, under the rules of parliamentary law, a
deliberative body is a free agent—free to do what it wants to do with
the greatest measure of protection to itself and of consideration for
the rights of its members.
The application of parliamentary law is the best method yet
devised to enable assemblies of any size, with due regard for every
member’s opinion, to arrive at the general will on the maximum
number of questions of varying complexity in a minimum amount of
time and under all kinds of internal climate ranging from total
harmony to hardened or impassioned division of opinion.
 CHAPTER
I

THE DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLY: ITS

TYPES AND THEIR RULES

§1. THE DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLY

Nature of the Deliberative Assembly

1:1 A deliberative assembly—the kind of gathering to which
parliamentary law is generally understood to apply—has the
following distinguishing characteristics:
• It is a group of people, having or assuming freedom to act in
concert, meeting to determine, in full and free discussion,
courses of action to be taken in the name of the entire group.
• The group meets in a single room or area or under equivalent
conditions of opportunity for simultaneous aural
communication among all participants.1
• Persons having the right to participate—that is, the members
—are ordinarily free to act within the assembly according to
their own judgment.
• In any decision made, the opinion of each member present
has equal weight as expressed by vote—through which the
voting member joins in assuming direct personal
 responsibility for the decision, should his or her vote be on
the prevailing side.
• Failure to concur in a decision of the body does not constitute
withdrawal from the body.
• If any members are absent—as is usually the case in any
formally organized assembly such as a legislative body or the
assembly of an ordinary society—the members present at a
regular or properly called meeting act for the entire
membership, subject only to such limitations as may be
established by the body’s governing rules (see Quorum of
Members, however, 3:3–5; also 40).
1:2 The rules in this book are principally applicable to meeting
bodies possessing all of the foregoing characteristics. Certain
of these parliamentary rules or customs may sometimes also
find application in other gatherings which, although resembling
the deliberative assembly in varying degrees, do not have all of
its attributes as listed above.
1:3 The distinction should be noted between the assembly (that
is, the body of people who assemble) and the meeting (which
is the event of their being assembled to transact business).
The relation between these terms, however, is such that their
application may coincide; a “mass meeting,” for example, is
described below as one type of assembly. The term meeting is
also distinguished from session, according to definitions stated
in 8. A session may be loosely described as a single complete
course of an assembly’s engagement in the conduct of
business, and may consist of one or more meetings.
1:4 A member of an assembly, in the parliamentary sense, as
mentioned above, is a person entitled to full participation in its
proceedings, that is, as explained in 3 and 4, the right to attend
meetings, to make motions, to speak in debate, and to vote. No
member can be individually deprived of these basic rights of
membership—or of any basic rights concomitant to them, such
 as the right to make nominations or to give previous notice of a
motion—except through disciplinary proceedings. Some
organized societies define additional classes of “membership”
that do not entail all of these rights. Whenever the term
member is used in this book, it refers to full participating
membership in the assembly unless otherwise specified. Such
members are also described as “voting members” when it is
necessary to make a distinction.
1:5 A deliberative assembly that has not adopted any rules is
commonly understood to hold itself bound by the rules and
customs of the general parliamentary law—or common
parliamentary law (as discussed in the Introduction)—to the
extent that there is agreement in the meeting body as to what
these rules and practices are. Most assemblies operate subject
to one or more classes of written rules, however, that the
particular body—or, sometimes, a higher authority under which
it is constituted—has formally adopted. Taken as a whole, such
rules may relate to the establishment of the organization or
society of which the assembly is the meeting body, they may
interpret or supplement the general parliamentary law, or they
may involve provisions not directly related to the transaction of
business. The classes of rules that an assembly or an
organization may adopt and the position that the rules in this
book assume within such a body’s overall system of rules are
initially explained in 2. Aside from rules of parliamentary
procedure and the particular rules of an assembly, the actions
of any deliberative body are also subject to applicable
procedural rules prescribed by local, state, or national law and
would be null and void if in violation of such law.2
1:6 The basic principle of decision in a deliberative assembly is
that, to become the act or choice of the body, a proposition
must be adopted by a majority vote; that is, direct approval—
implying assumption of responsibility for the act—must be
 registered by more than half of the members present and
voting on the particular matter, in a regular or properly called
meeting of the body (see also 44:1–2). Modifications of the
foregoing principle that impose a requirement of more than a
majority vote arise: (a) where required by law; (b) where
provided by special rule of a particular organization or
assembly as dictated by its own conditions; or (c) where
required under the general parliamentary law in the case of
certain steps or procedures that impinge on the normal rights
of the minority, of absentees, or of some other group within the
assembly’s membership.
1:7 When a decision is to be based on more than a majority, the
requirement most commonly specified is a two-thirds vote—
that is, the expressed approval of at least two thirds of those
present and voting. Under certain circumstances, whatever the
vote required, there may be an additional requirement of
previous notice, which means that notice of the proposal to be
brought up—at least briefly describing its substance—must be
announced at the preceding meeting or must be included in the
“call” of the meeting at which it is to be considered (see also
10:44–51). The call of a meeting is a written notice of its time
and place that is sent to all members of the organization a
reasonable time in advance. Other bases for decision which
find use in certain cases are defined in 44, such as a majority
of the entire membership—that is, more than half of all the
members.
1:8 Whenever the rules of an assembly require a majority vote, a
two-thirds vote, or any other basis for decision, it must be
understood that, unless otherwise specified in the rules (as in
the case of certain procedural actions), such a vote is effective
only if taken when the necessary minimum number of
members, known as a quorum, is present (see 3:3–5; also 40).
Types of Deliberative Assembly
1:9 The deliberative assembly may exist in many forms. Among
the principal types that it is convenient to distinguish for the
purposes of parliamentary law are: (1) the mass meeting; (2)
the assembly of an organized society, particularly when
meeting at the local or lowest subdivisional level; (3) the
convention; (4) the legislative body; and (5) the board. A brief
introductory explanation of the five principal types of
deliberative assembly is given below.
1:10 The Mass Meeting. The mass meeting is the simplest form of
assembly in principle, although not the one most frequently
encountered. A mass meeting is a meeting of an unorganized
group that is announced as open to everyone (or everyone
within a specified sector of the population) interested in a
particular problem or purpose defined by the meeting’s
sponsors, and that is called with a view to appropriate action to
be decided on and taken by the meeting body. A series of
connected meetings making up a session may be held on such
a basis. The class of persons invited might be, for example,
supporters of a given political party, homeowners residing
within a certain city, persons opposed to a tax increase, or any
similar group. Admittance may be limited to the invited
category if desired. Everyone who attends a mass meeting has
the right to participate in the proceedings as a member of the
assembly, upon the understanding that he is in general
sympathy with the announced object of the meeting.
1:11 It should be noted that a large attendance is not an
essential feature of the mass meeting, although it may usually
be desired. A series of meetings held for the purpose of
organizing a society are in the nature of mass meetings until
the society has been formed.
1:12 Mass meetings are particularly treated in 53.
1:13 The Local Assembly of an Organized Society. The
assembly at the meetings of an organized permanent society
existing as a local club or local branch is the type of assembly
with which the average person is most likely to have direct
experience. As the highest authority within such a society or
branch (subject only to the provisions of the bylaws or other
basic document establishing the organization), this body acts
for the total membership in the transaction of its business.
Such an assembly’s membership is limited to persons who are
recorded on the rolls of the society as voting members and
who are in good standing.3 The bylaws of an organized local
society (see 2:8–13) usually provide that it shall hold regular
meetings at stated intervals—such as weekly, monthly,
quarterly, or sometimes even annually—and also usually
provide a procedure for calling special meetings as needed
(see 9:13–16). Each of these meetings in such an organization
normally is a separate session (8).
1:14 The Convention. A convention is an assembly of delegates
(other than a permanently established public lawmaking body)
chosen, normally for one session only, as representatives of
constituent units or subdivisions of a much larger body of
people in whose name the convention sits and acts.
1:15 The most common type of convention is that of an
organized state or national society—held, for example,
annually or biennially—in which the delegates are selected by,
and from among the members of, each local branch. A
convention is sometimes also called for the purpose of forming
an association or federation; or, like a mass meeting, it may be
convened to draw interested parties or representatives of
interested organizations together in acting upon a common
problem. The ordinary convention seldom lasts longer than a
 week. In principle, however, there is no limit on the length of
the convention session. A constitutional convention, for
example—convoked to draft a proposed new state constitution
—may continue for weeks or months.
1:16 The voting membership of a convention consists of persons
who hold proper credentials as delegates or as persons in
some other way entitled to such membership, which must be
certified and reported to the convention by its Credentials
Committee. Whenever the term “majority of the entire
membership” is used in this book, it means, in the case of a
convention of delegates, a majority of the total number of
convention members entitled to vote, as set forth in the official
roll of voting members of the convention (44:9(b), 59:25).
1:17 The conclusion of the convention session normally
dissolves the assembly. In the case of a state or national
society, when another convention convenes a year or two later,
it is a new assembly.
1:18 Conventions are particularly treated in 58, 59, and 60.
1:19 The Legislative Body. The term legislative body refers to a
constitutionally established public lawmaking body of
representatives chosen by the electorate for a fixed term of
office—such as Congress or a state legislature. Such a body
typically (though not always) consists of two assemblies, or
“houses.” Its sessions may last for months, during which it
meets daily and its members are paid to devote their full time
to its work and can be legally compelled to attend its meetings.
1:20 Each state or national legislative assembly generally has its
own well-developed body of rules, interpretations, and
precedents, so that the exact procedure for a particular
legislative house can be found only in its own manual.
1:21 In this connection, however, it should be noted that certain
smaller public bodies may serve a lawmaking function yet not
 assume the character of a full-scale legislative assembly, and
instead may somewhat resemble a board or the assembly of a
society. An example of such a body might be a city council that
meets weekly or monthly and whose members continue their
own full-time occupations during their term of service.
1:22 The Board. A board, in the general sense of the term, is an
administrative, managerial, or quasi-judicial body of elected or
appointed persons that differs from several of the other
principal types of deliberative assembly as follows:
a) boards are frequently smaller than most other assemblies;
and
b) while a board may or may not function autonomously, its
operation is determined by responsibilities and powers
delegated to it or conferred on it by authority outside itself.
1:23 A board may be assigned a particular function on behalf of
a national, state, or local government, as a village board that
operates like a small city council, a board of education, or a
board of examiners. In a nonstock corporation that has no
assembly or body of persons constituting a general voting
membership, as a university or foundation, the board of
directors, managers, trustees, or governors is the supreme
governing body of the institution. Similarly, in a stock
corporation, although the board of directors is elected by
stockholders who hold an annual meeting, it constitutes the
highest authority in the management of the corporation. A
board within an organized society, on the other hand, is an
instrumentality of the society’s full assembly, to which it is
subordinate. Boards are discussed in greater detail in 49.
Applicability of Modified Parliamentary Rules in Small
Boards and in Committees
1:24 The distinction between a board and a committee must be
briefly noted here for an understanding of what follows. A
board of any size is a form of assembly as just explained.
Committees, on the other hand, are bodies that are often, but
not necessarily, very small, and that are subordinate
instruments of an assembly or are accountable to a higher
authority in some way not characteristic of an assembly. Large
boards generally follow parliamentary procedure in the same
way as any other assembly. In small boards, and in
committees, most parliamentary rules apply, but certain
modifications permitting greater flexibility and informality are
commonly allowed (see 49:21, 50:25–26). The distinguishing
characteristics of boards and committees are discussed in 49
and 50.
§2. RULES OF AN ASSEMBLY OR
ORGANIZATION
2:1 An organized society requires certain rules to establish its
basic structure and manner of operation. In addition, a need for
formally adopted rules of procedure arises in any assembly,
principally because there may be disagreement or a lack of
understanding as to what is parliamentary law regarding points
that can affect the outcome of substantive issues.
2:2 Experience has shown that some of the rules of a society
should be made more difficult to change, or to suspend—that
is, to set aside for a specific purpose—than others. Upon this
principle, the rules which an established organization may have
are commonly divided into classes—some of which are needed
by every society, while others may be required only as
conditions warrant. Within this framework under the general
parliamentary law, an assembly or society is free to adopt any
rules it may wish (even rules deviating from parliamentary law)
provided that, in the procedure of adopting them, it conforms to
parliamentary law or its own existing rules. The only limitations
upon the rules that such a body can thus adopt might arise
from the rules of a parent body (as those of a national society
restricting its state or local branches), or from national, state, or
local law affecting the particular type of organization.
2:3 The various kinds of rules which a society may formally
adopt include the following: Corporate Charter, Constitution
and/or Bylaws, Rules of Order (which include a standard work
on parliamentary law adopted as the society’s Parliamentary
Authority, and any Special Rules of Order), and Standing
Rules. Each of these types of rules is discussed below. (For a
more complete treatment of constitution and/or bylaws, see 56
 and 57.)
2:4 In matters not governed by any adopted rule, a society may
be guided by established custom, also discussed below.
Corporate Charter
2:5 The Corporate Charter (in different states variously called
the Certificate of Incorporation, Articles of Incorporation,
Articles of Association, etc.) is a legal instrument that sets forth
the name and object of the society and whatever other
information is needed for incorporating the society under the
laws of the particular state—or under federal law in the case of
a few special types of organizations. Incorporation is
sometimes necessary or may be advisable, depending upon
the differing laws of each state, if the organization is to hold
property, inherit a legacy, make legally binding contracts, hire
employees, be in a position to sue or be sued as a society,
protect its officers and members from personal liability, or the
like. Apart from this consideration, in general, a society need
not be incorporated unless incorporation is dictated by a law
relating to the society’s contemplated activities.
2:6 A corporate charter should be drafted by an attorney and
must then be processed in accordance with the legal
procedure for incorporation in the state (or under federal law if
applicable). Any later amendments (that is, changes in the
charter) are subject to the requirements of law and any
limitations placed in the charter itself.
2:7 In an incorporated organization, the corporate charter
supersedes all its other rules, none of which can legally contain
anything in conflict with the charter. Nothing in the charter can
be suspended by the organization itself unless the charter or
applicable law so provides. For these reasons, a corporate
charter generally should contain only what is necessary to
obtain it, and to establish the desired status of the organization
under law—leaving as much as possible to the bylaws or to
lower-ranking rules if appropriate in accordance with the
principles explained below and in 56.4
Constitution; Bylaws
2:8 In general, the constitution or the bylaws—or both—of a
society are the documents that contain its own basic rules
relating principally to itself as an organization, rather than to
the parliamentary procedure that it follows. In the ordinary
case, it is now the recommended practice that all of a society’s
rules of this kind be combined into a single instrument, usually
called the “bylaws,” although in some societies called the
“constitution”—or the “constitution and bylaws,” even when it is
only one document. The term bylaws, as used in this book,
refers to this single, combination-type instrument—by whatever
name the particular organization may describe it—which:
1) should have essentially the same form and content whether
or not the society is incorporated (except for the omission or
inclusion of articles on the name and object as noted below);
2) defines the primary characteristics of the organization—in
such a way that the bylaws serve as the fundamental
instrument establishing an unincorporated society, or
conform to the corporate charter if there is one;
3) prescribes how the society functions; and
4) includes all rules that the society considers so important that
they (a) cannot be changed without previous notice to the
members and the vote of a specified large majority (such as
a two-thirds vote), and (b) cannot be suspended (with the
exception of clauses that provide for their own suspension
under specified conditions, or clauses in the nature of rules
of order as described in 2:14; see also 25:7–13 and 56:50–
56).
2:9 While the number of articles in the bylaws will be determined
by the size and activities of the organization, the general nature
of the subjects covered will be indicated by the following list of
 articles, typical of those found in the bylaws of the average
unincorporated society: (1) Name of the organization; (2) its
Object; (3) Members; (4) Officers; (5) Meetings; (6) Executive
Board (if needed); (7) Committees; (8) Parliamentary Authority
(that is, the name of the manual of parliamentary procedure
that the organization is to follow; see below); and (9)
Amendment of Bylaws (prescribing the procedure for making
changes in the bylaws). If the society is incorporated, its name
and its object are usually set forth in the corporate charter, in
which case the first two articles listed above should be omitted
from the bylaws. The appropriate content of bylaws is
discussed in detail in 56.
2:10 It formerly was common practice to divide the basic rules of
an organization into two documents, in order that one of them
—the constitution—might be made more difficult to amend than
the other, to which the name bylaws was applied. In such a
case, the constitution would generally contain the most
essential provisions relating to the first five items listed in the
preceding paragraph (leaving additional details to the bylaws),
and would prescribe the procedure for amending the
constitution. Such an arrangement may still be found in cases
where a national, state, or local law applying to the particular
type of organization requires a constitution separate from the
bylaws, or in older organizations that have had little occasion to
change their existing rules. Unless the constitution is made
more difficult to amend than the bylaws, however, no purpose
is served by separating these two sets of rules.
2:11 In an incorporated society there generally should not be a
constitution separate from the bylaws, since in such a case the
constitution would duplicate much of the corporate charter.
Although it is not improper, in an unincorporated society, to
have both a constitution and bylaws as separate documents
(provided that the constitution is made more difficult to amend),
 there are decided advantages in keeping all of the provisions
relating to each subject under one heading within a single
instrument—which results in fewer problems of duplication or
inconsistency, and gives a more understandable and workable
body of rules.
2:12 Except for the corporate charter in an incorporated society,
the bylaws (as the single, combination-type instrument is called
in this book) comprise the highest body of rules in societies as
normally established today. Such an instrument supersedes all
other rules of the society, except the corporate charter, if there
is one. In organizations that have both a constitution and
bylaws as separate documents, however, the constitution is the
higher of the two bodies of rules and supersedes the bylaws.
2:13 The bylaws, by their nature, necessarily contain whatever
limitations are placed on the powers of the assembly of a
society (that is, the members attending a particular one of its
meetings) with respect to the society as a whole. Similarly, the
provisions of the bylaws have direct bearing on the rights of
members within the organization—whether present or absent
from the assembly. It is a good policy for every member on
joining the society to be given a copy of the bylaws, printed
together with the corporate charter, if there is one, and any
special rules of order or standing rules that the society may
have adopted as explained below. A member should become
familiar with the contents of these rules if he looks toward full
participation in the society’s affairs.
Rules of Order
2:14 The term rules of order refers to written rules of
parliamentary procedure formally adopted by an assembly or
an organization. Such rules relate to the orderly transaction of
business in meetings and to the duties of officers in that
connection. The object of rules of order is to facilitate the
smooth functioning of the assembly and to provide a firm basis
for resolving questions of procedure that may arise.
2:15 In contrast to bylaws, rules of order derive their proper
substance largely from the general nature of the parliamentary
process rather than from the circumstances of a particular
assembly. Consequently, although the tone of application of
rules of order may vary, there is little reason why most of these
rules themselves should not be the same in all ordinary
societies and should not closely correspond to the common
parliamentary law. The usual and preferable method by which
an ordinary society now provides itself with suitable rules of
order is therefore to place in its bylaws a provision prescribing
that the current edition of a specified and generally accepted
manual of parliamentary law shall be the organization’s
parliamentary authority, and then to adopt only such special
rules of order as it finds needed to supplement or modify rules
contained in that manual. However, if the bylaws of a society
do not designate a parliamentary authority, one may be
adopted by the same vote as is required to adopt a special rule
of order, although it is preferable to amend the bylaws. In a
mass meeting or a meeting of a body not yet organized,
adoption of a parliamentary authority (or individual rules of
order) may take place at the beginning of the meeting by
majority vote.
2:16 Special rules of order supersede any rules in the
 parliamentary authority with which they may conflict.5 The
average society that has adopted a suitable parliamentary
authority seldom needs special rules of order, however, with
the following notable exceptions:
• It is sometimes desirable to adopt a rule establishing the
society’s own order of business (see 3:16).
• A rule relating to the length or number of speeches permitted
each member in debate is often found necessary.
• A society with a small assembly—such as one having a
dozen or fewer members—may wish to adopt a rule that its
meetings will be governed by some or all of the somewhat
less formal procedures applicable to small boards (see
49:21).
2:17 Special rules of order are usually adopted in the form of
resolutions (4:4–5, 10:13–23), but when they are printed, the
enacting words (such as “Resolved, That”) are normally
dropped.
2:18 When a society or an assembly has adopted a particular
parliamentary manual—such as this book—as its authority, the
rules contained in that manual are binding upon it in all cases
where they are not inconsistent with the bylaws (or
constitution) of the body, any of its special rules of order, or any
provisions of local, state, or national law applying to the
particular type of organization. What another manual may have
to say in conflict with the adopted parliamentary authority then
has no bearing on the case. In matters on which an
organization’s adopted parliamentary authority is silent,
provisions found in other works on parliamentary law may be
persuasive—that is, they may carry weight in the absence of
overriding reasons for following a different course—but they
are not binding on the body.
2:19 Although it is unwise for an assembly or a society to attempt
 to function without formally adopted rules of order, a
recognized parliamentary manual may be cited under such
conditions as persuasive. Or, by being followed through long-
established custom in an organization, a particular manual may
acquire a status within the body similar to that of an adopted
parliamentary authority.
2:20 Any special rules of order are adopted separately from the
bylaws. It is advisable that they be printed in the same booklet
with, but under a heading separate from, the bylaws. Although
rules in the nature of special rules of order are sometimes
placed within the bylaws—as occurs most frequently when a
society prescribes its own order of business—such an
arrangement is less desirable, since it may lead to cases of
uncertainty as to whether a particular rule can be suspended.
2:21 Rules of order—whether contained in the parliamentary
authority or adopted as special rules of order—can be
suspended by a two-thirds vote as explained in 25 (with the
exceptions there specified). Rules clearly identifiable as in the
nature of rules of order that are placed within the bylaws can
(with the exceptions specified in 25) also be suspended by a
two-thirds vote; but, except for such rules and for clauses that
provide for their own suspension, as stated above, rules in the
bylaws cannot be suspended.
2:22 Adoption or amendment of special rules of order that are
separate from the bylaws requires either (a) previous notice
(10:44–51) and a two-thirds vote or (b) a vote of a majority of
the entire membership. After the bylaws of a society have been
initially adopted when the organization is formed, the adoption
or amendment of special rules of order placed within the
bylaws is subject to the procedure for amending the bylaws
(see 57).
Standing Rules
2:23 Standing rules, as understood in this book except in the
case of conventions, are rules (1) which are related to the
details of the administration of a society rather than to
parliamentary procedure, and (2) which can be adopted or
changed upon the same conditions as any ordinary act of the
society. An example of such a rule might be one setting the
hour at which meetings are to begin, or one relating to the
maintenance of a guest register. Standing rules generally are
not adopted at the time a society is organized, but individually if
and when the need arises. As with special rules of order, it is
advisable for standing rules to be printed under a separate
heading in the booklet containing the bylaws, and in such a
case, any enacting words such as “Resolved, That” are
normally dropped. A standing rule can be adopted by a
majority vote without previous notice, provided that it does not
conflict with or amend any existing rule or act of the society.
(For the vote required for rescinding or amending such a rule,
see 35:2(7).) A standing rule remains in effect until rescinded
or amended, but if it has its application only within the context
of a meeting, it can be suspended at any particular session
(although not for future sessions) by a majority vote. Rules that
have any application outside a meeting context, however,
cannot be suspended.
2:24 Standing rules in conventions differ from ordinary standing
rules in some respects, as explained in 59:27–37. Some
assemblies, particularly legislative bodies, also apply the name
standing rules to their rules of order. Whatever names an
assembly may apply to its various rules, the vote required to
adopt, amend, or suspend a particular rule is determined by
the nature of its content according to the definitions given
above.
Custom
2:25 In some organizations, a particular practice may sometimes
come to be followed as a matter of established custom so that
it is treated practically as if it were prescribed by a rule. If there
is no contrary provision in the parliamentary authority or written
rules of the organization, such an established custom is
adhered to unless the assembly, by a majority vote, agrees in a
particular instance to do otherwise. However, if a customary
practice is or becomes in conflict with the parliamentary
authority or any written rule, and a Point of Order (23) citing the
conflict is raised at any time, the custom falls to the ground,
and the conflicting provision in the parliamentary authority or
written rule must thereafter be complied with. If it is then
desired to follow the former practice, a special rule of order (or,
in appropriate circumstances, a standing rule or a bylaw
provision) can be added or amended to incorporate it.
Footnotes to Chapter I
1. A group that attempts to conduct the deliberative process in writing—such as by postal
mail, electronic mail (e-mail), or facsimile transmission (fax)—does not constitute a
deliberative assembly. When making decisions by such means, many situations
unprecedented in parliamentary law will arise, and many of its rules and customs will not
be applicable (see also 9:30–36).
2. If the assembly is itself a lawmaking body, its actions are subject to applicable law of a
higher authority—as, for example, the acts of a state legislature in the United States,
which must not be in conflict with the constitution of that state, with national law, or with
the national constitution.
3. Members in good standing are those whose rights as members of the assembly are not
under suspension as a consequence of disciplinary proceedings or by operation of some
specific provision in the bylaws. A member may thus be in good standing even if in
arrears in payment of dues (see 45:1, 56:19). If only some of an individual’s rights as a
member of the assembly are under suspension (for example, the rights to make motions
and speak in debate), other rights of assembly membership may still be exercised (for
example, the rights to attend meetings and vote).
4. The word charter may also refer to a certificate issued by a national or state
organization, granting the right to form a particular local or subordinate unit. While such a
charter is not an instrument of incorporation and is usually quite general in its terms, it
supersedes any rules the subordinate body may adopt, because it carries with it the
requirement that the subordinate unit adopt no rules that conflict with those of the
grantor.
5. However, when the parliamentary authority is prescribed in the bylaws, and that
authority states that a certain rule can be altered only by a provision in the bylaws, no
special rule of order can supersede that rule.
 CHAPTER
II

THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS IN A

DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLY

§3. BASIC PROVISIONS AND PROCEDURES

3:1 The basic parliamentary concepts and practices are
interconnected in such a way that a complete statement of the
rules that relate to any one of them frequently involves
reference to several other concepts. This section contains an
initial explanation of a number of these topics, which are given
a more detailed treatment later in this book.
3:2 In reading all that follows throughout this manual, it should
be borne in mind that—as in any treatment of any subject—a
statement of a rule generally cannot include all possible
exceptions to the rule. Whenever a particular statement
appears to conflict with a more general statement elsewhere in
the book, therefore, the particular statement governs in the
matter to which it states that it applies (see also 56:68(3)).
Minimum Composition of a Deliberative Assembly
3:3 Quorum of Members. The minimum number of members who
must be present at the meetings of a deliberative assembly for
business to be validly transacted is the quorum of the
assembly. The requirement of a quorum is a protection against
totally unrepresentative action in the name of the body by an
unduly small number of persons. In both houses of Congress,
the quorum is a majority of the members, by the United States
Constitution. Such a quorum is appropriate in legislative bodies
but too large in most voluntary societies. In an ordinary society,
therefore, a provision of the bylaws should specify the number
of members that shall constitute a quorum, which should
approximate the largest number that can be depended on to
attend any meeting except in very bad weather or other
extremely unfavorable conditions. In the absence of such a
provision in a society or assembly whose real membership can
be accurately determined at any time—that is, in a body having
an enrolled membership composed only of persons who
maintain their status as members in a prescribed manner—the
quorum is a majority of the entire membership, by the common
parliamentary law.
3:4 In the meetings of a convention, unless the bylaws of the
organization provide otherwise, the quorum is a majority of the
delegates who have been registered at the convention as in
attendance, irrespective of whether some may have departed.
In a mass meeting, or in a regular or properly called meeting of
an organization whose bylaws do not prescribe a quorum and
whose membership is loosely determined (as, for example, in
many church congregations or alumni associations), there is no
minimum number of members who must be present for the
valid transaction of business, or—as it is usually expressed—
 the quorum consists of those who attend the meeting.
3:5 (The rules relating to the quorum are more fully stated in 40.)

3:6 Minimum Officers. The minimum essential officers for the

conduct of business in a deliberative assembly are a presiding
officer, who conducts the meeting and sees that the rules are
observed, and a secretary, or clerk, who makes a written
record of what is done—usually called “the minutes.” If the
officers are members of the assembly—as they usually are in
ordinary societies—they are counted in determining whether a
quorum is present.
3:7 The presiding officer should be placed so that, even when he
is seated—on a high stool if necessary when behind a lectern
—he can see the entire hall and all present can see him (see
also 47:5). The presiding officer’s official place or station
(usually in the center of the platform or stage, if there is one) is
called “the chair.” During meetings, whoever is presiding is said
to be “in the chair” (whether standing or seated at the time),
and he is also referred to as “the chair.” The phrase “the chair”
thus applies both to the person presiding and to his station in
the hall from which he presides. The secretary’s desk should
be placed so that papers can easily be passed to him from the
chair during the meeting.
3:8 The duties of the presiding officer, the secretary, and other
officers that an assembly or society may have are described in
47.
Pattern of Formality
3:9 Customs of formality that are followed by the presiding
officer and members under parliamentary procedure serve to
maintain the chair’s necessary position of impartiality and help
to preserve an objective and impersonal approach, especially
when serious divisions of opinion arise.
3:10 Customs Observed by Members. The president or chief
officer of an organized society, who normally presides at its
meetings, is then addressed as “Mr. President” or “Madam
President” (whether a married or unmarried woman), “Mr. [or
Madam] Moderator,” or by whatever may be his or her official
title. In the lower house of a legislative body, this officer is most
commonly “Mr. [or Madam] Speaker.” A vice-president is
addressed as “Mr. President” or “Madam President” while
actually presiding. (A possible exception may arise where the
usual form would make the meaning unclear—for example,
when the vice-president is in the chair while the president is
also on the platform. In such an instance, the vice-president is
addressed as “Mr. [or Madam] Vice-President.”) A person
presiding at a meeting who has no regular title or whose
position is only temporary is addressed as “Mr. [or Madam]
Chairman” by long-established usage. Several variations of this
form—such as “chairperson” or “chair”—are now frequently
encountered, however, and may be in use as the general
practice in particular assemblies.
3:11 Even in a small meeting, the presiding officer of an
assembly is not addressed or referred to by name. (The only
exceptions that might arise in an assembly1 would be in cases
of a testimonial nature, such as in the presentation of a gift to a
president who is about to go out of office.) With nearly the
same strictness of observance, he is not addressed by the
 personal pronoun “you”—although occasional exceptions may
occur in ordinary societies if brief administrative consultation
takes place during a meeting. As a general rule, when
additional reference to the presiding officer is necessary in
connection with addressing him by his official title, members
speak of him as “the chair”—as in, “Mr. President, do I
understand the chair to state…?”
3:12 Members address only the chair, or address each other
through the chair. In the parliamentary transaction of business
—within a latitude appropriate to the conditions of the particular
body—members generally should try to avoid mentioning
another member’s name whenever the person involved can be
described in some other way, as in, “Mr. President, may I ask
the member to explain…,” or, “Mr. Chairman, I hope that the
gentleman who last spoke will think of the probable
consequences…” With a very limited number of particular
exceptions, and except in committees and small boards, a
member never speaks while seated;2 and with a slightly larger
number of exceptions, a member does not speak without first
having obtained the floor as described in 3:30–35.
3:13 Customs Observed by the Presiding Officer. The presiding
officer speaks of himself only in the third person—that is, he
never uses the personal pronoun “I.” In actual parliamentary
proceedings he always refers to himself as “the chair”—as in,
“The chair rules that…” At other times during meetings—such
as when he makes a report to the members in the capacity of
an administrative officer of the organization rather than as
presiding officer of the assembly—he may, if he wishes,
describe himself by his official title, as in, “Your President is
pleased to report…” Strictly speaking, the chair does not
mention a member’s name and does not address an individual
member as “you,” except in connection with certain disciplinary
 procedures (see 61:12). Instead he may say, for example, “The
chair must ask the member to confine his remarks to the merits
of the pending question.” In practice in an ordinary lay
assembly, however, there are a number of occasions where the
chair often refers to members by name, such as when
assigning the floor (that is, the exclusive right to be heard at
that time, as explained in 3:30–35), or when announcing the
members of a committee.
3:14 (For more complete explanations of the general forms
observed by the presiding officer and members in an assembly,
see 42 and 43.)
Call to Order; Order of Business
3:15 When the time of a meeting has arrived, the presiding
officer opens it, after he has determined that a quorum is
present, by calling the meeting to order. He takes the chair
(that is, occupies the presiding officer’s station in the hall),
waits or signals for quiet, and, while standing, announces in a
clear voice, “The meeting will come to order,” or, “The meeting
will be in order.” (For the procedure to be followed when a
quorum of members do not appear, see 40:6–10.) The call to
order may be immediately followed by religious or patriotic
exercises or other opening ceremonies.
3:16 The initial procedures in a mass meeting or in one called to
form a society are described in 53 and 54. Meetings of
permanently organized bodies usually follow an established
order of business that specifies the sequence in which certain
general types or classes of business are to be brought up or
permitted to be introduced. If the assembly has no binding
order of business, any member who obtains the floor (see
3:30–35) can introduce any legitimate matter he desires (within
the objects of the organization as defined in its bylaws) at any
time when no business is before the assembly for
consideration. A society may follow the order of business given
in the manual that the bylaws of the organization designate as
its parliamentary authority, or it may have adopted its own
particular order of business. Although an organization has no
binding order of business until it has either adopted its own or
has adopted a parliamentary authority that specifies one, the
following order of business (which is fully explained in 41) has
come to be regarded as usual or standard for one-meeting
sessions (see 8) of ordinary societies:
1) Reading and Approval of Minutes3
 2) Reports of Officers, Boards, and Standing (that is,
permanently established) Committees
3) Reports of Special (Select or Ad Hoc) Committees (that is,
committees appointed to exist only until they have completed
a specified task)
4) Special Orders (that is, matters which have previously been
assigned a type of special priority, as explained in 14 and 41)
5) Unfinished Business and General Orders (that is, matters
which have come over from the preceding meeting or which
have been scheduled for the present meeting)
6) New Business (that is, matters initiated in the present
meeting)
3:17 In a meeting where an established order of business is
being followed, the chair calls for the different classes of
business in the prescribed order.
3:18 A mass meeting usually requires no order of business,
since, referring to the headings listed above, there is nothing
but new business to be brought up (unless the meeting is one
within a series).
3:19 A convention commonly adopts its own order of business—
which often specifies the exact hours at which certain important
questions are to be taken up. The order of business of a
convention is known as the program, or the agenda, depending
on whether it is interwoven with, or separate from, the overall
schedule of convention meetings, events, etc. (see 41, 59).
3:20 A legislative body usually has a more elaborate order of
business suited to its own needs.
Means by Which Business Is Brought Before the
Assembly
3:21 Motions. Business is brought before an assembly by the
motion of a member. A motion may itself bring its subject to the
assembly’s attention, or the motion may follow upon the
presentation of a report or other communication.
3:22 A motion is a formal proposal by a member, in a meeting,
that the assembly take certain action. The proposed action
may be of a substantive nature, or it may express a certain
view or direct that a particular investigation be conducted and
the findings be reported to the assembly for possible further
action, or the like.
3:23 The basic form of motion—the only one whose introduction
brings business before the assembly—is a main motion. There
are also many other separate parliamentary motions that have
evolved for specific purposes. While all of these motions
propose some form of action and while all of them are said to
be brought “before the assembly” when they are placed under
consideration, most of them do not bring business before it in
the sense described above—as a main motion does. Many of
these motions involve procedural steps relating to a main
motion already being considered.
3:24 The main motion sets a pattern from which all other motions
are derived. In the remainder of this chapter, rules and
explanations relating to “motions” have the main motion as
their frame of reference. The manner in which a main motion is
brought before the assembly is explained in 4:2ff.
3:25 Motions Growing out of Reports or Communications. After
the presentation of the report of an officer, a board, or a
committee, one or more motions to carry out recommendations
 contained in the report may be introduced. (For the procedures
in such cases, see 41 and 51.)
3:26 A motion may also grow out of the presentation of a written
communication to the assembly. This may be in the form of a
letter or memorandum from a member who is not present, from
a superior body (such as a state or national executive board to
a local chapter), or from an outside source. A communication
normally is addressed to the president or secretary and is read
aloud by the secretary—unless the presiding officer properly
should read it because of special importance of the content or
source.
3:27 It is not customary to make a motion to receive a
communication or a committee report, which means only to
permit or cause such a paper to be read. This is an example of
a case in the ordinary routine of business where the formality
of a motion is dispensed with. It should be noted that a motion
“to receive” a communication after it has been read is
meaningless and is therefore not in order.
3:28 The reading of a communication does not in itself formally
bring a question before the assembly. After the reading, or at
the time provided by the order of business, a motion can be
offered proposing appropriate action. If no member feels that
anything needs to be done, the matter is dropped without a
motion.
3:29 Business That Comes Up Without a Motion, Because of
Previous Action. Business may come up automatically at a
certain time or at a certain point in the order of business, if it
has previously been postponed (14) or otherwise made a
general or special order (41). In such cases, the business is
announced at the proper time by the chair, and, if it has already
been introduced in the form of a motion, no additional motion is
made at that time.
Obtaining and Assigning the Floor
3:30 Before a member in an assembly can make a motion or
speak in debate—the parliamentary name given to any form of
discussion of the merits of a motion—he must obtain the floor;
that is, he must be recognized by the chair as having the
exclusive right to be heard at that time. (For the parliamentary
motions that can be made without obtaining the floor, See
pages t44–t45.) The chair must recognize any member who
seeks the floor while entitled to it.
3:31 To claim the floor, a member rises at his place when no one
else has the floor (or goes to a microphone in a large hall),
faces the chair, and says, “Mr. President,” or “Mr. Chairman,” or
“Madam Chairman,” or whatever is the chair’s proper title.4 If
the member is entitled to the floor at the time, the chair
recognizes him—normally by announcing, as applicable, the
person’s name or title, or the place or unit that he represents.
This member then has the floor5 and can remain standing and
speak in debate or make a motion as permitted under the rules
in this book depending on the parliamentary situation at the
time. If only one person is seeking the floor in a small meeting
where all present know and can clearly see one another, the
chair can recognize the member merely by nodding to him. On
the other hand, if a speech is prearranged, or if several
members are attempting to claim the floor at once in a large
meeting, presiding officers often use the formal wording, “The
chair recognizes Mr. Smith.” When the names of the members
are not generally known, a person addressing the chair to
claim the floor states his name and any necessary identification
as soon as the presiding officer turns toward him, as “Edward
Wells, Delegate, Crescent County.” The chair then assigns the
floor by repeating the member’s name or identification. When
 the member finishes speaking, he yields the floor by resuming
his seat.
3:32 If two or more rise at about the same time, the general rule
is that, all other things being equal, the member who rose and
addressed the chair first after the floor was yielded is entitled to
be recognized. A member cannot establish “prior claim” to the
floor by rising before it has been yielded. In principle, it is out of
order to rise or be standing while another person has the floor
—except for the purpose of making one of the motions or
taking one of the parliamentary steps that can legitimately
interrupt at such a time (pages t44–t45). In a very large
assembly, if members must walk some distance to
microphones, it may be necessary to vary from the preceding
rule as dictated by conditions in the particular hall. Some
arrangements used in large assemblies are outlined in 42:16–
17.
3:33 While a motion is open to debate, there are three important
cases where the floor is properly assigned to a person who
may not have been the first to rise and address the chair (but
who did so before anyone had actually been recognized).
These cases are as follows:
1) If the member who made the motion claims the floor and has
not already spoken on the question, he is entitled to be
recognized in preference to other members.
2) No one is entitled to the floor a second time in debate on the
same motion on the same day as long as any other member
who has not spoken on this motion desires the floor.
3) In cases where the chair knows that persons seeking the
floor have opposite opinions on the question (and the
member to be recognized is not determined by (1) or (2)
above), the chair lets the floor alternate, as far as possible,
between those favoring and those opposing the measure. To
 accomplish this, the chair may say, for example, “Since the
last speaker spoke in favor of the motion, who wishes to
speak in opposition to the motion?” or “Since the last
speaker opposed the motion, who wishes to speak in its
favor?”
3:34 A member cannot rise for the purpose of claiming
preference in being recognized (as this right is called in all of
the above cases) after the chair has recognized another
member. If at any time the chair makes a mistake, however,
and assigns the floor to the wrong person—when preference in
recognition was timely claimed or in any other case—his
attention can be called to it by raising a Point of Order (23),
and he must immediately correct the error.
3:35 The preceding rules usually are adequate for assigning the
floor in most business meetings. In great assemblies or
conventions, or in bodies that must handle a heavy agenda or
complex issues, additional situations often occur where the
best interests of the assembly require the floor to be assigned
to a claimant who was not the first to rise and address the
chair. (For the rules governing these cases, see 42.)
§4. THE HANDLING OF A MOTION
4:1 The handling of a motion varies in certain details according
to conditions. In the ordinary case, especially under new
business, there are six essential steps—three by which the
motion is brought before the assembly, and three in the
consideration of the motion.
How a Motion Is Brought Before the Assembly
4:2 The three steps by which a motion is normally brought
before the assembly are as follows:
1) A member makes the motion. (The words move and offer
also refer to this step. A person is said to “make a motion,”
but he uses the word “move” when he does so. He is also
said “to move” a particular proposal, as in “to move a
postponement.”)
2) Another member seconds the motion.
3) The chair states the question on the motion. (The step of
stating the question on the motion should not be confused
with putting the question, which takes place later and means
putting the motion to a vote.)

4:3 Neither the making nor the seconding of a motion places it

before the assembly; only the chair can do that, by the third
step (stating the question). When the chair has stated the
question, the motion is pending, that is, “on the floor.” It is then
open to debate (if it is a main motion or one of several other
debatable parliamentary motions, which are described in later
chapters). If the assembly decides to do what a motion
proposes, it adopts the motion, or the motion is carried; if the
assembly expressly decides against doing what the motion
proposes, the motion is lost, or rejected.

4:4 Making a Motion. To make a main motion, a member must

obtain the floor, as explained above, when no other question is
pending and when business of the kind represented by the
motion is in order. The member then makes his motion, in
simple cases by saying, “I move that…[announcing what he
proposes in a wording intended to become the assembly’s
official statement of the action taken].” For more important or
 complex questions, or when greater formality is desired, he
presents the motion in the form of a resolution. The usual
wording then is, “I move the adoption of the following
resolution: ‘Resolved, That…’”; or, “I offer the following
resolution: ‘Resolved, That…’” (For additional information on
the proper form for main motions and resolutions, see 10.)
4:5 A resolution or a long or complicated motion should be
prepared in advance of the meeting, if possible, and should be
put into writing before it is offered. The mover then passes it to
the chair as soon as he has offered it. If conditions make it
impractical for a member offering a written resolution to read it
himself, he signs it and passes or sends it to the chair ahead of
time (in a large meeting, often by page or messenger), or he
can deliver it to the secretary before the meeting. In such a
case the member offers his resolution by saying, “I move the
adoption of the resolution relating to…, which I have sent to the
chair [or “have delivered to the Secretary”],” identifying it by its
subject matter; or, when moving its adoption, the member may
identify the resolution by its designated title, number, letter, or
the like. The chair then says, “The resolution offered by Mrs. A
is as follows:…” or, “The Secretary will read the resolution
offered by Mrs. A,” and the chair (or the secretary) reads the
resolution in full. If the text of the resolution or motion has been
distributed to the members in advance, however, it need not be
read when moved.
4:6 As soon as a member has made a motion, he resumes his
seat. He will have the right to speak first in debate, if he
wishes, after the chair has stated the question. If the motion
has not been heard or is not clear, another member can ask
that it be repeated, which the chair can request the maker or
the secretary to do, or can do himself.
4:7 Under parliamentary procedure, strictly speaking, discussion
of any subject is permitted only with reference to a pending
 motion. When necessary, a motion can be prefaced by a few
words of explanation, which must not become a speech; or a
member can first request information, or he can indicate briefly
what he wishes to propose and can ask the chair to assist him
in wording an appropriate motion. In general, however, when a
member has obtained the floor while no motion is pending—
unless it is for a special purpose, such as to ask a question—
he makes a motion immediately. Any desired improvements
upon the member’s proposal can be accomplished by several
methods after the motion has been made (for a summary, see
10:29–30).
4:8 For a member to begin to discuss a matter while no question
is pending, without promptly leading to a motion, implies an
unusual circumstance and requires permission of the assembly
(see 33:22) in addition to obtaining the floor. In larger
assemblies, this rule requires firm enforcement. In smaller
meetings, it may sometimes be relaxed with constructive effect
if the members are not accustomed to working under the
standard rule. Unless the assembly has specifically authorized
that a particular subject be discussed while no motion is
pending, however, such a discussion can be entered into only
at the sufferance of the chair or until a point of order is made;
and in the latter case, the chair must immediately require that a
motion be offered or the discussion cease. The general rule
against discussion without a motion is one of parliamentary
procedure’s powerful tools for keeping business “on track,” and
an observance of its spirit can be an important factor in making
even a very small meeting rapidly moving and interesting.6

4:9 Seconding a Motion. After a motion has been made, another

member who wishes it to be considered says, “I second the
motion,” or, “I second it,” or even, “Second!”—without obtaining
the floor, and in small assemblies without rising.7 In large
 assemblies, and especially in those where nonmembers may
be seated in the hall, the seconder stands, and without waiting
to be recognized states his name (with other identification, if
appropriate) and says, “Mr. President [or “Mr. Chairman”], I
second the motion.” In some organizations, especially labor
unions, the word “support” is used in place of “second.”
4:10 If no member seconds the motion, the chair must be sure
that all have heard it before proceeding to other business. In
such a case the chair normally asks, “Is there a second to the
motion?” In a large hall he may repeat the motion before doing
so. Or, if a resolution was submitted in writing and read by the
chair or the secretary rather than by the mover (as described in
4:5), the chair may say, “Miss A has moved the adoption of the
resolution just read. Is there a second to the resolution?”; or, if
the text of the resolution has been distributed to the members
in advance and was moved without being read, the chair may
say, for example, “Miss A has moved the adoption of the
resolution relating to…, as printed. Is there a second to the
resolution?” If there still is no second, the chair says, “The
motion [or “resolution”] is not seconded”; or, “Since there is no
second, the motion is not before this meeting.” Then he
immediately says, “The next item of business is…”; or, if
appropriate, “Is there any further business?”
4:11 A second merely implies that the seconder agrees that the
motion should come before the meeting and not that he
necessarily favors the motion. A member may second a motion
(even if using the word “support” as indicated above) because
he would like to see the assembly go on record as rejecting the
proposal, if he believes a vote on the motion would have such
a result. A motion made by direction of a board or duly
appointed committee of the assembly requires no second from
the floor (provided the subordinate group is composed of more
than one person), since the motion’s introduction has been
 directed by a majority vote within the board or committee and is
therefore desired by at least two assembly members or elected
or appointed persons to whose opinion the assembly is
presumed to give weight regarding the board’s or committee’s
concerns. (For rules governing the appointment of non–
assembly members to committees, see 13:15, 50:12, and
50:13(d).)
4:12 The requirement of a second is for the chair’s guidance
whether to state the question on the motion, thus placing it
before the assembly. Its purpose 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.
4:13 In handling routine motions, less attention is paid to the
requirement of a second. If the chair is certain that a motion
meets with wide approval but members are slow in seconding
it, he can state the question without waiting for a second.
However, until debate has begun in such a case—or, if there is
no debate, until the chair begins to take the vote and any
member has voted—a point of order (see 23) can be raised
that the motion has not been seconded; and then the chair
must proceed formally and ask if there is a second. Such a
point of order should not be made only for the sake of form, if it
is clear that more than one member wishes to take up the
motion. After debate has begun or, if there is no debate, after
any member has voted, the lack of a second has become
immaterial and it is too late to make a point of order that the
motion has not been seconded. If a motion is considered and
adopted without having been seconded—even in a case where
there was no reason for the chair to overlook this requirement
—the absence of a second does not affect the validity of the
motion’s adoption.
4:14 (For lists of certain parliamentary motions that do not
require a second, see pages t44–t45.)
4:15 The Stating of the Question by the Chair. When a motion
that is in order has been made and seconded, the chair
formally places it before the assembly by stating the question;
that is, he states the exact motion and indicates that it is open
to debate (and certain other parliamentary processes to be
explained in 5 and 6) in the manner indicated below as
appropriate to the case:
a) The basic form used by the chair in stating the question on
an ordinary motion is, “It is moved and seconded that [or “to”]
… [repeating the motion].” The chair then normally turns
toward the maker of the motion to see if he wishes to be
assigned the floor. If the maker does not claim the floor and,
after a pause, no one else does, the chair may ask, “Are you
ready for the question?” (or, less formally, “Is there any
debate?”).8 For example, “It is moved and seconded that the
Society allocate fifty dollars for…”; or, “… that fifty dollars be
allocated…”; or, “It is moved and seconded to allocate fifty
dollars for.… The chair recognizes Mr. A.”
b) In the case of a resolution, the chair may state the question
by saying, “It is moved and seconded to adopt the following
resolution [or, “… that the following resolution be adopted”]:
‘Resolved, That… [reading the resolution].’”
c) If the chair, in stating the question on a written resolution or
motion, wishes the secretary to read it, he may state the
question as follows: “It is moved and seconded to adopt the
resolution which the Secretary will now read.” The secretary
reads the resolution, after which the chair continues: “The
question is on the adoption of the resolution just read.”
d) If a written resolution was not read by the mover but was
read by the chair or the secretary before being seconded,
the chair may state the question thus: “It is moved and
seconded to adopt the resolution just read.”
 e) The chair at his discretion may also use the form given
immediately above in cases where the member offering a
resolution has read it clearly and the chair is confident that
all members have understood it. In such a case, however,
any member has the right to have the motion or resolution
read again when the question is stated.
f) Similarly, if the text of a resolution has been distributed to the
members in advance, the chair may state the question
without reading it in full, instead identifying the resolution by
its subject or designated title, number, letter, or the like, as
by saying, “It is moved and seconded to adopt the resolution
relating to…, as printed.” In such a case, too, any member
has the right to have the motion or resolution read by the
chair or the secretary.
4:16 In principle, the chair must state the question on a motion
immediately after it has been made and seconded, unless he is
obliged to rule that the motion is not in order or unless, in his
opinion, the wording is not clear.
4:17 Rules and explanations relating to the conditions under
which various motions are not in order will be found particularly
in 5, 6, and 7; in 10:26–27; and in the first three of the
“Standard Descriptive Characteristics” given in the sections on
each of the parliamentary motions (11–37). When a member
who has legitimately obtained the floor offers a motion which is
not in order, the chair may be able, in certain instances, to
suggest an alternative motion which would be in order and
would carry out the desired intent to the satisfaction of the
maker. If the chair is obliged to rule that the motion is not in
order, he says, “The chair rules that the motion is not in order
[or “is out of order”] because… [briefly stating the reason].” (He
must not say, “You are out of order,” nor, “Your motion is out of
order.” To state that a member is out of order implies that the
member is guilty of a breach of decorum or other misconduct in
 a meeting; and even in such a case, the chair does not
normally address the member in the second person. See 3:13;
also 61.) If the chair rules that a motion is not in order, his
decision is subject to an appeal to the judgment of the
assembly. (For procedure regarding Appeal, see 24.)
4:18 If a motion is offered in a wording that is not clear or that
requires smoothing before it can be recorded in the minutes, it
is the duty of the chair to see that the motion is put into suitable
form—preserving the content to the satisfaction of the mover—
before the question is stated. The chair must never admit a
motion that the secretary would have to paraphrase for the
record. The chair—either on his own initiative or at the
secretary’s request—can require any main motion (10),
amendment (12), or instructions to a committee to be in writing
before he states the question.
4:19 Until the chair states the question, the maker has the right
to modify his motion as he pleases or to withdraw it entirely.
After the question has been stated by the chair, the motion
becomes the property of the assembly, and then its maker can
do neither of these things without the assembly’s consent (see
33:11–19); but while the motion is pending the assembly can
change the wording of the motion by the process of
amendment (12) before acting upon it.
4:20 After a motion has been made but before the chair states it
or rules that it is not in order, no debate is in order. At such a
time, however, any member can quickly rise and, without
waiting to be recognized, can say, “Mr. President, I would like
to ask the maker of the motion if he will accept the following
modification:… [or, “… if he would be willing to change the
words… to…”].” The maker then answers, “Mr. President, I
accept [or “do not accept,” or “cannot accept”] the
modification”; or, he can respond by making a different
modification: “Mr. President, I will modify the motion as follows:
 …”
4:21 If the maker of a motion modifies it before the question is
stated, a person who has seconded it has the right to withdraw
his second; but if a modification is accepted as suggested by
another member—either before or after the motion has been
seconded—the suggester has in effect seconded the modified
motion, so that no other second is necessary. Under any
circumstances where a second is withdrawn but it is clear that
another member favors consideration of the motion in its
modified form, the chair treats the motion as seconded. If the
maker makes any change in his motion and it remains, in
effect, seconded, or (if necessary) is then seconded, the chair
says, “It is moved and seconded…,” stating the question on the
modified motion just as if it had been so moved originally. If a
modification is suggested and the maker declines to make any
change, the chair says, “The modification is not accepted,” and
(provided that the motion has been seconded) he states the
question on it as it was moved by the maker.
4:22 This procedure for modifying a motion before the question is
stated is useful primarily for quickly handling simple,
uncontroversial changes of the type that probably would not
generate debate among the members present if proposed as
amendments to a pending motion.
4:23 In a similar manner, before the question on a motion has
been stated, any member who believes that the maker will
immediately withdraw the motion if a certain fact is pointed out
to him can quickly rise and say (without waiting for recognition),
“Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask if the member would be
willing to withdraw his motion in view of… [briefly stating the
reasons for the suggested withdrawal].” The maker responds,
“I withdraw [or “decline to withdraw”] the motion.” If the maker
withdraws his motion, the chair says, “The motion is
withdrawn,” and proceeds to the next business. If the purpose
 of the withdrawal was to deal with a more urgent matter first,
the chair immediately recognizes the appropriate member to
bring it up. If the maker is unwilling to withdraw his motion, the
chair says, “The member declines to withdraw the motion,” and
(if the motion has been seconded) he then states the question.
4:24 Before the question is stated no debate may accompany
suggestions that a motion be modified or withdrawn. Time can
often be saved, however, by brief informal consultation—which
the chair has discretion to permit, provided that he or she is
careful to see that it does not develop into an extended
colloquy between members or take on the semblance of
debate. The chair can frequently maintain the necessary
control over such informal consultation by standing while it
takes place (in contrast to the rule that he normally remains
seated during debate unless it would obstruct his view of the
members; see 47:9).
The Consideration of a Main Motion: Basic Steps
4:25 Once a main motion has been brought before the assembly
through the three steps described above, there are three
further basic steps by which the motion is considered in the
ordinary and simplest case (unless it is adopted by unanimous
consent, as explained in 4:58–63). These normal steps are as
follows:
1) Members debate the motion (unless no member claims the
floor for that purpose).
2) The chair puts the question (that is, puts it to a vote).
3) The chair announces the result of the vote.
4:26 In addition, while the motion is open to debate, the
assembly may wish to take a number of actions as a part of the
motion’s consideration—which can themselves be the subject
of certain parliamentary motions, as explained in 5 and 6. In
the following description of the three principal steps in the
consideration of a main motion, it is assumed that none of
these other motions are introduced.
4:27 Debate on the Question. Immediately after stating the
question, the chair turns toward the maker of the motion to see
if he wishes to be assigned the floor first in debate—to which
the maker has the right if he claims it before anyone else has
been recognized, even though others may have risen and
addressed the chair first.
4:28 A member who desires to speak in debate must obtain the
floor as described in 3:30–35. In assigning the floor, the chair
follows the rules explained in the same paragraphs and in 42.
In the debate, each member has the right to speak twice on the
same question on the same day,9 but cannot make a second
speech on the same question so long as any member who has
 not spoken on that question desires the floor. A member who
has spoken twice on a particular question on the same day has
exhausted his right to debate that question for that day.
4:29 Without the permission of the assembly, no one can speak
longer than permitted by the rules of the body—or, in a
nonlegislative assembly that has no rule of its own relating to
the length of speeches, longer than ten minutes.
4:30 Debate must be confined to the merits of the pending
question. Speakers must address their remarks to the chair,
maintain a courteous tone, and—especially in reference to any
divergence of opinion—avoid injecting a personal note into
debate. To this end, they must never attack or make any
allusion to the motives of members. As already noted,
speakers should refer to officers only by title and should avoid
the mention of other members’ names as much as possible.
4:31 Except in committees and small boards, the presiding
officer does not enter into discussion of the merits of pending
questions (unless, in rare instances, he leaves the chair until
the pending business has been disposed of, as described in
43:29–30). While members are speaking in debate, the
presiding officer normally remains seated unless the view
between him and the members would be obstructed. In the
latter case, he should step back slightly while a member is
speaking. Although the presiding officer should give close
attention to each speaker’s remarks during debate, he cannot
interrupt the person who has the floor so long as that person
does not violate any of the assembly’s rules and no disorder
arises. The presiding officer must never interrupt a speaker
simply because he knows more about the matter than the
speaker does.
4:32 The presiding officer cannot close debate so long as any
member who has not exhausted his right to debate desires the
floor, except by order of the assembly, which requires a two-
 thirds vote (15, 16, 43).
4:33 (For additional rules and information related to debate, see
43.)
4:34 Putting the Question. When the debate appears to have
closed, the chair may ask, “Are you ready for the question?” or
“Is there any further debate?” If no one then rises to claim the
floor, the chair proceeds to put the question—that is, he puts it
to a vote after once more making clear the exact question the
assembly is called upon to decide. If the chair’s wording of the
question is erroneous, a point of order may be made until any
member has actually voted. Except as it may be corrected in
response to such a point of order, the exact wording the chair
uses in putting the question is definitive, and the wording in the
minutes must be the same. Where there is any possibility of
confusion, the chair, before calling for the vote, should make
sure that the members understand the effect of an “aye” vote
and of a “no” vote. In putting the question, the chair stands
(except in a small board or a committee) and should especially
project his voice to be sure that all are aware that the vote is
being taken.
4:35 The vote on a motion is normally taken by voice (or viva
voce),10 unless, under certain conditions, it is taken by rising or
—sometimes in committees, or in small boards, or other very
small assemblies—by a show of hands. In putting the question
by any of these methods, the chair calls first for the affirmative
vote, and all who wish to vote in favor of the motion so indicate
in the manner specified; then he calls for the negative vote.
The chair must always call for the negative vote, no matter how
nearly unanimous the affirmative vote may appear, except that
this rule is commonly relaxed in the case of noncontroversial
motions of a complimentary or courtesy nature; but even in
such a case, if any member objects, the chair must call for the
 negative vote. A further exception arises when the negative
vote is intrinsically irrelevant, as, for example, when “a vote of
one fifth of the members present” is required (see 44:9(a)). The
chair does not call for abstentions in taking a vote, since the
number of members who respond to such a call is
meaningless. To “abstain” means not to vote at all, and a
member who makes no response if “abstentions” are called for
abstains just as much as one who responds to that effect (see
also 45:3).
4:36 The three methods of putting the question stated in the
preceding paragraph, as well as the forms used when a vote
taken by rising or by a show of hands is counted, are described
below. Other methods of taking a formal vote (as distinguished
from adopting a motion by unanimous consent, 4:58–63) are
used only when expressly ordered by the assembly or
prescribed by its rules; they are described in 45.
4:37 Form for taking a voice vote. A vote by voice is the regular
method of voting on any motion that does not require more
than a majority vote for its adoption (see 1:6; 44). In taking a
voice vote, the chair puts the question by saying, “The question
is on the adoption of the motion to [or “that”]… [repeating or
clearly identifying the motion]. Those in favor of the motion, say
aye. [Pausing for response.]… Those opposed, say no.”
(Alternative forms are: “All those in favor…”; “All in favor…”; or
the wording formerly prescribed in Congress, “As many as are
in favor…”) In the case of a resolution, the question may be put
as follows: “The question is on the adoption of the following
resolution: [reading it]. Those in favor of adopting the resolution
that was just read, say aye.… Those opposed, say no.” If the
resolution has been read very recently and there appears to be
no desire to have it read again, the chair may use this form:
“The question is on the adoption of the resolution last read.
 Those in favor of adopting the resolution, say aye.… Those
opposed, say no.” However, if there has been any debate or
amendment since the resolution was last read, any member
can demand that it be read again when the question is put, if
the chair does not do so on his own.11
4:38 Form for taking a rising (division) vote. The simple rising
vote (in which the number of members voting on each side is
not counted) is used principally in cases where a voice vote
has been taken with an inconclusive result, and as the normal
method of voting on motions requiring a two-thirds vote for
adoption (see Chair’s Announcement of the Voting Result, etc.,
below). When only a majority is required, however, time may
sometimes be saved by taking a rising vote initially, if the chair
believes in advance that a voice vote will be inconclusive. In all
such cases the vote can be taken in a form like this: “Those in
favor of the motion to invite Mr. Jones to be guest speaker at
our next meeting will rise. [Or, “stand.”]… Be seated.… Those
opposed will rise.… Be seated.”
4:39 If a rising vote remains inconclusive, the chair or the
assembly can order the vote to be counted (see 4:53; 30;
45:14). The form then used is, for example: “The question is on
the motion to limit all speeches at this meeting to two minutes.
Those in favor of the motion will rise and remain standing until
counted.… Be seated. Those opposed will rise and remain
standing until counted.… Be seated.”
4:40 Form for taking a vote by show of hands. As an alternative
to voting by voice, a vote by show of hands can be used as the
basic voting method in small boards or in committees, and it is
so used in some assemblies. An inconclusive voice vote is also
sometimes verified by this method. For either of these
purposes, the use of voting by show of hands in assemblies
should generally be limited to very small meetings where every
 member can clearly see every other member present. In voting
by this method, the question can be put, for example, as
follows: “The question is on the motion that the bill for building
repairs be paid as rendered. All those in favor of the motion will
raise the right hand.… Lower hands. [Or, nodding, “Thank
you.”] Those opposed will raise the right hand.… Lower
hands.”
4:41 Chair’s Announcement of the Voting Result; Verification
Procedures and Cases Where the Chair Votes. The chair,
remaining standing, announces the result of the vote
immediately after putting the question—that is, as soon as he
has paused to permit response to his call for the negative vote.
A majority vote in the affirmative adopts any motion unless it is
one of the particular motions that require a larger vote under
parliamentary law or the rules of the organization. (For the
parliamentary motions that require a two-thirds vote, see pages
t48–t49.) Under all of the voting methods described above
except a counted rising vote (or a counted show of hands), the
result is determined by the chair’s judgment as to the prevailing
side—which it is his duty, in doubtful cases, to verify beyond
reasonable doubt, and to the satisfaction of the members, by
the procedures described below.
4:42 In voting by any of these methods (including a counted
rising vote), a member has the right to change his vote up to
the time the result is announced. After that, he can make the
change only by unanimous permission of the assembly. (See
45:8, and see 4:58–63 regarding the granting of such
permission by unanimous consent.)
4:43 Content of complete announcement. In general (that is, as
applying to main motions and other types of motions explained
in later chapters), the chair’s announcement of the result of the
vote includes the following:
 1) Report of the voting itself, stating which side “has it”—that is,
which side is more numerous—or, in the case of a motion
requiring a two-thirds vote for adoption, whether there are
two thirds in the affirmative. If the vote has been counted, the
chair first gives the count before announcing the prevailing
side.
2) Declaration that the motion is adopted or lost.
3) Statement indicating the effect of the vote, or ordering its
execution, if needed or appropriate.
4:44 The three points listed immediately above generally
complete the chair’s announcement of the voting result.
However, whenever it is stated in this book that a certain
procedural motion relating to a vote that has been taken is in
order immediately after the result of a vote has been
announced (see, for example, 45:9), that interval begins as
soon as the chair has pronounced the first two points.
4:45 Form of announcement of voting result and the business
that follows. The three points generally covered by the chair’s
announcement of the voting result as listed above are normally
spoken without separation into distinct elements; and, where
applicable, they are immediately followed without pause by
announcement of the next item of business, or (in the case of
“secondary” motions, which are described in the next chapter)
by the stating of the next motion that consequently comes up
for consideration.
4:46 Standard forms, as shown in the bulleted list below, can be
given only for the part of the announcement covered by the first
two points listed above. The form of the third point—which is
usually needed only for a vote that has caused a motion to be
adopted—is determined by the particular motion. For example,
after declaring that the motion is adopted, the chair might
indicate its effect by saying, “The Secretary will send to the
 bank a certified copy of the resolution naming Mr. Thomas and
Ms. Watkins as signatories”; or, “The question is postponed to
the next meeting of the Society.”
4:47 Immediately after completing the announcement of the
voting result, to announce the next business in order, the chair
might say, for example, “The next item of business is the report
of the Treasurer,” or, “Is there any further new business?” or, to
state the question on the motion that comes up next as a result
of the vote, “The question is now on the main motion as
amended.”
4:48 The full sequence of announcing the voting result and the
business that follows is frequently illustrated in the subsections
Form and Example in the sections covering the different
parliamentary motions in chapters VI–IX, and in 10:38–43 as
applied to the main motion.
4:49 Depending on the voting method and the vote required for
adoption of the motion, the chair makes the standard portion of
the announcement, covering the first two numbered points as
listed in 4:43, as follows:
a) For a voice vote: “… The ayes have it and the motion is
adopted [or “agreed to” or “carried”].…”12 Or, “… The noes
have it and the motion is lost.…”
b) For a rising vote (uncounted) or a vote by show of hands: “…
The affirmative has it and the motion is adopted.…” Or, “…
The negative has it and the motion is lost.…”
c) For a rising vote or a show of hands on which a count has
been ordered: “… There are 32 in the affirmative and 30 in
the negative. The affirmative has it and the motion is
adopted.…” Or, “… There are 29 in the affirmative and 33 in
the negative. The negative has it and the motion is lost.…”
d) For a motion requiring a two-thirds vote for adoption (where
an uncounted rising vote is conclusive): “… There are two
 thirds in the affirmative and the motion is adopted.…” Or, “…
There are less than two thirds in the affirmative and the
motion is lost.…”
e) For a motion requiring a two-thirds vote for adoption (where
a count of the vote is taken): “… There are 51 in the
affirmative and 23 in the negative. There are two thirds in the
affirmative and the motion is adopted.…” Or, “… There are
48 in the affirmative and 26 in the negative. There are less
than two thirds in the affirmative and the motion is lost.…”
f) When the chair votes where his vote will affect the result (see
below): “… There are 35 in the affirmative and 35 in the
negative. The chair votes in the affirmative, making 36 in the
affirmative and 35 in the negative, so that the affirmative has
it and the motion is adopted.…” Or, “… There are 39 in the
affirmative and 38 in the negative. The chair votes in the
negative, making 39 in the affirmative and 39 in the negative,
so that there is less than a majority in the affirmative and the
motion is lost.…”
g) When the chair votes where his vote will affect the result on
a motion requiring a two-thirds vote for adoption: “… There
are 59 in the affirmative and 30 in the negative. The chair
votes in the affirmative, making 60 in the affirmative and 30
in the negative, so that there are two thirds in the affirmative
and the motion is adopted.…” Or, “… There are 60 in the
affirmative and 30 in the negative. The chair votes in the
negative, making 60 in the affirmative and 31 in the negative,
so that there are less than two thirds in the affirmative and
the motion is lost.…”
4:50 Verifying an inconclusive vote. A voice vote—or, in larger
meetings, even a vote by show of hands—may sometimes be
inconclusive, either because the voting is close or because a
significant number of members have failed to vote. If the chair
 feels that members may question a somewhat close result of
which he is reasonably convinced, he can first say, “The ayes
[or “the noes”] seem to have it.” The chair then pauses, and
any member who doubts the result is thus invited to demand
verification of the vote by a division, as explained below. If no
member makes such a demand or states that he doubts the
result, the chair continues, “The ayes have it…,” as shown
above.
4:51 If the chair is in actual doubt in the case of such a vote,
however, he does not announce a result, but instead
immediately retakes the vote—strictly speaking, always as a
rising vote. (Regarding use of a show of hands as a method of
verifying an inconclusive voice vote, however, see below.) If it
appears when those in the affirmative rise that the vote will be
close enough to require a count, the chair should count the
vote, or direct the secretary to do so, or (in a large assembly)
appoint a convenient number of tellers—preferably an even
number equally divided between members known to be in favor
of the motion and those opposed to it. If, after a vote has been
retaken as an uncounted rising vote, the chair finds himself still
unable to determine the result, he must take the vote a third
time as a counted rising vote.
4:52 Division of the Assembly. Whether or not the chair pauses to
say, “The ayes seem to have it…,” any member (without a
second) has the right to require that a voice vote (or even a
vote by show of hands) be retaken as a rising vote, so long as
he does not use the procedure as a dilatory tactic when there
clearly has been a full vote and there can be no reasonable
doubt of the result. A vote retaken by rising at the demand of a
member is called a Division of the Assembly, or simply “a
division.” A member can demand a division from the moment
the negative votes have been cast until the result of the vote
 has been announced or immediately thereafter (see 45:9). To
do so, the member, without obtaining the floor, calls out the
single word “Division!” or “I call for [or “demand”] a division,” or
“I doubt the result of the vote.” The chair must then
immediately take the rising vote.
4:53 Either the chair on his own initiative or the assembly by a
majority vote can order such a vote to be counted. If a division
appears doubtfully close and the chair does not order a count,
a member, as soon as the chair has announced the result, can
rise and address the chair, and is entitled to preference in
recognition for the purpose of moving that the vote be counted.
If such a motion is made and is seconded, the chair states it,
and puts the question (by a voice vote, or by an uncounted
rising vote or show of hands) on whether a count shall be
ordered. If a count is ordered, the chair takes the doubtfully
close division again by a counted rising vote.
4:54 (For additional information regarding Division of the
Assembly and motions relating to voting, see 29 and 30.)
4:55 Verification by show of hands. In very small assemblies
where everyone present can clearly see everyone else, an
inconclusive voice vote may sometimes be verified
satisfactorily by a show of hands if no member objects. A show
of hands is not a division, however, and it is not always as
effective in causing a maximum number of members to vote
when some have not done so. In small meetings, a voice vote
can be retaken by a show of hands at the initiative of the chair;
or, during the same time that it is in order to demand a division,
any member can call out, “Mr. President, may we have a show
of hands?” In either case, any other member still has the right
to demand a division, which requires the chair to take a rising
vote. The chair can also immediately take a rising vote in
response to a request for a show of hands.
4:56 Chair’s vote as part of the announcement, where it affects
the result. If the presiding officer is a member of the assembly
or voting body, he has the same voting right as any other
member. Except in a small board or a committee, however—
unless the vote is secret (that is, unless it is by ballot; 45)—the
chair protects his impartial position by exercising his voting
right only when his vote would affect the outcome, in which
case he can either vote and thereby change the result, or he
can abstain. If he abstains, he simply announces the result with
no mention of his own vote. In a counted rising vote (or a count
of hands) on a motion requiring a majority vote for adoption,
the outcome will be determined by the chair’s action in cases
where, without his vote, there is (a) a tie, or (b) one more in the
affirmative than in the negative.13 Since a majority in the
affirmative is necessary to adopt the motion in the case
mentioned, a final result in the form of a tie rejects it. When
there is a tie without the chair’s vote, the chair can vote in the
affirmative, and such a vote adopts the motion; but if the chair
abstains from voting, the motion is lost. When there is one
more in the affirmative than in the negative without the chair’s
vote, the motion is adopted if the chair abstains; but if he votes
in the negative, the result is thereby tied and the motion is lost.
4:57 (For additional information regarding the procedures used in
voting, see 44 and 45.)
Adoption of a Motion, or Action Without a Motion, by
Unanimous Consent
4:58 In cases where there seems to be no opposition in routine
business or on questions of little importance, time can often be
saved by the procedure of unanimous consent, or as it was
formerly also called, general consent. Action in this manner is
in accord with the principle that rules are designed for the
protection of the minority and generally need not be strictly
enforced when there is no minority to protect. Under these
conditions, the method of unanimous consent can be used
either to adopt a motion without the steps of stating the
question and putting the motion to a formal vote, or it can be
used to take action without even the formality of a motion.
4:59 To obtain unanimous consent in either case, the chair states
that “If there is no objection… [or, “Without objection…”],” the
action that he mentions will be taken; or he may ask, “Is there
any objection to…?” He then pauses, and if no member calls
out, “I object,” the chair announces that, “Since there is no
objection…,” the action is decided upon. If any member
objects, the chair must state the question on the motion, allow
any desired debate (unless it is an “undebatable” parliamentary
motion—see 6 and pages t46–t47), and put the question in the
regular manner. Or—if no motion has been made—the chair
must first ask, “Is there a motion to… [stating the proposed
action]”; or he must at least put the question, assuming such a
motion. If an objection is made with reasonable promptness,
even though the chair may have already announced the result
as one of “no objection,” he must disregard such an
announcement and proceed to state the question in the usual
manner.
4:60 “Unanimous consent” does not necessarily imply that every
 member present is in favor of the proposed action; it may only
mean that the opposition, feeling that it is useless to oppose or
discuss the matter, simply acquiesces. Similarly, when a
member responds to the chair’s inquiry, “Is there any
objection…?” with “I object,” he may not necessarily oppose
the motion itself, but may believe that it is wise to take a formal
vote under the circumstances. In other words, the objection is
raised, not to the proposed action, but to the action’s being
taken without a formal vote. No member should hesitate to
object if he feels it is desirable to do so, but he should not
object merely for dilatory purposes. If a member is uncertain of
the effect of an action proposed for unanimous consent, he can
call out, “I reserve the right to object,” or, “Reserving the right to
object,…” After brief consultation he can then object or
withdraw his reservation.
4:61 The correction of minutes (41:10) is an example of business
that is normally handled by unanimous consent. As a second
example, assume that a speaker whose time has expired in
debate on a motion asks for two additional minutes. If the chair
thinks that all members will approve, he may handle the matter
as follows:
CHAIR: If there is no objection, the member’s time will be extended two
minutes… [pause]. Since there is no objection, the member’s time is
extended two minutes.

Or:
CHAIR: Is there any objection to the member’s time being extended
two minutes?… [pause]. The chair hears no objection, and it is so
ordered.

Or, particularly if no objection is anticipated:

CHAIR: Without objection, the member’s time is extended two minutes.
4:62 In cases where unanimous consent is already apparent, the
chair may sometimes assume it. For example, if everyone is
obviously absorbed in listening to a speaker who seems near
the end of his remarks, the chair may allow him to conclude
without interruption, although his time has expired.
4:63 Whenever it is stated in this book that a certain action or the
adoption of a certain motion “requires a two-thirds vote,” the
same action can, in principle, also be taken by unanimous
consent. If much hinges on the outcome, however, it is usually
better to take a formal vote. Action by unanimous consent
requires the presence of a quorum, just as for the transaction
of business by any other method.
Relation of Other Motions to the Main Motion
4:64 As already noted, the foregoing initial description of the
handling of motions refers principally to the main motion—the
basic form of motion by which business is brought up and by
which the assembly takes substantive action. As also stated
above, the consideration of a main motion can involve a
number of other procedures not yet described—which are
nevertheless in the nature of action by the assembly and are
themselves properly the subject of motions. In the same way
there are a number of “privileged” motions, which are not
associated with the main question but can nevertheless be
introduced while it is pending because they relate to certain
urgent matters that may arise and warrant immediate
determination at such a time. Except for interrupting
consideration of the main motion, motions of this type have no
direct effect on its disposition. Finally, there are motions by
which business can be brought before the assembly under a
number of special circumstances involving an earlier question.
For each of the permissible processes in all of these
categories, there has evolved a particular motion with its own
name and rules governing its use—resembling or differing from
the main motion in varying degrees. All such derived forms of
motions, proposing procedural steps specifically defined under
parliamentary law, are loosely referred to for descriptive
purposes in this book as “parliamentary” motions.
4:65 The next chapter contains a brief statement of the purpose
of each of the parliamentary motions, together with an
explanation of the classes into which all motions are divided.
The main motion is more fully treated in 10, as are each of the
other motions in 11–37.
Footnotes to Chapter II
1. As distinguished from a small committee, where some relaxation of this rule may be
appropriate, depending on the conditions.
2. A member who is unable to stand is permitted to speak while seated.
3. The order of business is separate and distinct from the procedure of calling a meeting to
order, which is not a part of the order of business. A meeting opens by being called to
order even when it has no established order of business. Additional “calls to order” may
occur during the order of business at various times not specified in advance, if the
assembly takes a recess (8, 20) or adjourns to a future time (8, 22) before the order of
business is completed. For these reasons, it is not proper to list a “call to order” as the
first item in an order of business or agenda, as is often incorrectly done.
4. In small boards and in committees, members generally need not rise to obtain the floor.
See 49:21(1).
5. The expression “privileges of the floor,” sometimes used in legislative bodies or
conventions, has nothing to do with having the floor, but means merely that a person is
permitted to enter the portion of the hall floor otherwise restricted to members and
necessary staff. It carries no right to speak or any other right of membership, except as
may be determined by rules or action of the body.
6. In the very early development of parliamentary procedure, a presiding officer was
expected to distill from the debate the essence of a motion and, in conclusion, take a
vote on that motion. It was found in the House of Lords in England that, when there was
no definite motion pending, it was not possible to tell whether debate was germane, and
the debate itself often became discursive and lengthy. In addition, the presiding officer
might not digest the debate into a motion in a way satisfactory to most of the members.
In such a case, there was little opportunity to put the motion in proper form before voting,
since the chair’s formulation of it occurred at the conclusion.
7. Motions need not be seconded in a small board or a committee.
8. For a parliamentary motion that is not debatable but is amendable (see list on page t47),
only “Are you ready for the question?” or “Are there any amendments?” are applicable
phrases. For a parliamentary motion that is neither debatable nor amendable (see list on
page t46), the chair omits any such query and instead puts the motion to a vote
 immediately after stating it.
9. For procedures where greater freedom of debate is desired, see 15 and 52.
10. Pronounced VIE-vuh VOE-see.
11. In the case of any resolution, motion, or paper placed before the assembly that has not
been read even once, the chair may not put it to a vote or seek its approval or adoption
without reading it (or having it read by the secretary) unless permission is first obtained
by unanimous consent—except that where the full text has been distributed to the
members in advance, the chair may initially presume that there is no objection to omitting
the reading (but any member still has the right to demand that it be read). Such an
exception typically involves adoption of an agenda; approval of the minutes; or, in a
convention, the rules proposed by the Committee on Standing Rules or the program
proposed by the Program Committee. (See also 4:15(f).)
12. The ellipsis points (dots) before and after each form indicate that it follows immediately
after the putting of the question, and is immediately followed by the remainder of the
announcement of the result, as described above.
13. For a discussion of the conditions under which the chair’s vote affects the result in the
case of motions requiring a two-thirds vote for adoption, see 44:12.
 CHAPTER
III

DESCRIPTION OF MOTIONS IN ALL

CLASSIFICATIONS

§5. BASIC CLASSIFICATIONS; ORDER OF

PRECEDENCE OF MOTIONS
Classes of Motions
5:1 As noted in Chapter II, the word motion refers to a formal
proposal by a member, in a meeting, that the assembly take
certain action. Before a subject can be considered, it must be
placed before the assembly in the form of a motion. From the
basic type of motion known as the main motion, as also noted
in the preceding chapter, many other specific motions have
been derived and have become defined under parliamentary
law.
5:2 For convenience in description, motions may be classified as
shown in the following list. (As indicated to the right of the list,
the motions in the second, third, and fourth classes—
subsidiary, privileged, and incidental motions taken together—
are also called “secondary motions.”)1
Secondary Motions as an Underlying Concept
5:3 Nature of Secondary Motions. The concept of secondary
motions serves as a starting point for the division of motions
into the classes shown. It also throws light on the order of
precedence of motions, which, as explained below, is a basic
element of the rules under which these motions are used in the
transaction of business.
5:4 Secondary motions may be seen as related to the following
fundamental principle of parliamentary law: Only one question
can be considered at a time; once a motion is before the
assembly, it must be adopted or rejected by a vote, or the
assembly must take action disposing of the question in some
other way, before any other business (except certain matters
called “privileged questions”) can be introduced. By this
principle, a main motion can be made only when no other
motion is pending. Thus, however, the need for a number of
particular secondary motions arises.
5:5 A secondary motion is one whose relationship to the main
question, or whose procedural character or urgency, is such
that:
1) it can be made and considered while a main motion is
pending (or, occasionally, it is applicable just before or after a
related main question is pending)—without violating the
principle of taking up only one question at a time; and
2) when the secondary motion has been made and has been
admitted by the chair as in order (that is, as being
legitimately able to come before the assembly at the time
according to the rules affecting its use), it must be acted
upon or disposed of before direct consideration of the main
question can be continued.
5:6 Secondary motions generally are made and seconded and
 are stated by the chair, as a main motion would be—except
that certain of them are in order while another member has the
floor, and most of the motions in this latter group do not require
a second (see pages t44–t45).
5:7 When a secondary motion is placed before the assembly, it
becomes the immediately pending question; the main motion
remains pending while the secondary motion is also pending. A
main motion is the immediately pending question whenever it is
pending with no secondary motion. Whenever the chair has
occasion to inform the assembly as to what is the immediately
pending question, however, he does not use this phrase, but
employs the parliamentary form, “The question is on the motion
to…” The latter form is used even when more than one motion
is pending.
5:8 Taking of Precedence by One Motion over Another. If two
motions “A” and “B” are related under rules of parliamentary
procedure in such a way that motion “B” can be made while
motion “A” is pending and, when stated by the chair, can thus
temporarily replace “A” as the immediately pending question,
motion “B” takes precedence2 over (or takes precedence of)
motion “A,” and motion “A” yields to3 motion “B.” A secondary
motion thus takes precedence over the main motion; and a
main motion takes precedence over nothing and yields to all
applicable secondary motions.
5:9 Certain secondary motions also take precedence over
others, so that it is possible for more than one secondary
motion to be pending at a time (together with the main motion).
In such a case, the motion most recently stated by the chair
(among those that have not been voted on) is the immediately
pending question.
5:10 Order of Precedence of Motions; Rank. The rules under
which secondary motions take precedence over one another
 have been gradually evolved through experience. While these
rules are proper to each of the specific motions, they follow
patterns that are related to the division of secondary motions
into the classes of subsidiary, privileged, and incidental
motions.
5:11 Viewed apart from incidental motions and with modifications
under particular conditions explained in 6:7, the main motion,
the seven subsidiary motions, and the five privileged motions
fall into a definite order of precedence, which gives a particular
rank to each of these thirteen motions. The main motion—
which does not take precedence over anything—ranks lowest.
Each of the other twelve motions has its proper position in the
order, taking precedence over the motions that rank below it
and yielding to those that rank above it. The privileged motions
rank above all other motions. The manner in which the order of
precedence of motions operates is illustrated in the summaries
of subsidiary and privileged motions given in the next section
(see also the chart pages t3–t5).
5:12 The incidental motions each have a certain relationship to
the order of precedence of motions; but this relationship can be
fully discussed only in terms of the rules governing the
individual motions. Other factors also affect the conditions
under which these motions are in order, as described in 6:15–
6:24. When a particular incidental motion is in order, it takes
precedence over the main motion and any other motions that
may be pending. Incidental motions have no rank among
themselves, and none of them can be assigned a position in
the order of precedence of motions.
5:13 The rank of the motions in the fifth classification as listed at
the beginning of this chapter—that is, the motions that bring a
question again before the assembly—is discussed in the
description of these motions beginning in 6:25.
§6. DESCRIPTION OF CLASSES AND INDIVIDUAL
MOTIONS

Main Motions
6:1 A main motion is a motion whose introduction brings
business before the assembly. As already noted, a main
motion can be made only when no other motion is pending,
and it ranks lowest in the order of precedence of motions.
6:2 It is usual to distinguish between original main motions and
incidental main motions—which differ principally in the nature
of their subject matter. The difference in the rules governing the
use of main motions in these two subclasses is only slight. It
should be noted that incidental main motions form a category
completely separate from incidental motions—the fourth
general class of motions. (The distinction between original
main motions and incidental main motions is fully discussed in
10:2–7.)
Subsidiary Motions
6:3 Subsidiary motions assist the assembly in treating or
disposing of a main motion (and sometimes other motions).

6:4 Manner of Listing the Motions. Each of the subsidiary

motions is briefly described below in terms of the type of
situation where it is of use, in a manner that may convey a
suggestion of how the order of precedence of motions was
arrived at. In the case of the subsidiary motions only, their
distinguishing characteristics as a class are explained after this
description of the individual motions, since these
characteristics will be more easily understood if the material is
read in that order. The subsidiary motions are listed below in
reverse order of rank—which is the chronological order in
which they would be moved if all of them became pending at
one time. Each of the motions listed takes precedence over—
that is, ranks above—the main motion, and also any or all of
the motions listed before it.
6:5 Listing of Individual Subsidiary Motions. The subsidiary
motions, briefly described by function, are as follows:
1) If an embarrassing main motion has been brought before the
assembly, a member can propose to dispose of this question
without bringing it to a direct vote, by moving to Postpone
Indefinitely (11).
2) If a main motion might be more suitable or acceptable in an
altered form, a proposal to change its wording (either to
clarify or, within limits, to modify the meaning) before the
main motion is voted on can be introduced by moving to
Amend (12).
3) But it may be that much time would be required to amend
the main motion properly, or that additional information is
 needed, so that it would be better to turn the motion or
resolution over to a committee for study or redrafting before
the assembly considers it further. Such action can be
proposed by moving to Commit the main question—or Refer
it to a committee (13).
4) If the assembly might prefer to consider the main motion
later in the same meeting or at another meeting, this can be
proposed by moving to Postpone to a Certain Time—also
called the motion to Postpone Definitely, or simply to
Postpone (14).
5) If it is desired to continue consideration of a motion but
debate is consuming too much time, a member can move to
place a limit on the debate; on the other hand, if special
circumstances make it advisable to permit more or longer
speeches than under the usual rules, a motion to do so can
be made; or, it may sometimes be desirable to combine the
elements of limitation and extension, as in limiting the length
of speeches but allowing more speeches per member. All
such modifications of the normal limits of debate on a
pending motion are proposed by means of the motion to
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate (15).
6) If it is desired to close debate and amendment of a pending
motion so that it will come to an immediate vote, this can be
proposed by moving the Previous Question (16).
7) If there is reason for the assembly to lay the main motion
aside temporarily without setting a time for resuming its
consideration, but with the provision that it can be taken up
again whenever a majority so decides, this can be proposed
by the motion to Lay on the Table (17).

6:6 Characteristics of Subsidiary Motions as a Class.

Subsidiary motions as a class are distinguished by having all
five of the following characteristics: (1) They are always applied
 to another motion while it is pending, to aid in treating or
disposing of it; the adoption of one of them always does
something to this other motion—that is, changes its status in
some way—without adopting or expressly rejecting it. (2) They
can be applied to any main motion. (Regarding other
applications, see below.) (3) They fit into an order of
precedence, as already explained, so that no subsidiary motion
can be moved when a motion of higher rank is already
pending. (4) They are out of order when another member has
the floor. (5) They are in order during the entire time that a
motion to which they can be applied is pending, except as may
be precluded by a previously adopted motion to Limit or Extend
Limits of Debate or for the Previous Question that is in effect.
(In this respect, they differ from the incidental motions; cf. 6:16
and 16:2.)

6:7 Cases Where One Subsidiary Motion Can Be Applied to

Another. The subsidiary motion to Amend is applicable to
many other motions in addition to the main motion. All of the
subsidiary motions can be amended except Postpone
Indefinitely, the Previous Question, and Lay on the Table
(which, by the nature of what they propose, do not lend
themselves to amendment). When the motion to Amend is
applied to another subsidiary motion, its rank is modified so
that it takes precedence over the motion to which it is applied,
even if that motion ranks higher than Amend in the regular
order of precedence of motions. For example, suppose that a
motion to Postpone the main question to a certain time is
immediately pending. In such a case, motions to Limit or
Extend Limits of Debate, for the Previous Question, and to Lay
on the Table are in order; motions to Postpone Indefinitely, to
Amend, and to Commit, on the other hand, may have become
pending before the motion to Postpone Definitely was moved,
 but none of these three motions can now be made—except
that it is in order to move to amend the motion to Postpone,
while it is immediately pending.
6:8 Debate can also be limited or extended on any debatable
motion4 that is immediately pending (or on a specified series of
pending motions including the immediately pending question,
15); and, similarly, debate and amendment can be closed on a
motion or series of motions that are debatable and amendable,
or amendment can be closed on motions that can be amended
but not debated (16). The four lowest-ranking subsidiary
motions can be debated (except that Amend is undebatable
when it is applied to an undebatable motion). Debate of the
three highest-ranking subsidiary motions is not permitted, since
that would defeat their purpose. From these rules, it follows
that the motion to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate can be
applied to any of the four subsidiary motions of lower rank (but
not to the two that rank above it), while the Previous Question
can be applied to any of the five subsidiary motions that rank
below it (but not to the one subsidiary motion that ranks above
it).
6:9 Incidental Main Motions Corresponding to Subsidiary
Motions. For each of the subsidiary motions Amend, Commit,
Postpone Definitely, and Limit or Extend Limits of Debate,
there is a corresponding incidental main motion (10:4–5) of the
same name that can be made when no other motion is
pending.
6:10 (Each of the subsidiary motions is fully discussed in 11–17.)
Privileged Motions
6:11 Characteristics of Privileged Motions as a Class. Unlike
subsidiary or incidental motions, privileged motions do not
relate to the pending business, but have to do with special
matters of immediate and overriding importance which, without
debate, should be allowed to interrupt the consideration of
anything else. Like subsidiary motions, however, the five
privileged motions fit into an order of precedence. All of them
take precedence over motions of any other class (except in
certain instances where the immediately pending question may
be a motion to Amend, a motion for the Previous Question, or
an incidental motion that was moved while a still higher-ranking
privileged motion was immediately pending). The privileged
motions as a class are also known as “privileged questions,”
which should not be confused with “questions of privilege,” as
described in connection with the second motion listed below.
6:12 Listing of Individual Privileged Motions. The privileged
motions are listed below in ascending order of rank. Each of
the succeeding motions takes precedence over any or all of the
motions listed before it.
1) If the adopted program or order of business is not being
followed, or if consideration of a question has been set for
the present time and is now in order but the matter is not
being taken up, a single member, by making a Call for the
Orders of the Day (18), can require such a schedule to be
enforced—unless the assembly decides by a two-thirds vote
to set the orders of the day aside.
2) If a pressing situation is affecting a right or privilege of the
assembly or of an individual member (for example, noise,
inadequate ventilation, introduction of a confidential subject
 in the presence of guests, etc.), a member can Raise a
Question of Privilege (19), which permits him to interrupt
pending business to state an urgent request or motion. If the
matter is not simple enough to be taken care of informally,
the chair then makes a ruling as to whether it is admitted as
a question of privilege and whether it requires consideration
before the pending business is resumed.
3) A short intermission in a meeting, even while business is
pending, can be proposed by moving to Recess (20) for a
specified length of time.
4) A member can propose to close the meeting entirely by
moving to Adjourn (21). This motion can be made and the
assembly can adjourn even while business is pending,
provided that the time for the next meeting is established by
a rule of the society or has been set by the assembly. (In
such a case, the pending business and any other business
that is unfinished at the time of adjournment, as well as any
questions that have been temporarily disposed of, either fall
to the ground or are carried over to the next meeting,
depending on the circumstances; see 21:7.)
5) Under certain conditions while business is pending, the
assembly—before adjourning or postponing the pending
business—may wish to fix a date and hour, and sometimes
the place, for another meeting, or (in an established society)
for another meeting before the next regular meeting. In
cases of this kind, the motion to Fix the Time to Which to
Adjourn (22) can be made—even while a matter is pending
—unless another meeting is already scheduled for later
within the same session. This is the highest-ranking of all
motions.
6:13 Incidental Main Motions Corresponding to Privileged
Motions. For the motions to Recess, to Adjourn,5 and to Fix
 the Time to Which to Adjourn, there are corresponding
incidental main motions of the same names (10:4–5).
Questions of privilege can also be brought up while no motion
is pending, and at such times they are moved just as any main
motion.
6:14 (Each of the privileged motions is fully discussed in 18–22.)
Incidental Motions
6:15 Characteristics of Incidental Motions as a Class. Incidental
motions relate, in different ways, to the pending business or to
business otherwise at hand—some of them with varying
degrees of resemblance to subsidiary motions, but none of
them possessing all five of the characteristics listed in 6:6. As a
class, incidental motions deal with questions of procedure
arising out of: (1) commonly, another pending motion; but also
(2) sometimes, another motion or item of business
a) that it is desired to introduce,
b) that has been made but has not yet been stated by the chair,
or
c) that has just been pending.
An incidental motion is said to be incidental to the other motion
or matter out of which it arises. With but few exceptions,
incidental motions are related to the main question in such a
way that they must be decided immediately, before business
can proceed. Most incidental motions are undebatable.
6:16 Each of the incidental motions is applicable only in its own
type of special circumstance—which may be a particular
characteristic present in the motion to which it is incidental, or a
particular point in time or possible occurrence during the
assembly’s involvement with the other motion or matter. This is
an important respect in which incidental motions differ from
subsidiary motions, since subsidiary motions—in principle and
with certain qualifications already noted (6:6)—are applicable
to any main motion over the entire time that it is pending.
6:17 Listing of Individual Incidental Motions. The order in which
the incidental motions are listed below, unlike that in which the
subsidiary and privileged motions are presented above, has no
relation to what other motions they may take precedence over
or yield to (see discussion beginning in 6:18). The incidental
motions arise as follows:
1) Although the presiding officer has the responsibility of
enforcing the rules, any member who believes he has
noticed a case where the chair is failing to do so can, at the
time the breach occurs, call attention to it by making a Point
of Order (23); the effect is to require the chair to make a
ruling on the question involved.
2) Although the duty of ruling on all questions of parliamentary
procedure affecting the assembly’s proceedings rests with
the chair, any two members, by moving and seconding an
Appeal (24) immediately after the chair has made such a
ruling, can require him to submit the matter to a vote of the
assembly.
3) When it is desired that the assembly take up a question or
do something that would be in violation of a rule that applies,
it can be proposed in some cases to Suspend the Rules (25)
to permit accomplishment of the desired purpose.
4) If an original main motion has been made and a member
believes that it would do harm for the motion even to be
discussed in the meeting, he can raise an Objection to the
Consideration of the Question (26), provided he does so
before debate has begun or any subsidiary motion (other
than a motion to Lay on the Table) has been stated; the
assembly then votes on whether the main motion shall be
considered (and if there is a two-thirds vote against
consideration, the motion is dropped).
5) If a pending main motion (or a pending amendment)
contains two or more parts capable of standing as separate
questions, the assembly can vote to treat each part
accordingly in succession; such a course is proposed by the
 motion for Division of a Question (27).
6) If the main motion is in the form of a resolution or document
containing several paragraphs or sections which (although
not separate questions) could be most efficiently handled by
opening each paragraph or section to amendment one at a
time (before the whole is finally voted on), such a procedure
can be proposed by the motion for Consideration by
Paragraph or Seriatim (28).
7) If a member doubts the accuracy of the chair’s
announcement of the result of a voice vote (or even a vote
by show of hands)—or doubts that a representative number
of persons voted—he can demand a Division of the
Assembly (29); a single member thus has the power to
require a standing vote, but not to order a count, which only
the chair or the assembly can do (see next item).
8) A member can move that a vote be taken (a) by ballot, (b) by
roll call, or (c) by a counted standing vote, especially if a
division of the assembly has appeared inconclusive and the
chair neglects to order a count. This grouping also includes a
motion (d) that the polls be closed or reopened in a ballot
vote. All these motions are grouped under the heading of
Motions Relating to Methods of Voting and the Polls (30).
9) If the bylaws or rules of the organization do not prescribe
how nominations are to be made, and if the assembly has
taken no action to do so prior to an election, any member
can move while the election is pending (a) to specify one of
various methods by which the candidates shall be
nominated; or, if the need arises, (b) to close nominations, or
(c) to reopen them; these are the Motions Relating to
Nominations (31).
10) A member may Request to Be Excused from a Duty (32) if
he wishes to be relieved from an obligation imposed upon
him by the bylaws or by virtue of some position or office he
 holds.
11) There are several other types of Requests and Inquiries (33)
which a member can make in connection with business that
someone desires to introduce, or which is pending or has
just been pending. These include:
a) Parliamentary Inquiry (a request for the chair’s opinion on
a matter of parliamentary procedure as it relates to the
business at hand—not involving a ruling).
b) Request for Information or, as it is also called, Point of
Information (an inquiry as to facts affecting the business at
hand—directed to the chair or, through the chair, to a
member).
c) Request for Permission (or Leave) to Withdraw or Modify
a Motion (after it has been stated by the chair).
d) Request to Read Papers.
e) Request for Any Other Privilege.
The first two types of inquiry are responded to by the chair,
or by a member at the direction of the chair; the other
requests can be granted only by the assembly.
6:18 Conditions Under Which Incidental Motions Take
Precedence over, or Yield to, Other Motions. Incidental
motions take precedence over other motions according to the
following principle: An incidental motion is in order only when it
is legitimately incidental to another pending motion, or when it
is legitimately incidental in some other way to business at hand
(see 6:15); it then takes precedence over any other motions
that are pending. Each incidental motion has its own rules that
determine the conditions under which it is incidental—that is,
the motions or situations to which it can be applied, and the
circumstances or stage of consideration at which this can be
done. Usually, but not always, an incidental motion is
legitimately incidental to another pending motion only while the
 other motion is immediately pending.
6:19 As stated above, incidental motions have no rank among
themselves and cannot be assigned positions within the order
of precedence of motions, although they have individual
relationships to that order which are described in the sections
dealing with these motions (23–33). With the exception of a
Division of the Assembly, incidental motions yield to the
privileged motions and generally yield to the motion to Lay on
the Table, unless the incidental motion arose out of a motion of
higher rank than the one to which it would otherwise yield (see
also second paragraph below). By the principle stated in the
preceding paragraph, an incidental motion yields to any motion
legitimately incidental to itself—as all motions do. For example,
a motion for a Division of a Question, or one to Suspend the
Rules, would yield to a Point of Order arising in connection with
itself.
6:20 Whenever it is stated in this book that “incidental motions”
or “all incidental motions” take precedence over a certain
motion, or that a certain motion yields to “all applicable
incidental motions,” it must be understood that the incidental
motions referred to are only those that are legitimately
incidental at the time they are made. For example, “Incidental
motions always take precedence over the main motion”; but an
Objection to the Consideration of a Question is legitimate only
against an original main motion, and the objection is no longer
in order after consideration of the question has begun—even
though an original main motion is immediately pending (26).
Similarly, “A Point of Order takes precedence over any pending
question (of no matter how high a rank) out of which it
arises”—but it does so only at the time the breach of order
occurs.
6:21 In connection with motions that can be incidental to motions
of any rank (such as Point of Order, Appeal, Suspend the
 Rules, Motions Relating to Voting, and certain types of
Requests and Inquiries), whenever it is stated that one of these
motions yields to “all motions” above a certain rank, the
incidental motion nevertheless does not yield to any motion
ranking below the one out of which it arises. For example, “A
Point of Order yields to the motion to Lay on the Table, and to
all privileged motions.” This statement is true without
qualification if the point of order is in connection with a motion
ranking lower than Lay on the Table (that is, a main motion or
any other subsidiary motion); but a point of order arising from a
motion to Recess would yield only to the two higher-ranking
privileged motions—to Adjourn and to Fix the Time to Which to
Adjourn.
6:22 While a series consisting of a main motion and a number of
subsidiary or privileged motions is being considered, it is
possible for some of the incidental motions—such as a Point of
Order, an Appeal, or a Division of the Assembly—to arise more
than once, in connection with different motions in the series.
6:23 Incidental Main Motions Corresponding to Incidental
Motions. Counterparts of some of the incidental motions may
occur as incidental main motions. For example, a standing rule
(2) can be suspended for the duration of a session (8); and a
motion for such a suspension, made when no business is
pending, is an incidental main motion. Similarly, a motion
prescribing how nominations shall be made is an incidental
main motion if it is moved while no election is pending.
6:24 (Each of the incidental motions is fully discussed in 23–33.)
Motions That Bring a Question Again Before the
Assembly
6:25 Basis of This Classification. Four motions are grouped in this
book as motions that bring a question again before the
assembly since, either by their adoption or by their introduction,
they allow the assembly to consider again the merits of a
question that has previously been disposed of in some way. All
of the motions that bring a question again before the assembly
are usually made—and, like main motions, three of them can
only be made—while no business is pending. The existence of
these motions as a separate category may be seen as related
to the following principles of parliamentary law:
a) During the meeting or series of connected meetings (called
a “session,” 8) in which the assembly has decided a
question, the same or substantially the same question
cannot be brought up again, except through special
procedures.
b) While a question is temporarily disposed of (by any of
several methods described in this and later chapters) but is
not finally settled, no similar or conflicting motion whose
adoption would restrict the assembly in acting on the first
question can be introduced.
c) To change what the assembly has adopted requires
something more (in the way of a vote or previous notice to
the members) than was necessary to adopt it in the first
place.
The motions that bring a question again before the assembly
enable the assembly, without violating the above principles, to
reopen a completed question during the same session, or to
take up one that has been temporarily disposed of, or to
 change something previously adopted and still in force.
6:26 Listing of Individual Motions in This Class. The order in
which these motions are listed below has no relation to the
order of precedence of motions. The first three of these
motions are either main motions or have the same low rank as
main motions, and the fourth has special characteristics
relating to rank (see 6:27(5), 37:9(1)). The motions that bring a
question again before the assembly, briefly described by
function, are as follows:
1) If it is desired to resume consideration of a main motion
(along with any series of motions that may be adhering to it
—see 10:35) which lies on the table, it can be proposed by
means of the motion to Take from the Table (34) that the
motion or series become pending again. (A main motion is
said to lie on the table if it was laid on the table earlier in the
present session, or in the last previous session with no more
than a quarterly time interval having intervened (see 9:7),
and it has not yet been finally disposed of.)
2) If it is desired to cancel or countermand an entire main
motion, resolution, order, or rule that has been adopted and
that has continuing force and effect, such action can be
proposed by means of the motion to Rescind (or Repeal, or
Annul, 35); and by another form of the same parliamentary
motion—that is, the motion to Amend Something Previously
Adopted (35)—it can be proposed to modify the wording or
text previously adopted, or to substitute a different version.
3) If a question has been referred, or a task has been
assigned, to a committee that has not yet made its final
report, and it is desired to take the matter out of the
committee’s hands, either so that the assembly itself can
consider or act upon it or so that it can be dropped, such
action can be proposed by means of the motion to Discharge
 a Committee (36).
4) If, in the same session that a motion has been voted on but
no later than the same day or the next day on which a
business meeting is held, new information or a changed
situation makes it appear that a different result might reflect
the true will of the assembly, a member who voted with the
prevailing side can, by moving to Reconsider (37) the vote,
propose that the question come before the assembly again
as if it had not previously been voted on.
6:27 Relationships Among Motions in This Class. The motions
that bring a question again before the assembly have a number
of differences among themselves, and they may be variously
subgrouped depending on the point of view, as follows:
1) The motions to Take from the Table and to Reconsider—and
the motion to Discharge a Committee, in certain applications
—are classed only with the motions that bring a question
again before the assembly and cannot be satisfactorily
placed in any other class. The motion that takes the form
either to Rescind or to Amend Something Previously
Adopted—and the motion to Discharge a Committee, in its
other applications—are incidental main motions having
special characteristics, as explained in the next item below.
2) The motion to Rescind or to Amend Something Previously
Adopted is an incidental main motion because (a) it brings
business before the assembly by its introduction and (b)
when it is voted on, business thereby ceases to be pending.
By contrast, two other motions in this class—Take from the
Table and Reconsider (as applied to a main motion)—do not
bring a question again before the assembly by their
introduction, but by their adoption, which automatically
causes a main question to become pending. The remaining
motion, Discharge a Committee, either shares this same
 characteristic with the motions to Take from the Table and to
Reconsider, or else it is in effect a particular case of the
incidental main motion to Rescind or to Amend Something
Previously Adopted—depending on whether the matter to be
taken out of the committee’s hands was in the form of a
pending motion referred by means of the subsidiary motion
to Commit, or was a task assigned to the committee by
means of a main motion (see 13:6, 36:10–11).
3) From another point of view, the motion to Discharge a
Committee—even when applied to cause a previously
referred motion to become pending again—is similar to the
motion to Rescind or to Amend Something Previously
Adopted in regard to the rules governing its use. Both of
these motions have special requirements for their adoption—
that is, both require either notice or more than a majority vote
(see 35:2(7), 36:4(7)).
4) Again, the motion to Discharge a Committee (as applied to a
motion that was referred) and the motion to Take from the
Table have the common feature of proposing that the
assembly take up a matter still “within its control” (see 9:7–
11, 38:8) that was temporarily disposed of. On the other
hand, the motion to Rescind or to Amend Something
Previously Adopted and the motion to Reconsider are both
applied to a motion that has been finally voted on. However,
the latter motions differ from each other in that the motion to
Rescind or to Amend Something Previously Adopted can be
applied only to a motion on which the vote was affirmative,
and it proposes a specified change in a decision that may
have been made at any time previously. By contrast, the
motion to Reconsider can, with certain exceptions, be
applied to a vote that was either affirmative or negative,
within a limited time after that vote, and it proposes no
specific change in a decision but simply proposes that the
 original question be reopened.
5) The motion to Reconsider can be applied to several of the
subsidiary, privileged, or incidental motions; and in certain
cases when so applied, it assumes the character of a
secondary motion—that is, a motion that can be made and
considered while other motions are pending. It is the only
one of the four motions in this class that can be applied to a
secondary motion alone—that is, without also being applied
to a related main motion. Because of the time limit on
making the motion to Reconsider, the making of this motion
takes precedence over all others (even the highest-ranking
motion in the regular order of precedence of motions, Fix the
Time to Which to Adjourn); but its consideration has only the
rank of the motion proposed to be reconsidered. The motion
to Reconsider thus cannot always be taken up at the time it
is made. This feature of the motion is one of its unique
characteristics.
6:28 (Each of the motions that bring a question again before the
assembly is fully discussed in 34–37.)
§7. STANDARD DESCRIPTIVE
CHARACTERISTICS OF MOTIONS
7:1 Many of the most important rules governing the use of the
individual motions described in this chapter reduce to eight
standard descriptive characteristics. In addition to containing
basic rules of procedure for each motion, these characteristics
serve as points of comparison showing how the motion
resembles or differs from a main motion.

7:2 The standard descriptive characteristics of a motion are the

following:
1. Over what motions, if any, it takes precedence (that is, what
motions can be pending without causing this motion to be
out of order); also, to what motions it yields (that is, what
motions can be made and considered while this motion is
pending). (The main motion, ranking lowest, takes
precedence over no other motion and yields to all subsidiary
motions, all privileged motions, and all applicable incidental
motions.)
2. To what motions or to what type of situation it is applicable;
also, what motions, particularly subsidiary motions, are
applicable to it, if any. (The main motion is applicable to no
other motion; and all subsidiary motions, and certain
incidental motions under various conditions, are applicable to
it.)
3. Whether it is in order when another has the floor. (A main
motion is not.)
4. Whether it requires a second. (A main motion does.
Whenever it is stated in this book that a certain motion
“must” be seconded, or “requires” a second, the precise
 meaning is as explained in 4:9–14, and the requirement
does not apply when the motion is made by direction of a
board or committee.)
5. Whether it is debatable—that is, whether debate on its
merits is permitted while it is immediately pending. (A main
motion is.)
6. Whether it is amendable. (A main motion is.)
7. What vote is required for its adoption. (A main motion
requires a majority vote, except as noted in 10:8(7).)
8. Whether it can be reconsidered—that is, whether a motion to
Reconsider (37) can be applied to the vote taken on it. (A
main motion can be reconsidered.)
7:3 The standard descriptive characteristics of the main motion
are more fully stated in 10, and those of the other
parliamentary motions are given in 11–37. In addition, key facts
with regard to Standard Descriptive Characteristics 1 and 2 are
shown in Chart I, pages t3–t5, and with regard to Standard
Descriptive Characteristics 3 through 8 are shown in Chart II,
pages t6–t33.
7:4 Additional background for the detailed treatment of the
motions in 10–37 is provided by the discussion of the topics
“meeting” and “session” in 8 and 9.
Footnotes to Chapter
III
1. Secondary motions must not be confused with secondary amendments, a much more
specialized concept explained in 12:11–13.
2. Pronounced pree-SEED-n’s.
3. The word yield as used in this sense has no connection with yielding the floor as
explained in 3:31.
4. See explanation in 7; rules governing the individual motions, 11–37; Table of Rules
Relating to Motions, pages t6–t33; and lists, pages t46–t47.
5. The distinction between the main and the privileged motions to adjourn is different from
any other case where an incidental main motion corresponds to a secondary motion of
the same name, since a motion “to adjourn” can under certain conditions be a privileged
motion rather than an incidental main motion even if made when no question is pending
(see 21).
 CHAPTER
IV

MEETING AND SESSION

§8. MEETING, SESSION, RECESS,

ADJOURNMENT

Explanation of Terms
8:1 In an assembly, as mentioned above in 1:3, each event of
the members’ being assembled to transact business
constitutes a separate meeting; but the complete unit of
engagement in proceedings by the assembly is a session,
which (in the general case covering all types of assemblies)
consists of one or more connected meetings. The term session
is a fundamental concept entering into many important
parliamentary rules.
8:2 In parliamentary law and as understood in this book, the
terms defined below have distinct meanings:
1) A meeting of an assembly is a single official gathering of its
members in one room or area to transact business for a
length of time during which there is no cessation of
proceedings and the members do not separate, unless for a
short recess, as defined below. (For modification of the “one-
 room-or-area” requirement when the bylaws authorize
electronic meetings, see 9:30–36.) Depending on the
business to be transacted, a meeting may last from a few
minutes to several hours.
2) A session of an assembly, unless otherwise defined by the
bylaws or governing rules of the particular organization or
body, is a meeting or series of connected meetings devoted
to a single order of business, program, agenda, or
announced purpose, in which—when there is more than one
meeting—each succeeding meeting is scheduled with a view
to continuing business at the point where it was left off at the
previous meeting (see also discussion of distinction between
recess and adjournment, 8:7).
3) A recess, strictly speaking, is a short intermission or break
within a meeting that does not end the meeting or destroy its
continuity as a single gathering, and after which proceedings
are immediately resumed at the point where they were
interrupted. During the recess, members may leave the hall
or room in which the meeting is being held, but they are
expected to remain nearby. A recess frequently has a
purpose connected with the business of the meeting itself—
such as to count ballots, to permit consultation among
members, or the like. (For the motion to Recess, see 20.)
4) A meeting is said to stand at ease if the chair, without
objection, simply permits a brief pause, without a declaration
of recess. In such a case there is technically no interruption
of the meeting, and members remain in their places. Quiet
conversation among neighboring members may take place,
but it must cease immediately when the chair declares the
meeting again in order or any member objects to continuing
to stand at ease.
5) An adjournment (that is, the act of the assembly’s
adjourning) terminates a meeting; it may also end the
 session. If another meeting to continue the same business or
order of business has been set for a definite time (or to be
“at the call of the chair”), the adjournment does not end the
session. (See also 9:17–19 for the use of the word
adjournment as applied to an adjourned meeting; for the
motion to Adjourn see 21.)
6) The term adjournment sine die1 (or adjournment without
day) usually refers to the close of a session of several
meetings: (a) where the adjournment dissolves the assembly
—as in a series of mass meetings or in an annual or biennial
convention for which the delegates are separately chosen for
each convention; or (b) where, unless called into special
session, the body will not be convened again until a time
prescribed by the bylaws or constitution—as in the case of a
session of a legislature. In cases where the words sine die
are applicable, they may be, but are not always, mentioned
in the motion to adjourn or the chair’s declaration of the
adjournment.
Interrelation of the Concepts
8:3 Number of Meetings in a Session. The length of a session or
the number of meetings included within it varies depending on
the type of assembly.
8:4 In a permanent society whose bylaws provide for regular
weekly, monthly, or quarterly meetings that go through an
established order of business in a single afternoon or evening,
each “meeting” of this kind normally completes a separate
session—unless the assembly at such a meeting schedules an
adjourned meeting as explained in 9:17–19. This rule is the
common parliamentary law and holds except where the bylaws
provide otherwise. Although any society has the right to define,
in its bylaws, what shall constitute a session of the
organization, it is usually unwise in ordinary societies to adopt
a rule making regular sessions last over a long period of time.
Such a rule would make it possible for the hands of the
organization to be tied during that time, since the same
question cannot be brought up again during the same session
after it is too late to reconsider (37) a vote that has finally
disposed of a motion without adopting it (that is, a vote that has
rejected or indefinitely postponed it or has sustained an
objection to its consideration; see 11, 26).
8:5 In the case of a state or national organization that holds
annual or biennial conventions, each convention constitutes a
session of the organization—having one agenda or program—
which may be broken up into separate meetings in the
morning, afternoon, and evening, or into many meetings held
over several days. In Congress a session may comprise
hundreds of almost daily meetings, sometimes continuing for
nearly a year.

8:6 Departure from Parliamentary Meanings in Ordinary

 Speech. Because of the fact that a meeting and a session
usually coincide in ordinary local societies or branches, these
two terms often tend to become confused or used
interchangeably in everyday speech. Whenever either word is
used, the context should be noted in the light of the
explanations in this section. A similar situation exists regarding
the terms recess, adjournment, and adjournment sine die. It is
common, especially in conventions, to hear the word recess
also applied to a longer break that does terminate a meeting
and that consequently should be understood as an
adjournment, as in “to recess until tomorrow.” On the other
hand, assemblies sometimes “adjourn” or provide in the
program or agenda for an “adjournment” when only a short
recess is intended. The use of the word recess to describe the
interval between regular sessions of an organization or
assembly, as in “the summer recess of Congress,” is a
colloquialism that has no relationship to the parliamentary
meaning of the term.
8:7 Comparative Effects of Recess and Adjournment Within a
Session. The distinction between recess and adjournment
may in some cases become thin so that it must be judged in
the individual context. For example, according to the definitions
given above, a break in the proceedings of a convention for
lunch may be more in the nature of a recess, or of an
adjournment, depending on the time and the extent of
dispersion of the members that is required for them to be
served. From the viewpoint of the effect of a recess or an
adjournment on the procedure the next time the assembly is
called to order, the difference is that at the conclusion of a
recess there never are any “opening” proceedings, but
business is always immediately resumed where it was left off,
just as if there had been no recess. At the beginning of any
 meeting (after the first meeting in a session), on the other
hand, the resumption of business at the point where it was left
off may be, but is not necessarily, preceded by brief opening
ceremonies and the reading of minutes. Normally in a session
lasting several days, the minutes are read at the beginning of
the first meeting each day; and the beginning of a later meeting
the same day may be virtually indistinguishable from the
conclusion of a recess.2
8:8 How Meetings to Continue a Session Are Scheduled. When
a meeting adjourns without ending the session, this necessarily
means that the time for another meeting to continue the same
business or order of business has already been set (or that
provision has been made for such a meeting to be held “at the
call of the chair”). The time or provision for this next meeting of
the session may have been established by one of the following
methods (which are listed in order of frequency of occurrence):
(a) through a program adopted at the beginning of a
convention; (b) by the adoption in the present meeting of a
motion (main or privileged, depending on when it is moved) to
fix the time to which to adjourn; or (c) by a specification in the
motion to adjourn, if that motion was made as a main motion
while no other question was pending.

8:9 Ordinary Practice in Adjourning. In ordinary practice a

meeting is closed by adopting a motion simply “to adjourn”; or
under certain conditions the chair can declare the adjournment
without a motion, as explained in 21:14–15. The society meets
again at the time provided in its bylaws or other rules, or as
already established by the adoption of an earlier motion. If it
does not expect to convene until the next “regular meeting”
prescribed by rule or bylaw, the chair declares that the meeting
“is adjourned,” and such an adjournment closes the session.
On the other hand, if another meeting in the same session has
 been scheduled by any of the methods listed in the preceding
paragraph, the chair announces the time as he declares the
adjournment, saying, for example, that the “meeting is
adjourned until 4 P.M. tomorrow.”
8:10 In the event of fire, riot, or other extreme emergency, if the
chair believes taking time for a vote on adjourning would be
dangerous to those present, he should declare the meeting
adjourned—to a suitable time and place for an adjourned
meeting (if he is able), or to meet at the call of the chair.
Significance of Session
8:11 The principal significance of the session as a complete unit
of an assembly’s engagement in proceedings lies in the
freedom of each new session, as contrasted with the limitations
placed upon a session in progress by decisions it has made.
Some of the consequences of this characteristic of the session
are described in the following paragraphs.
8:12 Freedom of Each New Session. As a general rule, one
session cannot place a question beyond the reach of a majority
at a later session except through the process of adopting a
special rule of order or an amendment to the bylaws (either of
which requires more than a majority vote; see immediately
below). It is improper, for example, to postpone anything
beyond the next regular session—which would be an attempt
to prevent that session from considering the question. The
principle stated applies in qualified form to cases in which a
majority rescinds or amends something adopted at an earlier
session, or discharges a committee from further consideration
of a question referred to it at an earlier session—which a
majority can do provided that previous notice was given. (See
35:2(7) and 36:4(7) for the vote required for these actions
without previous notice.)
8:13 Relation of a Session’s Freedom to the Rules of an
Organization. The application of the same principle to the
case of standing rules (which, as the term is understood in this
book, do not deal with parliamentary procedure; see 2) is as
follows: Although a standing rule can be adopted by a majority
vote at any session and continues in force until it is rescinded
or amended, such a rule does not interfere materially with the
freedom of a later session, since it can be suspended for the
 duration of any session (but not for longer) by a majority vote.
8:14 Bylaws, on the other hand—and special rules of order,
which do deal with parliamentary procedure—contain the
provisions that are expected to have stability from session to
session, and to represent the judgment of the whole society as
distinguished from the members voting at any particular
session. These rules therefore require both previous notice and
a two-thirds vote for amendment (with a vote of a majority of
the entire membership as an allowable alternative); and rules
of order require a two-thirds vote for suspension, while bylaws
normally cannot be suspended (see 2, 25).
8:15 Relation of a Session’s Freedom to the Renewability of
Motions. The conditions under which a motion can be
renewed—that is, can be introduced as if new after having
previously been made and disposed of without adoption—are
closely related to the freedom of each new session, and to the
distinction between a meeting and a session. As stated in 38
and in 8:4, the same or substantially the same question cannot
be brought up a second time during the same session except
by means of the parliamentary motions that bring a question
again before the assembly. At any later session, on the other
hand, any motion that is still applicable can normally be
renewed unless it has come over from the previous session (by
one of the five processes mentioned in 9:7–11 under Regular
Meeting, below) as not finally disposed of (see also 38, where
the renewal of motions is fully discussed).
8:16 Relation of a Session’s Freedom to Limitation on
Appointment as Chairman Pro Tem. If the assembly is to
elect a chairman pro tem to hold office beyond the current
session (in the event of illness or disability of both the regular
presiding officer and his alternate), notice must be given at the
preceding meeting or in the call of the meeting that elects him.
One session cannot interfere with the freedom of each new
session to choose its own chairman pro tem except by an
election held with previous notice (10:44–51).
§9. PARTICULAR TYPES OF BUSINESS
MEETINGS

Regular Meeting
9:1 The term regular meeting (or stated meeting) refers to the
periodic business meeting of a permanent society, local
branch, or board, held at weekly, monthly, quarterly, or similar
intervals, for which the day (as, “the first Tuesday of each
month”) should be prescribed by the bylaws and the hour and
place should be fixed by a standing rule.
9:2 If, instead, an organization follows the practice of scheduling
the day, hour, or place of its regular meetings by resolution,
notice (also referred to as the call of the meeting) must be sent
to all members a reasonable time in advance of each regular
meeting.
9:3 In any organization, notice must be sent a reasonable time in
advance of each regular meeting that is separated by more
than a quarterly time interval (see 9:7 below) from the previous
regular meeting. Notice must also be sent a reasonable time in
advance of a convention of delegates. In many organizations, a
call is sent to all members in advance of each meeting.
9:4 In all such cases, to avoid uncertainty about what period in
advance is reasonable, the specific number of days’ notice
required—which will depend on the conditions of the particular
assembly and which each organization must determine for
itself—should be prescribed in the bylaws (56:34). Unless
otherwise provided in the bylaws, the number of days is
computed by counting all calendar days (including holidays and
weekends), excluding the day of the meeting but including the
day the notice is sent.
9:5 When notice is required to be sent, unless a different
standard is specified that requirement is met if written notice is
sent to each member either:
a) by postal mail to the member’s last known address; or
b) by a form of electronic communication, such as e-mail or fax,
by which the member has agreed to receive notice.
9:6 Each regular meeting normally completes a separate
session, as explained in 8:4 (see Adjourned Meeting, 9:17–19
below, however). Some societies have frequent meetings for
social or cultural purposes at which business may be
transacted, and also hold a session every month or quarter
especially for business. In such societies, the term regular
meeting applies particularly to the regular business session.
9:7 Important rules relating to the continuance of a question from
one session to the next depend on whether no more than a
quarterly time interval intervenes between the two sessions. In
this book, it is understood that no more than a quarterly time
interval intervenes between two sessions if the second session
begins at any time during or before the third calendar month
after the calendar month in which the first session ends. For
example, with reference to a session held in January, no more
than a quarterly time interval has elapsed since the previous
session if that session ended on or after October 1st of the
preceding calendar year; and no more than a quarterly time
interval will elapse before the next session if that session will
begin on or before April 30th of the current year.
9:8 If two business sessions are separated by more than a
quarterly time interval—or if the term of a specified portion of
the membership expires before the start of the later session (as
may happen in an elected legislative assembly or in a board)—
then business can go over from the earlier session to the later
one only by means of referral to a committee (13).
9:9 If two consecutive regular business sessions are separated
by no more than a quarterly time interval, then—provided that
there is no specified portion of the membership whose term
expires before the start of the later session—there are several
ways in which business can go over from the earlier session to
the later one:3
1) by being postponed to, or otherwise set as a general or
special order for, the later session (see 14, 41);
2) by being laid on the table (17) at the earlier session and not
taken from the table (34) before that session adjourns;
3) by going over to the later session as unfinished business or
as an unfinished special order (see 21:7(b), 41:18–23);
4) by being the subject of a motion to Reconsider (37) that is
not finally disposed of at the earlier session; and
5) by being referred to a committee (13) that can report at the
later session.
9:10 The only way for business to be carried over directly from
one session to some later regular session beyond the next
regular business session is by being referred to a committee
that will report at that later session.
9:11 When a question is carried over from one session to
another by any of the above processes, it remains within the
control of the assembly as a question that has been
temporarily, but not finally, disposed of.
9:12 Any business that falls within the objects of the society as
defined in its bylaws (or, in the case of a board, any business
within the authority of the board) can be transacted at any
regular meeting (provided that the parliamentary rules relating
to action already taken, or to matters not finally disposed of
and remaining within the control of the assembly, are complied
with in cases where they apply; compare 10:26–27; see also
35 and 38).
Special Meeting
9:13 A special meeting (or called meeting) is a separate session
of a society held at a time different from that of any regular
meeting, and convened only to consider one or more items of
business specified in the call of the meeting. Notice of the time,
place, and purpose of the meeting, clearly and specifically
describing the subject matter of the motions or items of
business to be brought up, must be sent to all members a
reasonable number of days in advance. The reason for special
meetings is to deal with matters that may arise between regular
meetings and that require action by the society before the next
regular meeting, or to dedicate an entire session to one or
more particular matters.4 As in the case of a regular meeting,
the session of a special meeting in an ordinary society is
normally concluded in a single meeting, unless the assembly at
the special meeting schedules an adjourned meeting (see
below).
9:14 Special meetings can properly be called only (a) as
authorized in the bylaws (see 56:36); or (b) when authorized by
the assembly itself, as part of formal disciplinary procedures,
for purposes of conducting a trial and determining a
punishment (see 63:21n9). A section of the bylaws that
authorizes the calling of special meetings should prescribe:
1) by whom such a meeting is to be called—which provision is
usually in the form of a statement that the president (or, in
large organizations, the president with the approval of the
board) can call a special meeting, and that he shall call a
special meeting at the written request of a specific number of
members; and
2) the number of days’ notice required. The number of days is
computed in the same manner as for regular meetings (see
 9:4).
The president directs the secretary to send the notice of the
special meeting to all members at the society’s expense in
compliance with the bylaws no later than the required number
of days in advance, making sure that it contains all the
necessary information.
9:15 The only business that can be transacted at a special
meeting is that which has been specified in the call of the
meeting. This rule, however, does not preclude the
consideration of privileged motions, or of any subsidiary,
incidental, or other motions that may arise in connection with
the transaction of such business or the conduct of the meeting.
If, at a special meeting, action is taken relating to business not
mentioned in the call, that action, to become valid, must be
ratified (see 10:54–57) by the organization at a regular meeting
(or at another special meeting properly called for that purpose).
9:16 The requirement that business transacted at a special
meeting be specified in the call should not be confused with a
requirement that previous notice of a motion be given.
Although the call of a special meeting must state the purpose
of the meeting, it need not give the exact content of individual
motions that will be considered. When a main motion related to
business specified in the call of a special meeting is pending, it
is as fully open to germane amendment as if it had been
moved at a regular meeting.
Adjourned Meeting
9:17 An adjourned meeting is a meeting in continuation of the
session of the immediately preceding regular or special
meeting. The name adjourned meeting means that the meeting
is scheduled for a particular time (and place, if it is not
otherwise established) by the assembly’s “adjourning to” or
“adjourning until” that time and place. If a regular meeting or a
special meeting is unable to complete its work, an adjourned
meeting can be scheduled for later the same day or some
other convenient time before the next regular meeting, by the
adoption (as applicable) of a main or a privileged motion to fix
the time to which to adjourn, or a main motion to adjourn until
the specified time (see 21, 22). In such a case, the adjourned
meeting is sometimes spoken of as “an adjournment of” the
regular or special meeting. This usage should not be confused
with the act of adjourning.
9:18 When common expressions such as “regular [or “stated”]
meeting,” “special [or “called”] meeting,” and “annual meeting”
(see below) are used in the bylaws, rules, or resolutions
adopted by an organization, the word meeting is understood to
mean session in the parliamentary sense, and therefore covers
all adjourned meetings.
9:19 An adjourned meeting takes up its work at the point where it
was interrupted in the order of business or in the consideration
of the question that was postponed to the adjourned meeting,
except that the minutes of the preceding meeting are first read.
Annual Meeting
9:20 The term annual meeting is used in two senses.
9:21 Certain types of societies may hold only one business
meeting of the general membership each year, perhaps leaving
the management of the organization’s affairs in the meantime
to a board. Such a meeting is then the annual meeting of the
society.
9:22 In local organizations that hold regular business meetings
throughout the year, however, the bylaws may provide that one
of these regular meetings held at a specified time each year
shall be known as the annual meeting. The only difference
between this kind of annual meeting and the other regular
meetings is that the annual reports of officers and standing
committees, the election of officers, and any other items of
business that the bylaws may prescribe for the annual meeting
are in order, besides the ordinary business that may come up.
The minutes of the previous regular meeting are read and
approved as usual at the annual meeting, and the minutes of
the annual meeting are read and approved at the next regular
meeting. Minutes of one annual meeting should not be held for
action until the next one a year later.
9:23 Business that is required to be attended to “at the annual
meeting” can be taken up at any time (when it is in order)
during the session of the annual meeting, or, in other words,
either at that meeting as originally convened or at any
adjournment of it. If such an item of business has actually been
taken up as required during the session of the annual meeting,
it may also go over to a later session by any of the means by
which a matter may be temporarily, but not finally, disposed of
(9:8–11). This is usually unwise, however, unless completing
the item of business during the session proves impossible or
impractical. (See also 14:12.) If the assembly fails to take up
any such item of business as required before final adjournment
of the annual meeting, and the next regular meeting is held
within a quarterly time interval, the business goes over to that
meeting as unfinished business or an unfinished special order
(cf. 41:20).
Executive Session
9:24 An executive session in general parliamentary usage has
come to mean any meeting of a deliberative assembly, or a
portion of a meeting, at which the proceedings are secret. This
term originally referred to the consideration of executive
business—that is, presidential nominations to appointive
offices, and treaties—behind closed doors in the United States
Senate. The practice of organizations operating under the
lodge system is equivalent to holding all regular meetings in
executive session. In any society, certain matters relating to
discipline (61, 63), such as trials, must be handled only in
executive session. A meeting enters into executive session
only when required by rule or established custom, or upon the
adoption of a motion to do so. A motion to go into (or out of)
executive session is a question of privilege (19), and is
adopted by a majority vote.
9:25 Attendance at an Executive Session or Other Closed
Session. Whenever a meeting is being held in executive
session, only members of the body that is meeting, special
invitees, and such employees or staff members as the body or
its rules may determine to be necessary are allowed to remain
in the hall. Thus, in the case of a board or committee meeting
being held in executive session, all persons—whether or not
they are members of the organization—who are not members
of the board or committee (and who are not otherwise
specifically invited or entitled to attend) are excluded from the
meeting. When it is desired to similarly restrict attendance at a
particular meeting without imposing any obligation of secrecy
(or to remove a previously imposed restriction on attendance),
this may also be done by majority vote (see also 61:6–7).
9:26 Rules Relating to the Secrecy of an Executive Session.
The general rule is that anything that occurs in executive
session may not be divulged to nonmembers (except any
entitled to attend). However, action taken, as distinct from that
which was said in debate, may be divulged to the extent—and
only to the extent—necessary to carry it out. For example, if
during executive session a member is expelled or an officer is
removed from office, that fact may be disclosed to the extent
described in 63:3. If the assembly wishes to further lift the
secrecy of action taken in an executive session, it may adopt a
motion to do so, which is a motion to Amend Something
Previously Adopted (35). In making or debating such a motion,
the members must be careful, if the assembly is not in
executive session, to preserve the existing secrecy.
9:27 A member of a society can be punished under disciplinary
procedure if he violates the secrecy of an executive session.
Anyone else permitted to be present is honor-bound not to
divulge anything that occurred. Reading and approval of the
minutes of an executive session must take place only in
executive session, unless that which would be reported in the
minutes is not secret. When the minutes of an executive
session must be considered for approval at an executive
session held solely for that purpose, the brief minutes of the
latter meeting are, or are assumed to be, approved by that
meeting. (For additional rules regarding access to minutes and
other records, including those kept by boards and committees,
that are protected by the secrecy of an executive session, see
47:36 and 49:17–19.)
Public Session
9:28 A deliberative assembly or committee is normally entitled to
determine whether nonmembers may attend or be excluded
from its meetings (even when not in executive session). Many
public and semipublic bodies, however, are governed by
sunshine laws—that is, their meetings must be open to the
public. Normally, such laws have no application to private,
nongovernmental bodies.
9:29 In meetings of many public bodies, such as school boards,
the public may attend. Similarly, in some private organizations
such as church councils, parishioners may be permitted to
attend. These attendees are not members of the meeting body
and ordinarily have no right to participate. Some bodies,
especially public ones, may invite nonmembers to express their
views, but this is done under the control of the presiding officer
subject to any relevant rules adopted by the body and subject
to appeal by a member. Often, by rule or practice, time limits
are placed on speakers and relevance is closely monitored.
Electronic Meetings
9:30 Extension of Parliamentary Law to Electronic Meetings.
Except as authorized in the bylaws, the business of an
organization or board can be validly transacted only at a
regular or properly called meeting—that is, as defined in 8:2(1),
a single official gathering in one room or area—of the assembly
of its members at which a quorum is present.
9:31 Among some organizations, there is an increasing
preference, especially in the case of a relatively small board or
other assembly, to transact business at electronic meetings—
that is, at meetings at which, rather than all participating
members being physically present in one room or area as in
traditional (or “face-to-face”) meetings, some or all of them
communicate with the others through electronic means such as
the Internet or by telephone. A group that holds such
alternative meetings does not lose its character as a
deliberative assembly (see 1:1) so long as the meetings
provide, at a minimum, conditions of opportunity for
simultaneous aural communication among all participating
members equivalent to those of meetings held in one room or
area. Under such conditions, an electronic meeting that is
properly authorized in the bylaws is treated as though it were a
meeting at which all the members who are participating are
actually present.
9:32 If electronic meetings are to be authorized, it is advisable to
adopt additional rules pertaining to their conduct (see
Additional Rules for the Conduct of Electronic Meetings,
below).
9:33 Types of Electronic Meetings. Various provisions for
electronic meetings are possible, so that more than the
minimum standard of an audioconference may be required.
 Thus, if the bylaws provide for meeting by videoconference
(but not merely by “teleconference” or “audioconference”), the
meeting must be conducted by a technology that allows all
participating members to see each other, as well as to hear
each other, at the same time. Provision may also be made for
the use of additional collaborative technology to aid in the
conduct of a meeting.
9:34 It is important to understand that, regardless of the
technology used, the opportunity for simultaneous aural
communication is essential to the deliberative character of the
meeting. Therefore, a group that attempts to conduct the
deliberative process in writing (such as by postal mail, e-mail,
“chat rooms,” or fax)—which is not recommended—does not
constitute a deliberative assembly. Any such effort may achieve
a consultative character, but it is foreign to the deliberative
process as understood under parliamentary law.
9:35 Electronic Meetings in Committees. As in the case of a
board or any assembly, committees that are expressly
established by the bylaws can hold a valid electronic meeting
only if authorized in the bylaws to do so. A committee that is
not expressly established by the bylaws, however, may instead
be authorized to hold electronic meetings by a standing rule of
the parent body or organization, by the motion establishing the
particular committee, or by instructions included in a motion
referring an individual matter to the committee or issued
subsequent to such a motion (see 13:8(d), 13:22).
9:36 Additional Rules for the Conduct of Electronic Meetings. If
an organization authorizes its assembly, boards, or committees
to hold electronic meetings, such a provision should indicate
whether members who are not present in person have the right
to participate by electronic means, or whether the body may
choose to allow or disallow such participation; and, conversely,
whether there is required to be a central location for members
who wish to attend meetings in person. The notice of an
electronic meeting must include an adequate description of
how to participate in it (for example, the telephone number to
call for a teleconference must be provided). Various additional
rules (in the bylaws, special rules of order, standing rules, or
instructions to a committee, as appropriate) may also be
necessary or advisable regarding the conduct of electronic
meetings, such as rules relating to:
• the type of equipment or computer software required for
participation in meetings, whether the organization must
provide such equipment or software, and contingencies for
technical difficulties or malfunctions;
• methods for determining the presence of a quorum;
• the conditions under which a member may raise a point of
order doubting the presence of a quorum, and the conditions
under which the continued presence of a quorum is
presumed if no such point of order is raised;
• methods for seeking recognition and obtaining the floor;
• means by which motions may be submitted in writing during a
meeting; and
• methods for taking and verifying votes.
In addition, depending on the character of the organization, it
may be advisable to adopt provisions for ensuring that
nonmembers cannot participate in meetings (unless properly
invited to do so), especially during any meeting or portion of a
meeting held in executive session. (For examples of rules for
electronic meetings designed to meet various needs, see the
appendix Sample Rules for Electronic Meetings, pp. 635-649.)
Footnotes to Chapter
IV
1. Pronounced SIGN-ee DYE-ee.
2. If the assembly recesses rather than adjourns, that may preclude certain motions to
Suspend the Rules (see Renewal of the Motion, 25:6) and to Reconsider and Enter on
the Minutes (see 37:47(6)).
3. It should be noted that if some, but not all, of an organization’s regular business
sessions are separated by no more than quarterly time intervals, it is only between
meetings which are that close together that a question can go over from one session to
the next by any means other than referral to a committee. If a society holds regular
monthly business meetings from September through May, for example, but does not
meet during the summer, a question can be postponed until the next meeting at any of
the meetings from September through April, but such a question cannot be postponed at
the May meeting until the September meeting.
4. When a special meeting intervenes between two regular meetings, that does not affect
the rules governing whether and how business can go over from the earlier regular
meeting to the later regular meeting.
 CHAPTER
V

THE MAIN MOTION

§10. THE MAIN MOTION

10:1 As explained in 3–6, a main motion is a motion whose
introduction brings business before the assembly; such a
motion can be made only while no other motion is pending.
Distinction Between Original Main and Incidental
Main Motions
10:2 The division of main motions into original and incidental
main motions was mentioned in 6 and is discussed below.
10:3 An original main motion is a main motion that introduces a
substantive question as a new subject. This is the motion most
often used, and is the basic device by which a matter is
presented to the assembly for possible action, as “… that the
Club contribute $50 to the centennial celebration”; or “… that
the Society go on record as favoring the Popular Run route for
the proposed new beltway”; or “… to adopt the following
resolution: ‘Resolved, That the Northridge Improvement
Association oppose a municipal tax increase at this time.’” It
may be more suitable for an original main motion to be made
orally, or to be submitted in writing, depending on its length,
complexity, or importance. (See Making a Motion, 4:4–5, where
many of the statements apply especially to original main
motions.)
10:4 An incidental main motion is a main motion that is incidental
to or relates to the business of the assembly, or its past or
future action. Such a motion is distinguished by the following
characteristics:
1) It proposes an action specifically defined under
parliamentary law and described by a particular
parliamentary term. There are thus a definite number of
incidental main motions somewhat as in the case of the
secondary motions (subsidiary, privileged, and incidental)
and the motions that bring a question again before the
assembly.
2) It does not mark the beginning of a particular involvement of
the assembly in a substantive matter, as an original main
 motion does. (Like all main motions, however, it can be
made only when nothing is pending, and it brings business
before the assembly.) Action that can be proposed by the
incidental main motions may relate: (a) to further steps in
dealing with a substantive matter in which the assembly’s
involvement has begun earlier; or (b) to procedure, without
direct reference to a particular substantive item of business.
10:5 An incidental main motion involving a subject already
entered into might be a motion to adopt recommendations
which a committee has prepared upon instructions (not relating
to a referred motion), or a motion to ratify action taken at a
meeting when no quorum was present. An example of an
incidental main motion relating to procedure without reference
to an item of business would be a motion to take a recess,
made when no business is pending, or a motion to place a
special limit on the length of speeches throughout a meeting. In
each of the examples just mentioned, the italicized word—
adopt, ratify, limit, recess—is the parliamentary term that
describes the motion.
10:6 An incidental main motion is usually made orally. The chief
difference in the rules governing original and incidental main
motions is that an Objection to the Consideration of a Question
(26) can be applied only to original main and not to incidental
main motions. The reason is that, in the case of an incidental
main motion dealing with a subject previously entered into, the
involvement has already begun and it is too late to object; and
in the case of an incidental main motion involving only
procedure, an objection to its consideration has no legitimate
purpose. In conventions, incidental main motions are not
referred to a resolutions committee (59:67ff.).
10:7 Most of the incidental main motions closely correspond to
secondary (subsidiary, privileged, or incidental) motions
described by the same or similar names—as in the last two of
the four examples above. (Compare the subsidiary motion to
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, 15, and the privileged motion
to Recess, 20.) Referring to the Table of Rules Relating to
Motions on pages t6–t33, most of the motions listed as
“main”—with the exception of No. 1 (original main motion)—are
incidental main motions in their usual application. The motions
to adopt and to ratify are briefly discussed at the end of this
chapter.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
10:8 A main motion:
1. Takes precedence of nothing—that is, it cannot be moved
when any other question is pending. It yields to all
subsidiary, all privileged, and all applicable incidental
motions; that is, any subsidiary or privileged motion, and any
incidental motion that is applicable in the particular case at
the particular time, can be moved while a main motion is
pending.
2. Can be applied to no other motion. All subsidiary motions
can be applied to it. If it is postponed to a certain time or laid
on the table, it carries with it any subsidiary motions that may
also be pending. If it is referred to a committee, the only
subsidiary motions that it carries with it to the committee are
pending amendments (so that a motion to Postpone
Indefinitely, if pending, is dropped). An Objection to the
Consideration of a Question can be applied only to an
original main motion, not to an incidental main motion.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is debatable.
6. Is amendable.
7. Requires a majority vote, except:
a) when the motion proposes an action for which the bylaws
or special rules of order prescribe some other requirement
(such as a two-thirds vote, or previous notice (10:44–51),
or both)—for example, where the organization’s bylaws
require greater than a majority vote for motions proposing
admission to membership, the purchase or sale of real
estate, etc.;
b) when adoption of the motion would have the effect of
 suspending a rule of order or a parliamentary right of
members, in which case it requires a two-thirds vote—as,
for example, a motion to place a special limit on the length
or number of speeches per member during a meeting or a
session; or
c) when adoption of the motion would have the effect of
changing something already adopted, as in a motion to
postpone an event previously scheduled by vote of the
assembly, or to discharge a committee (from an
uncompleted task previously assigned to it by means of a
main motion, before the committee is ready to report)—in
which case the vote required is as stated in 35:2 under
Standard Characteristic 7 of the motion that takes the form
either to Rescind or to Amend Something Previously
Adopted.
8. Can be reconsidered. (See, however, Standard
Characteristic 8 of the motion that takes the form either to
Rescind or to Amend Something Previously Adopted,
35:2(8); with reference to the adoption of bylaws, see final
sentence of 54:20, and 57:1(3).)
The Framing of Main Motions
10:9 Wording of a Main Motion. If a main motion is adopted, it
becomes the officially recorded statement of an action taken by
the assembly. A motion should therefore be worded in a
concise, unambiguous, and complete form appropriate to such
a purpose. It cannot employ language that is not allowed in
debate (43). A member making a motion embodying something
that has just been said by the chair or another member in
informal consultation during a meeting should avoid statements
such as “I so move,” and should himself recite the complete
motion that he offers.
10:10 Motions to “reaffirm” a position previously taken by
adopting a motion or resolution are not in order. Such a motion
serves no useful purpose because the original motion is still in
effect; also, possible attempts to amend a motion to reaffirm
would come into conflict with the rules for the motion to Amend
Something Previously Adopted (35); and if such a motion to
reaffirm failed, it would create an ambiguous situation.
10:11 A motion whose only effect is to propose that the assembly
refrain from doing something should not be offered if the same
result can be accomplished by offering no motion at all. It is
incorrect, for example, to move “that no response be made” to
a request for a contribution to a fund, or “that our delegates be
given no instructions,” unless some purpose would be served
by adoption of such a motion. This could be the case, for
example, if the membership of an organization wishes to make
certain that a subordinate body, such as its executive board,
will not take such action at a later date, or if the motion
expresses an opinion or reason as to why no action should be
taken.
10:12 It is preferable to avoid a motion containing a negative
 statement even in cases where the effect of the motion is to
propose that something be done, since members may become
confused as to the effect of voting for or against such a
motion. Rather than moving, for example, that the association
go on record as “not in favor of the proposed public bond
issue,” it should be moved that the association “oppose” or
“declare its opposition to” the bond issue. In this connection, it
should be noted that voting down a motion or resolution that
would express a particular opinion is not the same as adopting
a motion expressing the opposite opinion, since—if the motion
is voted down—neither opinion has been expressed. A
member may be in complete agreement with the views
contained in such a resolution yet feel that his organization
should not speak out on the matter, and he might therefore
vote against the resolution.
10:13 Motions Submitted in Writing; Resolutions. As previously
stated, a main motion—particularly an original main motion—is
frequently offered as a resolution, either because of its
importance or because of its length or complexity. Any
resolution—and any long or complicated motion, whether cast
as a resolution or not—should always be submitted in writing
as described in 4:5. In preparing an important written motion
or resolution (which should be done in advance of the meeting
if possible), it is often advisable to consult with members who
can be of assistance in perfecting it, and also with those
whose support is likely to be necessary for its adoption. If such
a motion is not offered as a resolution, it can simply be written
out in the form in which it would be moved orally (beginning
with the word “That”); for example, “That the Merchants’
Association sponsor an essay contest open to high school
students of the city, to be conducted according to the following
specifications:.…” If put in the form of a resolution, the
 preceding example would be written, “Resolved, That the
Merchants’ Association sponsor an essay contest.…” In a
resolution, the name of the adopting organization can also be
made a part of the enacting words, as in “Resolved by the
International Benevolent Association in convention assembled,
That.…”
10:14 The form in which a main motion is written does not
determine in any way what must be referred to a “resolutions
committee,” nor does it affect the form of the motions reported
by such a committee (see, for example, “platform,” 59:76–77).
10:15 An example of a simple resolution expressing an opinion or
position of an organized society is given in 10:3. If the
resolution is offered in a mass meeting (or in any meeting
where there is no established organization whose act the
adopted resolution would become), it may begin, “Resolved,
That it is the sense of this meeting that…” A resolution can
consist of more than one resolving clause, as in the following
example:

Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that the existing zoning
ordinance should undergo a general revision; and
Resolved, That the Secretary be requested to send a copy of this
resolution, and of the report already presented at this meeting, to the
Mayor and to each member of the City Council.

10:16 Use of a Preamble. It is usually inadvisable to attempt to

include reasons for a motion’s adoption within the motion itself.
To do so may encumber the motion and may weigh against its
adoption—since some members who approve of the action it
proposes may dislike voting for it if it states reasons with which
they disagree. When special circumstances make it desirable
to include a brief statement of background, the motion should
be cast in the form of a resolution, with the background or
reasons incorporated in a preamble that is placed before the
 resolving clauses. A preamble consists of one or more clauses
beginning “Whereas,.…” It should be emphasized that neither
rule nor custom requires a resolution to have a preamble, and
one should not be used merely for the sake of form. In
general, the use of a preamble should be limited to cases
where it provides little-known information without which the
point or the merits of a resolution are likely to be poorly
understood, where unusual importance is attached to making
certain reasons for an action a matter of record, or the like.
10:17 An example of a resolution with an appropriate preamble
might be the following:
Whereas, A privately conducted survey by experts engaged by the
Association reveals conditions constituting a serious fire hazard
throughout the lower office-building area bordering the waterfront;
Resolved, That a committee of seven consisting of [names of four], and
three others to be named by the chair, be appointed to draw up
recommendations whereby the Association may bring to bear all
possible influence to secure proper enforcement of city fire
regulations and any revision of them that may be found to be
appropriate.

10:18 To avoid detracting from the force of the resolution itself, a

preamble generally should contain no more clauses than are
strictly necessary. In cases where an elaborate resolution
(consisting of several preamble clauses and several resolving
clauses) cannot be avoided, however, the following skeleton
example will serve as a guide:

Whereas, The… [text of the first preamble clause];

Whereas,… [text of the next to the last preamble clause]; and
Whereas,… [text of the last preamble clause];
Resolved, That… [stating action to be taken];
Resolved, That… [stating further action to be taken]; and
Resolved, That… [stating still further action to be taken].
10:19 In the consideration of a resolution having a preamble, the
preamble is always amended last, since changes in the
resolving clauses may require changes in the preamble. In
moving the adoption of a resolution, the preamble is not
usually mentioned, since it is included in the resolution. When
the Previous Question (16) is ordered on the resolution before
the preamble has been considered for amendment, however,
the Previous Question does not apply to the preamble, which
becomes open to debate and amendment unless the Previous
Question is then separately ordered on it also.

10:20 Details of Form and Variations in Resolutions. The

following details regarding the usual form for writing
resolutions, and the variations that are used, should be noted:
10:21 If there is a preamble, each clause, written as a separate
paragraph, begins with the word “Whereas” followed by a
comma, and the next word should begin with a capital letter.
The preamble, regardless of how many paragraphs it has,
should never contain a period. Each of its paragraphs should
close with a semicolon, followed, in the case of the next to the
last paragraph, by the word “and” (which is optional for the
preceding paragraphs also). The last paragraph of the
preamble should close with a semicolon, after which a
connecting expression such as “therefore” or “therefore, be it”
or “now, therefore, be it” is sometimes added. When one of
these phrases is included, no punctuation should follow it, and
it should always be placed at the end of the preamble
paragraph, never at the beginning of the resolving paragraph,
thus:
Whereas, The… [text of the preamble]; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That… [stating action to be taken].

A resolution is often more forceful with a minimum of

 connecting words, however, as in the earlier examples above.

10:22 The word “Resolved” is underlined or printed in italics, and

is followed by a comma and the word “That”—which begins
with a capital “T.” If there is more than one resolving clause,
each of them should be a separate paragraph. Unless the
paragraphs are numbered as in the alternative form described
below, each paragraph begins with the words “Resolved,
That,” just as the first resolving clause. Each resolving
paragraph may close with a semicolon (followed by the word
“and” at least in the case of the next to the last, as in the
example already shown); or each resolving paragraph may
end with a period. A resolving paragraph should not contain a
period within its structure, though observance of this rule is
becoming less strict. As an alternative form, separate
paragraphs, except the first, may be numbered and begin with
the word “That”—as follows:
Resolved, That…
2. That…
3. That…

10:23 (For the format used in a platform, see 59:76–77.)

10:24 Orders (Instructions to Employees). In organizations with

employees, the assembly or the board can give instructions to
an employee in the form of an order, which is written just as a
resolution except that the word “Ordered” is used in place of
the word “Resolved.” An example would be: “Ordered, That
the steward obtain impoundment of all unauthorized vehicles
found parked on the club premises.”

10:25 Series of Resolutions Offered by a Single Main Motion. If a

single composite proposal for taking a number of actions in
reference to a particular subject has too many elements to be
conveniently written into one resolution (even of several
clauses), it can be set forth in a series of separate resolutions
that can be numbered and offered by means of a single main
motion, thus: “Mr. President, I move the adoption of [or “I
offer”] the following resolutions:…” Such a series of resolutions
can include orders as described above. In the case of a series
of resolutions relating to a single subject, if members desire
one or more of the resolutions to be considered separately, the
motion for Division of a Question (27) must be made and
adopted by a majority vote. Sometimes a series of
independent resolutions relating to completely different
subjects is offered by a single main motion in the same way. In
the latter case—where the subjects are independent—any
resolution in the series must be taken up and voted on
separately at the demand of a single member. Such a demand
can be made even when another has the floor, at any time
until the vote has been taken on adopting the series. A
member wishing to make this demand rises and says, for
example, “Mr. President, I call for a separate vote on
Resolution No. 2.”
Main Motions That Are Not in Order
10:26 Below are stated a number of characteristics or conditions
that cause a particular main motion to be out of order, and—
where applicable—the alternative courses that are open for
accomplishing the desired result:
1) No main motion is in order that conflicts with the corporate
charter, constitution, or bylaws1 (although a main motion to
amend them may be in order; see 35, 57); and to the extent
that procedural rules applicable to the organization or
assembly are prescribed by federal, state, or local law, no
main motion is in order that conflicts with such rules.
2) A main motion that proposes action outside the scope of the
organization’s object as defined in the corporate charter,
constitution, or bylaws is not in order unless the assembly by
a two-thirds vote authorizes its introduction. If a member
offers such a main motion, the chair can put to the assembly
the question whether it shall be considered; or, if the chair
rules the motion out of order, any member can move to
authorize its introduction. This question is neither debatable
nor amendable. If a two-thirds vote is not obtained, the main
motion cannot be introduced at that session unless the vote
on authorizing its introduction is reconsidered, but it can be
authorized at any later session. (An affirmative vote on
authorizing its introduction cannot be reconsidered.)
3) No main motion is in order that presents substantially the
same question as a motion that was finally disposed of
earlier in the same session by being rejected, postponed
indefinitely (11), or subjected to an Objection to the
Consideration of a Question (26) that was sustained. A main
motion that was thus disposed of can, however, be renewed
 (38)—that is, the same question can be introduced again as
if new—at any later session; or, a motion to reconsider the
vote that disposed of it can be made for a limited time during
the same session, and if such a motion to Reconsider (37) is
adopted, the previously disposed of main motion will thereby
become pending.2
4) Apart from a motion to Rescind or to Amend Something
Previously Adopted (35), no main motion is in order that
conflicts with a motion previously adopted at any time and
still in force.3 If a main motion that interferes with a desired
action has been adopted, a motion to reconsider (37) the
vote on it can be made for a limited time during the same
session; and if it is reconsidered, it can be voted down or
amended as desired, in the reconsideration. Although
reconsideration is the preferable procedure in such a case
when possible, an adopted main motion, at any time before
or after it is too late to reconsider it, can be changed by
means of the motion to Amend Something Previously
Adopted, or it can be rescinded and the desired new motion
can then be introduced.
5) No main motion is in order that would conflict with or that
presents substantially the same question as one which has
been temporarily but not finally disposed of—whether in the
same or an earlier session—and which remains within the
control of the assembly (see 9:7–11, 38:8). If a motion that
has been temporarily disposed of interferes with the desired
introduction of another main motion, it can be brought before
the assembly again (at which point the earlier motion can
possibly be amended to encompass the idea of the desired
new motion), as follows:
a) If it is in the hands of a committee, the committee can be
discharged from further consideration of the question, or
the vote that referred it to the committee can be
 reconsidered (so long as such reconsideration is
permissible) and reversed (see 13, 36, 37).
b) If it is due to come up at a later time, or at a later point in
the order of business, as a general order, a special order,
or unfinished business, the rules can be suspended and it
can be taken up out of its proper order, or any intervening
items of business can be individually laid on the table or
postponed as they arise, or the vote that established the
general order or special order can be reconsidered (so
long as such reconsideration is permissible) and reversed
(see 41, especially 41:37–39).
c) If it lies on the table, it can be taken from the table (see 17,
34).
d) If it is the subject of a motion to Reconsider (37) that has
been made but not finally disposed of, the motion to
Reconsider can be adopted.4 Such a motion to
Reconsider—if it is not already pending—can be brought
before the assembly for this purpose as follows: (1) if it
has not yet been taken up, it can be called up by any
member when no other question is pending, or (2) if it has
been taken up and temporarily disposed of, it can be
brought before the assembly again by whichever of the
processes mentioned in (b) or (c) above is applicable.
10:27 Many of the alternative courses for obtaining a result that
cannot be directly reached through a main motion, as
described above, involve parliamentary motions having special
requirements (such as a two-thirds vote or previous notice,
10:44–51) for their adoption. The rules relating to the motions
to Suspend the Rules (25), Take from the Table (34), Rescind
or Amend Something Previously Adopted (35), Discharge a
Committee (36), and Reconsider (37), and the rules relating to
the renewal of motions (38), should be read in connection with
the application of these methods.
Treatment of Main Motions
10:28 The basic procedure by which main motions are introduced
and considered is described in detail in 4. Additional points to
be noted in connection with the handling of main motions are
as follows:
10:29 Procedures by Which the Proposal Contained in a Main
Motion Can Be Improved Upon Before Action Is Taken. As
previously noted (4:7–8), it is a general parliamentary rule that
a subject must be brought up in the form of a motion
(embodying a specific proposal) before it can be discussed in
a meeting of an assembly. A motion should be as well thought
out as possible before it is introduced. At the same time, it will
frequently happen that the assembly—although desiring to
take some kind of action on the subject that a main motion has
brought to its attention—wishes to make some change in the
proposal before voting on its adoption.
10:30 There are several means by which such a result can be
accomplished, depending on the conditions and the degree or
scope of the changes desired. The courses that are open in
such cases are summarized below:
1) After a main motion has been made and before the question
has been stated by the chair, any member can quickly rise
and, with little or no explanatory comment, informally
suggest one or more modifications in the motion, which at
this point the maker can accept or reject as he wishes (see
4:20–22). Application of this method should generally be
limited to minor changes about which there is unlikely to be a
difference of opinion.
2) After the question has been stated by the chair—although
the assembly, and not the maker of the motion, then has
 control over its wording—the maker can request unanimous
consent to modify the motion (see 33:11–19). If any member
then objects, however, the desired modification must be
introduced in the form of a motion to Amend, as noted below.
3) By means of the subsidiary motion to Amend (12), members
can propose changes to be made in the wording and, within
limits, the meaning of a pending main motion before it is
voted on. These amendments must be seconded, are
debatable, and are adopted by a majority vote. Such
proposed amendments can take the form of either:
a) changes to particular words or paragraphs in the main
motion—of which several specific types are permitted
under the rules for the motion to Amend; or
b) a motion to substitute an entire new text of the main
motion in place of the pending version (see 12:69–90).
Whatever amendments are adopted, the main motion is then
voted on in its amended form.
4) If proper recasting of a main motion will require time or
study, the subsidiary motion to Commit (13), which is
adopted by a majority vote, can be used to refer the main
motion to a committee. When this committee reports, it
normally recommends appropriate amendments for the
assembly’s consideration. Such a committee can be a
special committee, appointed only for the particular case, or
it can be one of a number of standing committees that may
be permanently established within the organization (see 50).
Some assemblies provide in their rules for the automatic
referral of all main motions dealing with certain classes of
subjects to specified standing committees as soon as they
are introduced. Bills are handled in this manner in most
legislative bodies. In conventions, the rules of the
organization often require that all resolutions not reviewed by
some other committee be submitted to a Resolutions
 Committee before coming before the general voting body
(see 59:67–71). Where an assembly is large and has a
volume of business, it is usually desirable to have every
main question go to a committee before final action is taken.
5) If the general problem posed by a main motion might be
better dealt with by an alternative measure that cannot
conveniently be proposed as an amendment in the form of a
substitute (see above), a member speaking in debate can
urge rejection of the pending main motion, saying that if it is
voted down he will offer a different main motion which he can
describe briefly and which deals with the general problem in
a substantially different way (see 10:26(3)). Or, with the
same explanation, he may move to postpone the main
motion indefinitely (11). If the pending motion is thereafter
voted down, or indefinitely postponed, the chair immediately
recognizes this member again for the purpose of making his
alternative motion, even if another member rises to claim the
floor first and addresses the chair.
10:31 Introduction of Subsidiary or Incidental Motions as a Part
of—or Privileged Motions as an Interruption of—the
Consideration of a Main Motion. While a main motion is
pending, as described in 5 and 6, one or more subsidiary
motions or incidental motions can be introduced and disposed
of as an integral part of the main motion’s consideration, or the
introduction of one or more privileged motions can interrupt its
consideration. A member may speak in debate on the main
motion and conclude by offering a secondary motion.
10:32 Such motions are usually made during the period while the
main motion is open to debate, although certain incidental
motions can also arise before or after this stage in its handling.
The precise times and circumstances when each of these
motions is in order are determined by the first three of the
 motion’s standard descriptive characteristics. If the assembly’s
treatment of a particular main motion involves a number of
these other motions, they may occur in such a way that each
one of them is disposed of before the next is introduced, or—
depending on the circumstances—several of them may
become pending at one time by operation of the order of
precedence of motions (see 5:3–13).
10:33 In the latter case, when a motion that takes precedence
over all pending questions is made, that motion is disposed of
first, and then “the question recurs” on the next-most-recently-
moved motion; that is (as far as applicable in the existing
parliamentary situation), its consideration is resumed at the
point where the higher-ranking motion interrupted it. This
motion is again open to debate and amendment if it is a
debatable and amendable motion. In this manner, the motions
in the series of pending questions are voted on in the reverse
of the order in which they were made—with the main motion
being voted on last—unless the result of the vote on one of the
other motions causes consideration of the remainder of the
series to be halted.
10:34 This principle may be illustrated by a somewhat more
complicated example than may ordinarily occur in practice.
Referring to the explanation of subsidiary, privileged, and
incidental motions in 6, assume that the following series of
motions is pending and that the motions have been moved in
the order shown:
1) a main motion;
2) a motion to postpone the main question indefinitely;
3) an amendment to the main motion;
4) a motion to refer the main question (with the pending
amendment) to a committee;
5) a motion to postpone the pending questions to a certain
 time;
6) a motion to vote on the postponement by ballot;
7) a motion to lay the pending questions on the table; and
8) a motion to take a recess.
In such a case, the motion to Recess is voted on first, then the
motion to Lay on the Table, and so on, proceeding upward
through the list above. If any one of the motions (8), (7), (5),
(4), or (2) is adopted, however, consideration of the remaining
motions stops. These processes, and others that may be
employed in or interrupt a main motion’s consideration, are
explained initially in 6 and are further illustrated in the
examples in 11–33.
10:35 A subsidiary or incidental motion adhere to a main question
if it is related to the main question in such a way that—once
introduced—it must be decided before the main question can
be decided. Adhering motions thus remain connected with the
main question if that question is interrupted or temporarily
disposed of, and remain to be decided first if and when the
main question is taken up again. In the example in the
preceding paragraph, motions (2) through (7) adhere to the
main motion—except that motion (2), to Postpone Indefinitely,
would cease to adhere to it if motion (4), to Commit, were
adopted (see Standard Descriptive Characteristic 2, 10:8).
Motion (8) in the example does not adhere to the main
question.
10:36 Main Motions Brought Up by Means of a Call for the
Orders of the Day or by Raising a Question of Privilege.
Under the process by which a main motion is normally
introduced, as already explained, it can be moved only while
no motion is pending. Certain questions may come before the
assembly with the status of main motions after having
interrupted other business, however, if they are brought up by
means of either of the two lowest-ranking privileged motions.
To Call for the Orders of the Day (18) and to Raise a Question
of Privilege (19) each have privileged rank and can therefore
interrupt pending business. As a result of the application of
one of these devices to interrupt a pending question, an order
of the day (that is, another question previously set as due to
come up automatically at the time) may be taken up, or an
urgent motion relating to the privileges of the assembly or of a
member may be admitted as a question of privilege to be
entertained immediately. But when such an order of the day or
question of privilege has thus become pending, it is treated
exactly as any other main motion. (The description of the first
two privileged motions in 6:12 and the sections on them
referred to above should be read in connection with this
paragraph.)
Notes on Example Format Throughout the Book
10:37 Below for the main motion, and in each of the succeeding
sections covering the different motions of parliamentary law
(11–37), is a subsection headed Form and Example giving a
script showing the words to be spoken by a member making
the motion and by the chair in stating and putting the question
on it. In these subsections and throughout this book as
applicable, the following methods of notation are used:
• The examples generally show the presiding officer addressed
as “Mr. President” or “Madam President.” While this form
corresponds to the chair’s designation in most organized
societies, the presiding officer should be addressed by
whatever is his or her official title in the particular organization
or assembly. Where he or she has no special title, or in a
meeting of an unorganized body such as a mass meeting, the
form “Mr. Chairman” or “Madam Chairman” should be used
(see also 3:10–12).
• The phrase “obtaining the floor” in parentheses before words
spoken by a member indicates that this member must first
obtain the floor in the manner explained in 3:30–35.
• The word “Second” in parentheses after words spoken in
making a motion indicates that, except in cases where it is
proposed on behalf of a board or a committee, another
member must second the motion as described in 4:9–14, and
that it is assumed that this is done.
Form and Example
10:38 The example below illustrates the handling of a main
motion in a case that involves only the basic forms of the six
principal steps—three in bringing the motion before the
assembly (4:2) and three in its consideration (4:25).
10:39 Assume that the chair has just asked if there is any new
business (see 41:27).
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move that the Society contribute
$100 to the Centennial Celebration. (Second.)
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded that the Society contribute $100 to
the Centennial Celebration. [Proceeding as shown in 4:15.]

10:40 The chair immediately turns toward Member A (who

resumed his seat after making his motion) to see if he wishes
the floor first in debate (see 3:33(1)). Member A is already
rising to claim the floor. The chair recognizes him:
CHAIR: Mr. A.

10:41 Member A explains the reasons why the contribution

should be made, followed by others who also speak in debate
after having obtained the floor. When debate appears to have
ended, the chair makes sure that no one else wishes to speak,
as by asking, “Are you ready for the question?” or “Is there any
further debate?” and then puts the question—that is, puts the
motion to a vote—as follows:
CHAIR: The question is on the motion that the Society contribute $100
to the Centennial Celebration. Those in favor of the motion, say aye.
[Pausing for response.]… Those opposed, say no.… The ayes have
it and the motion is agreed to. The Treasurer will issue the
appropriate check and the Secretary will prepare a covering letter
 forwarding the contribution to the Chairman of the Centennial
Commission. Is there further new business?

10:42 If the assembly is taking up business under the heading of

Special Orders in the order of business, or that of Unfinished
Business and General Orders (rather than New Business as in
the above example), the chair, instead of saying, “Is there
further new business,” announces, “The next item of business
is… [immediately proceeding to state the question]” (see
41:19–26).
10:43 (See 4 for variations in the steps illustrated above. For
examples of the use of subsidiary and incidental motions in
the handling of main motions and the application of privileged
motions while a main motion is pending, see 11–33.)
Previous Notice of Motions
10:44 The term previous notice (or notice), as applied to
necessary conditions for the adoption of certain motions, has a
particular meaning in parliamentary law. A requirement of
previous notice means that announcement that the motion will
be introduced—indicating its exact content as described below
—must be included in the call of the meeting (1:7, 9:2–5) at
which the motion will be brought up, or, as a permissible
alternative, if no more than a quarterly time interval (see 9:7)
will have elapsed since the preceding meeting, the
announcement must be made at the preceding meeting.
10:45 Motions that have the effect of changing or nullifying
previous action of the assembly—such as the motion to
Rescind or to Amend Something Previously Adopted (35), the
motion to Discharge a Committee (36), or a motion to
postpone an event already scheduled—require previous notice
if they are to be adopted by only a majority vote. Accordingly, it
is ordinarily desirable to give previous notice if there is a
possibility of serious disagreement. The adoption or
amendment of special rules of order requires either (a)
previous notice and a two-thirds vote or (b) a vote of a majority
of the entire membership—as does the amendment of bylaws
if they do not prescribe the procedure for their amendment,
which they should do (see also Table of Rules Relating to
Motions, pages t6–t33). Bylaws or special rules of order
sometimes also provide a requirement of notice for original
main motions dealing with certain subjects (compare Standard
Characteristic 7(a), 10:8).
10:46 Subject to any rules of the organization that provide how
notice shall be given, it can be given as follows:
10:47 If previous notice is given at a meeting, it can be given
 orally unless the rules of the organization require it to be in
writing—which is often the case with notice of amendments to
bylaws. Unless the rules require the full text of the motion,
resolution, or bylaw amendment to be submitted in the notice,
only the purport need be indicated; but such a statement of
purport must be accurate and complete—as in “to raise the
annual dues to $20”—since it will determine what
amendments are in order when the motion is considered. The
notice becomes invalid if the motion is amended beyond the
scope of the notice (see also 35, 57).
10:48 When no question is pending, a member desiring to give a
notice is entitled to preference in recognition (but see 42:6–13
for circumstances in which others may have a higher priority
for such preference). But if the member wishing to give the
notice is unable to obtain the floor while no business is
pending (as may sometimes happen, for example, in a
convention that is following an adopted agenda or program,
41, or in cases where a meeting of an ordinary society
adjourns before completing its regular order of business), the
notice, if necessary, can interrupt pending business or any
other pending motion; the notice is also in order when another
person has been assigned the floor but has not yet begun to
speak, and is in order even after it has been voted to adjourn,
provided that the chair has not yet declared the meeting
adjourned (see also 21:10–12).
10:49 A notice can be given and taken note of in a meeting as
follows:

MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I give notice that at the next

meeting I will move to rescind the resolution adopted April 17, 20__,
relating to…
CHAIR: Notice has been given that at the next meeting… [repeating
the substance of the notice].
10:50 The secretary then records the notice in the minutes. If the
member desiring to give the notice is unable to obtain the
floor, the following variations in form can be used as
appropriate to the case:
MEMBER A (rising and addressing the chair immediately after the
chair has recognized another member, Mr. Y, and before the
latter has begun to speak—or remaining standing if he has just
sought the floor unsuccessfully): Mr. President!
CHAIR: For what purpose does the member rise [or, if Member A has
remained standing after seeking the floor, “For what purpose does
the member address the chair”]?
MEMBER A: I wish to give notice of the following amendment to the
bylaws: “To amend Article II, Section 3, by…”
CHAIR: Notice has been given of the following amendment to the
bylaws:… Mr. Y has the floor.

10:51 Instead of being given at a meeting, a notice can also be

sent to every member with the call of the meeting at which the
matter is to come up for action, in cases where there is a duty
or established custom of issuing such a call. In such cases,
the member desiring to give the notice writes to the secretary
alone, requesting that the notice be sent with the call of the
next meeting, and the secretary then does this at the expense
of the society.
Motion to Adopt and Motion to Ratify
10:52 A motion to adopt (or accept or agree to) an officer’s or a
committee’s report or recommendations which the assembly
(by means of a main motion) directed the officer or committee
to prepare is an incidental main motion. A motion to adopt or
accept a report or the recommendations of a standing
committee prepared on the committee’s own initiative and
dealing with a subject that was not expressly referred to the
committee, however, is an original main motion.
10:53 A motion to adopt a resolution, bylaws, or any other
document can be amended by adding, “and that it be printed
and that members be furnished with copies,” or, “that it [or
“they”] go into effect at the close of this annual meeting,” or
anything of a similar nature (see also 51; for the adoption of
bylaws, see 54:15–20 and 56:15).
10:54 The motion to ratify (also called approve or confirm) is an
incidental main motion that is used to confirm or make valid an
action already taken that cannot become valid until approved
by the assembly. Cases where the procedure of ratification is
applicable include:
• action improperly taken at a regular or properly called
meeting at which no quorum was present (40:6–10);
• action taken at a special meeting with regard to business not
mentioned in the call of that meeting (9:15–16);
• action taken by officers, committees, delegates, subordinate
bodies, or staff in excess of their instructions or authority—
including action to carry out decisions made without a valid
meeting, such as by approval obtained separately from all
board members (49:16) or at an electronic meeting (9:30–36)
of a body for which such meetings are not authorized;
• action taken by a local unit that requires approval of the state
 or national organization; or
• action taken by a state or national society subject to approval
by its constituent units.
10:55 An assembly can ratify only such actions of its officers,
committees, delegates, subordinate bodies, or staff as it would
have had the right to authorize in advance. It cannot make
valid a voice-vote election when the bylaws require elections
to be by ballot; nor can it ratify anything done in violation of
procedural rules prescribed by national, state, or local law, or
in violation of its own bylaws, except that provision for a
quorum in the bylaws does not prevent it from ratifying action
taken at a meeting when no quorum was present.
10:56 A motion to ratify can be amended by substituting a motion
of censure, and vice versa, when the action involved has been
taken by an officer or other representative of the assembly.
10:57 Since the motion to ratify (or to censure) is a main motion,
it is debatable and opens the entire question to debate.
Footnotes to Chapter
V
1. However, an incidental main motion that conflicts with a provision in the nature of a rule
of order in the bylaws or constitution is in order provided that (a) the motion has no
continuing force and effect beyond the current session and (b) the provision that it
conflicts with is one that can be suspended. Such a motion is, in effect, an incidental
main motion to suspend the rules, and the vote required for its adoption is the same as
for the corresponding incidental motion (25)—that is, it usually requires a two-thirds vote.
(See 6:23, 25:2(7), 25:7–14.) For example, it is in order, by a two-thirds vote, to adopt an
agenda for the current session that differs from an order of business set forth in the
bylaws.
2. Upon the reconsideration of a vote that postponed a main motion indefinitely, both the
main motion and the motion to Postpone Indefinitely will become pending, the motion to
Postpone Indefinitely becoming the immediately pending question.
3. Unless an adopted main motion specifies a time for the termination of its effect, it
continues in force until it is rescinded.
4. Rejection of the motion to Reconsider will not cause the main motion to be brought
before the assembly again, but will cause the vote that had previously disposed of the
main motion to become final.
 CHAPTER
VI

SUBSIDIARY MOTIONS
 See 6:3ff. for a list of these motions and a description of their
characteristics as a class.

§11. POSTPONE INDEFINITELY

(To drop the main motion without a direct vote on it)
11:1 Postpone Indefinitely is a motion that the assembly decline
to take a position on the main question. Its adoption kills the
main motion (for the duration of the session) and avoids a
direct vote on the question. It is useful in disposing of a badly
chosen main motion that cannot be either adopted or expressly
rejected without possibly undesirable consequences.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
11:2 The subsidiary motion to Postpone Indefinitely:
1. Takes precedence over nothing except the main question to
which it is applied. It is the lowest-ranking subsidiary motion
and yields to all other subsidiary motions, to all privileged
motions, and to all applicable incidental motions.
2. Can be applied only to the main question and can therefore
be made only while a main question is immediately pending.
Motions to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate and for the
Previous Question can be applied to it without affecting the
main question. It cannot be committed (although the motion
to Commit can be made while it is pending; see below). It
cannot be definitely postponed or laid on the table alone, but
when it is pending, the main question can be definitely
postponed or laid on the table, and in such a case, the
motion to Postpone Indefinitely is also postponed to the
specified time or carried to the table.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is debatable; and, unlike the case of any other subsidiary
motion, debate on the motion to Postpone Indefinitely can go
fully into the merits of the main question.
6. Is not amendable.
7. Requires a majority vote.
8. An affirmative vote on the motion to Postpone Indefinitely
can be reconsidered.1 A negative vote on it cannot be
reconsidered, and after such a vote this motion cannot be
renewed as to the same main motion, for two reasons: (a) by
the negative vote on Postpone Indefinitely, the effort to
prevent the issue raised by the main motion from coming to
a head is already lost; and (b) the opponents of the main
motion will be given another chance to kill it by direct
rejection when the vote on the main motion is taken.
Further Rules and Explanation
11:3 Effect on the Pending Motion. The effect of postponing a
question indefinitely is to suppress it throughout the current
session. In a convention or conference consisting of several
meetings, the suppression continues throughout the entire
series of meetings, and in ordinary societies, throughout the
weekly, monthly, or other meeting, as the case may be.
Consequently, the adoption of the motion to Postpone
Indefinitely is in effect an indirect rejection of the main motion.
11:4 Effect of Referral (of the Main Motion) on a Pending Motion
to Postpone Indefinitely. If a main motion is referred to a
committee while Postpone Indefinitely is pending, the latter
motion is ignored and does not go to the committee, since the
adoption of the motion to Commit indicates that the assembly
is not in favor of postponing indefinitely.
11:5 Occasional Special Use. The motion to Postpone Indefinitely
is sometimes employed by strategists to test their strength on a
motion they oppose. Making this motion enables members who
have exhausted their right of debate on the main question to
speak further because, as explained under Standard
Characteristic 5, the motion to Postpone Indefinitely, though
technically a new question, necessarily involves debate of the
main question. Its effect, therefore, is to give the opponents of
the pending measure a chance to kill it without risking its
adoption, as they would be doing if the vote were taken on the
main motion itself. If opponents of the main question carry the
indefinite postponement, the main question is suppressed for
the session; if they fail, they still have a vote on the main
question and, having learned their strength by the vote on the
indefinite postponement, can form an opinion as to the
advisability of continuing their effort.
Form and Example
11:6 Assume that the following resolution is pending in a meeting
of a local unit of a state professional society: “Resolved, That
the Ferndale Unit endorse the State President of the Society,
James Thornton, for the office of United States Senator.”
Debate creates a delicate situation. Members are loyal to their
state president, but in questions of public office they wish to
support the nominee of their choice. Yet, for them to vote no on
the endorsement might appear to be a repudiation of their state
president. Furthermore, a vote on this question either in the
affirmative or in the negative might tend to create an
unfortunate division within the local unit.

MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move that the resolution be

postponed indefinitely. (Second.)
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded that the resolution pertaining to the
endorsement of James Thornton for United States Senator be
postponed indefinitely. The chair recognizes Mr. A.

11:7 Debate on the subsidiary motion to Postpone Indefinitely will

likely involve also the advisability of the resolution itself. When
debate ceases, however, the subsidiary motion is voted on
first.

CHAIR: The question is on the motion to postpone indefinitely the

resolution, “Resolved, That the Ferndale Unit endorse the State
President of the Society, James Thornton, for the office of United
States Senator.” As many as are in favor of postponing the resolution
indefinitely, say aye.… Those opposed, say no.… The ayes have it
and the resolution is postponed indefinitely.

11:8 If the motion to Postpone Indefinitely is lost, the chair

announces the result and immediately states the question on
the main motion. The wording in this case is:

CHAIR: The noes have it. The motion to postpone indefinitely is lost.
The question is on the resolution, “Resolved, That…” [Continues as
for any main motion.]
§12. AMEND
12:1 The subsidiary motion to Amend is a motion to modify the
wording—and within certain limits the meaning—of a pending
motion before the pending motion itself is acted upon.
12:2 Less frequently, it may become desirable to apply a similar
process to something already adopted—as bylaws, a program,
or a resolution. It should be noted that the motion then used is
not the subsidiary motion to Amend, but a main motion having
particular characteristics. This section deals only with Amend
as a subsidiary motion. (For the motion to Amend Something
Previously Adopted, see 35.)
12:3 Amend is probably the most widely used of the subsidiary
motions, although the full procedure for its most effective
application is not generally well understood by the meeting-
going public at large. The ordinary member’s becoming at
home with the formal amendment process is the keystone of
the power of the general membership to keep details of the
direction of an organization under its control to the extent it
wishes to do so. To understand how the process works, it is
important to realize that, when an assembly “takes action,” all it
ever actually does itself is to adopt a statement—directing that
a certain action be carried out, or expressing a certain view or
aspiration. The precise wording of the statement can become
crucial when it deals, for example, with a complex matter or an
expressed position on a publicly controversial issue. To enable
an assembly to work through internal disagreements about the
precise wording of a statement in an orderly manner, the rules
governing the subsidiary motion to Amend include extensive
detailed specifications stating the types of change in language
structure through which modifications are to be achieved.
12:4 Adoption of a subsidiary motion to Amend does not adopt
the motion thereby amended; that motion remains pending in
its modified form. Rejection of a motion to Amend leaves the
pending motion worded as it was before the amendment was
voted on.
12:5 Neither the member who offers an amendment nor the
maker of the main motion amends or “makes an amendment”;
only the assembly can do that. A member’s vote on an
amendment does not obligate him to vote in a particular way
on the motion to which the amendment applies; he is free to
vote as he pleases on the main motion, whether it is amended
or not.
12:6 An amendment must always be germane—that is, closely
related to or having bearing on the subject of the motion to be
amended. This means that no new subject can be introduced
under pretext of being an amendment (see 12:16–21).
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
12:7 The subsidiary motion to Amend:
1. a) When applied to a main motion: It takes precedence over
the main motion and over the subsidiary motion to
Postpone Indefinitely. It yields to all subsidiary motions
other than Postpone Indefinitely and Amend, and it also
yields to a motion to Amend that is applied to it; and it
yields to all privileged motions and all applicable incidental
motions.
b) When applied to other than a main motion: It takes
precedence over the motion that it proposes to amend. It
yields to any privileged or subsidiary motion (other than
Amend) to which the motion that it proposes to amend
would yield, and it also yields to motions to Amend, to
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, or for the Previous
Question that are applied to it; and it yields to all
applicable incidental motions.
2. Can be applied to any main motion (but in the case of some
incidental main motions only in a limited manner); also can
be applied, in different limited ways, to any other motion that
legitimately contains a variable factor; for example, can be
applied to change the duration of a proposed recess or the
hour to which a pending question is to be postponed. (For
lists of motions that cannot be amended, see pages t46–
t47.)
Amend can be applied to itself (that is, to a pending
primary amendment), so that a secondary amendment2 (or
“amendment to an amendment”) will result, but it cannot be
applied to a secondary amendment (see Standard
Characteristic 6, below; and Degrees of Amendment, 12:11–
13).
 The sections in this book dealing with each individual
motion contain under Standard Characteristic 6 a statement
of whether Amend is applicable to that particular motion, and
if applicability is limited, in what manner.
Motions to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate and for the
Previous Question can be applied to a pending primary
amendment or secondary amendment; and these motions
affect only the immediately pending amendment unless
otherwise specified. A Division of a Question can be applied
to the motion to Amend; the motion for Consideration by
Paragraph or Seriatim can also be applied to it. The motion
to Amend cannot have motions to Commit, Postpone
Definitely, or Lay on the Table applied to it alone, but when a
primary amendment or a primary and a secondary
amendment are pending, the main question can be
committed, postponed, or laid on the table, and the
amendments then undergo the same process with the main
question. The motion to Amend cannot be postponed
indefinitely.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is debatable whenever the motion to which it is applied is
debatable. Such debate must be confined to the desirability
of the amendment, however, and must not extend to the
merits of the motion to be amended, except as may be
necessary to determine whether the amendment is
advisable. Amend is undebatable whenever the motion to be
amended is undebatable (but see 43:31–32 regarding
allowable explanation of an undebatable motion).
6. Is generally amendable. This characteristic, however,
creates two degrees of amendment—primary and secondary
—and a secondary amendment cannot be amended (see
Degrees of Amendment, 12:11–13).
7. Requires a majority vote, regardless of the vote required to
adopt the question to be amended. This is true even in cases
where adoption of the amendment would result in changing
the vote required to adopt the question being amended, as
from a two-thirds vote to a majority vote or vice versa (see,
e.g., Standard Characteristic 7 of Postpone to a Certain
Time, 14:4, and the example in 14:21).
8. Can be reconsidered.
Further Rules and Explanation (with Forms)
12:8 Classification as to Form. There are three basic processes of
amendment, the third of which is an indivisible combination of
the first two. For each of these processes, some of the rules
are different depending on whether it is applied with reference
to a few words or to a whole paragraph or section; so that each
process has two forms, as follows:
1. First process: to insert, or to add.
a. To insert words, or, if they are placed at the end of the
sentence or passage being amended, to add words.
b. To insert a paragraph, or, if it is placed at the end, to add a
paragraph.
2. Second process: to strike out.3
a. To strike out words.
b. To strike out a paragraph.
3. Third process: an indivisible combination of processes (1)
and (2) having the following forms:
a. To strike out and insert (which applies to words).
b. To substitute; that is, in effect, to strike out a paragraph, or
the entire text of a resolution or main motion, and insert
another in its place.4 (Note that substitute is a technical
parliamentary term that is not applied to anything less than
a complete paragraph of one or more sentences, so that
this term is not applicable to Form 3(a).)
12:9 Forms 1(a), 2(a), and 3(a), relating to words, can be applied
to change the wording within a single sentence, or occasionally
within two or more consecutive sentences that make up a part
of a single paragraph. Forms 1(b), 2(b), and 3(b), relating to a
paragraph, can also be applied to a section, article, or larger
unit.
12:10 The rules for each of the different forms of amendment are
given in separate subsections beginning in 12:24.
12:11 Degrees of Amendment. As noted in Standard
Characteristics 2 and 6, above, a subsidiary motion to Amend
can, in general, be amended, so that two degrees of
amendment—primary and secondary—are possible. A primary
amendment applies directly to the pending resolution, main
motion, or other motion (except Amend) to be amended. A
secondary amendment applies to a pending primary
amendment; it proposes a change in the primary amendment
or, in certain cases, in a paragraph that the primary
amendment proposes to strike out of the pending resolution or
motion (see 12:51, 12:70).
12:12 The terms amendment of the first degree and amendment
of the second degree, or amendment to the main question and
amendment to the amendment, are correct expressions, but
the terms primary amendment and secondary amendment are
preferred. An amendment of the third degree is not permitted.
To accomplish the same purpose, a member can say, while a
secondary amendment is pending, that if it is voted down, he
will offer another secondary amendment—which he can then
indicate briefly—in its place.
12:13 Except as described under the next two headings, no more
than one primary amendment and one secondary amendment
are permitted to be pending at a time, but any number of each
can be considered in succession—so long as they do not
again raise questions already decided during the same
session. (See Filling Blanks, 12:92–113, however, for a special
method of amending highly variable factors, such as times,
amounts, names, or numbers, by which several alternative
proposals can be pending at the same time.)
12:14 Series of Amendments Offered by a Single Motion. A
 series of amendments to a pending main motion (or to a
lengthy primary amendment, such as a substitute) may be
offered in one subsidiary motion to Amend. Unless these
amendments meet the standard for conforming amendments
described immediately below, any member may demand a
separate vote on one or more of them. After the others have
been voted on together, the amendment(s) on which separate
votes were requested are disposed of. (For application of this
method to amendments recommended by a committee to
which a resolution has been referred, see 51:45–48.)
12:15 Conforming Amendments. Sometimes several changes
throughout a motion or resolution are needed in order to
achieve one end, in which case these separate amendments
are proposed and adopted by a single subsidiary motion to
Amend. For example, suppose a lengthy resolution is pending
relating to the creation of a new standing committee, called the
“Ways and Means Committee,” to study and make
recommendations concerning the society’s financial
circumstances and requirements, and this committee is
referred to by name in a number of places scattered
throughout the resolution. If it is desired to change the name of
this committee from “Ways and Means Committee” to “Finance
Committee,” it is both necessary and in order to move “to
amend the pending resolution by striking out ‘Ways and
Means Committee’ wherever it appears and inserting ‘Finance
Committee’ in lieu thereof.” In such cases (where all of the
individual amendments must be made, if any one of them is
made, in order to leave a coherent resolution pending if the
motion to Amend is adopted), the proposed amendments are
offered in a single motion, as in the example given. Such
proposed amendments may not be divided.
12:16 Determining the Germaneness of an Amendment. As
 already stated, an amendment must be germane to be in
order. To be germane, an amendment must in some way
involve the same question that is raised by the motion to which
it is applied. When a secondary amendment proposes a
change in the primary amendment, it must be germane to that
primary amendment—not just to the motion the primary
amendment would change. When a secondary amendment
proposes a change in a paragraph that a primary amendment
proposes to strike out, either by a motion to strike out a
paragraph or by a motion to substitute, it must be germane to
that paragraph. An amendment cannot introduce an
independent question; but an amendment can be hostile to, or
even defeat, the spirit of the original motion and still be
germane.
12:17 Aside from these principles, there is no single, all-inclusive
test for determining when a proposed amendment is germane
and when it is not. A method by which the germaneness of an
amendment can often be verified, however, grows out of the
following general rules of parliamentary law:
1) During the session in which the assembly has decided a
question, another main motion raising the same or
substantially the same question cannot be introduced.
2) While a motion has been temporarily disposed of (as
explained in 9:7–11), no other motion can be admitted that
might conflict with one of the possible final decisions on the
first motion.

12:18 By these rules, if a proposed amendment is related to the

main motion in such a way that, after the adoption, rejection,
or temporary disposal of the present main motion, the
essential idea of the amendment could not be introduced as
an independent resolution during the same session, the
amendment is germane and must be admitted, since there will
 not, or may not, be any opportunity to present it later. This test
cannot be reliably used to determine that an amendment is not
in order, since it is sometimes possible for an amendment to
be germane even if, regardless of action on the present main
motion, the idea embodied in the amendment could be
introduced independently later in the same session.
12:19 As an example of a germane amendment, assume that a
motion is pending “that the Society authorize the purchase of a
new desk for the Secretary.” It would be germane and in order
to amend by inserting after “desk” the words “and matching
chair,” since both relate to providing the secretary with the
necessary furniture. On the other hand, an amendment to add
to the motion the words “and the payment of the President’s
expenses to the State Convention” is not germane.
12:20 Or assume that the following is the pending motion: “that
the City Council commend Officer George for his action in…”
An amendment to strike out “commend” and insert “censure,”
although antagonistic to the original intent, is germane and in
order because both ideas deal with the council’s opinion of the
officer’s action. Also, since a motion to censure the officer for
the same act could not be introduced independently in the
same session after the adoption of a motion to commend him,
the amendment to change commend to censure is germane
under the rule given above. It should be noted that censure is
different from not commend (see Improper Amendments,
below).
12:21 There are borderline cases where a presiding officer will
find it difficult to judge the germaneness of an amendment.
Whenever in doubt, he should admit the amendment or, in
important cases, refer the decision to the assembly: “The chair
is in doubt and will ask the assembly to decide whether the
amendment is germane. [Debate, if any, provided that debate
is in order.] The question is on whether the amendment is
 germane to the resolution [or “to the primary amendment”].
Those of the opinion that the amendment is germane, say aye.
… Those of the opinion that it is not germane, say no.…, etc.”
(See also example under Point of Order, 23:18–20.)
12:22 Improper Amendments. The following types of amendment
are not in order:
1) One that is not germane to the question to be amended.
2) One that merely makes the adoption of the amended
question equivalent to a rejection of the original motion.
Thus, in the motion that “our delegates be instructed to vote
in favor of the increase in Federation dues,” an amendment
to insert “not” before “be” is not in order because an
affirmative vote on not giving a certain instruction is identical
with a negative vote on giving the same instruction. But it
would be in order to move to insert “not” before “to”
(“instructed not to vote in favor”), since this would change the
main motion into one to give different instructions.
3) One that would cause the question as amended to not be in
order.5
4) One that proposes to change one of the forms of
amendment listed in 12:8 into another form. A pending
primary amendment to “strike out ‘oak’ before ‘furniture,’” for
example, cannot be converted into the form strike out and
insert by moving to add “and insert ‘maple.’”
5) One that would have the effect of converting one
parliamentary motion into another. For example, a motion to
“postpone the question until 2 P.M.” cannot be amended by
“striking out ‘until 2 P.M.’ and inserting ‘indefinitely,’” since this
would convert it into a different kind of motion.
6) One that strikes out the word “Resolved” or other enacting
words.
12:23 Note on Amendment of Preamble. When a resolution has a
preamble (one or more clauses beginning “Whereas”), the
preamble is not opened to amendment until after amendment
of the resolving clauses has been completed. After any
amendment of the preamble, a single vote is taken on the
question of adopting the entire resolution or paper (see also
28:7).
12:24 Rules for the Different Forms of Amendment. Because
Amend can be moved in different forms, rules pertaining to
each form of the motion are given separately below, with
examples. The general guidelines for consideration of primary
and secondary amendments that are presented under Form
and Example: 1(a), 1(b), 12:32–45, are applicable also to the
other forms.
12:25 It should be noted that many of the rules governing the
different forms of amendment are particular applications of the
following principle: After the assembly has voted that certain
words (or a certain paragraph) shall, or shall not, form part of a
pending resolution, it is not in order, during the same session
at which that vote was taken, to make another motion to
Amend that raises the same question of content and effect.
Common sense should guide the presiding officer in
interpreting the rules, both to give freedom for improvement of
the main motion finally to be voted on, and at the same time to
protect the assembly from motions for amendment that
present questions it has already decided.
12:26 1(a). To Insert, or to Add, Words. A motion to insert words
must specify the exact place of insertion by naming the word
before or after which, or the words between which, the
insertion is to be made—whichever will better locate and point
out the effect of the change. For long or printed copies, the line
number and paragraph number should be designated.
12:27 In the consideration of a motion to insert certain words, or
(if they are to be placed at the end of the passage being
amended) to add certain words, any necessary perfecting of
the new words should be done by secondary amendment
before the vote is taken on inserting or adding as proposed by
the primary amendment. Otherwise there may be no
opportunity to perfect the inserted or added words, for reasons
explained in the next paragraph.
12:28 After words have been inserted or added, they cannot be
changed or struck out during the same session, except
through a reconsideration of the vote (see 37), or through an
amendment presenting a new question in the form of a motion:
1) To strike out the entire paragraph into which the words were
inserted.
2) To strike out a portion of the paragraph, including all or a
part of the words inserted and enough other words to make a
different question from the one decided by the insertion.
3) To substitute an entire paragraph for the one into which the
words were inserted.
4) To strike out a portion of the paragraph (including all or a
part of the words inserted) and insert other words, in a way
that presents a new question.
12:29 If a motion to insert certain words in a particular place is
voted down, it is still in order—provided that it will present an
essentially new question—to make a motion:
1) To insert only a part of the same words.
2) To insert all or a part of the same words together with some
others.
3) To insert the same words in place of others (motion to strike
out and insert).
4) To insert the same words in another place where the effect
 will be different.
12:30 A motion to insert, or to add, words can have applied to it
secondary amendments in any of the three forms relating to
words—inserting or adding; striking out; or striking out and
inserting.
12:31 1(b). To Insert, or to Add, a Paragraph. The rules for the
insertion or addition of a paragraph are essentially the same
as those given above, except that after a paragraph has been
inserted, words can still be added to it (that is, placed at the
end of the paragraph only) provided that they do not conflict
with or modify anything in the paragraph as already inserted.
When a paragraph is to be inserted or added, any necessary
perfecting should first be done by secondary amendments.
After its insertion or addition, the paragraph cannot be struck
out except in connection with other paragraphs that make the
question materially different. If a motion to insert or add a
paragraph is voted down, its rejection does not preclude any
other motion except one that presents essentially the same
question. If a rejected paragraph is rewritten or shortened in
such a way that its effect is changed, it becomes a different
paragraph under the rules for amendment.
12:32 Form and Example: 1(a), 1(b). To Insert, or to Add (Words
or a Paragraph). Typical forms in which a motion to insert, or
to add, may be made are: “I move to amend the resolution by
inserting the word ‘waterfront’ before the word ‘property’”; “I
move to insert ‘plus expenses’ after ‘$100’”; “I move to insert
‘permanent’ between ‘all’ and ‘employees’”; “I move to insert in
Line 5 of the second paragraph, the word ‘preferred’ before
‘stocks’”; “I move to insert after Paragraph 3 the following
paragraph:…”; “I move to amend by adding the words, ‘at a
cost not to exceed $2,000’”; “I move to add the following
 paragraph:…”
12:33 In stating the question on each motion in any series
involving amendments, and again when putting the motion to a
vote, the chair should take care that the members understand
which motion is under immediate consideration, as well as the
effect of adopting or rejecting it.
12:34 Therefore, when stating the question on an amendment,
the chair may find it advisable to employ three steps:
1) State the question as for any other motion: “It is moved and
seconded to…”
2) Read the main motion (or the portion affected by the
amendment) as it would stand if the amendment were
adopted: “If the amendment is adopted, the main motion will
read…”
3) Make clear once more that it is the amendment that is under
immediate consideration: “The question is on…”
12:35 Assume that the main motion “That the Society purchase
the property adjoining the present Headquarters” is pending.
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move to add the words “and
convert it into a parking lot.” (Second.)
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded to add the words “and convert it into
a parking lot.” If the amendment is adopted, the main motion will
read, “That the Society purchase the property adjoining the present
Headquarters and convert it into a parking lot.” The question is on
adding the words “and convert it into a parking lot.”

12:36 Similarly, when putting to a vote the question on an

amendment, if debate or consideration of other motions has
intervened since the amendment was stated, the chair may
find it advisable to employ a comparable set of three steps:
1) Repeat the amendment: “The question is on…”
2) Read the main motion (or the portion affected by the
 amendment) as it would stand if the amendment were
adopted: “If the amendment is adopted, the main motion will
read…”
3) Take the vote in such a way as to make clear it is the
amendment that is to be voted on: “Those in favor of…, say
aye. [Pausing for response.]… Those opposed, say no.”

CHAIR: The question is on adding the words “and convert it into a

parking lot.” If the amendment is adopted, the main motion will read,
“That the Society purchase the property adjoining the present
Headquarters and convert it into a parking lot.” Those in favor of
adding the words “and convert it into a parking lot,” say aye. [Pausing
for response.]… Those opposed, say no.

12:37 After taking the vote, the chair announces the result of the
vote on the amendment, and then states the question that
consequently becomes immediately pending:
CHAIR: The ayes have it and the amendment is adopted. The question
is now on the main motion as amended, “That the Society purchase
the property adjoining the present Headquarters and convert it into a
parking lot.”

12:38 Should the amendment fail, the chair’s announcement of

the result would be as follows:
CHAIR: The noes have it and the amendment is lost. The question is
now on the main motion, “That the Society purchase the property
adjoining the present Headquarters.”

12:39 At this point, regardless of whether the amendment is

adopted or rejected, the resolution is again open to debate,
and it is in order to offer a different amendment.
12:40 In some cases—depending on the length of the resolution
and the amendment, the nature of the subject matter, the
 conditions of the assembly, etc.—the question may be clearer
to the members if the chair restates only the amendment,
rather than employing the three steps outlined above. On the
other hand, in circumstances of particular complexity, when
confusion is otherwise likely, the chair may find it advisable to
employ four steps: first, to reread the entire main motion or
resolution (or the paragraph or portion that the amendment
would affect); second, to read the proposed amendment; third,
to read the motion, resolution, or affected portion as it would
stand if the amendment were adopted; and fourth, to make it
clear once more that it is the amendment that is to be voted
on.
12:41 As an example of secondary amendment by inserting,
assume that there are pending: (1) a resolution, “Resolved,
That the Society purchase the property adjoining the present
Headquarters”; and (2) (immediately pending) a primary
amendment, “to add the words, ‘and convert it into a parking
lot.’” (Details as to probable costs of proposed phases of the
project are assumed to be known.)
MEMBER X (obtaining the floor): I move to insert in the pending
amendment the word “landscaped” before “parking lot.” (Second.)
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded to amend by inserting in the primary
amendment the word “landscaped” before “parking lot.” If the word is
inserted, the primary amendment will be, “to add to the resolution for
the purchase of the property, the words ‘and convert it into a
landscaped parking lot.’” The question is on inserting the word
“landscaped.”

12:42 It should be noted that in the preceding example the chair

gives the primary amendment as it would read if the
secondary amendment were adopted.
12:43 Debate, if any, must be confined to the issue: If the
conversion to a parking lot is to be included in the project at
 this time, should the lot be landscaped? When this debate has
ended, the chair puts the secondary amendment to a vote,
announces the result, and states the question before the
assembly, as follows:
CHAIR: The question is on inserting in the primary amendment the
word “landscaped” before “parking lot.” If the word is inserted, the
primary amendment will be, “To add to the resolution for the
purchase of the adjoining property, the words, ‘and convert it into a
landscaped parking lot.’” It should be noted that this vote will not
decide whether a parking lot is to be part of the project. This vote will
determine only whether the parking lot will be landscaped if it is
constructed. A vote of aye is for landscaping. A vote of no is against
landscaping. Those in favor of inserting the word “landscaped” in the
amendment, say aye.… Those opposed, say no.… The ayes have it
and the word is inserted. The question is now on the primary
amendment as amended, which is, “to add to the resolution the
words, ‘and convert it into a landscaped parking lot.’” If the
amendment is adopted, the resolution will read, “Resolved, That the
Society purchase the property adjoining the present Headquarters
and convert it into a landscaped parking lot.” Adoption of this
amendment will mean that if the property is purchased by the
Society, there will be a parking lot—which will be landscaped. The
question is on the amendment.

12:44 Debate and voting on the question proceed as described

above.
12:45 Amendments are sometimes so simple or acceptable that
they may be adopted by unanimous consent (see 4:58–63).
For example, assume that while a main motion is pending,
“That the Properties Committee be directed to secure
estimates for the necessary building repairs,” a member
moves “to amend by inserting the words ‘at least three’ before
‘estimates.’” If the chair senses that there is general approval,
he may say, “If there is no objection, the words ‘at least three’
 will be inserted. The wording would then be ‘to secure at least
three estimates.’ [Pause.] Since there is no objection, the
words are inserted.”
12:46 2(a). To Strike Out Words. A motion to strike out words must
specify their location when it is not otherwise clear.
12:47 When a motion to strike out certain words is made, it can
be applied only to consecutive words; but the words to be
struck out may become separated as a result of secondary
amendments, in which case the primary amendment is voted
on in a form in which it could not have been moved directly. To
strike out separated words, the best method is to make a
motion to strike out the entire clause or sentence containing
the separated words and insert a new clause or sentence as
desired. Separated words can also be struck out by separate
motions or as part of a series of amendments offered in one
motion (see 12:14).
12:48 If a motion to strike out certain words is adopted, the same
words cannot be inserted again during the same session
unless the place or the wording is so changed as to make a
new proposition. If a motion to strike out certain words fails, it
is still in order—subject to the requirement that the words
involved must be consecutive—to move:
1) To strike out only a part of the same words.
2) To strike out all or a part of the same words together with
some others.
3) To strike out all or a part of the same words and insert
different ones.
4) To strike out all or a part of the same words together with
some others and insert different words.
12:49 It is important to note that: The motion to amend by striking
out certain words can be amended only by striking out words
 from the primary amendment. The effect of such a secondary
amendment is that words struck out of the primary amendment
will remain in the main motion regardless of whether the
primary amendment is adopted or rejected. For example,
assume that the following are pending: (1) a main motion
directing the secretary to write to Congressmen Altman, Brock,
Crowley, Davidson, and Edwards; (2) a primary amendment to
strike out “Brock, Crowley, Davidson”; and (3) a secondary
amendment to strike out “Crowley” from the primary
amendment. If the secondary amendment is adopted, the
primary amendment then becomes “to strike out ‘Brock’ and
‘Davidson’” from the main motion—so that Crowley’s name will
remain in the main motion regardless of the outcome of the
vote on the primary amendment, which no longer affects him.
As a consequence of the rule stated at the beginning of this
paragraph, a primary amendment to strike out a single word
cannot be amended.
12:50 When a motion is made to strike out a sentence that might
desirably be retained with some changes, the form of
secondary amendment allowed for motions to strike out
certain words may not be readily applicable. In such a case, a
member can say in debate on the primary amendment that he
believes the sentence should be reworded in a way which he
can then state, and that if the motion to strike out the present
sentence is adopted he will move to insert his new version. If
the motion to strike out is lost, he can also move to strike out
the present sentence and insert his new version.

12:51 2(b). To Strike Out a Paragraph. There is an essential

difference between the motion to strike out a paragraph and
the motion to strike out certain words, which lies in the rules
and effect of secondary amendment. When it is moved to
strike out an entire paragraph, the paragraph that would be
 struck out is opened to improvement by secondary
amendment in any of the three forms relating to words
(inserting or adding; striking out; or striking out and inserting)
before the vote is taken on the primary amendment. If the
primary amendment to strike out is voted down, the paragraph
then remains in the resolution with any changes that were
made by secondary amendment. The following differences in
the effect of a secondary amendment to strike out—dependent
on whether the primary amendment to strike out involves only
certain words or a paragraph—should be particularly noted:
• If the primary amendment is to strike out certain words, then
words struck out of the primary amendment will remain in the
resolution regardless of the final vote on the primary
amendment (as explained under Strike Out Words, above).
• But if the primary amendment is to strike out a paragraph,
then words struck out of that paragraph in the process of
secondary amendment are out of the resolution regardless of
the final vote on the primary amendment.

12:52 After a paragraph has been struck out, it cannot be inserted

again unless the wording (or, possibly, the place) is changed in
a way that presents an essentially new question. After a
motion to strike out a particular paragraph has been voted
down, any amendment presenting a materially new question
involving the same paragraph, or any part of it, is still in order.
12:53 Form and Example: 2(a), 2(b). To Strike Out (Words or a
Paragraph). The motion to strike out may be made in such
forms as “I move to strike out the word ‘concrete’ before
‘pavement’ in Line 5”; or “I move to strike out the third
paragraph of the platform statement.” Variations similar to
those given for inserting or adding (12:32) are applicable.
12:54 Assume that the following main motion is pending: “That
 the Bowling League establish a division open to the juniors
and seniors of Southwood High School.”
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move to amend by striking out the
words “juniors and.” (Second.)
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded to amend by striking out the words
“juniors and.” If the amendment is adopted, the main motion will be to
“establish a division open to the seniors of Southwood High School.”
The question is on striking out the words “juniors and.”

12:55 From this point, the procedure is similar to that already

illustrated for inserting or adding.
12:56 3(a). To Strike Out and Insert (applying to words). The
motion to strike out and insert is especially applicable in
situations where it may be impossible to secure the desired
result without making the act of “striking out” inseparable from
that of “inserting”—as may happen if some members are
unwilling to vote for the one unless assured of the other. The
two parts of this motion cannot be separated, either by
secondary amendment or by a Division of a Question.
12:57 To avoid confusion with the form of amendment known as
Substitute (12:69–90), which applies to paragraphs or longer
elements, the word substitute should not be used in
connection with the motion to strike out and insert, which
applies to words.
12:58 Motions to strike out and insert fall into two types:
• those by which a different wording is inserted in the same
place; and
• those by which the same wording struck out of one place is
inserted in a different place.

12:59 The two parts of the motion to strike out and insert must not
represent two independent questions, unless the mover
receives unanimous consent to make such a combined
 motion; rather, the two parts must be germane to each other.
Thus, in motions of the first type mentioned in the previous
paragraph—to strike words out of and insert words into the
same place—the words to be inserted must in some way be
related to, or address the same issue as, the words to be
struck out; and in motions of the second type—to strike words
out of one place and insert words into a different place—the
words to be inserted must not be materially different from the
words to be struck out.
12:60 The first type of the motion to strike out and insert—the
kind that proposes to insert a different wording in the same
place—is perhaps more common.
12:61 When such a primary amendment is offered, the chair
states the question on it and lets debate of its merits begin in
the usual way. For purposes of secondary amendment,
however, this type of motion is treated as if resolved into its
two elements, with secondary amendment of each element
following the rules that would apply to two separate motions
for primary amendment—one to strike out (amendable only by
striking out) and another to insert (amendable in any of three
forms relating to words). A single secondary amendment
involving both elements of a primary amendment to strike out
and insert is not in order. If a motion to strike out and insert
involves enough words that several secondary amendments—
particularly to the words to be struck out—might be possible, it
is often best to take any amendments to the words to be
struck out first, because members who wish to perfect the
words to be inserted by secondary amendment may need to
know exactly what language those words will replace, to be
able to perfect them effectively. Amendments to the words to
be inserted are then taken up after amendments to the words
to be struck out have been disposed of. But the chair should
make a judgment depending on the conditions as to whether
 the assembly wishes to follow this procedure or will find it
helpful. In any event, the primary amendment remains open to
debate at all times while it is pending with no secondary
amendment pending, and this debate goes into the merits of
both parts of the motion viewed as a single whole.
12:62 While a primary amendment to strike out and insert certain
words is pending, if an admissible secondary amendment to
the words to be struck out is introduced and no amendments
to the words to be inserted have been proposed, the chair
simply proceeds to entertain the secondary amendment,
letting debate on the primary amendment resume after the
secondary amendment has been dealt with. But the first time
that a secondary amendment to the words to be inserted is
offered—assuming a number of amendments to the words to
be struck out might be possible—the chair has the option, as
described in the preceding paragraph, of saying: “The chair
believes it would be better to follow the procedure of taking
any amendments to the words to be struck out first, as
permitted under the rules. Accordingly, before entertaining the
amendment just offered, the chair will ask: Are there any
amendments [or “any further amendments”] to the words to be
struck out?” When it appears that no one else wishes to
propose an amendment to the words to be struck out, the
chair then says: “The primary amendment as amended is
open to debate, and secondary amendments to the words to
be inserted are now in order.” After reasonable opportunity to
offer any amendments of the latter type has been given,
secondary amendments to either element are in order. When
these and any further debate have concluded, the vote is
taken on the motion to strike out and insert as it stands after
secondary amendment.
12:63 After a motion to strike out and insert has been adopted,
what has been struck out and what has been inserted are
 subject to the same rules regarding further amendment during
the same session, as if the striking out and the inserting had
been done by separate motions: The inserted matter cannot
be struck out, and the matter that has been struck out cannot
be inserted again, except through a reconsideration of the vote
on the amendment, or through changes in the wording or the
place in a way that presents a new question (under the rules
already given for Insert, or Add, and for Strike Out).
12:64 If a motion to strike out and insert is voted down, it is still in
order:
• to make either of the separate motions to strike out, or to
insert, the same words that would have been struck out or
inserted by the combined motion that was lost; or
• to make another motion to strike out and insert—provided
that the change in either the wording to be struck out or the
wording to be inserted presents a question materially different
from the one that was voted down.
12:65 When a primary amendment to strike out a passage of any
length or complexity and insert a new version is pending and
some members would prefer to insert something different or
keep something closer to the original, it may be difficult or
impossible to reach the desired end by secondary
amendment. Situations of this kind can occur especially when
the amendment relates to one or more complete sentences
that do not constitute an entire paragraph. In such a case, a
member should speak against the pending primary
amendment and say that if it is rejected he will offer a new
motion to strike out the same passage and insert the version
he desires—which he should then state. He should present his
case as strongly as possible, because if the first proposed
version is inserted, it cannot be changed afterward during the
same session except in connection with a different question.
12:66 As already explained in connection with the rules for the
motion to strike out, the motion to strike out and insert can be
used to obtain the effect of striking out or modifying separated
words. To do this, a member can move to strike out of the
resolution a passage long enough to include all of the words to
be removed or changed, and insert the revised passage. If
several changes in a paragraph are desired, it is usually better
to rewrite the paragraph and offer the new version as a
substitute, as explained below.
12:67 Form and Example: 3(a). To Strike Out and Insert
(applying to words). As an example of a motion to strike out
and insert, assume that the following resolution is pending:
“Resolved, That the Citizens’ Association endorse the
Rockville site for the new Community College.”
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move to amend by striking out
“Rockville” and inserting “Chatham.” (Second.)
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded to strike out “Rockville” and insert
“Chatham.” If the amendment is adopted, the resolution will be to
“endorse the Chatham site for the new Community College.” The
question is on striking out “Rockville” and inserting “Chatham.”

12:68 Debate on the amendment is limited to the relative

advantages of the two sites. After the amendment is debated,
the chair puts it to vote, as in the case already illustrated for
Insert or Add. Debate on the resolution can go into the
question of whether the association should express approval
of any site.
12:69 3(b). To Substitute. A motion to Amend by striking out an
entire paragraph, section, or article—or a complete main
motion or resolution—and inserting a different paragraph or
other unit in its place is called a motion to substitute, and the
paragraph or resolution to be inserted is said to be offered (or
 proposed) as “a substitute.” A substitute can be offered for a
paragraph or a main motion of only one sentence, and in such
a case the paragraph proposed as a substitute can contain
several sentences. (For the replacement of sentences within a
paragraph, see below.) A substitute offered for a main motion
or resolution, or for a paragraph within a resolution, is a
primary amendment and can therefore be moved only when
no other amendment is pending. If a motion proposes to
replace one or more paragraphs that are involved in a pending
primary amendment, it is a secondary amendment to which
the term substitute is also applicable.6
12:70 A primary amendment to substitute is treated similarly to a
motion to strike out and insert as described in 12:56–68. It is
open to debate at all times while it is pending with no
secondary amendment pending; and such debate may go fully
into the merits of both the original text and the substitute, since
this is necessary to determine the desirability of the primary
amendment. But for purposes of secondary amendment, the
motion to substitute is looked upon as resolved into its two
elements, the paragraph to be struck out and the paragraph to
be inserted. In contrast to the rules for striking out and
inserting words, however, when a motion to substitute is under
consideration the paragraph to be struck out as well as the
paragraph to be inserted can be perfected by secondary
amendment in any of the three basic forms (inserting or
adding; striking out; or striking out and inserting), since this is
the procedure when either of the separate motions to insert or
to strike out is applied to the paragraph.
12:71 As in the case of a motion to strike out and insert words,
the chair has the option of accepting only amendments to the
paragraph to be struck out first, and then only amendments to
the proposed substitute, thereafter accepting either type of
secondary amendment. Following this procedure is likely to be
 more often indicated in the case of a motion to substitute,
particularly if a substantive issue hangs on such a motion, as
in the example given below. After all secondary amendments
have been disposed of and after any further debate on the
motion to substitute, the vote is taken on whether to make this
substitution.
12:72 For replacing an unbroken part of a paragraph when the
part to be replaced consists of (or contains) one or more
complete sentences, there is an option between offering the
amendment as a motion to strike out the part and insert the
new matter (that is, as a motion to strike out and insert), or
moving it in the form of a substitute for the entire paragraph
with only the desired part changed. Either of these motions, as
applied to the same case, will present substantially the same
question when it is made, but the effect of each of them is
different as to permissible secondary amendment. If much of
the paragraph is involved in such a case, it is generally better
to offer the desired amendment in the form of a substitute. If
this method is used, however, secondary amendment can also
involve the portion of the paragraph in which no change was
proposed initially.
12:73 In taking the vote on whether to make the substitution, the
chair should first read both the paragraph of the original text
and the proposed substitute—as they stand at the time as
amended. Even if the entire resolution or main motion is
replaced, adopting the motion to substitute only amends the
resolution, which remains pending as amended.
12:74 After a paragraph, section, or version of a resolution has
been substituted for another, the substituted paragraph or
resolution cannot be amended during the same session
except by adding something that does not modify the
paragraph’s existing content—as is true of any paragraph that
has been inserted. The paragraph that has been replaced
 cannot be inserted again during the same session unless a
material change in the wording (or possibly, the place) makes
a new question—as is true of any paragraph that has been
struck out.
12:75 If a motion to substitute is lost, the assembly has decided
only that the paragraph proposed as a substitute shall not
replace the one specified. The same proposed new paragraph
can still replace a different one, or can simply be inserted. On
the other hand, the paragraph that was retained in the
resolution can be further amended, or struck out (if it is not the
entire resolution); or it still can be replaced by a different
substitute.
12:76 When a question is being considered by paragraph or
seriatim (28), it is in order to move a substitute for any
paragraph or section at the time that the paragraph or section
is opened to amendment. But it is not in order to move a
substitute for the entire document until all of the paragraphs or
sections have been individually considered and the point is
reached when the chair announces that the entire paper is
open to amendment.
12:77 If a resolution is referred to a committee while a primary
amendment—or a primary and a secondary amendment—are
pending, the committee can report by recommending a
substitute for the resolution, even though the substitute cannot
become pending until the other amendments have been voted
on in their normal order. Thus, when a committee has so
reported, the chair first states the question on the secondary
amendment that was pending when the resolution was
committed, puts the secondary amendment to vote, and then
continues with the primary amendment to which it applied. As
soon as this primary amendment is disposed of, the chair
states the question on the substitute recommended by the
committee, and proceeds as he would with any other motion to
 substitute.
12:78 In a similar way, if a resolution is referred to a committee
while a substitute and a secondary amendment (either to the
original or to the substitute) are pending, the committee can
report in favor of either version, with any desired
recommendation as to secondary amendment; or the
committee can recommend rejection of the pending substitute
and propose a new substitute in its place. In all such cases,
the chair starts with the parliamentary situation as it was when
the resolution was committed; he then proceeds as with any
motion to substitute, and states the question on any new
amendment (recommended by the committee) as soon as it is
in order for that amendment to be pending under the usual
rules.
12:79 The motion to substitute often provides a convenient and
timesaving method for handling a poorly framed resolution, or
for introducing a different and better approach to the real
question raised by a main motion. While changes by separate
amendments are in progress, a member who feels that he has
a better solution by substitution can indicate its features briefly
and announce his intention of offering the substitute as soon
as no other amendment is pending. If the member wishing to
propose the substitute thinks it appropriate, he can try to bring
the pending amendments to an immediate vote by moving the
Previous Question (16) on them.
12:80 An amendment in the form of a substitute can also be used
to defeat or work against the purpose of the measure originally
introduced. Such a stratagem can be utilized with a view either
to converting the measure into a weakened form before its
final adoption, or to substituting a version that is likely to be
rejected in the final vote. It should be noted that a vote in favor
of a substitute for an entire resolution or main motion is
ordinarily a vote to kill any provisions of the original version
 that are not included in the substitute.
12:81 Properly applied, the rules for the treatment of motions to
substitute automatically operate in fairness to both sides when
there is disagreement as to the preferability of the original or
the substitute. Under the procedure of initially accepting
amendments to each element of the primary amendment
exclusively—which is generally indicated whenever such
disagreement exists—the proponents of the original version
are first given the opportunity to amend their proposition into a
more acceptable form in the light of conditions revealed by the
introduction of the substitute. When this process is correctly
handled as described 12:61–62 and 12:70–71, it tends to
ensure that the provisions of the version first offered receive
appropriate consideration, without impeding free debate of the
proposal to substitute. Furthermore, by the requirement that
internal amendment of the substitute be done before the vote
on the motion to make the substitution, the members are
protected from having to decide whether to reject the original
version without knowing what may finally replace it.
12:82 Form and Example: 3(b). To Substitute. As an example of a
motion to substitute, assume that the following resolution is
pending: “Resolved, That the Parish Federation undertake the
construction and equipping of a new service wing for the
Parish House, to be financed as far as possible by a mortgage
on the present building.”
12:83 Debate points strongly to a need for further investigation,
but many members are determined to secure immediate
authorization. The meeting seems evenly divided, and the
outcome is unpredictable.
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move to substitute for the pending
resolution the following: “Resolved, That the Parish Board be
directed to engage appropriate professional consultants to make a
 survey of, and prepare a complete report on, the need, probable
cost, feasible methods of financing, and maintenance of a new
service wing for the Parish House.” (Second.)
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded to amend by substituting for the
pending resolution the following: [reading the substitute submitted by
Member A]. The motion to substitute proposes that the resolution just
read shall come before the assembly in place of the pending
resolution. [Debate.]
MEMBER L (who favors the pending resolution and is, therefore,
opposed to the motion to substitute—obtaining the floor): I
move to amend the proposed substitute by adding the words “within
twenty days.” (Second.)
CHAIR: The chair believes it will be preferable to take any
amendments to the pending resolution first, as permitted under the
rules. Such amendments, if adopted, will affect the wording in which
the pending resolution will come to a final vote if the motion to
substitute fails.7 Accordingly, before entertaining the amendment just
offered, the chair will call for any amendments to the pending
resolution, which he will first reread. The pending resolution is as
follows: “Resolved, That the Parish Federation undertake the
construction and equipping of a new service wing for the Parish
House, to be financed as far as possible by a mortgage on the
present building.” Are there any amendments to the pending
resolution?
MEMBER X (obtaining the floor): I move to amend the pending
resolution by striking out everything after the word “undertake” and
inserting the words “a campaign to raise funds for the construction
and equipping of a new service wing for the Parish House.”
(Second.)

12:84 The chair states the question on this amendment, making

its effect clear, and, after debate, puts it to vote. For purposes
of the example, assume that the proponents of the original
resolution differ on the amendment, some voting for it, others
opposing it. Also, since the adoption of this amendment
 presumably would make the pending resolution less
objectionable to those who feel that the proposed project is
presently ill advised and who therefore hope that the
substitution will be made, most of those members probably
vote for the amendment. Assume that it is adopted. The chair
announces the result as follows:
CHAIR: The ayes have it and the amendment is adopted. The pending
resolution now reads, “Resolved, That the Parish Federation
undertake a campaign to raise funds for the construction and
equipping of a new service wing for the Parish House.” The question
is on the motion to substitute. [Further debate on the relative merits
of the pending resolution and the proposed substitute.]
MEMBER L (who favors the pending resolution—obtaining the
floor): I move to amend the substitute by adding “within twenty
days.” (Second.)
CHAIR: Before entertaining the amendment just offered, the chair will
again ask: Are there any further amendments to the pending
resolution? [Pause.] There being none, it is moved and seconded to
amend the proposed substitute by adding the words “within twenty
days.” If the amendment is adopted, the substitute will read,
“Resolved, That the Parish Board be directed to engage appropriate
professional consultants to make a survey of, and prepare a
complete report on, the need, probable cost, feasible methods of
financing, and maintenance of a new service wing for the Parish
House within twenty days.” The question is on amending the
proposed substitute by adding the words “within twenty days.”

12:85 Brief debate shows that the proposed survey could not be
properly carried out in twenty days. Assume that this
amendment is voted down.
MEMBER B (who is in favor of the motion to substitute, but fears it
will fail unless some time limit is specified—obtaining the floor):
I move to amend the substitute by adding “within sixty days.”
(Second.)
12:86 The chair states the question on this amendment and (after
brief debate) puts it to vote. Assume that the amendment is
adopted. In announcing the result, the chair continues:
CHAIR: The ayes have it and the amendment is adopted. The
proposed substitute now reads, “Resolved, That the Parish Board be
directed to engage… for the Parish House within sixty days.” Are you
ready for the question on the motion to substitute?

12:87 After further amendment of the proposed substitute, the

chair says:
CHAIR: Are there any further amendments to the proposed substitute?
[Pause.] There being none, it is now in order to offer amendments
either to the pending resolution or to the proposed substitute.

12:88 When all debate and secondary amendment has

concluded, the chair puts to vote the motion to substitute. Both
resolutions are read, usually by the chair—the pending
resolution first, then the resolution proposed as a substitute.
CHAIR: The question is on the motion to substitute. The chair will read
the pending resolution first, then the resolution proposed as a
substitute. The pending resolution is: “Resolved, That the Parish
Federation undertake a campaign to raise funds for the construction
and equipping of a new service wing for the Parish House.” The
resolution proposed as a substitute is: “Resolved, That the Parish
Board be directed to engage appropriate professional consultants to
make a survey of, and prepare a complete report on, the need,
probable cost,… within sixty days.” The question is: Shall the
resolution last read be substituted for the pending resolution? Those
in favor of the motion to substitute, say aye.… Those opposed, say
no.…

12:89 The chair announces the result of the vote and states the
question on whichever resolution is left pending, as follows:
 CHAIR: The ayes have it and the motion to substitute is adopted. The
question is now on the resolution: [reading the resolution directing
the employment of professional consultants].

Or:
CHAIR: The noes have it and the motion to substitute is lost. The
question is now on the resolution: [reading the resolution for a
fundraising campaign].

12:90 Regardless of which resolution is now pending, there may

be further debate. If the motion to substitute has been
adopted, the resolution now pending is in the position of a
paragraph that has been inserted, and it can no longer be
amended during the same session except by adding
nonmodifying matter. On the other hand, if the motion to
substitute has been lost, the resolution for the fund drive can
be further amended; but in determining whether an
amendment now offered presents a new question and can
therefore be admitted during the same session, account must
be taken of any motions to amend that were voted on before
the motion to substitute was introduced, or while it was
pending.

12:91 Friendly Amendments. The term “friendly amendment” is

often used to describe an amendment offered by someone
who is in sympathy with the purposes of the main motion, in
the belief that the amendment will either improve the
statement or effect of the main motion, presumably to the
satisfaction of its maker, or will increase the chances of the
main motion’s adoption. Regardless of whether or not the
maker of the main motion “accepts” the amendment, it must
be opened to debate and voted on formally (unless adopted by
unanimous consent) and is handled under the same rules as
amendments generally (see 33:11–19).
Filling Blanks
12:92 Filling blanks, although not a form of amendment in itself, is
a closely related device by which an unlimited number of
alternative choices for a particular specification in a main
motion or primary amendment can be pending at the same
time. In effect, it permits an exception to the rule (12:13) that
only one primary and one secondary amendment can be
pending at a time, and in certain cases it has distinct
advantages.
12:93 In amending by the ordinary method, a maximum of three
alternatives can be pending at once, and the last one moved
must be voted on first. In filling blanks, the number of
alternatives is not limited; members have an opportunity to
weigh all choices before voting and to vote on them in a fair
and logical order. Among cases adapted to such treatment are
main motions or primary amendments containing names of
persons or places, dates, numbers, or amounts.
12:94 The basic procedure for filling blanks is as follows: After a
blank in a pending motion has been created by any of the
methods described below, members suggest alternatives to fill
the blank, and these are stated by the chair. When debate on
the suggestions has ended (or, if the pending motion is
undebatable, when no more suggestions are offered), the
assembly decides, by majority vote, which suggestion(s) shall
fill the blank. The vote that fills a blank does not decide the
question that contained the blank. As soon as the blank has
been filled, the chair states the question on the adoption of the
completed motion, which remains pending.
12:95 Creating a Blank. A blank to be filled can be created in one of
three ways:
a) A member can offer a motion or an amendment containing a
blank: for example, “Resolved, That Lodge No. 432 renovate
the headquarters at a cost not to exceed $ ”; or an
amendment to a main motion can propose “to add ‘provided
that estimates be received on or before .’”
b) A member can move that a blank be created. For example,
assume that the pending resolution is: “Resolved, That
Lodge No. 432 renovate the headquarters at a cost not to
exceed $300,000.” Any member can move “to create a blank
by striking out of the pending resolution the sum ‘$300,000.’”
If such a motion is adopted, the specification struck out to
create the blank automatically becomes one of the proposals
for filling it—as “$300,000” in the example. Although the
motion to create a blank may appear to resemble a motion to
amend by striking out and inserting, it is in fact an incidental
motion (see 6:15). It is not in order to create a blank in a
motion on which the Previous Question has been ordered.
The motion to create a blank requires a second, but it is
neither debatable nor amendable; it can also be made and
voted on while a primary or a secondary amendment relating
to the subject specification is pending. For example,
assuming the same pending resolution as above, the
identical motion to create a blank by striking out “$300,000”
can be made while a primary amendment “to strike out
‘$300,000’ and insert ‘$350,000’” is also pending. Adoption
of the motion to create a blank in such a case (before the
amendment is voted on) disposes of the amendment (which
is thereafter ignored) and causes both specifications—the
one in the pending resolution and the corresponding one in
the amendment—to become proposals for filling the blank;
as “$300,000” and “$350,000” in the example.
c) The chair can suggest the creation of a blank, as follows:
“The chair suggests creating a blank by striking out
 ‘$300,000.’ If there is no objection, a blank will be created.
[Pause.] There is no objection; the blank is created.” If a
member objects, the chair puts the question to a vote,
treating the question just as he would treat a motion to
create a blank made as described above.
12:96 Making Suggestions to Fill a Blank. When a blank exists or
has been created, the chair calls for suggestions, by asking for
them in a manner appropriate to the particular question, such
as by asking, “How many members shall the committee
consist of?”; or, “In the pending resolution relating to the
renovation of the headquarters, the amounts $350,000 and
$300,000 have been proposed to fill the blank specifying the
maximum cost. Are there any further suggestions?” Any
number of members can then suggest different names, places,
numbers, dates, or amounts for filling the blank. A member
need not be recognized by the chair to make a suggestion
unless he or she wishes to speak in debate on it at the same
time (see below). No second is required. As soon as a
member has made a suggestion (or, if the member had
obtained the floor, as soon as the member has yielded the
floor), the chair repeats the member’s suggestion and calls for
further suggestions.
12:97 No member can suggest more than one proposal for filling
a blank—or, when the blank can be filled with multiple
suggestions, such as in a motion to appoint members of a
committee, more than the number allowed for in the blank. In
the latter case, a member cannot make more than one
suggestion at a time, if any objection is made, but must wait
until after all other members have had the same opportunity to
make their suggestions.
12:98 Debate on the Suggestions. Proposals to fill a blank in a
debatable motion are debatable. When there is no response to
 the chair’s call for further suggestions, the chair asks, “Are you
ready for the question?” or “Is there any debate?” To speak in
debate, a member must first be recognized by the chair. The
member may then speak in favor of or against a suggestion
made previously or make a new suggestion and speak in favor
of it.
12:99 As a consequence of the rules stated in the preceding
paragraphs, debate on the comparative merits of the different
suggestions may take place both concurrently with the making
of suggestions and after all suggestions have been made. In
any event, in this debate the underlying question is that of
choosing the suggestion(s) that shall fill the blank, and each
member is therefore permitted to speak no more than twice
per day on that question, regardless of the number of
suggestions made. When no further suggestions are offered,
and there is no further debate, a vote is taken on the
suggestions, as described below.
12:100 Proposals to fill a blank are not amendable.
12:101 Motions to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate or for the
Previous Question can be applied to the consideration of
suggestions, and when voting on the suggestions has been ordered
by adoption of either of these motions, no further suggestions for
filling the blank may be made at the time the order goes into effect.
However, if a member obtains the floor and moves the Previous
Question before a reasonable opportunity to make suggestions has
been given, the chair must call for suggestions before stating the
motion for the Previous Question.
12:102 Voting on the Suggestions. The suggestions for filling a
blank can be voted on by any of the regular methods (4:35ff.,
45:11ff.), in which case each of the proposals is voted on, in
turn, as a separate question. (The order in which suggestions
are voted on in particular cases is discussed below.) As soon
as one of the suggestions (or the proper number of
 suggestions that will fill the blank) receives a majority vote,
the chair declares the blank thereby filled, and no vote is
taken on any remaining suggestions.
12:103 Alternatively, the assembly may direct that voting be by
ballot or roll call (see 30; 45:18ff.), in which case each
member marks or announces his or her preference for the
choice (or choices) that shall fill the blank—which need not
be confined to the suggestions previously made—and the
blank is filled by the choice receiving a majority of the votes
cast (or the proper number of choices receiving a majority
that receive the largest number of votes; cf. 46:33). Voting by
ballot or roll call is seldom used except in the case of names,
however, unless there is keen competition—for example,
among several cities seeking a convention. When names are
being voted on, the ballot has an advantage in more truly
revealing the will of the voting body; frequently when the vote
is by voice, those whose names are voted on first are more
likely to be elected.
12:104 It should be noted that the vote that fills a blank does not
decide the main question or other pending question that
contained the blank. When the blank is filled, the chair must
immediately state the question on the adoption of the
completed motion.
12:105 Normally, blanks in a pending motion should be filled
before the motion itself is voted on. However, if the pending
motion is included in an adopted order for the Previous
Question, that order must be carried out even if the blank has
not yet been filled—and even if no suggestions have been
offered (note, however, that a reasonable opportunity to
make suggestions must always be given; see 12:101). This
may happen, for example, when two thirds of those voting
are confident that the motion will be rejected in any case. But
if the motion is actually adopted with an unfilled blank, the
 assembly immediately proceeds to fill it, and no new subject
(except a privileged one) may be introduced before the
motion is thereby completed.
12:106 Filling Blanks by Unanimous Consent. If no more
suggestions are offered than the number required to fill the
blank, then unless the voting is to be by ballot or roll call,
those suggestions are deemed inserted by unanimous
consent, and no vote is taken on inserting them. This
procedure is especially common when filling a blank with
names (see below).
12:107 Filling a Blank with Names. The following principles apply
to the process of filling a blank with one or more names:
a) The procedure for filling a blank with one name is
practically the same as for making nominations. The chair
repeats each name as it is proposed, and finally takes a
vote on each in that same order, until one receives a
majority.
b) If the blank is to be filled with more than one name and no
more are suggested than are required, the names are
deemed inserted by unanimous consent (cf. 46:40 and
50:13(b)).
c) If more names are suggested than are required, the chair
takes a vote on each in the order of its proposal until
enough to fill the blank have received a majority vote. The
names remaining in the list as proposed are ignored, since
the assembly has decided which names shall fill the blank.
d) If the number of names is not specified, the chair takes a
vote on each name suggested; and all names approved by
a majority vote are inserted.
12:108 Filling a Blank with Amounts of Money. Sometimes the
particular nature of the blank determines the order in which
 proposals for filling it should be put to vote. Typical instances
of this kind are blanks to be filled with amounts of money. In
such cases it is advisable, whenever a logical order is
apparent, to arrange the proposed entries so that the one
least likely to be acceptable will be voted on first, and so on.
New supporters may then be gained with each succeeding
vote until a majority in favor of one entry is reached.
12:109 As an example of the procedure for filling a blank with an
amount of money, assume that a resolution to renovate the
headquarters “at a cost not to exceed $ ” is pending,
and that it is proposed to fill the blank with the following
amounts: $350,000, $250,000, $400,000, and $300,000. The
character of this measure—to spend money—indicates that
the amounts should be arranged and voted on in order from
the highest to lowest. If $400,000 is rejected, the vote is
taken next on $350,000; and if that is not adopted, the chair
puts the question on $300,000. If that amount is adopted, no
vote is taken on $250,000, and the chair immediately says,
“The amount of $300,000 fills the blank. The question is now
on the resolution: ‘Resolved, That… at a cost not to exceed
$300,000.’” Note that if the smallest sum had been voted on
first, it might have been adopted, with the result that those
who preferred the added advantages possible through a
larger expenditure would have been cut off from considering
larger sums.
12:110 On the other hand, suppose that the motion or resolution
is “to sell the headquarters for an amount not less than $
.” In the case of such a motion—to accept a sum of
money in settlement—the amounts being considered should
be arranged and voted on in order from the smallest to the
largest. Thus, those who are willing to sell for the smallest
amount, and some additional members, will be willing to sell
for the next larger sum, and so on, until the smallest sum for
 which the majority is willing to sell is reached.
12:111 Filling a Blank with Places, Dates, or Numbers. When a
blank is to be filled with a place, date, or number, a choice of
methods for arranging and voting on the proposals can be
made as follows:
a) Voting on the suggestions in the order in which they are
offered, as when filling a blank with names.
b) Voting on the proposals in the order of their probable
acceptability, beginning with the least popular choice, as
when filling a blank with an amount.
c) (If there is no clear-cut reason why either increasing or
decreasing order would be preferable), voting first on the
largest number, longest time, or most distant date, and so
on.
The particular circumstances must determine the order to be
used.
12:112 If an amount has been struck out in order to create a
blank, that amount is voted on in its proper place in the
logical sequence among the other amounts. If a name has
been struck out to create a blank, however, it comes first in
the order of names to be voted on.
12:113 (For further examples of both creating and filling a blank,
see 13:7(6), 13:8, 13:12, 13:26, 27:4, 31:3.)
§13. COMMIT OR REFER
13:1 The subsidiary motion to Commit or Refer is generally used
to send a pending question to a relatively small group of
selected persons—a committee—so that the question may be
carefully investigated and put into better condition for the
assembly to consider.
13:2 The motion to Commit also has three variations whose
object is not to turn the main question over to a smaller group,
but to permit the assembly’s full meeting body to consider it
with the greater freedom of debate that is allowed in
committees—that is, with no limit on the number of times a
member can speak. These forms of the motion are:
a) to “go into a committee of the whole”;
b) to “go into quasi committee of the whole” (or, to “consider
as if in committee of the whole”); and
c) to “consider informally.”
13:3 “Informal consideration” is the simplest of the three methods
and is usually the best in ordinary societies whose meetings
are not large (see 52:24–27).
13:4 The term recommit is applied to a motion that proposes to
refer a question a second time, either to the same committee
that previously considered it or to a different one.
13:5 All of the rules in this section, except when stated to the
contrary, apply equally to variations (a), (b), and (c) above, and
to a motion to recommit.
13:6 When a motion proposes to assign a task or refer a matter
to a committee when no question is pending, such a motion is
not the subsidiary motion to Commit, but is a main motion. It is
an incidental main motion if the assignment or referral is
pursuant to a subject on which the assembly has already taken
some action; but it is an original main motion if the matter to be
assigned or referred relates to a new subject.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
13:7 The subsidiary motion to Commit or Refer:
1. Takes precedence over the main motion, over the
subsidiary motions to Postpone Indefinitely and to Amend,
and over the incidental motions for Division of a Question
and for Consideration by Paragraph or Seriatim. It takes
precedence over a debatable appeal that adheres to the
main question (or a point of order that adheres to the main
question and has been referred by the chair to the judgment
of the assembly and that is debatable when so referred,
23:2(2)), if no motions other than those named in the
preceding sentence are pending or involved in the appeal
or point of order; and it also takes precedence over a
debatable nonadhering appeal or point of order to which it
is applied. It yields to the subsidiary motions to Postpone
Definitely, to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, for the
Previous Question, and to Lay on the Table; to a motion to
Amend that is applied to it; to all privileged motions; and to
all applicable incidental motions.
2. Can be applied to main motions, with any amendments or
motions for Division of a Question or Consideration by
Paragraph or Seriatim that may be pending; can be thus
applied to orders of the day (18, 41) or questions of
privilege (19) while they are actually pending as main
motions, and such an application is independent of, and
does not affect, any other matter that they may have
interrupted; can be applied to debatable appeals (or points
of order referred by the chair to the judgment of the
assembly that are debatable when so referred, 23:2(2)), but
if such an appeal or point of order adheres (10:35) to the
main question (that is, if it must be decided before the main
 question is decided), the motion to Commit can be applied
to the appeal or point of order only in connection with the
main question, which also goes to the committee (see also
13:19); and can be applied to nonadhering debatable
appeals (or points of order submitted to the judgment of the
assembly) separately, without affecting the status of any
pending questions not involved in the appeal or point of
order. It cannot be applied to an undebatable appeal. It
cannot be applied to the motion to Reconsider alone—that
is, it cannot be applied to a motion to reconsider a main
question; and if a main question is committed while a
motion to reconsider an amendment is pending or has been
made but not yet taken up, such a motion to Reconsider is
thereafter ignored. It cannot be applied to any subsidiary
motion, except that its application to a main question also
affects any motions to Amend that may be pending, as
noted above. It cannot be moved after the adoption of a
motion to close debate on the main question at a definite
hour or to limit the total time allowed for debate; but it
remains in order if only a limitation on the length of
speeches is in force (see 15). Motions to Amend, to Limit or
Extend Limits of Debate, and for the Previous Question can
be applied to it without affecting the main question. The
motion to Commit cannot be definitely postponed or laid on
the table alone, but when it is pending the main question
can be definitely postponed or laid on the table, and in such
a case, the motion to Commit is also postponed or carried
to the table. It cannot be postponed indefinitely.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is debatable. The debate can extend only to the desirability
of committing the main question and to the appropriate
details of the motion to Commit, as explained below,
 however, and not to the merits of the main question.
6. Is amendable as follows: in the case of a standing
committee, as to the committee to which the main question
is to be referred; in the case of a special committee, as to
the committee’s composition and manner of selection; and
in the case of any form of committee, as to any instructions
the committee is to follow. It can be amended so as to
change from any one of the five forms of the motion (listed
in 13:12) to another, or a blank can be created (12:92–113)
and the suggested forms voted on in the order given in
13:12.
7. Requires a majority vote.
8. An affirmative vote on the motion to Commit can be
reconsidered if the committee has not begun consideration
of the question. Thereafter, if the assembly wishes to take
the question out of the hands of the committee, the motion
to Discharge a Committee (36) must be used. A negative
vote on the motion to Commit can be reconsidered only
until such time as progress in business or debate has been
sufficient to make it essentially a new question. Thereafter,
the motion can be renewed (see 38:7).
Further Rules and Explanation
13:8 Necessary Details of the Motion. The motion to Commit
usually should include all necessary details:
a) If the main question is to be considered in a committee of
the whole, or in quasi committee of the whole (“as if in
committee of the whole”), or if it is to be considered
informally, the motion should specify which of these
methods is to be used.
b) If the main question is to be sent to a standing committee
(see 50), the motion should specify the name of the
committee.
c) If the main question is to go to a special (select, or ad hoc)
committee (see 50), the motion should specify the number
of committee members, and the method of their selection
unless the method is prescribed by the bylaws or rules of
the assembly; or, if preferred, the motion can name the
members of the special committee. (The word special, or
select, or ad hoc, is not generally used in a motion to refer
to a special committee; the motion is worded, for example,
“to refer the question to a committee of five to be appointed
by…” See also forms of the motion in 13:25–26.)
d) Instructions to the committee can also be included in the
motion to Commit, whether the committee is to be a
standing or a special one, or a committee of the whole.
These instructions, which are binding on the committee,
may involve such matters as when the committee is to
meet, how it is to consider the question, whether it is to
employ an expert consultant, and when it is to report. The
committee can be given “full power” to act for the society in
a specific case and can be authorized to spend money or
even to add to its own membership. The motion to Commit
 requires a majority vote for its adoption even when it
contains instructions that suspend, modify, or conflict with
rules of order that would otherwise apply to meetings of the
committee. (See 9:35 regarding the adoption of instructions
authorizing a committee to hold electronic meetings.)
Although these details can be changed by ordinary
amendments, they can often be handled more efficiently by
treating them as in filling blanks (12:92–113, 13:26).
13:9 Dilatory Motion to Commit. The chair has a duty to rule out of
order, as dilatory, any motion to Commit that is obviously
absurd or unreasonable—such as one that (because of the
time involved or any other reason) would have the effect of
defeating the purpose of the main question.
13:10 Alternative Procedures When the Motion Is Incomplete.
When a motion to Commit merely lacks essential details—for
example, when the motion is made simply “to refer the main
question to a committee”—the chair should not rule it out of
order. Instead, these two courses are open:
a) Members can offer suggestions or formal amendments to
complete the required details, or the chair can call for them.
b) The chair can put the motion to Commit to vote at once in
its simple form.
The second alternative is appropriate if no one is seeking
recognition and the chair believes that the motion to Commit is
not likely to be adopted, in which case time spent in completing
the details would be wasted. Opponents of the motion to
Commit may try to bring about the same result (that is,
obtaining an immediate vote on the referral) by moving the
Previous Question on it (see 16). If the necessary two thirds (of
those voting) vote to order the Previous Question on an
incomplete motion to Commit, the motion is almost certain to
 be rejected, whatever details might be added.
13:11 In the event that any of the above procedures results in the
adoption of an incomplete motion “to refer the question to a
committee,” the details must be completed as described in the
following paragraphs. In such a case, no new subject (except
a privileged one) can be introduced until the assembly has
decided all of these related questions. In completing the
details, the member who made the motion to commit has no
preference in recognition, since he or she could have included
any desired specifications in that motion.
13:12 Completing an Incomplete Motion to Commit. In
completing a motion that simply refers “the main question to a
committee”—either while the motion to Commit is pending or
after it is adopted—the chair first asks, “To what committee
shall the question be referred?” If only one suggestion is
made, he assumes that this is the will of the assembly, and he
states that it is inserted into the motion to Commit. But if
different proposals are made, either in the form of primary and
secondary amendments or simply as suggestions, the chair
treats them as proposals to fill a blank (12:92–113) and puts
them to vote in the following order until one receives a
majority: (1) committee of the whole; (2) quasi committee of
the whole (or “as if in committee of the whole”); (3) consider
informally; (4) standing committees, in the order in which they
are proposed; and (5) special (select, or ad hoc) committees,
the one containing the largest number of members being
voted on first. A proposal to recommit to the same standing or
special committee that previously considered the question is
voted on before other proposals for standing or special
committees are voted on.
13:13 If it is decided that the committee is to be a special one, the
chair then asks—unless the rules provide the method—“How
 shall the committee be appointed?” Again, if only one
suggestion is made, it is inserted by unanimous consent, but if
different methods are suggested or moved, they are voted on
in the following order: (1) election by ballot; (2) nominations
from the floor (“open nominations”) with viva-voce election; (3)
nominations by the chair; and (4) appointment by the chair
(see also 50:11ff.). The first of these methods of selection that
receives a majority vote is then inserted into the motion to
Commit and the remainder are ignored.
13:14 If the motion to Commit lacks any other detail, the chair
proceeds in a similar fashion to obtain completion of the
motion. As soon as it is completed, if it is a pending motion to
Commit, the chair states the question on it, thus opening it to
additional debate during which any member can move—or the
chair himself can suggest—that it be amended by adding
instructions. By a majority vote, instructions can also be added
to a motion to Commit that is being completed after its
adoption.
13:15 Naming Members to a Special Committee. A standing or
special committee may include, or even have as its chairman,
one or more persons who are not members of the assembly or
the society; but if the chair appoints the committee, the names
of all such nonmembers being appointed must be submitted to
the assembly for approval, unless the bylaws, the rules of the
assembly, or the motion to appoint the committee specifically
authorizes the presiding officer to appoint nonmembers (see
also 50:12, 50:13(d)). When a motion to refer to a special
committee has been adopted, no business except privileged
matters can intervene until selection of the committee
members is completed—except that if the chair is to appoint
the committee, he can, if he wishes and time permits, state
that he will announce the names of its members later. In such
 a case, however, the committee must be left with reasonable
time to accomplish its purpose after the names of its members
have been announced for the record and any non–society
members have been approved in a meeting of the assembly
as necessary under the rule stated at the beginning of this
paragraph. The committee cannot act before such an
announcement of its membership is made, unless otherwise
authorized by the assembly, which may be done in the motion
establishing the special committee or by a later incidental main
motion (which can be adopted by a majority vote).
13:16 Although it is not necessary to place on a special
committee the member who made the motion to Commit, it is
usual to do so when such a person is interested and qualified.
For a discussion of the appropriate size and personnel of
committees under various circumstances, see 50:18.
13:17 Designating the Committee Chairman. If the chair appoints
or nominates the committee, he has the duty to select its
chairman—which he does by naming that person to the
committee first—and the committee cannot elect another. The
chair should not state the name of any committee member
until he has decided his preference for chairman. The chair
should specifically mention as chairman the first committee
member he names, but if he neglects to state this fact, the
designation nevertheless is automatic unless the first-named
member immediately declines the chairmanship (which the
member can do, and remain on the committee). If the first-
named member declines to serve as chairman, the chair then
names his next choice for this position. If the committee’s task
is heavy and will require some time to complete, it often is
advisable to appoint a vice-chairman. The anomalous title “co-
chairman” should be avoided, as it causes impossible
dilemmas in attempts to share the functions of a single
 position.
13:18 If the committee is named by a power other than the chair
(such as the assembly or the executive board), the body that
elects the committee members has the power, at the time the
appointments are made, to designate any one of them as
chairman. If a chairman is not designated when the committee
is appointed, the committee has the right to elect its own
chairman. In the latter case, the first-named member has the
duty of calling the committee together and of acting as
temporary chairman until the committee elects a chairman.
Since such a committee may confirm its first-named member
in the chairmanship, it is important that this person be qualified
and dependable.
13:19 Effect on Motions Adhering to a Referred Question. If a
motion to Postpone Indefinitely is pending when the main
motion is referred to a committee, the motion for indefinite
postponement is dropped from further consideration. On the
other hand, any pending amendments, motions for Division of
a Question or Consideration by Paragraph or Seriatim, and
adhering debatable appeals (or points of order submitted to
the judgment of the assembly) go to the committee with the
main motion, and are reported with it. (No question can be
referred to a committee while an undebatable appeal or point
of order is pending.) If, at the time a main motion is committed,
a motion to reconsider an adhering subsidiary or incidental
motion is pending or has been made but not yet taken up, the
motion to Reconsider is thereafter ignored.
13:20 Freedom of Action After Referral. Since the purpose of
referring a motion to a committee is generally to allow for a
more thorough consideration of the matter, greater freedom of
action is obtained once the committee commences its
deliberations,8 as follows: The usual prohibition against
 introducing a motion to Amend that raises the same question
of content and effect as one already decided by the assembly
at the same session (cf. 12:25) no longer applies. Therefore, a
committee to which a resolution or other motion has been
referred is free to consider, and recommend for adoption, its
own amendments to the referred motion, or a recommendation
for definite or indefinite postponement (11, 14), without regard
to whether or not the assembly, by either adopting or rejecting
the same or related amendments or motions prior to the
referral, had effectively voted against making such changes or
taking such action. Likewise, when a committee reports on a
motion referred to it—even if to the same meeting that made
the referral—the assembly itself is free to consider any such
amendments, or motions for definite or indefinite
postponement, whether considered by the committee or not.
(In all cases, however, any amendments actually pending at
the time of referral are sent to the committee with the main
motion, and, when the committee reports, they must be
disposed of by the assembly before any additional
amendments of the same degree may be considered; see
51:36–52.)
13:21 Effect on Subsequent Debate and Methods of Voting. If
consideration of a referred question is resumed in the
assembly on the same day on which it was referred, any
members who have exhausted their right to debate (that is,
those who have already spoken twice on the question that day,
unless the assembly has a special rule providing otherwise)
cannot speak on it again that day without permission of the
assembly (by a two-thirds vote or unanimous consent; see 15,
43). Speeches made in committee of the whole, in quasi
committee of the whole, or during informal consideration,
however, do not count against a member’s right to debate the
 same question when it is further considered by the assembly
under the regular rules. When a question is referred to a
committee, any orders limiting or extending the limits of debate
(15) or for the Previous Question (16) are thereby exhausted,
so that when the question is brought back from the committee,
debate in the assembly takes place according to the regular
rules, even if at the same session in which the motion to
Commit was adopted. For the rules relating to the exhaustion
of an order prescribing the method of voting on a question,
see 30:7.
13:22 Subsequent Instructions. After a question has been referred
to a committee and at any time before the committee submits
its report, even at another session, the assembly by a majority
vote can give the committee additional instructions in
reference to the referred question (see also 13:8(d)).
13:23 Vacancies in a Committee. The power to appoint a
committee includes the power to fill any vacancy that may
arise in it. The resignation of a member of a committee should
be addressed to the appointing power, and it is the
responsibility of that power to fill the resulting vacancy (see
also 47:57–58). Unless the bylaws or other governing rules
provide otherwise (see 50:14, 62:16), the appointing authority
has the power to remove or replace members of the
committee: If a single person, such as the president, has the
power of appointment, he has the power to remove or replace
a member so appointed; but if the assembly has the power of
selection, removal or replacement can take place only under
rules applicable to the motions to Rescind or Amend
Something Previously Adopted (see 50:14). Committee
members are presumed to serve until their successors are
appointed.
13:24 Procedure When a Committee Reports. For the procedure
when a committee submits its report on a referred question,
see 51; see also 12:77–78.
Form and Example
13:25 The motion to Commit or Refer may be made in many
forms. The following are typical: “I move to refer the motion to
a committee”; “I move to recommit the resolution”; “I move that
the motion be referred to the Social Committee”; “I move that
the resolution be referred to a committee of three to be
appointed by the chair” [or “nominated by the chair,” or
“elected from open nominations”]; “I move that the question be
referred to the Executive Board with full power”; “I move to
refer the resolution to a committee of seven, the chairman to
be Mr. Brownley, six members to be elected by ballot from
open nominations, and the committee to be instructed to
report at the April meeting”; “I move that the Club now resolve
itself into [or “go into”] a committee of the whole to consider
the resolution”; “I move that the resolution be considered in
quasi committee of the whole” [or “considered as if in
committee of the whole”]; and “I move that the motion be
considered informally.”
13:26 Assume that a resolution is pending which, after debate,
apparently requires careful amendment before the assembly will be
willing to act on it. However, the assembly is pressed for time.
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move that the resolution be
referred to a committee to be appointed by the chair. (Second.)
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded that the resolution be referred to a
committee to be appointed by the chair. [Pause.] Are you ready for
the question? [No response.] How many members shall the
committee consist of?
MEMBER B (obtaining the floor): I move to amend the motion to
commit by inserting after the word “committee” the words “of three.”
(Second.)
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded to amend the motion by inserting
 after the word “committee” the words “of three.”
MEMBER C (obtaining the floor): I move to amend the amendment
by striking out “three” and inserting “seven.” (Second.)
CHAIR: If there is no objection, the chair suggests that the number of
committee members be decided upon by the method of filling blanks.
[Pause.] There is no objection and it is so ordered. It has been
suggested that the committee be composed of seven and also three
members. Are there additional suggestions?
MEMBER D (calling from his seat): I suggest five.
CHAIR: Five is also suggested. Are there other suggestions? [No
response.] If not, the different numbers of members suggested for
the proposed committee are seven, five, and three. These will be
voted on in descending order. Those in favor of seven members, say
aye.… Those opposed, say no.… The noes have it and the number
seven is not adopted. Those in favor of five members, say aye.…
Those opposed, say no.… The ayes have it and the number five is
chosen for the committee membership. The question is now on the
motion “to refer the resolution to a committee of five to be appointed
by the chair.” [Pause. No response.] Those in favor of referring the
resolution to such a committee, say aye.… Those opposed, say no.
… The ayes have it and the motion is adopted. The chair appoints
Mr. Johnson as chairman, Dr. Donaldson, Mrs. Applegarth, Mr.
Frank, Miss Dillon.
§14. POSTPONE TO A CERTAIN TIME (OR
DEFINITELY)
14:1 The subsidiary motion to Postpone to a Certain Time (or
Postpone Definitely, or Postpone) is the motion by which action
on a pending question can be put off, within limits, to a definite
session, day, meeting, or hour, or until after a certain event.
(The expression “to defer” should be avoided, since it is often
subject to vague usage.) This motion can be moved regardless
of how much debate there has been on the motion it proposes
to postpone. A question may be postponed either so that it may
be considered at a more convenient time, or because debate
has shown reasons for holding off a decision until later. This
motion should not be confused with Postpone Indefinitely,
which, as explained earlier (11), does not actually postpone the
pending question, but kills it.
14:2 At the time when a postponed question is due to come up,
there may be another question pending, or other business of a
higher priority than the postponed question, that would delay its
consideration, as fully explained in 41. In its simple and usual
form, the motion to postpone a question makes it a general
order, which cannot interrupt pending business. To give the
question being postponed a special type of priority that will
enable it to interrupt the consideration of other business at the
specified time, the motion to Postpone may, by a two-thirds
vote, be adopted in a form that makes the question a special
order. (See Time at Which a Postponed Question Is Taken Up
Again, 14:13–17, and the illustrations under Form and
Example, 14:20–22.)
14:3 When a motion proposes to postpone a matter that is not
pending—for example, the hearing of a committee’s report—
such a motion is not the subsidiary motion to Postpone, but is
an incidental main motion (10). If the effect would be to change
action already taken by the assembly, as, for example, “to
postpone for three weeks the dinner scheduled for October
15,” such a motion is a particular case of the motion to Amend
Something Previously Adopted (35).
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
14:4 The subsidiary motion to Postpone to a Certain Time:
1. Takes precedence over the main motion; over the
subsidiary motions to Postpone Indefinitely, to Amend, and
to Commit; and over the incidental motions for Division of a
Question and for Consideration by Paragraph or Seriatim. It
takes precedence over a debatable appeal that adheres to
the main question (or a point of order that adheres to the
main question and has been referred by the chair to the
judgment of the assembly and which is debatable when so
referred, 23:2(5)), if no motions other than those named in
the preceding sentence are pending or involved in the
appeal or point of order; and it also takes precedence over
a debatable nonadhering appeal or point of order to which it
is applied. It takes precedence over a debatable motion to
Reconsider when it is in order to apply it to that motion
under the conditions stated in Standard Characteristic 2
below. It yields to the subsidiary motions to Limit or Extend
Limits of Debate, for the Previous Question, or to Lay on
the Table; to a motion to Amend that is applied to it; to all
privileged motions; and to all applicable incidental motions.
2. Can be applied to main motions, with any motions to
Postpone Indefinitely, Amend, or Commit or for Division of a
Question or Consideration by Paragraph or Seriatim that
may be pending; can be thus applied to orders of the day
(14:13–17; 41) or questions of privilege (19) while they are
actually pending as main motions, and such an application
is independent of, and does not affect, any other matter that
they may have interrupted; can be applied to debatable
appeals (or points of order referred by the chair to the
judgment of the assembly that are debatable when so
 referred, 23:2(5)), but if such an appeal or point of order
adheres (10:35) to the main question (that is, if it must be
decided before the main question is decided), the motion to
Postpone can be applied to the appeal or point of order only
in connection with the main question, which is thus also
postponed (see also 14:18); can be applied to nonadhering
debatable appeals (or points of order submitted to the
judgment of the assembly) separately, without affecting the
status of any pending questions not involved in the appeal
or point of order; and can be applied to an immediately
pending, debatable motion to Reconsider (37) when it is in
order to postpone the question or series of adhering
questions containing the motion(s) to be reconsidered, in
which case all such questions and adhering motions are
postponed with the motion to Reconsider. It cannot be
applied to an undebatable appeal or to an undebatable
motion to Reconsider; and it cannot be applied to any
subsidiary motion, except that its application to a main
question also affects any motions to Postpone Indefinitely,
Amend, or Commit that may be pending, as noted above. It
cannot be moved after the adoption of a motion to close
debate on the main question at a definite hour or of a
motion to limit the total time allowed for debate; but it
remains in order if only a limitation on the length of
speeches is in force (see 15). Motions to Amend, to Limit or
Extend Limits of Debate, and for the Previous Question can
be applied to it without affecting the main question. The
motion to Postpone cannot be laid on the table alone, but
when it is pending the main question can be laid on the
table, carrying to the table also the motion to Postpone. It
cannot be postponed indefinitely or committed.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is debatable; but debate is limited in that it must not go into
the merits of the main question any more than is necessary
to enable the assembly to decide whether the main
question should be postponed and to what time.
6. Is amendable as to the time to which the main question is
to be postponed, and as to making the postponed question
a special order (see 14:13–17; 41).
7. Requires a majority vote in its simple and usual form. If (as
originally moved or as a result of amendment) it makes a
question a special order, however, the motion to Postpone
then requires a two-thirds vote, because it suspends any
rules that will interfere with the question’s consideration at
the time specified. An amendment to the motion to
Postpone requires only a majority vote, even if it would add
a provision to make the postponed question a special order
and would consequently change to two thirds the vote
necessary for adoption of the motion to Postpone.
8. An affirmative vote on the motion to Postpone can be
reconsidered. A negative vote on the motion to Postpone
can be reconsidered only until such time as progress in
business or debate has been sufficient to make it
essentially a new question. Thereafter, the motion can be
renewed (see 38:7).
Further Rules and Explanation
14:5 Limits on Postponement and Their Relation to Meeting and
Session. Rules limiting the time to which a question can be
postponed are related to the terms meeting and session (8), as
follows:
14:6 In a case where more than a quarterly time interval (see
9:7) will elapse between meetings (for example, in an annual
convention of delegates or in a local society that holds only an
annual meeting), a question cannot be postponed beyond the
end of the present session. In cases where no more than a
quarterly time interval will elapse between sessions, a question
can be postponed until, but not beyond, the next regular
business session. For example, in a society that holds regular
business meetings on the same day of each week, a question
cannot, at one meeting, be postponed for longer than a week.
14:7 If it is desired to postpone a question to a time between
regular meetings, it is necessary first to provide for an
adjourned meeting, which is a continuation of the session
scheduling it; then the question can be postponed to that
meeting. If a motion to postpone a question to a regular
meeting is already pending, the privileged motion to Fix the
Time to Which to Adjourn (22) can be used to set an adjourned
meeting, and the motion to Postpone can then be amended so
that the proposed postponement will be to the adjourned
meeting. Some societies have frequent sessions for social or
cultural purposes at which business may be transacted, and
also hold a session every month or quarter especially for
business. In such societies these rules apply particularly to the
regular business sessions, to which questions can be
postponed from the previous regular business session or from
any intervening meeting.
14:8 When the time to which a question has been postponed
arrives and the question is taken up, it can be postponed again
if the additional delay will not interfere with the proper handling
of the postponed motion.
14:9 Neither the motion to Postpone to a Certain Time nor any
amendment to it is in order if the effect would be the same as
that of the motion to Postpone Indefinitely—that is, if it would
kill the measure. For example, a motion to postpone until
tomorrow a pending question of accepting an invitation to a
banquet tonight cannot be recognized as a motion to Postpone
to a Certain Time. The chair must either rule that this motion is
not in order or, if the motion to Postpone Indefinitely is in order
at the time, state the motion as such. The same would apply to
a motion to postpone a question from one regular business
session to the next in cases where the next business session
will not be held within a quarterly time interval (see 9:7).
14:10 Rule Against Postponement of a Class of Subjects. As
already noted, the subsidiary motion to Postpone can be
applied only to a question that is actually pending; but an
individual item of business that is not pending can, when
appropriate, be postponed by means of a main motion.
14:11 It is not in order, either through a subsidiary motion or a
main motion, to postpone a class of business composed of
several items or subjects, such as reports of officers or reports
of committees (see Order of Business, 41); but each report
can be postponed separately as it is announced or called for.9
If it is desired to reach an item immediately but it falls at a later
point in the regular order of business, the assembly, by a two-
thirds vote or by unanimous consent (4:58–63), can adopt a
motion to “suspend the rules and take up” the desired question
or, equivalently, “to pass” one or more items or classes of
subjects in the order of business. After a question taken up out
 of its proper order by such a suspension of the rules has been
disposed of, the regular order of business is resumed at the
point where it was left off (see 25).
14:12 Postponement of a Subject That the Bylaws Set for a
Particular Session. A matter that the bylaws require to be
attended to at a specified session, such as the election of
officers, cannot, in advance and through a main motion, be
postponed to another session. It can be taken up at any time
when it is in order during the specified session (that is, either
as originally convened or at any adjournment of it); and it can
be postponed to an adjourned meeting in the manner
explained above, after first adopting, if necessary, a motion to
Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn. The adjourned meeting, as
already stated, is a continuation of the same session. The
procedure of postponing such a matter to an adjourned
meeting is sometimes advisable, as in an annual meeting for
the election of officers on a stormy night when, although a
quorum is present, the attendance is abnormally small. If the
matter has actually been taken up during the specified session
as required, it also may be postponed beyond that session in
accordance with the regular rules for the motion to Postpone.
It is usually unwise to do so, however, unless completing it
during the session proves impossible or impractical.
14:13 Time at Which a Postponed Question Is Taken Up Again. A
postponed question becomes an order of the day for the
session, day, meeting, or hour to which it is postponed. It
cannot be taken up before the time for which it is set, except
by reconsidering (37) the vote on the motion to Postpone, or
by suspending the rules by a two-thirds vote. The postponed
question is taken up either at the specified time or later, as
follows:
14:14 Orders of the day consist of general orders and special
 orders. If the motion to Postpone does not make the
postponed question a special order, it becomes a general
order, which cannot interrupt pending business even if the time
for which it is set has arrived or passed. By a two-thirds vote,
however, a question can be postponed and made a special
order, giving it priority over general orders as well as the ability
to interrupt pending business. If it is desired to reserve an
entire meeting—or as much of it as necessary—for the
consideration of a single subject, a matter can be made the
special order for a meeting (see 41:57).
14:15 When set for a session, day, or meeting but not for a
particular hour, special orders and general orders usually have
their established places in the order of business (see 41:18–
26 and 41:46).
14:16 The full rules regarding the priority of orders of the day, and
their relation to each other and to the order of business, are
given in 41.
14:17 When the appointed time has been reached for a
postponed question to be taken up, and as soon as no other
business of a higher priority interferes, the chair states the
question as pending. (For examples, see 14:22, 41:19, and
41:24.) Therefore, no further motion is normally needed to
bring the question before the assembly; however, if the chair
fails to state the question at the correct time, any member may
then demand that the postponed question be taken up as
ordered, by making a Call for the Orders of the Day (18).
14:18 Effect on Motions Adhering to a Postponed Question.
When a main motion is postponed, one or more of the
subsidiary motions to Postpone Indefinitely, Amend, and
Commit or incidental motions for Division of a Question and
Consideration by Paragraph or Seriatim may be pending. All
such adhering motions are postponed with the main question,
 and when consideration of that question is resumed at the
specified time, the business is in the same condition, so far as
possible, as it was immediately before the postponement, with
the exceptions noted in the next paragraph. Similarly, when a
main motion is postponed, it also carries with it any adhering
debatable appeals (24) or adhering points of order (23) that
the chair has submitted to the judgment of the assembly and
that are then debatable. (No question can be postponed while
an undebatable appeal or point of order is pending.)
14:19 Effect on Subsequent Debate and Methods of Voting.
When consideration of a postponed question is resumed at a
later session, any orders limiting or extending the limits of
debate or for the Previous Question that were adopted at the
original session are exhausted (see 15:18, 16:11–12), and
debate takes place according to the regular rules. But when
consideration is resumed at the same session—even on
another day, as may happen in a convention—all such
applicable orders remain in effect. Except for the effect of an
unexhausted order limiting or closing debate as just stated,
when a question is taken up on a different day from the one on
which it was postponed, the right of members to debate it
begins over again, as if the question had not previously been
debated; that is, each member can again speak twice to each
debatable question, regardless of whether the member had
already done so before the postponement (see 43). For the
rules relating to the exhaustion of an order prescribing the
method of voting on a question, see 30:7.
Form and Example
14:20 The form used in making this motion depends on the
desired object:
a) Simply to postpone the question to the next meeting, when
it will have priority over new business: “I move to postpone
the motion [or “that the question be postponed”] to the next
meeting.”
b) To specify an hour before which the question will not be
taken up (unless by a two-thirds vote or through
reconsideration), and when it will come up automatically as
soon as no business is pending and any remaining matters
that have priority over it have been disposed of: “I move
that the resolution be postponed until 3 P.M.” [or “… until 9
P.M. at the meeting scheduled for February 15”].
c) To postpone consideration of a motion until after a certain
event in a meeting, when it will immediately be taken up
(unless a special order intervenes): “I move to postpone the
question until after the address by our guest speaker.”
d) To ensure that the question will come up at the next
meeting and will not be crowded out by other matters: “I
move that the question be postponed to the next meeting
and be made a special order.” (Two-thirds vote required for
adoption.)
e) To ensure that the matter will come up at precisely a certain
hour, even if it interrupts pending business: “I move that the
resolution be postponed and be made a special order for 3
P.M. tomorrow.” (Two-thirds vote required for adoption.)
f) To postpone a subject—such as a revision of the bylaws—to
an adjourned meeting at which the entire time can be
devoted to it if necessary, a motion to Fix the Time to Which
 to Adjourn must first be made and adopted, and then the
motion to Postpone may be made in this form: “I move that
the question be postponed and made the special order for
the adjourned meeting set for next Tuesday evening.” (Two-
thirds vote required for adoption.)
14:21 Assume that a controversial resolution is pending at a
convention and that many of the delegates who are most
interested and best informed on the subject will not be able to
be present until tomorrow.

MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move to postpone the resolution

until eleven o’clock tomorrow morning. (Second.)
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded to postpone the resolution until
eleven o’clock tomorrow morning. [Pause.]
MEMBER B (after obtaining the floor and stating that in his
opinion further consideration of the resolution should under no
circumstances be delayed beyond 11 A.M. the next day): I move
to amend the motion to postpone, by adding “and make it a special
order.” (Second.)
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded to amend the motion to postpone
the resolution until eleven o’clock tomorrow morning by adding “and
make it a special order.” [Debate, if any.] The question is on
amending the motion to postpone by adding “and make it a special
order.” Those in favor of the amendment, say aye.… Those opposed,
say no.… The ayes have it and the amendment is adopted. The
question now is on the motion, as amended, to postpone the
resolution until eleven o’clock tomorrow morning and make it a
special order. This motion now requires a two-thirds vote. [Pause.]
Are you ready for the question? [Pause. No further debate.] Those in
favor of the motion to postpone the resolution until eleven o’clock
tomorrow morning and make it a special order will rise.… Be seated.
Those opposed, rise.… Be seated. There are two thirds in the
affirmative and the motion is adopted. The resolution is a special
order for 11 A.M. tomorrow. The next item of business is…
14:22 If the amendment to make a special order is rejected, the
chair proceeds in the usual manner to take a voice vote on the
unamended motion to postpone. If the motion to postpone is
not adopted, he again states the question on the resolution.
But if the resolution has been made a special order for the
following day at 11 A.M., as in the above example, then at the
appointed time the chair says:
CHAIR: It is now eleven o’clock. The following resolution was made a
special order for this time: “Resolved, That…” The question is on the
adoption of the resolution.…
§15. LIMIT OR EXTEND LIMITS OF DEBATE
15:1 The subsidiary motion to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate is
one of the two motions by means of which an assembly can
exercise special control over debate on a pending question or
on a series of pending questions. (The other motion serving
such a purpose is the Previous Question, 16. Neither of these
motions is allowed in committees; see 50.)
15:2 The motion to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate can limit
debate by: (1) reducing the number or length of speeches
permitted, without including specific provision for closing
debate; or (2) requiring that, at a certain later hour or after
debate for a specified length of time, debate shall be closed. It
can extend the limits of debate by allowing more and longer
speeches than under the regular rules (see 43:8–13). It cannot
impose an immediate closing of debate, which requires a
different motion—the Previous Question.
15:3 When an assembly adopts a motion to Limit or Extend
Limits of Debate, it is said to adopt an “order” taking such
action. (The word order as applied in this sense should not be
confused with the technical terms order of the day, general
order, and special order as used in 3, 14, and 41.) When an
order limiting or extending the limits of debate finally ceases to
be in force as relates to all the motions it affected, the order is
said to be “exhausted” (see 15:18).
15:4 If a motion proposing to change the regular limits of debate
(for any length of time or during the consideration of one or
more particular subjects) is made while no question is pending,
such a motion is not the subsidiary motion to Limit or Extend
Limits of Debate, but is an incidental main motion (although it
requires a two-thirds vote for its adoption, just as the subsidiary
motion does).
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
15:5 The subsidiary motion to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate:
1. Takes precedence over all debatable motions. It yields to
the subsidiary motions for the Previous Question and to Lay
on the Table; to a motion to Amend that is applied to it; to
all privileged motions; and to all applicable incidental
motions.
2. Can be applied to any immediately pending debatable
motion, to an entire series of pending debatable motions, or
to any consecutive part of such a series beginning with the
immediately pending question. (It therefore can be made
only while a debatable motion is immediately pending. If a
series of debatable questions is pending and an
undebatable incidental motion is immediately pending, the
latter must be disposed of before any motion to Limit or
Extend Limits of Debate can be made.) Motions to Amend
and (for the purpose of stopping amendment) the motion for
the Previous Question can be applied to it without affecting
the main question. The motion to Limit or Extend Limits of
Debate cannot be laid on the table alone, but when it is
pending the main question can be laid on the table, carrying
to the table also the motion to Limit or Extend Limits of
Debate.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is not debatable.
6. Is amendable, but any amendment, like the motion itself, is
undebatable.
7. Requires a two-thirds vote—because it suspends the rules,
and because limiting debate takes away the basic rights of
all members to full discussion and may restrict a minority’s
 right to present its case.
8. An affirmative vote on the motion to Limit or Extend Limits
of Debate can be reconsidered, without debate, at any time
before the order limiting or extending limits of debate is
exhausted (see 15:18). If the order has been partially
carried out, only the unexecuted part can be subject to
reconsideration. A negative vote on the motion to Limit or
Extend Limits of Debate can be reconsidered only until
such time as progress in business or debate has been
sufficient to make it essentially a new question. Thereafter,
the motion can be renewed (see 38:7).
Further Rules and Explanation
15:6 Effect on Pending and Subsequent Motions. This motion’s
effect upon other pending and subsequent motions is closely
related to its position in the order of precedence of motions (5)
and further depends on the nature of its specific provisions, as
explained below. Any relevant provisions can be included in the
motion to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate by its maker or,
while the motion is pending, can be added or modified by
amendment (12).
15:7 Pending Motions to Which It Applies. If, at the time the
motion to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate is made, the
immediately pending question is one among a consecutive
series of pending debatable questions, the motion to Limit or
Extend Limits of Debate can be applied, as noted in Standard
Characteristic 2 above, to the immediately pending question, to
any consecutive part of the series beginning with the
immediately pending question, or to the entire series. If the
motion does not specify to which of these questions it is to
apply, then only the immediately pending question is affected.
15:8 Subsequent Motions to Which It Applies. Unless otherwise
specified in the motion to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, its
effect on the debate of motions that may subsequently become
pending is as follows: An order limiting debate applies not only
to the motion(s) on which the limitation is ordered, but also to
any debatable subsidiary motions, motions to Reconsider, or
debatable appeals that may become pending subsequently
while the order is in force. On the other hand, an order
extending limits of debate—or one that both limits and extends
the limits of debate, such as by limiting the length of each
speech to two minutes while allowing each member to speak
 three times the same day on the question—applies only to the
debate of the pending motion(s) on which it is ordered.
15:9 Effect on the Making of Subsidiary Motions. While a motion
to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate is pending, its precedence
prevents the making of subsidiary motions of lower rank
(Postpone Indefinitely, Amend, Commit, Postpone to a Certain
Time). After a limitation or extension on debate has been
ordered, however, its effect on which subsidiary motions can
be made depends on the particular form in which the order was
made.
15:10 Limitations (or extensions) that do not close debate. If the
limitation or extension that has been ordered does not provide
for closing debate—for example, if the order was “that debate
be limited to one speech of five minutes for each member,” as
in Form and Example (a) below—it has no effect on what
subsidiary motions can be made.
15:11 Limitations that close debate on the main motion. After the
adoption of an order that does provide a time for closing
debate on the main question—either at a specified hour or
after debate for a specified length of time, as in Form and
Example (b) or (f) below—motions to Commit or to Postpone
to a Certain Time are not in order, since providing a time for
closing debate implies that at that time the question will be
voted on.10 If the assembly decides, while the order is in
effect, that it wishes to commit or postpone the main motion,
then it may reconsider (37) and reverse the vote establishing
the order or, by a two-thirds vote, it may adopt a new limitation
or extension of debate that has no such restriction. If motions
to Commit or to Postpone were already part of a series that
was pending when such an order was adopted, however, the
remaining questions may be postponed or committed at the
 time those motions come to a vote.
15:12 When the allotted time under such an order has expired, no
further debate on any pending question is allowed, no further
amendments or subsidiary motions other than Lay on the
Table (or a superseding motion to Limit or Extend Limits of
Debate; see below) can be offered, and all pending questions
are voted on immediately. In making an order that provides a
time for closing debate on the main motion, sometimes it is
specified that the question shall be put at that time, although
the effect is the same whether or not this is explicitly provided.
15:13 Limitations that close debate on the main motion without
limiting the making of subsidiary motions. If the assembly
wishes only to limit the time devoted to the question without
preventing motions to Commit or Postpone from being made
during that time, the order can specify, for example, “that
debate on the pending resolution be limited to twenty minutes,
during which time all applicable secondary motions shall
remain in order.”
15:14 Other limitations or extensions. If it is desired to order a
limitation or extension of debate whose effect is other than as
described above, this can be specified in the order, such as in
Form and Example (e) below.
15:15 Interruptions While It Is in Effect. Regardless of the form of
an order to limit or extend the limits of debate, the main
question and any adhering motions can be laid on the table
while the order is in effect.
15:16 It should be noted that there can be a significant difference
in effect between (a) an order that closes debate at a particular
hour and (b) one that limits debate to a specified length of
time. In the first case, if consideration of the question to which
the order applies is interrupted, such as by the question’s
 being laid on the table, and is resumed after the specified hour
has passed (but during the same session, so that the order
has not been exhausted; see below), no further debate is
allowed. In the second case, however, any time consumed
while the question is lying on the table, or during other
interruptions unrelated to the question to which the order
applies (such as consideration of orders of the day (18, 41) or
unrelated questions of privilege (19)), does not diminish the
amount of time allowed for debate on the question.
15:17 Adoption of a Superseding Limitation or Extension. Unlike
the case of main motions and lower-ranking subsidiary
motions (Postpone Indefinitely, Amend, Commit, Postpone),
the adoption of one motion limiting or extending debate in a
certain way does not prevent another such conflicting motion
from being in order. A motion to set different limitation(s) or
extension(s), or to change from one to the other, or to order
the Previous Question (16), can be made at any time that it is
in order under the order of precedence of motions, until the
pending questions affected have been finally disposed of. The
reason is that the two-thirds vote necessary for the adoption of
any motion to modify the limits of debate also fulfills the
requirement for suspending the rules (25).
15:18 Conditions for Exhaustion of Its Effect. An order limiting or
extending limits of debate is exhausted (that is, no longer
applies): (1) when all of the questions on which it was imposed
have been voted on; (2) when those questions affected by the
order and not yet voted on have been either referred to a
committee or postponed indefinitely; or (3) at the conclusion of
the session in which the order was adopted—whichever
occurs first. If any of the questions to which the order applies
are postponed definitely or laid on the table, and are taken up
again later during the same session, the unexecuted part of
the order remains in effect. Any questions affected by an order
modifying limits of debate that in any way go over to the next
session—or that are referred to a committee and reported
back, even in the same session in which committed—become
open to debate under the regular rules. An order limiting or
extending limits of debate applies to reconsiderations of the
affected questions before, but not after, exhaustion of the
order.
Form and Example
15:19 The forms in which this motion may be made depend on
the desired object, as follows:
a) To reduce or increase the number or length of speeches: “I
move that debate be limited to one speech of five minutes
for each member”; or “… that Mr. Lee’s time be extended
three minutes”; or “I ask unanimous consent that Mr. Lee’s
time…” (see 4:58–63).
b) To provide a time for closing debate on the main question
and taking the vote on all pending questions: “I move that at
9 P.M. [or “after twenty minutes”] debate on the resolution be
closed.” (Under such a limitation, motions to Commit or
Postpone to a Certain Time will no longer be in order.)
c) To limit time spent in debate on a secondary motion, such
as an amendment: “I move that debate on the pending
amendment be limited to twenty minutes.”
d) To limit the time devoted to the question without preventing
motions to Commit or Postpone from being made during
that time: “I move that debate on the pending resolution be
limited to twenty minutes, during which time all applicable
secondary motions shall remain in order.”
e) To fix the hour for closing debate without cutting off further
amendments: “I move that debate on the pending resolution
be closed at 5 P.M., after which time members may continue
to offer amendments, which shall then be undebatable.”
f) To combine several of the above objects: “I move that
__ and __ [the leaders on the two sides]
each be allowed twenty minutes, which may be divided
between two speeches, and that other members be limited
to one speech of two minutes each, provided that all
 pending questions shall be put to a vote at 4 P.M.” (see also
example in 59:82).

15:20 The form of stating the question on this amendable but

undebatable motion is:
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded that no later than 9 P.M. debate be
closed and the question on the resolution be put. The motion to limit
or extend limits of debate is not debatable, but it can be amended.
[Pause.] Are you ready for the question on [or, “Are there any
amendments to”] the motion to limit debate?

The words at the end of the last sentence, “the motion to limit
debate,” can be modified to suit the particular form in which the
motion was made.
15:21 Unless the motion to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate is
adopted by unanimous consent (4:58–63), the chair puts it to a
vote taken by rising, as in the example shown for a motion to
postpone a question and make it a special order, in 14:21. In
announcing the result, the chair states the parliamentary
situation as it then exists:
CHAIR (after taking a rising vote): There are two thirds in the
affirmative and the motion is adopted. The resolution will therefore be
put to a vote no later than 9 P.M. and debate cannot continue beyond
that hour. The question is on [stating the immediately pending
question].
§16. PREVIOUS QUESTION
(Immediately to close debate and the making of subsidiary motions
except the motion to Lay on the Table)
16:1 The Previous Question is the motion used to bring the
assembly to an immediate vote on one or more pending
questions; its adoption does this with certain exceptions.
16:2 Adopting or “ordering” the Previous Question:
1) immediately closes debate on, and stops amendment of,
the immediately pending question and such other pending
questions as the motion may specify (in consecutive series;
see Standard Characteristic 2); and
2) prevents the making of any other subsidiary motions except
the higher-ranking (5) Lay on the Table.11
The adoption of an order for the Previous Question does not
prevent the making of privileged or incidental motions (6) as
applicable, and, strictly speaking, it does not prevent a special
order set for a particular hour (14, 41) from interrupting the
pending business (see also 16:10).
16:3 The motion for the Previous Question has nothing to do with
the last question previously considered by the assembly and
has a long history of gradually changing purpose.
16:4 The Previous Question is not allowed in committees (50).
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
16:5 The subsidiary motion for the Previous Question:
1. Takes precedence over all debatable or amendable motions
to which it is applied, and over the subsidiary motion to
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate; and, if adopted, it
supersedes the effect of an unexhausted order limiting or
extending debate, with respect to the motions to which it is
applied. It yields to the subsidiary motion to Lay on the
Table, to all privileged motions, and to all applicable
incidental motions.
2. Can be applied to any immediately pending debatable or
amendable motion; to an entire series of pending debatable
or amendable motions; and to any consecutive part of such
a series, beginning with the immediately pending question.
(Under this rule it can be applied to motions that are
amendable but not debatable,12 for the purpose of stopping
amendment; see page t47.) It supersedes any earlier order
for the closing of debate at a future time and can be applied
while such an order is in effect. In practice, this motion
usually is made in an unqualified form, such as “I move the
previous question,” and then it applies only to the
immediately pending question. In its qualified form,
however, it can be applied to include consecutively any
series beginning with the immediately pending question.
For example, the following motions might be pending: (a) a
resolution; (b) an amendment to the resolution; (c) a motion
to refer the resolution and its pending amendment to a
committee; and (d) an immediately pending motion to
postpone all of these questions to a definite time. In this
case, an unqualified motion for the Previous Question will
apply only to (d). Such a motion can be qualified to apply to
 (d) and (c); to (d), (c), and (b); or to (d), (c), (b), and (a). It
cannot include only (d) and (b); only (d), (b), and (a); only
(d), (c), and (a); or only (d) and (a); and no motion for the
Previous Question excluding the immediately pending
question (d) can be made until (d) has been voted on. No
subsidiary motion can be applied to the Previous Question,
except that when it is pending the main question can be laid
on the table, carrying to the table also all adhering motions,
including the motion for the Previous Question.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is not debatable.
6. Is not amendable. However, it has a special characteristic
that permits an effect similar to amendment when the
motion is applied while a series of questions is pending.
When a motion for the Previous Question is immediately
pending in such a case, it can be made again with more or
fewer pending questions included (subject to the restrictions
shown in Standard Characteristic 2, above), before the first
motion for the Previous Question is voted on. The
procedure resembles filling blanks (see 12:92–113) except
that each of the motions must be made by a member who
has obtained the floor, and each must be seconded.13 For
example, if one member has made this motion in the
unqualified form when a series of questions is pending (so
that it would apply only to the question immediately pending
at that time), another member can move it on part of the
series and still another can move it on all pending
questions. The vote is taken first on the motion that would
order the Previous Question on the largest number of
motions; if this fails, then on the next smaller number, and
so on, until one is adopted (by a two-thirds vote), or until all
of the motions for the Previous Question are rejected.
7. Requires a two-thirds vote. (If a motion for the Previous
Question fails to gain the necessary two-thirds vote, debate
continues as if this motion had not been made.) In ordinary
bodies, the requirement of a two-thirds vote for ordering the
Previous Question is important in protecting the democratic
process. If this rule were not observed, a temporary
majority of only one vote could deny the remaining
members all opportunity to discuss any measure that such
a majority wished to adopt or kill.14
8. An affirmative vote on the motion for the Previous Question
can be reconsidered before any vote has been taken under
the order for the Previous Question, but (in contrast to the
motion to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate) it cannot be
reconsidered after the order has been partly executed;15
see also 16:13–16. A negative vote on the motion for the
Previous Question can be reconsidered only until such time
as progress in business or debate has been sufficient to
make it essentially a new question—that is, only until such
time as it is reasonable to assume that debate or action on
any of the motions involved may have made more members
desire to vote immediately on some or all of the questions
still pending. Thereafter, it can be renewed (see 38:7).
Further Rules and Explanation
16:6 Equal Application of Rules to Nonstandard Forms Such as
“Call for the Question.” A motion such as “I call for [or “call”]
the question,” “I demand the previous question,” “I move to
close [or “end”] debate,” or “I move we vote now” is simply a
motion for the Previous Question made in nonstandard form,
and it is subject to all of the rules in this section. Care should
be taken that failure to understand this fact does not lead to
violation of members’ rights of debate.
16:7 Sometimes the mere making of a motion for the Previous
Question or “call for the question” may motivate unanimous
consent to ending debate. Before or after such a motion has
been seconded, the chair may ask if there is any objection to
closing debate. If member(s) object or try to get the floor, he
must ask if there is a second to the motion or call; or, if it has
already been seconded, he must immediately take a vote on
whether to order the Previous Question. But regardless of the
wording of a motion or “call” seeking to close debate, it always
requires a second and a two-thirds vote, taken separately from
and before the vote(s) on the motion(s) to which it is applied, to
shut off debate against the will of even one member who
wishes to speak and has not exhausted his right to debate (see
4:32, 43:8–13).
16:8 Exemption of Undebated Preamble from the Previous
Question Unless Separately Ordered. When a resolution
having a preamble (one or more explanatory clauses beginning
“Whereas,…”) is pending, if the Previous Question is ordered
on the resolution before consideration of the preamble has
been reached (10:16ff., 12:23, 28:7), the order does not apply
to debate and amendment of the preamble, to which the
assembly proceeds before voting on the resolution. After the
 chair has declared the preamble open to debate and
amendment in such a case, the entire resolution can be
brought to an immediate vote, if desired, by then ordering the
Previous Question on the preamble.
16:9 Voting on a Series of Motions Under the Previous
Question; Interruption of Execution. When the Previous
Question is ordered on a series of pending motions as
explained above under Standard Characteristic 2, they are
voted on in order of rank beginning with the immediately
pending question—that is, in reverse of the order in which they
were made. If the series includes motions to Postpone
Definitely, to Commit, or to Postpone Indefinitely and one of
these motions is adopted, further voting stops—regardless of
how many of the remaining questions were, or were not,
included under the order for the Previous Question. But if
voting is not stopped in such a manner, then, when all of the
motions on which the Previous Question was ordered have
been voted on, consideration of any questions still pending
resumes under the regular rules.
16:10 If a question or series of questions (including motions on
which the Previous Question has been ordered) ceases to be
the pending business before all of the motions affected by the
order have been voted on, execution of the order is said to be
interrupted. Interruption of the execution of an order for the
Previous Question may occur as follows:
• If a motion to Postpone, to Commit, or to Postpone
Indefinitely on which the Previous Question has been ordered
is adopted (as in the preceding paragraph) in a case where
one or more of the remaining questions were also included
under the order, execution of the order is thus interrupted
after it has been partly carried out.
• Before or after an order for the Previous Question has been
partly carried out, as already noted, it is also possible for its
 execution to be interrupted as a result of the question(s)’s
being laid on the table, or by the intervention of a special
order set for a particular hour (14, 41), a question of privilege
(19), a recess (8, 20), or an adjournment (8, 21). (If the hour
set for a special order, a recess, or an adjournment has
arrived and the Previous Question has been ordered on one
or more pending motions, however, there usually will be no
objection to the chair’s putting them all to a vote in
succession before he announces the matter that intervenes.)
16:11 Exhaustion of the Previous Question. The Previous
Question is said to be exhausted (in reference to a particular
order for it) when all of the motions on which it was ordered
have been finally disposed of, or when any motions not yet
finally disposed of are no longer affected by the order. The
conditions for exhaustion of the Previous Question are the
same as for an order limiting or extending limits of debate—
that is: (1) when all motions on which the Previous Question
was ordered have been voted on; (2) when those not yet voted
on have either been committed or postponed indefinitely; or
(3) at the end of the session in which the Previous Question
was ordered—whichever occurs first. After the Previous
Question is exhausted, any remaining questions that come up
again are open to debate and amendment just as if there had
been no order for the Previous Question.
16:12 If the execution of an order for the Previous Question is
interrupted and if the motion or motions that were pending
come up again later, the rules in the foregoing paragraph
apply as follows:
• If the questions were referred to a committee and are later
reported, the Previous Question is exhausted and the
motions are open to debate and amendment, even if it is
during the same session.
 • But if the interruption of execution occurred by any other
means than referral and the questions come up again during
the same session, the order remains in effect; all motions on
which the Previous Question was ordered must be voted on
immediately (unless a reconsideration of the order is possible
and a motion to reconsider it has been made, or is then
made; see below).
• If the questions do not come up again until a later session,
the Previous Question is always exhausted, regardless of
how the interruption of execution occurred.
16:13 Reconsideration of a Vote That Has Ordered the Previous
Question. As noted in Standard Characteristic 8, a vote that
has ordered the Previous Question can be reconsidered
before, but not after, any of the motions affected by the order
have been voted on. Consequently, it will frequently happen
that a motion to reconsider an affirmative vote on the Previous
Question itself can be made only in the brief moment after the
vote ordering the Previous Question is completed and before
the first vote is taken under the order.
16:14 If the execution of an order for the Previous Question was
interrupted before any vote was taken under the order, and if
the questions come up again during the same session, a
motion to reconsider the order (if not made earlier) can be
made only in the moment after the chair has announced these
questions as the pending business and before any of them are
voted on. In addition, the regular time limits for making a
motion to Reconsider apply (see 37).
16:15 It should be noted that if a motion or series of motions that
is under an order for the Previous Question comes up after
having been postponed, there can never be a reconsideration
of the order. The reason is that the motion to Postpone can
only have been made before the Previous Question was
 ordered, so that the order for the Previous Question will
always have been partly executed by the vote that caused the
postponement.
16:16 In practice, if a motion to reconsider an affirmative vote on
the Previous Question prevails, the vote that adopted the
motion to Reconsider is also presumed to have carried out the
reconsideration and to have reversed the vote that is
reconsidered. That is, the Previous Question is now presumed
to be rejected and is not voted on again, for this reason: in
such a case, only members opposed to the Previous Question
would vote to reconsider it after it had been adopted;
consequently, if a majority have voted for reconsideration, it
will be impossible to obtain a two-thirds vote in favor of the
Previous Question.
16:17 Reconsideration of a Vote While the Previous Question Is
in Effect. An order for the Previous Question does not prevent
the making of a motion to Reconsider, nor does it prevent the
assembly from taking up a motion to Reconsider that was
made either before or after the Previous Question was
ordered. Whether or not debate is in order during
reconsideration depends on when the reconsideration takes
place. If a motion to Reconsider becomes pending while the
Previous Question is in effect, the motion to Reconsider is
undebatable and the motion to be reconsidered cannot be
debated or amended. But if the reconsideration occurs after
the Previous Question is exhausted, the motion to Reconsider
and the question to be reconsidered are no longer affected by
the Previous Question.
16:18 Effect on Appeals. An appeal is undebatable if it is made
after the Previous Question has been moved or ordered and
before the order is exhausted.
16:19 Effect on Subsequent Motions Generally. The general rules
as to the effect of an unexhausted order for the Previous
Question on subsequent motions that would normally be
debatable or amendable are as follows:
• While one or more motions on which the Previous Question
has been ordered remain pending, the order also applies to
any other motions that may take precedence over these
pending questions. (The rules stated in the two preceding
paragraphs—relating to reconsiderations and appeals—are
applications of this principle.)
• But if a question of privilege is raised and is admitted for
immediate consideration (see 19), or if a special order set for
a particular hour intervenes, these questions are independent
of an unexhausted order for the Previous Question applying
to business that they interrupt.
Form and Example
16:20 The forms used in making this motion include: “I move the
previous question” (to apply only to the immediately pending
question); “I move [or “call for”] the previous question on the
motion to commit and its amendment”; “I move the previous
question on all pending questions”; and so on. Calls of
“Question!” by members from their seats are not motions for
the Previous Question and are disorderly if another member is
speaking or seeking recognition.
16:21 In stating the question on this undebatable, unamendable
motion, the chair does not pause or ask, “Are you ready for the
question?” but puts the question for a rising vote on the motion
for the Previous Question immediately, as shown below.
Similarly, in announcing an affirmative result, he at once states
the question on the motion that is then immediately pending.
16:22 As a first example, assume that a series of several
debatable and amendable motions is pending.
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move the previous question [or, if
it is desired that the order affect more than just the immediately
pending question, “I move the previous question on…,” specifying
the motions]. (Second.)
CHAIR: The previous question is moved and seconded on [naming the
motions].

16:23 If the assembly is not familiar with the use of the Previous
Question, the chair should at this point explain it. In any case,
the chair then proceeds to take the vote:
CHAIR: Those in favor of ordering the previous question on [repeating
the motion or motions], rise.… Be seated. Those opposed, rise.… Be
seated.
16:24 Assume two thirds vote in favor of the Previous Question.
The result is announced as follows:
CHAIR: There are two thirds in the affirmative and the previous
question is ordered on [naming again the motions to which the order
applies]. The question is now on the adoption of the motion to…
[stating in full the immediately pending question]. Those in favor…
[and so on, putting to vote in proper sequence all motions on which
the Previous Question has been ordered].

16:25 If less than two thirds vote in the affirmative, the chair
announces the result of the vote on the motion for the
Previous Question as follows:
CHAIR: There are less than two thirds in the affirmative and the motion
for the previous question is lost. The question is now on… [stating
the question on the immediately pending motion]. Debate may now
resume. [The chair does not say, “Are you ready for the question?”
here, since the assembly has just shown that it is not ready.]

16:26 The following example shows the forms used in handling

alternative motions for the Previous Question that specify
different numbers of pending questions in a series, as
described under Standard Characteristic 6.
16:27 Assume that a resolution, an amendment to the resolution,
and a motion to Commit are pending (in which case the motion
to Commit is the immediately pending question).
MEMBER X (obtaining the floor): I move the previous question.
(Second.) [In this case only the motion to Commit is affected.]
CHAIR: The previous question is moved and seconded on the motion
to commit. Those in favor of ordering…
MEMBER Y (quickly rising and interrupting the chair): Mr.
President.
CHAIR: For what purpose does the member rise?
MEMBER Y: I move the previous question on all pending questions.
 (Second.)
CHAIR: The previous question is also moved on all pending questions.
The question is now on the motion for the previous question on all
pending questions. Those…
MEMBER Z (quickly rising): Mr. President.
CHAIR: For what purpose does the member rise?
MEMBER Z: I move the previous question on the motion to commit and
on the amendment to the resolution. (Second.)
CHAIR: The previous question is also moved and seconded on the
motion to commit and on the amendment to the resolution. The
question is first, however, on the motion to order the previous
question on all pending questions. Those in favor of ordering… [and
so on. Alternative motions for the Previous Question are voted on in
order beginning with the one that would apply to the largest number
of pending questions. Therefore, after admitting Member Y’s motion,
the chair starts to put the question on it first; but after admitting
Member Z’s, he returns to taking a vote on Member Y’s. If one of
these motions for the Previous Question is adopted, any remaining
ones are ignored.]

16:28 If a member wishes to make a higher-ranking motion or to

move a reconsideration while a motion for the Previous
Question is pending or after the Previous Question has been
ordered, he seeks limited recognition by rising and interrupting
the chair just as in the example above.
§17. LAY ON THE TABLE
(To interrupt the pending business so as to permit doing something
else immediately)
17:1 The motion to Lay on the Table enables the assembly to lay
the pending question aside temporarily when something else of
immediate urgency has arisen or when something else needs
to be addressed before consideration of the pending question
is resumed, in such a way that:
• there is no set time for taking the matter up again;
• but (until the expiration of time limits explained in 17:8) its
consideration can be resumed at the will of a majority and in
preference to any new questions that may then be competing
with it for consideration.
This motion is commonly misused in ordinary assemblies—in
place of a motion to Postpone Indefinitely (11), a motion to
Postpone to a Certain Time (14), or other motions. Particularly
in such misuses, it also is known as a motion “to table.”
17:2 By adopting the motion to Lay on the Table, a majority has
the power to halt consideration of a question immediately
without debate. Such action violates the rights of the minority
and individual members if it is for any other purpose than the
one stated in the first sentence of this section. In ordinary
assemblies, the motion to Lay on the Table is not in order if the
evident intent is to kill or avoid dealing with a measure. If a time
for resuming consideration is specified in making the motion, it
can be admitted only as a motion to Postpone (14), in which
case it is debatable (see also 17:13–19).
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
17:3 The subsidiary motion to Lay on the Table:
1. Takes precedence over the main motion, over all other
subsidiary motions, and over any incidental motions that
are pending when it is made. It yields to all privileged
motions, and to motions that are incidental to itself.
2. Can be applied to main motions, with any other subsidiary
motions that may be pending; can be thus applied to orders
of the day (14, 41) or questions of privilege (19) while they
are actually pending as main motions, and such an
application is independent of, and does not carry to the
table, any other matter that they may have interrupted; can
be separately applied to debatable appeals that do not
adhere (10:35) to the main question (or to nonadhering
points of order referred by the chair to the judgment of the
assembly that are debatable when so referred), and this
application has no effect on the status of any other
questions that may be pending; can be applied to adhering
appeals—whether debatable or undebatable—only by
laying the main question on the table, in which case the
appeal and all other adhering motions go to the table also;
and can be applied to an immediately pending motion to
Reconsider (37), whenever Lay on the Table would be
applicable if the motion to be reconsidered were
immediately pending, and in such a case, it carries to the
table also the motion to be reconsidered, or the series of
questions adhering to the latter motion. It cannot be applied
to an undebatable appeal that does not adhere to the main
question; and it cannot be applied to any subsidiary motion
except in connection with application to the main question.
No motion or motions can be laid on the table apart from
 motions which adhere to them, or to which they adhere; and
if any one of them is laid on the table, all such motions go to
the table together. The motion to Lay on the Table can be
made while an order limiting debate or an order for the
Previous Question is in force (see also below). No
subsidiary motion can be applied to the motion to Lay on
the Table.
Since the motion to Lay on the Table can be applied only
to a question that is actually pending, a class or group of
main questions such as orders of the day, unfinished
business, or committee reports cannot be laid on the table as
a unit. (An item of business can be reached in such a case,
however, by methods that are explained in 17:14 and 41:38.)
3. Is out of order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is not debatable. It is proper for, and the chair can ask, the
maker of this motion to state his reason first, however, as:
“Our speaker must catch an early flight,” or “Laying this
question aside temporarily will ensure adequate time to
consider the next item of business, which must be decided
at this meeting.” (The urgency and the legitimate intent of
the motion can thus be established; but mentioning its
purpose imposes no requirement as to when or whether the
assembly will take the question from the table. An essential
feature of this motion is that it cannot be qualified in any
way and that, so long as the question remains on the table,
the decision as to when—or if—it will be taken up is left
open. For the limitations on the length of time that a
question can lie on the table, see 17:8.)
6. Is not amendable.
7. Requires a majority vote.
8. An affirmative vote on the motion to Lay on the Table
cannot be reconsidered, because it is easier and more
direct to move to take the question from the table (see
below). A negative vote on the motion to Lay on the Table
can be reconsidered only until such time as the motion can
be renewed. As explained in 17:11, renewal of the motion to
Lay on the Table is permitted only when either (a) progress
in business or debate has been sufficient to make it
essentially a new question, or (b) something urgent has
arisen that was not known when the assembly rejected this
motion; see 38:7.
Further Rules and Explanation
17:4 Laying a Question on the Table and Taking It from the
Table. Rules affecting the motion to Lay on the Table are
closely related to the motion to Take from the Table (34), as
follows:
17:5 Adopting a motion to Lay on the Table places on the table—
that is, in the care of the secretary—the pending question and
everything adhering to it. Thus, if a resolution with a proposed
amendment and a motion to Commit are pending and the
resolution is laid on the table, all of these questions go to the
table at the same time and, if taken from the table, all will
return together. (But a proposed amendment to anything
previously adopted—existing bylaws, for example—is a main
motion and when laid on the table does not carry with it what it
proposes to amend.)
17:6 After a question has been laid on the table, it can be taken
from the table by a majority vote as soon as the interrupting
business is disposed of—or at some later time before the limits
for taking it from the table have expired (see below)—
whenever no question is pending, provided that business of the
same class as the question on the table, or unfinished
business, general orders, or new business, is in order.
17:7 When a question is taken from the table, everything is in the
same condition, so far as possible, as it was when laid on the
table, except as the rules relating to amendment, debate, and
voting may be affected when the question is taken up on
another day or at a later session, as noted in 34 (see Status of
a Question Taken from the Table, 34:6–7).
17:8 A question that has been laid on the table remains there
and can be taken from the table during the same session (8),
or, if the next regular business session will be held before a
 quarterly time interval has elapsed (see 9:7), also until the end
of the next regular session. If not taken from the table within
these time limits, the question dies, although it can be
reintroduced later as a new question. (For additional rules
regarding the meetings at which a question can be taken from
the table, see Time Limits on Taking a Question from the Table,
34:3.)
17:9 Status of a Question Lying on the Table. Since a motion that
has been laid on the table is still within the control of the
assembly (38:8), no other motion on the same subject is in
order that would either conflict with, or present substantially the
same question as, the motion that is lying on the table. To
consider another motion on the same subject, it is necessary
first to take the question from the table and then to move the
new proposal as a substitute, or to make whatever other
motion is appropriate to the case.
17:10 Additional Steps That May Be Required When Laying a
Question on the Table. Laying a question on the table with
the idea of attending to something else does not suspend any
rules or set aside an order of business that may interfere with
doing the thing desired at the time. Taking up the desired
business may require an additional motion after the question
has been laid on the table (see Suspend the Rules, 25; Taking
Up Business out of Its Proper Order, 41:37–39).
17:11 Renewal of the Motion to Lay on the Table; Laying a
Question on the Table Again. A motion to Lay on the Table
that has been voted down can be renewed, or a question that
has been taken from the table can be laid on the table again,
subject to the following condition in either case: A motion
made the same day to lay the same question on the table is in
order only after material progress in business or debate has
 been made, or when an unforeseen urgent matter requires
immediate attention. (This rule is a consequence of the fact
that the rejection of a motion to Lay on the Table or the taking
of a question from the table means that the assembly wishes
to consider the matter at that time.) Motions to Recess (20) or
to Adjourn (21) that have been made and lost do not justify a
new motion to lay the same question on the table, but the
renewal might be justified after a vote on an important
amendment or on a motion to Commit.
17:12 Laying the Pending Questions on the Table After Debate
Has Been Closed. If debate has been closed by ordering the
Previous Question or by the expiration of the time to which
debate was limited, then up until the moment of taking the last
vote under the order, the questions still before the assembly
can be laid on the table. Thus, while a resolution and an
amendment are pending, if the Previous Question is ordered
on both motions, it is in order to lay the resolution on the table,
carrying with it the adhering amendment. If the amendment
had already been voted on, it would likewise have been in
order to lay the resolution on the table.
17:13 Misuses of the Motion. As stated at the beginning of this
section, the motion to Lay on the Table is subject to a number
of incorrect uses that must be avoided.16
17:14 It is not in order to move to lay a pending question on the
table if there is evidently no other matter requiring immediate
attention. However, if members who command a majority wish
to bring up a measure out of its order but lack the two thirds
required to suspend the rules to do so, they may lay each
intervening matter on the table in succession, until the desired
matter is reached. This is proper because their evident object
is not to suppress without debate the items laid on the table,
but instead to advance consideration of something they
 consider more urgent. (See also 41:38.) At a special meeting,
it is dilatory (39) and not in order to move to lay on the table
the matter for which the meeting has been called.
17:15 The motion to Lay on the Table is often incorrectly used
and wrongly admitted as in order with the intention of either
killing an embarrassing question without a direct vote, or of
suppressing a question without debate. The first of these two
uses is unsafe if there is any contest on the issue; the second
is in violation of the fundamental principle of parliamentary law
that only a two-thirds vote can rightfully suppress a main
question without allowing free debate.
17:16 If the majority were to lay a question on the table,
erroneously supposing that it thereby becomes dead, some of
those who voted with the majority might leave before the time
of final adjournment and the minority might all stay. The real
minority might thus become a temporary majority, take the
question from the table, and act upon it in the absence of
many interested parties. They also might take the question
from the table at the next session in cases where that session
is held at least within the next quarterly time interval (see 9:7).
17:17 Correct Procedures in lieu of Misuses. In the situations that
give rise to improper use of the motion to Lay on the Table, the
correct procedures are as follows:
17:18 If it is desired to dispose of a question without a direct vote,
the suitable method is to use the motion to Postpone
Indefinitely. If it is desired to do this without further debate, the
motion to Postpone Indefinitely can be followed immediately
by a motion for the Previous Question. A motion that has been
indefinitely postponed is killed for the remainder of the
session, but is no more difficult to renew at a later session
than any other motion that is subject to such renewal (38:3(2)).
17:19 If it is believed that any discussion of a particular original
main motion might do harm, the proper course is to raise
Objection to the Consideration of the Question (26) before its
consideration has begun. For cases where Postpone (14) is
the proper motion in lieu of an incorrectly used motion to Lay
on the Table, see “Form and Example,” below.
Form and Example
17:20 Forms used in making this motion are: “I move to lay the
question on the table”; or “I move that the resolution be laid on
the table.” (It is preferable to avoid moving “to table” a motion,
or “that the motion be tabled.”)17
17:21 This motion, as explained earlier, is undebatable and
cannot be qualified in any way. In moving it, a member can
mention its intended purpose or name a time at which he
plans to move that the question be taken from the table, but he
cannot move to lay a question “on the table until after the
completion of…,” or, “on the table until 2 P.M.” Rather than
always ruling that such a motion is not in order, however, the
chair should properly treat it as a motion “to postpone the
question until…”; that is, he should state the motion as
admitted in that form unless the motion to Postpone is not in
order at the time.
17:22 Since the motion to Lay on the Table can be neither
debated nor amended, the chair puts it to a vote immediately
after stating the question on it, as follows:
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded to lay the pending question(s) on the
table. As many as are in favor of laying the pending question(s) on
the table, say aye.… Those opposed, say no.… [and so on, as in the
examples already given for motions requiring a majority vote for
adoption].

17:23 For certain limited purposes not involving debate or

amendment—such as to make a privileged motion or a motion
to Reconsider (37)—a member can claim the floor while the
motion to Lay on the Table is pending. To do so, the member
rises and interrupts the chair by calling out “Mr. President!”—
 immediately after the chair has said, “It is moved and
seconded to lay the pending question(s) on the table,” and
before the vote is taken. The chair grants the member limited
recognition by answering, “For what purpose does the
member rise?”
17:24 After a question has been laid on the table, if further action
by the assembly is needed to reach the desired business, the
chair immediately says, for example, “Is there a motion to
suspend the rules that interfere with hearing the speaker at
this time?” (Or, “The chair will entertain a motion to…”)
Footnotes to Chapter
VI
1. Upon the reconsideration of a vote that postponed a main motion indefinitely, both the
main motion and the motion to Postpone Indefinitely will become pending, the motion to
Postpone Indefinitely becoming the immediately pending question.
2. Secondary amendments must not be confused with secondary motions, a much more
general concept explained in 5:3ff.
3. It should be noted that the application of the word “delete” to any form of amendment is
not a preferred parliamentary usage, but the shortened expression “to strike” is
acceptable.
4. A motion to strike out a paragraph from one place and insert it in a different place is also
possible. Such a motion is not a motion to substitute; it is similar to the second of the two
types of motions to strike out and insert (applying to words) discussed in 12:58–59. The
wording of the paragraph cannot be materially amended by a motion of this type or by
any secondary amendments to it. However, once such a motion has been adopted, the
transferred paragraph may be amended by any of the usual forms.
5. For an exception, see 12:47.
6. It is thus possible to introduce a proposed “substitute for a substitute,” which cannot be
amended, since it is a secondary amendment.
7. If the members are familiar with the procedure for handling motions to substitute, the
chair may omit this sentence.
8. Such freedom of action as provided in this paragraph is not obtained, however, by
informal consideration (13:3, 52:24–27).
9. It should be noted that a similar rule applies to the subsidiary motion to Lay on the Table
(see 17:3(2), 17:14, 41:38).
10. Under an order that provides a time for closing debate on a secondary motion or a
consecutive series of secondary motions without affecting the main motion, this
restriction does not apply.
11. In practice it is seldom appropriate to move to lay a pending question or series of
questions on the table after the Previous Question has been ordered on them; but a
 legitimate need to do so may sometimes arise, particularly in a large assembly if the
vote(s) are to be taken by a method such as by ballot, standing for a count, or roll call
(see also 45, and Misuses of the Motion to Lay on the Table, 17:13–16).
12. An example of such a motion is the motion to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate (15).
13. For the form to be followed by the chair in granting limited recognition to a member who
seeks the floor at such a time, see 16:27.
14. Although the rules of the United States House of Representatives permit the Previous
Question to be ordered by a majority vote, there are differences between the conditions
in that body and in the ordinary organization that should be understood. Because of
another House rule, an order for the Previous Question does not actually bring a
measure to an immediate vote in Congress unless it has already been debated. If no
discussion of the measure has taken place on the floor of the House, forty minutes’
debate is allowed after adoption of the Previous Question—twenty minutes for each of
the opposing sides. These rules derive from the great volume of business and the fact
that under the two-party system of government by elected representatives, opposing
sides often become nearly equal. At the same time, this system creates special
conditions that make it unlikely that there will be unfair use of the power to curtail debate.
The United States Senate does not admit the Previous Question, although it permits
debate to be limited by means of a motion for cloture.
15. When the Previous Question has been ordered on a number of motions, the order is
said to be partly executed (or partly carried out) if one or more, but not all, of these
motions have been voted on. When all of the motions specified in the order have been
voted on, it is fully executed.
16. Some misuses of the motion to Lay on the Table probably arise from a
misunderstanding of the practice of the United States House of Representatives, where
this motion has gradually become converted to a special purpose that is not applicable in
ordinary assemblies. The press of legislation in the House is so great that only a fraction
of the bills introduced each year can be considered. With this volume of work under the
two-party system in such a large body, the majority must be given power to suppress a
measure without debate, and the agenda must be tightly regulated. The House rules
therefore do not allow a question to be taken from the table without first suspending the
rules by a two-thirds vote. Consequently, when a matter is laid on the table in the House
it is virtually killed.
17. In the United States, the word “table” used as a verb often suggests the improper
application of the motion to Lay on the Table, as explained in 17:13–16. In British usage,
on the other hand, the same expression has an entirely different meaning and refers not
to a subsidiary motion but to the introduction of a proposed resolution or document to be
placed among items of business waiting to be considered.
 CHAPTER
VII

PRIVILEGED MOTIONS
 See 6:11ff. for a list of these motions and a description of their
characteristics as a class.

§18. CALL FOR THE ORDERS OF THE DAY

(To demand to take up the proper business in order)
18:1 A Call for the Orders of the Day is a privileged motion by
which a member can require the assembly to conform to its
agenda, program, or order of business, or to take up a general
or special order that is due to come up at the time (14, 41),
unless two thirds of those voting wish to do otherwise.
18:2 Taking up business in the prescribed order is of substantial
importance, especially in conventions—which must follow a
closely regulated schedule with much of the underlying work
taking place off the convention floor in conferences and
committees. For business to receive proper consideration,
officers, committee members, and the delegates who are
principally involved in major questions must be able to know
the approximate times at which subjects will come up.
18:3 If the presiding officer consistently performs his duty of
announcing the business to come before the assembly in its
proper order, there will be no occasion for calling for the orders
of the day. But the chair may fail to notice that the time
assigned for a general or special order has arrived, or he may
skip an item in the order of business by mistake, or delay
announcing a special order set for that time because he thinks
the assembly is so interested in the pending question that it
does not yet wish to take up the special order. In these cases,
any member has the right to call for the orders of the day.1 The
call must be simply “for the orders of the day” and not for a
specified one, as this motion is only a demand that the proper
schedule of business—whatever it is—be followed. In other
words, while the member may remind the chair of what is
scheduled, he cannot by this call obtain consideration of an
order of the day that does not have first priority for
consideration at that time.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
18:4 The privileged Call for the Orders of the Day:
1. Takes precedence over all motions except (a) other
privileged motions and (b) a motion to Suspend the Rules
(25) that relates to the priority of business—although it can
interrupt a pending question only if the neglect of a special
order is involved (see below). It yields to all other privileged
motions, and to any applicable incidental motions that may
arise and that must be disposed of before it is disposed of.
Except when a special order must be taken up, this call also
yields to a motion to Reconsider or to the calling up (37) of a
motion to Reconsider that has been made previously.
2. Is not applied to any motion, but is applicable as follows: (a)
when the agenda, program, or order of business is being
varied from; (b) when a general order that is in order at the
time is not being taken up; or (c) when the time for
considering a special order has arrived or passed and it is
not being taken up. (For a statement of the precise times at
which a Call for the Orders of the Day is in order, see below.)
No subsidiary motion can be applied to this call.
3. If in order at the time, is in order when another has the floor,
even if it interrupts a person speaking.
4. Does not require a second.
5. Is not debatable. (But the member making the call can
remind the chair of the matter that is required to be taken up
at the time.)
6. Is not amendable.
7. Upon a call by a single member the orders of the day must
be enforced, except that a two-thirds vote can set them
aside. (That is, the orders of the day can be set aside: either
by a vote of two thirds in the negative on a question put by
 the chair as to the assembly’s desire to proceed to the
orders of the day; or by a vote of two thirds in the affirmative
on a motion by a member to extend the time for considering
the pending question, or to suspend the rules and take up
the desired question; see below.)
8. Cannot be reconsidered.
Further Rules and Explanation
18:5 Times When a Call for the Orders of the Day Is in Order.
The particular conditions under which a Call for the Orders of
the Day is in order are as follows:

• Referring to cases (a) and (b) under Standard Characteristic

2, which do not involve the neglect of a special order: As
soon as it is evident that the agenda, program, or order of
business is being varied from, or that the time for the
consideration of a postponed motion has arrived or passed, a
Call for the Orders of the Day is in order whenever no
question is pending. In such a case where no special order is
involved, if a member starts to make a motion departing from
the correct order of business, or if the chair announces a
wrong item, the call must be made before any motion is
stated by the chair; otherwise, it cannot be made until after
the motion has been disposed of.
• Referring, on the other hand, to case (c) under Standard
Characteristic 2: If the chair does not immediately announce
a special order when the time set for its consideration has
arrived, a Call for the Orders of the Day can be made at once
—even while another question is pending, unless the pending
question is itself a special order that was made before the
one set for the present time was made (see 14, 41). From the
time when a particular special order becomes the proper
order of business and until it is announced, a Call for the
Orders of the Day is in order.

18:6 A Call for the Orders of the Day cannot be made in a

committee of the whole (see 52).
18:7 Status of an Order of the Day as a Main Motion. In contrast
 to the privileged Call for the Orders of the Day, an order of the
day which such a call may bring before the assembly is itself
invariably a main motion, and when it is announced and
pending, it is debatable and amendable, and all of the other
rules governing main motions apply to it. The orders of the day
as a whole cannot be laid on the table or postponed, but an
individual order of the day when actually pending can be so
disposed of. As soon as the orders of the day that have
interrupted business that was pending are completed, the
interrupted business is taken up again at the point at which it
was discontinued.
18:8 Setting Aside the Orders of the Day. When the orders of the
day are called for, the chair can, and ordinarily should,
immediately either interrupt or conclude consideration of the
pending question (in accordance with the rules in 41) and
proceed to take up the business prescribed for the present
time. But sometimes the chair or a member may sense that the
assembly would prefer to continue consideration of the
presently pending question or take up another matter first. In
such cases, the assembly by a two-thirds vote can set aside
the orders of the day, as follows:
a) At the initiative of the chair: Instead of announcing the orders
of the day when they are called for, the chair can put the
question on proceeding to them: “The orders of the day are
called for. The orders of the day are [identifying the business
that is in order]. The question is: Will the assembly proceed
to the orders of the day? As many as are in favor of
proceeding to the orders of the day… [and so on, taking a
rising vote].” Since to refuse to proceed to the orders of the
day is an interference with the order of business similar to
suspending the rules, two thirds in the negative are required
to vote down this question and refuse to take up the orders
 of the day. Once the assembly has refused to proceed to the
orders of the day, they cannot be called for again until the
pending business is disposed of.
b) At the initiative of a member: When the orders of the day are
called for or announced, a member can move (depending on
the case) “that the time for considering the pending question
be extended” a certain number of minutes, or “that the rules
be suspended and” the desired question be taken up (see
25). These motions require a two-thirds vote in the
affirmative for their adoption, since they change the order of
business, agenda, or program.
Form and Example
18:9 The form of the motion is as follows: To call for the orders of
the day, a member rises and, addressing the chair without
waiting for recognition, says, “Mr. President, I call for the orders
of the day,” or “Madam President, I demand the regular order.”
The member can, if necessary, remind the chair of the matter
set for that time.
18:10 Assume that at yesterday’s meeting of a convention, a
resolution was postponed and made a special order for 11:30
A.M. today. That time has now arrived, but a member is
speaking on a pending question.

MEMBER A (rising and addressing the chair): Madam President, I

call for the orders of the day.
CHAIR: The orders of the day are called for. Yesterday the convention
postponed the resolution relating to tax reform to 11:30 A.M. today,
and made it a special order. It is now 11:30. The question is on the
resolution, “Resolved, That…”

18:11 After consideration of the resolution is completed, the

former business is resumed where it was left off:

CHAIR: When the orders of the day were called for, the convention
was considering the resolution “Resolved, That…” Mr. Henley had
the floor at that time. The chair recognizes Mr. Henley.
§19. RAISE A QUESTION OF PRIVILEGE
19:1 To Raise a Question of Privilege is a device that permits a
request or main motion relating to the rights and privileges of
the assembly or any of its members to be brought up for
possible immediate consideration because of its urgency, while
business is pending and the request or motion would otherwise
not be in order. (For types and examples of questions of
privilege,2 see 19:7–17.)
19:2 This device operates as follows: A member rises and
addresses the chair saying that he “rises to a question of
privilege…” (as explained in 19:8), and the chair immediately
directs the member to state his question of privilege; the chair
must then rule (subject to appeal, 24) whether the request or
motion is in fact a question of privilege and, if so, whether it is
urgent enough to interrupt the pending business.
19:3 It is important to understand the distinction between the
device Raise a Question of Privilege and the question of
privilege itself. The point to be decided in connection with the
former is whether a certain question shall be admitted for
consideration with the status and priority of the latter. The
“raising” of a question of privilege is governed by rules
appropriate to the device’s high rank in the order of
precedence of motions. When a question of privilege is taken
up after it has been raised and has been admitted by the chair,
however, depending on the form in which it was introduced, it is
handled as a request (32, 33), or it is treated as a main motion
and is debatable and amendable and can have any subsidiary
motion applied to it—regardless of whether it interrupted, or
awaited the disposal of, the pending business. Questions of
privilege can also be introduced while no motion is pending,
 either as requests or by being moved and seconded just as
any other main motion; in that case, the device of “raising” a
question of privilege does not enter in.
19:4 Questions of privilege or motions growing out of them
should not be confused with “privileged motions” (or “privileged
questions”). The latter comprise the five highest-ranking
motions in the order of precedence, among which Raise a
Question of Privilege is assigned a position.
19:5 The eight characteristics below apply only to the device of
raising a question of privilege; that is, to a member’s obtaining
recognition to state his urgent motion or request while business
is pending, and to the chair’s ruling on the question’s
admissibility as noted above (and described in 19:8–10).
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
19:6 The privileged device Raise a Question of Privilege:
1. Takes precedence over all other motions except the three
higher-ranking privileged motions to Recess, to Adjourn, and
to Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn. It yields to these three
privileged motions, and to any applicable incidental motions
that may arise and that must be disposed of before it is
disposed of.
2. Cannot be applied to any other motion, and no subsidiary
motion can be applied to it.
3. Is in order when another has the floor if warranted by the
urgency of the situation. (In such cases, the raising of a
question of privilege is in order after another has been
assigned the floor and before he has begun to speak; it
cannot interrupt a member who is actually speaking unless
the object of the question of privilege would otherwise be
defeated—as it would be, however, in each of the two
examples at the end of this section, 19:11–17. The raising of
a question of privilege cannot interrupt voting or verifying a
vote.)
4. Does not require a second, as relates to raising the question
of privilege; that is, no second is required at any step in the
process unless (after the chair has directed the member to
state his question of privilege) the member states it in the
form of a motion; such a motion must be seconded.
5. Is not debatable; that is, there can be no debate as to
admitting the request or motion that has been raised as a
question of privilege. (See, however, 19:9, allowing a brief
description of the situation.) In contrast, a main motion that is
pending after having been admitted as a question of privilege
is debatable.
6. Is not amendable; that is, the motion to Amend is not
applicable to the process of raising a question of privilege.
(But a main motion that is pending after having been
admitted as a question of privilege can be amended.)
7. Is ruled upon by the chair. No vote on the question’s
admissibility is taken unless the chair’s ruling is appealed
(24).
8. The chair’s ruling on whether to admit the request or motion
that has been raised as a question of privilege cannot be
reconsidered.
Further Rules and Explanation
19:7 Types of Questions of Privilege. Questions of privilege are of
two types: (1) those relating to the privileges of the assembly
as a whole; and (2) questions of personal privilege. If the two
come into competition, the former take precedence over the
latter. Questions of the privileges of the assembly may relate to
its organization or existence; to the comfort of its members with
respect to heating, ventilation, lighting, and noise or other
disturbance; to the conduct of its officers and employees, or of
visitors; to the punishment of its members; or to the accuracy
of published reports of its proceedings; etc. A motion to go into
executive session (9) is a question of the privileges of the
assembly. Questions of personal privilege—which seldom arise
in ordinary societies and even more rarely justify interruption of
pending business—may relate, for example, to an incorrect
record of a member’s participation in a meeting contained in
minutes approved in his absence, or to charges circulated
against a member’s character.
19:8 Steps in Raising and Disposing of a Question of Privilege.
In raising a question of privilege, a member rises, addresses
the chair without waiting for recognition, and says, “I rise to a
question of privilege affecting the assembly,” or “… to a
question of personal privilege.”
19:9 The chair, even if he has assigned the floor to another
person, directs the member to state his question of privilege.
Depending on the case, the member then either (a) describes
the situation briefly and asks that it be remedied, or (b) if he
believes that the matter will require formal action by the
assembly, makes a motion covering his question of privilege,
and another member seconds it. The chair at his discretion can
ask a member to put into the form of a motion a question of
 privilege that the member has stated as a request. Unless the
point is simple enough to be promptly adjusted (as in the first
example, below) or unless it is in the form of a motion and is
not seconded, the chair rules whether the question is a
question of privilege, and, if so, whether it is of sufficient
urgency to warrant interruption of the existing parliamentary
situation. From this ruling an undebatable appeal can be taken.
19:10 If the motion made as a question of privilege is seconded,
and if the chair admits it as such and decides that it should be
entertained immediately, he states the question on it and
proceeds as with any other main motion. When the question of
privilege has been disposed of, business is resumed at exactly
the point at which it was interrupted. If a member had the floor
when the question of privilege was raised, the chair assigns
him the floor again.
Form and Example
19:11 The forms used in raising a question of privilege include: “I
rise to a question of privilege affecting [or “relating to”] the
assembly” (or “to a question of the privileges of the
assembly”), and “I rise to a question of personal privilege.” The
preceding forms should always be adhered to in cases where
it is necessary to interrupt a person speaking. When a
question of the privileges of the assembly is raised in a small
meeting without interrupting a speaker, a variation such as “A
question of privilege, Mr. President!” is permissible.
19:12 The following is an example of a question relating to the
privileges of the assembly that can be stated as an informal
request and that can be routinely adjusted by the chair:
19:13 Assume that, while an important speech is in progress at a
meeting in a large hall with upper windows, workmen begin to
operate jackhammers in an alley beside the building. Member
A rises and interrupts, addressing the chair:
MEMBER A: Mr. President, I rise to a question of privilege affecting the
assembly.
CHAIR: The gentleman will state his question.
MEMBER A: Mr. President, I don’t think we’re going to be able to hear
unless some of the windows are closed.
CHAIR: Will one of the ushers ask the building engineer to have the
windows closed on the left side. May we have the sound turned up a
little until the windows are closed.

19:14 The next example illustrates a question of the privileges of

the assembly requiring a formal motion which interrupts
pending business. In an ordinary society these occasions are
rare, but in a convention or large assembly a situation of
unforeseen complications may cause such a motion to
 become appropriate.
19:15 Assume that, to hear a prominent speaker, an association
has opened one of its meetings to the public. Because of the
speaker’s commitments at a later hour, his address was given
first, preceding the business meeting—which was expected to
be brief and routine. But Member X has surprised this meeting
by introducing a resolution dealing with a delicate matter of
obvious importance that may call for prompt action by the
association.
19:16 Member Y, sensing that consideration of this question
should be kept within the organization, interrupts Member X’s
speech on the pending resolution by rising “to a question of
privilege relating to the assembly.” As directed by the
president, he states the question of privilege:
MEMBER Y: Mr. President, I believe this is a question we should
consider privately. With apologies to our guests, I move to go into
executive session. (Second.)
CHAIR: The chair rules that the question is one of privilege to be
entertained immediately. It is moved and seconded to go into
executive session.

19:17 Debate or amendment follows, if needed; then the question

is put to a vote. If the motion is adopted, the president
expresses appreciation to guests. As soon as they have left,
he states the resolution that was interrupted by the question of
privilege, and recognizes Member X, who had the floor.
§20. RECESS
20:1 A recess is a short intermission in the assembly’s
proceedings, commonly of only a few minutes, which does not
close the meeting and after which business will immediately be
resumed at exactly the point where it was interrupted.3 A
recess may be taken, for example, to count ballots, to secure
information, or to allow for informal consultation.
20:2 The privileged motion to Recess (or to Take a Recess) is a
motion that a recess begin immediately, made while another
question is pending.
20:3 A motion to recess that is made when no question is
pending (whether the recess is to begin immediately or at a
future time) is a main motion, and the eight characteristics
given below do not apply to it. Consequently, a motion to
recess is privileged only when another question is pending;
and a motion to take a recess at a future time is in order only
when no question is pending.
20:4 The eight characteristics below apply only to the privileged
motion to Recess.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
20:5 The privileged motion to Recess:
1. Takes precedence over the main motion, over all subsidiary
and incidental motions, and over all privileged motions
except those to Adjourn and to Fix the Time to Which to
Adjourn. It yields to motions to Amend or for the Previous
Question that are applied to it, and it yields to the privileged
motions to Adjourn and to Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn
(but in the cases where motions to adjourn or to set a time
for meeting again are “not privileged”—that is, are main
motions—it takes precedence over these motions; see 21
and 22). It also yields to any applicable incidental motions
that may arise and that must be disposed of before the
motion to Recess is voted on.
2. Is not applied to any motion. Motions to Amend can be
applied to it. The Previous Question can also be applied to it
to prevent amendments being moved, although this situation
rarely arises in ordinary societies. No other subsidiary motion
can be applied to it.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is not debatable. (But see 43:31–32 regarding allowable
explanation of an undebatable motion.)
6. Is amendable as to the length of the recess; any such
amendment is undebatable.
7. Requires a majority vote.
8. Cannot be reconsidered.
Further Rules and Explanation
20:6 Declaring a Recess When It Has Been Provided For in the
Agenda or Program. If a recess is provided for in the adopted
agenda or program of a convention or other meeting, the chair,
without further action by the assembly, announces the fact and
simply declares the assembly in recess when the specified
time arrives. If the chair does not announce the recess at the
scheduled time, a member can call for the orders of the day
(18), thereby demanding that the recess be declared.
20:7 Postponing the Time for Taking a Scheduled Recess. The
time for taking a scheduled recess can be postponed by a two-
thirds vote if, when that time arrives, the assembly does not
wish to recess. In the latter event, the taking of the recess is
treated just as any other order of the day that is due to be
taken up, and it can be set aside by any of the procedures
described in 18:8.
Form and Example
20:8 Forms in which this motion may be made are: “I move that
the meeting recess [or “take a recess”] until 2 P.M.”; “I move to
recess for ten minutes”; or “I move to recess until called to
order by the chair.”
20:9 If such a motion is adopted, the chair announces the result
as follows:
CHAIR: The ayes have it and the meeting stands recessed [or, “in
recess”] for fifteen minutes [rapping once with the gavel, if desired].

20:10 At the end of the specified time, the chair gains the
attention of the assembly and begins:

CHAIR: The convention [or “meeting”] will come to order. The time of
recess has expired. The question is on the resolution… [Or, if the
recess was taken following the vote on a question or an election but
before the result had been announced, the first business would be
the announcement of the vote.]
§21. ADJOURN
21:1 To adjourn means to close the meeting (8). A motion to
adjourn may be a privileged or a main motion depending on a
number of conditions. The motion to adjourn that commonly
occurs in meetings of ordinary societies is the privileged
motion. The adoption of any motion to adjourn closes the
meeting immediately unless the motion specifies a later time
for adjourning (but if it does specify such a time it is not a
privileged motion).
21:2 The privileged motion to Adjourn (which is always moved in
an unqualified form with no mention of a time either for
adjourning or for meeting again) is a motion to close the
meeting immediately, made under conditions where some
other provision for another meeting exists (so that the
adjournment will not have the effect of dissolving the
assembly), and where no time for adjourning the present
meeting has already been set. In such a case, regardless of
whether business is pending, a majority should not be forced to
continue in session substantially longer than it desires, and
even if no business is pending, a decision as to whether to
close the meeting should not be allowed to consume time. For
this reason, when there is provision for another meeting and no
time for adjourning is already set, an unqualified motion “to
adjourn” is afforded sufficiently high privilege to interrupt the
pending question and, on adoption, to close the meeting before
the pending business is disposed of. And for the same reason,
such a motion has the unique characteristic that, even if it is
made while no question is pending, it is not debatable or
amendable and it remains subject to all of the rules governing
the privileged motion to Adjourn (except those that relate to
 making the motion while business is pending; see Standard
Descriptive Characteristics). Under the conditions just
described, a motion to Adjourn is therefore said to be
“privileged” or to be “a privileged motion” even when no
question is pending.
21:3 A motion to adjourn is always a privileged motion except in
the following cases:
1) When the motion is qualified in any way, as in the case of a
motion to adjourn at, or to, a future time.
2) When a time for adjourning is already established, either
because the assembly has adopted a motion or a program
setting such a time, or because the order of business, the
bylaws, or other governing rules prescribe it.
3) When the effect of the motion to adjourn, if adopted, would
be to dissolve the assembly with no provision for another
meeting, as is usually the case in a mass meeting or the last
meeting of a convention.4
Under any of conditions (1) through (3) above, a motion to
adjourn is not privileged and is treated just as any other
incidental main motion. Consequently, a motion to adjourn at or
to a future time is always out of order while business is pending
in any assembly; and any motion to adjourn at all is out of
order while business is pending under either of conditions (2)
or (3)—which, however, do not commonly apply to meetings of
ordinary societies.
21:4 In ordinary societies having bylaws that provide for several
regular meetings during the year and having no fixed hour for
adjournment, a motion “to adjourn,” when unqualified, is always
a privileged motion. In meetings of these organizations, such a
motion to Adjourn is in order regardless of whether business is
pending; and even when business is not pending, this motion is
undebatable and is subject to the rules given below.
21:5 The following eight characteristics apply only to the
privileged motion to Adjourn.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
21:6 The privileged motion to Adjourn:
1. Takes precedence over all motions except the privileged
motion to Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn; but it is not in
order while the assembly is engaged in voting or verifying a
vote, or before the result of a vote has been announced by
the chair, except that, in the case of a vote taken by ballot, a
motion to Adjourn is in order after the ballots have been
collected by the tellers and before the result has been
announced.5 It yields to the privileged motion to Fix the Time
to Which to Adjourn (but it takes precedence over a motion
to set a time for meeting again in the cases where such a
motion is “not privileged”—that is, is a main motion; see 22).
It also yields to any applicable incidental motions that may
arise and that must be disposed of before the motion to
Adjourn is voted on; but an incidental motion that can wait
may not be entertained after a motion to Adjourn has been
made.
2. Is not applied to any motion, and no subsidiary motion can
be applied to it.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is not debatable (see 21:10–12, however).
6. Is not amendable.
7. Requires a majority vote.
8. Cannot be reconsidered (but see 21:13 regarding its
renewal).
Further Rules and Explanation
21:7 Effect of Adjournment on Pending Business or on an
Uncompleted Order of Business. Except as the assembly
may have adopted rules providing otherwise, the effect of an
adjournment on a pending motion or an uncompleted order of
business is as follows:
a) When the adjournment does not close the session (as when
an adjourned meeting (9) has been set, or in any meeting of
a convention except the last one): Business is immediately
resumed at the next meeting at the point where it left off,
except that there may first be brief opening ceremonies or
reading of the minutes (see 41).
b) When the adjournment closes the session in an assembly
having its next regular business session within a quarterly
time interval (see 9:7), and having no members whose terms
of membership expire before the next regular session (for
example, in ordinary clubs and societies that hold frequent
“regular meetings”): The complete order of business is
followed at the next regular session. If a question was
pending at the time of adjournment, it is taken up as the first
item under unfinished business (or under special orders, if it
was a special order)—resuming the question at exactly
where it was previously interrupted. Any general or special
order that was not reached is also taken up under unfinished
business or under special orders, respectively (see 41).
c) When the adjournment closes a session in a body that will
not have another regular session within a quarterly time
interval (see 9:7), or closes a session that ends the term of
all or some of the members (as may happen in an elected
legislative assembly or in a board): Matters temporarily but
not finally disposed of, except those that remain in the hands
 of a committee to which they have been referred (see 9:8–
11), fall to the ground.6 They can, however, be introduced at
the next session, the same as if they had never before been
brought up.
21:8 Adjournment of Bodies Without Regularly Scheduled
Meetings. The adjournment of a mass meeting or the last
meeting of a convention dissolves the assembly unless
provision has been made whereby it will, or may, be later
reconvened. When adjournment would dissolve an assembly,
the motion to adjourn is a main motion. A motion to close the
session in an assembly that will thereby be dissolved, or will
not meet again for a long time unless called into authorized
special session under the bylaws or other governing rule, is
often referred to as a motion to “adjourn sine die,” which
means to “adjourn without day” (see also 8:2(6)). If the bylaws
of an organization provide for the calling of a special
convention after the regular convention session has been held,
this assembly should meet as a distinct session with a body of
delegates and alternates that must be chosen anew under
provisions established in the bylaws. However, program items
normally associated with conventions of the organization need
not be provided for.
21:9 If a board or committee meeting is adjourned without any
provision having been made for future meetings, the next
meeting is held at the call of the chairman (see also 50:21–22).
Consequently, since there usually is no fixed hour for
adjournment, the unqualified motion to adjourn is usually
privileged in boards or committees. When a special committee
has completed the business referred to it, however, it “rises”
and reports, which is equivalent to the main motion to adjourn
sine die (or without day).

21:10 Parliamentary Steps That Are in Order While the

 Privileged Motion to Adjourn Is Pending, or After the
Assembly Has Voted to Adjourn. Although the privileged
motion to Adjourn is undebatable, the following parliamentary
steps are in order while it is pending:
• to inform the assembly of business requiring attention before
adjournment;
• to make important announcements;
• to make (but not to take up7) a motion to reconsider a
previous vote;
• to make a motion to Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes
(37:46–52);
• to give notice of a motion to be made at the next meeting (or
on the next day, in a session consisting of daily meetings)
where the motion requires previous notice (see 10:44–51);
and
• to move to set a time for an adjourned meeting (9, 22) if there
is no meeting scheduled for later within the same session.
21:11 Any of the above steps that are desired should be taken
care of earlier, if possible; but there may sometimes be no
such opportunity, particularly in a convention or a session of
several meetings that is following an adopted agenda or
program (41), or in cases where a meeting of an ordinary
society adjourns before completing its regular order of
business. If any matters of the types listed above arise after it
has been moved to adjourn, the chair should state the facts
briefly, or a member who rises and addresses the chair for the
purpose may do so—or make the necessary motion or give
the desired notice—before the vote is taken on the motion to
Adjourn. If something requires action before adjournment, the
member who moved to adjourn can be requested to withdraw
his motion.
21:12 Regardless of the type of motion by which it is voted to
 adjourn, the meeting is not closed until the chair has declared
that the meeting “is adjourned” (or “stands adjourned”), and
members should not leave their seats until this declaration has
been made. After it has been voted to adjourn but before the
chair has declared the meeting adjourned, it is still in order to
take any of the steps listed above (in 21:10), if necessary. In
announcing an affirmative vote on a motion to adjourn, the
chair should usually pause before declaring the meeting
adjourned, saying: “The ayes seem to have it. [Pausing and
resuming slowly:] The ayes have it, and the meeting is
adjourned.” The pause affords time for members to demand a
division (29) on the vote to adjourn, or to take any of the other
steps just described. If the chair learns, immediately after
declaring the assembly adjourned, that a member seeking the
floor for one of these purposes had risen and addressed the
chair before the adjournment was declared, then, since the
adjournment was improper and this breach was promptly
noted, the chair must call the meeting back to order—but only
long enough for the purpose for which the member legitimately
sought the floor.
21:13 Legitimate Renewal of the Privileged Motion and Its
Abuses. Since a motion to Adjourn may be voted down
because a majority wish to hear one speech or take one vote,
this motion must be renewable as soon as there has been any
progress in business or even material progress in debate. But
this privilege of renewal and the high rank of the motion are
sometimes abused to the annoyance of the assembly. The
chair should therefore refuse to entertain a motion to Adjourn
that is obviously made for obstructive purposes—for example,
when a motion to Adjourn has just been voted down and
nothing has taken place since to indicate that the assembly
may now wish to close the meeting. If a member who has not
 properly obtained the floor calls out, “I move to adjourn,” such
a call cannot be entertained as a motion except by unanimous
consent (see Dilatory Motions, 39).
21:14 Cases Where the Assembly Can Adjourn Without a
Motion. If an hour for adjourning a meeting within a
convention or other session of more than one meeting has
been scheduled—either in an agenda or program or by the
adoption of a motion setting a time—no motion to adjourn is
necessary when that hour arrives. The chair simply announces
the fact and declares the meeting adjourned, as described for
a recess in 20:6. If the assembly does not then wish to
adjourn, the matter is handled as a case of setting aside the
orders of the day, as explained in 18:8 (see also 41:56). If
such a meeting wishes to adjourn earlier, it is done by a main
motion, which, however, can be adopted by a majority vote
(see 21:3). The rules stated above regarding parliamentary
steps that are in order after it has been voted to adjourn are
applicable in this case also.
21:15 When it appears that there is no further business in a
meeting of an ordinary local society that normally goes
through a complete order of business (41) at each regular
meeting (9), the chair, instead of waiting or calling for a motion
to adjourn, can ask, “Is there any further business?” If there is
no response, the chair can then say, “Since there is no further
business, the meeting is adjourned.”
Form and Example
21:16 The following forms may be used for either a privileged or a
main motion: “I move to adjourn,” or “I move that the meeting
[“now”] adjourn.” Additional forms in order as a main motion
are: “I move that the club now adjourn to meet at 8 P.M. on April
10,” or “I move that the convention adjourn sine die [or
“adjourn without day”].”
21:17 Assume that while a resolution is pending in a regular
monthly meeting of a local society, a member obtains the floor
and moves to adjourn, and the motion is seconded. Since this
motion is privileged and therefore undebatable, the chair
immediately puts the question.
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded to adjourn. Those in favor, say aye
[continuing to take the vote as described in 4:37].

21:18 If the motion is adopted, the chair announces the result and
declares the meeting adjourned (first making sure that no
member is seeking the floor, as described in 21:12). If the
motion is lost, the chair, after announcing the result,
immediately restates the resolution that was pending when the
motion to Adjourn was made.
21:19 After the pending resolution has been disposed of, or if
there has been sufficient debate to show that the assembly
now wishes to adjourn, a new motion to adjourn is in order. If
such a motion is made and seconded and there is no other
business, the chair, if he senses a general desire to adjourn,
can suggest unanimous consent (4:58–63), as follows:
CHAIR: If there is no objection, the meeting will now adjourn. [Pause.]
Since there is no objection, the meeting is adjourned.
21:20 The adjournment may be signaled by a single rap of the
gavel, if desired.
§22. FIX THE TIME TO WHICH TO ADJOURN
22:1 The object of the motion to Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn
(also referred to as the motion to “fix the time for an adjourned
meeting”) is to set the time, and sometimes the place, for
another meeting to continue business of the session, with no
effect on when the present meeting will adjourn.
22:2 A motion to Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn is in order only
if at the time it is offered there is no meeting scheduled for later
within the same session. If there is such a meeting, additional
meetings within the same session may be set by a motion
either to Suspend the Rules (25) or to Amend Something
Previously Adopted (35), namely, the previously adopted
agenda or program for the session.
22:3 A motion to fix the time to which to adjourn is privileged only
when it is made while a question is pending.
22:4 If a motion to fix the time to which to adjourn is made in any
assembly when no question is pending, it is in order and is
debatable and subject to all of the other rules applicable to
main motions. If feasible, any desired motion to fix the time to
which to adjourn should be made while no other question is
pending. But situations may arise in which immediate
establishment of the time for an adjourned meeting is
important, yet there is no opportunity to make a main motion.
The privileged motion to Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn can
then be used.
22:5 The following eight characteristics apply only to the
privileged motion to Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
22:6 The privileged motion to Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn:
1. Takes precedence over all other motions. It yields to motions
to Amend or for the Previous Question that are applied to it
and yields to any applicable incidental motions that may
arise and that must be disposed of before the motion to Fix
the Time to Which to Adjourn is voted on. The privileged
motion to Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn can be moved
even after the assembly has voted to adjourn, provided that
the chair has not yet declared the assembly adjourned.
2. Is not applied to any motion. Motions to Amend can be
applied to it. The Previous Question can also be moved on it
to prevent amendments, although this seldom serves a
useful purpose.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is not debatable. (But see 43:31–32 regarding allowable
explanation of an undebatable motion, as in the example
beginning 22:14.)
6. Is amendable as to the date, hour, or place; such
amendments are undebatable.
7. Requires a majority vote.
8. Can be reconsidered.
Further Rules and Explanation
22:7 Provisions as to Time and Place. In an organized society, the
adjourned meeting scheduled by adoption of this motion
(privileged or main) must be set for a time before that of the
next regular meeting. When the assembly has no fixed place
for its meetings, the motion should include the place as well as
the time of the adjourned meeting.
22:8 If an assembly holding regularly scheduled business
meetings adjourns to meet “at the call of the chair,” an
adjourned meeting called accordingly is a continuation of the
same session; but, if no such meeting is held before the next
regular session, the adjournment of the previous session
becomes final retrospectively as of the date the last meeting
adjourned, and the chair’s authority to call an adjourned
meeting expires.
22:9 Effect of the Motion. Whether introduced as a privileged or a
main motion, the effect of this motion is to establish an
adjourned meeting—that is, another meeting that will be a
continuation of the session at which the motion is adopted.
Unlike a special meeting, an adjourned meeting does not
require notice, although it is desirable to give such notice if
feasible. An adjourned meeting should not be confused with a
special meeting, which is a separate session called, in ordinary
societies, as prescribed by the bylaws.
22:10 Because of the nature of the situations that give rise to use
of the privileged motion to Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn,
adoption of this motion is often followed by immediate
introduction of a motion to Postpone, or of the privileged
motion to Adjourn, depending on the purpose, as shown in the
examples below. At the adjourned meeting, except for the
reading of the minutes, business will be taken up from the
 point at which the previous meeting adjourned or at which
questions were postponed.
22:11 It should be noted that the adoption of this motion does not
adjourn the present meeting or set a time for its adjournment;
thus, it has no direct effect on when the present meeting shall
adjourn, and is very different from a motion to fix the time at
which to adjourn (which is always a main motion).
Form and Example
22:12 Forms in which this motion may be made are: “I move that
when this meeting adjourns, it adjourn to meet at 2:00 P.M.
tomorrow”; “I move that when this meeting adjourns, it stand
adjourned to meet at 8:00 P.M. on Wednesday, April 2, at the
Riggs Hotel”; or “I move that on adjournment, the meeting
adjourn to meet at the call of the chair.”
22:13 In announcing an affirmative result, the chair says, for
instance, “The ayes have it. When the meeting adjourns this
evening, it will adjourn to meet at 2 P.M. tomorrow.”
22:14 As a first example, assume that a number of members wish
to set up an adjourned meeting to deal with an involved
pending question, so that the remaining order of business can
be completed now.

MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): Madam President, I believe the

pending resolution will require longer discussion than we have time
for this evening. I move that when the meeting adjourns, it adjourn to
meet here next Tuesday at 8:15 P.M. (Second.)

22:15 The chair states the question on this motion. Amendment

as to time and place is possible, but no debate is in order. The
chair then puts to vote the motion to Fix the Time to Which to
Adjourn. After announcing the result—whether adoption or
rejection—she says that the question is on the resolution,
which she rereads or indicates by descriptive title. If the
motion to Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn has been adopted,
Member A rises once more.
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move to postpone the pending
resolution to the adjourned meeting set for next Tuesday evening.
(Second.)
22:16 The motion to postpone is considered in the usual manner.
If it is adopted, the chair continues:
CHAIR: The ayes have it and the resolution is postponed to the
adjourned meeting. The next item of business is…

22:17 As a second example, assume that the motion to Fix the

Time to Which to Adjourn is to be made with a view to
immediate adjournment to a specified time, when this purpose
cannot be reached by a main motion:
22:18 At the annual meeting of a society, the hour is growing late.
A controversial bylaw amendment is pending, on which a
strong minority is determined to continue debate.
MEMBER X (obtaining the floor): I move that when this meeting
adjourns, it adjourn to meet at the same time tomorrow evening.
(Second.)

22:19 The motion is treated as in the first example. If it is

adopted, Member X, after the question has been restated on
the pending bylaw amendment, again rises and addresses the
chair.
MEMBER X (obtaining the floor): I move that the club now adjourn.
(Second.)

22:20 The chair states the question on the motion to Adjourn and
immediately puts it to vote. If it is adopted, the chair
announces the result, as follows:
CHAIR: The ayes have it and the club stands adjourned until eight
o’clock tomorrow evening.
Footnotes to Chapter
VII
1. When a convention adopts a program that includes an agenda for the business session
together with the times for events outside of business meetings, the events outside the
business meetings are not subject to a Call for the Orders of the Day.
2. The term question of privilege is applied to any request or motion relating to the rights
and privileges of the assembly or its members, whether or not it is introduced by means
of the device Raise a Question of Privilege.
3. For an explanation of the distinction between recess and adjournment, see 8, especially
8:7.
4. In state or national organizations where subordinate units choose delegates each time
an annual or biennial convention is held, each convention is a separate assembly, since
it is made up of a different body of delegates.
5. When much time may be consumed in counting ballots, it is generally better to take a
recess, but the assembly can adjourn if it has previously appointed a time for the next
meeting. In any case, the result of the ballot vote should be announced as soon as
business is resumed.
6. In the case of an adopted motion which is the subject of a motion to Reconsider that
was not finally disposed of, it is only the motion to Reconsider that falls to the ground,
and the adopted motion then goes into effect.
7. Because of time limits on moving a reconsideration, a motion to Reconsider is allowed
to be made and recorded (but not to be considered) while a motion to Adjourn is
pending, or even after it has been voted to adjourn and before the chair has declared the
assembly adjourned. A motion to Reconsider that is made at such a time normally must
wait to be called up at a later meeting, unless it is made before the motion to Adjourn is
voted on and that motion is withdrawn or voted down. If the reconsideration is moved
after it has been voted to adjourn and it appears to require immediate attention, however,
the chair must then retake the vote on the motion to Adjourn (see unique characteristics
of the motion to Reconsider, 37:8).
 CHAPTER
VIII

INCIDENTAL MOTIONS
 See 6:15ff. for a list of these motions and a description of their
characteristics as a class.

§23. POINT OF ORDER

23:1 When a member thinks that the rules of the assembly are
being violated, he can make a Point of Order (or “raise a
question of order,” as it is sometimes expressed), thereby
calling upon the chair for a ruling and an enforcement of the
regular rules.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
23:2 A Point of Order:
1. Takes precedence over any pending question out of which it
may arise. It yields to all privileged motions and (if it adheres
to pending question(s), 10:35) it yields to a motion to lay the
main question on the table, in cases where these motions
are in order at the time according to the order of precedence
of motions. Except for yielding to the motion to Lay on the
Table when it adheres to pending question(s) as just stated,
it does not yield to any subsidiary motion so long as it is
handled in the normal manner—that is, by being ruled upon
by the chair without debate. Consequently, under this normal
procedure:
• If a point of order which adheres to pending question(s) is
raised while any one of the six lower-ranking subsidiary
motions is immediately pending, no other subsidiary motion
except Lay on the Table can be made until the point of
order is disposed of; but in such a case, Lay on the Table
or any privileged motion can be moved and must be
considered before the point of order is ruled upon.
• If a point of order which does not adhere to pending
question(s) is raised while any subsidiary motion is
immediately pending, no subsidiary motion can be made
until the point of order is disposed of, but any privileged
motion can be moved and must be considered first.
• With reference to either of the above cases, on the other
hand, if a motion to Lay on the Table or a privileged motion
is pending and a point of order arises out of the
parliamentary situation existing then, the point of order is
disposed of first, although it can be interrupted by a still
higher-ranking privileged motion.
 In cases where the chair, being in doubt, refers the point of
order to the judgment of the assembly and where the point
thereby becomes debatable (see Standard Characteristic 5,
below), it—like a debatable appeal (24)—also: yields to the
subsidiary motions to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate and for
the Previous Question; yields to the motions to Commit and
to Postpone Definitely provided that they are in order at the
time according to the order of precedence of motions; and
yields to incidental motions arising out of itself.
2. Can be applied to any breach of the assembly’s rules. So
long as it is handled in the normal manner by being ruled
upon by the chair, no subsidiary motion can be applied to it—
except that, if it adheres to pending question(s), then (unless
the motion to Lay on the Table was already pending when
the point of order arose) the main question can be laid on the
table while the point of order is pending, and the point of
order also goes to the table with all adhering motions. If the
chair, being in doubt, refers the point of order to the
judgment of the assembly and it thereby becomes debatable
(see Standard Characteristic 5, below), the application of
subsidiary motions to it is governed by the same rules as
stated for debatable appeals under Standard Characteristic
2, 24:3(2).
3. Is in order when another has the floor, even interrupting a
person speaking or reading a report if the point genuinely
requires attention at such a time (see Timeliness
Requirement for a Point of Order, 23:5).
4. Does not require a second.
5. Is not debatable—but, with the chair’s consent, a member
may be permitted to explain his point and knowledgeable or
interested members can be heard by way of explanation. If
the chair submits the point to a vote of the assembly, the
rules governing its debatability are the same as for an
 Appeal (see 23:19; see also 24:3(5)).
6. Is not amendable.
7. Is normally ruled upon by the chair. No vote is taken unless
the chair is in doubt or his ruling is appealed.
8. Cannot be reconsidered; that is, the chair’s ruling on a point
of order cannot be reconsidered. If the chair submits the
point to a vote of the assembly, however, the vote of the
assembly can be reconsidered.
Further Rules and Explanation
23:3 Grounds for a Point of Order. It is the right of every member
who notices a breach of the rules to insist on their
enforcement. If the chair notices a breach, he corrects the
matter immediately; but if he fails to do so—through oversight
or otherwise—any member can make the appropriate Point of
Order. The presiding officer may wish to engage in brief
research or consult with the parliamentarian before ruling, and
may allow the assembly to stand at ease (see 8:2(4)) while he
does so. In any event, when the presiding officer has made a
ruling, any two members can appeal (one making the appeal
and the other seconding it), as described in 24.1
23:4 If a member is uncertain as to whether there is a breach on
which a point of order can be made, he can make a
parliamentary inquiry of the chair (see 33:3–5). In ordinary
meetings it is undesirable to raise points of order on minor
irregularities of a purely technical character, if it is clear that no
one’s rights are being infringed upon and no real harm is being
done to the proper transaction of business.
23:5 Timeliness Requirement for a Point of Order. The general
rule is that if a question of order is to be raised, it must be
raised promptly at the time the breach occurs. For example, if
the chair is stating the question on a motion that has not been
seconded, or on a motion that is not in order in the existing
parliamentary situation, the time to raise these points of order
is when the chair states the motion. After debate on such a
motion has begun—no matter how clear it is that the chair
should not have stated the question on the motion—a point of
order is too late. If a member is unsure of his point or wishes to
hear what the maker has to say on behalf of the motion before
pressing a point of order, he may, with the chair’s sufferance,
 “reserve a point of order” against the motion; but after the
maker has spoken, he must insist upon his point of order or
withdraw it. Points of order regarding the conduct of a vote
must be raised immediately following the announcement of the
voting result (see 45:9).
23:6 The only exceptions to the requirement that a point of order
must be made promptly at the time of the breach arise in
connection with breaches that are of a continuing nature,
whereby the action taken in violation of the rules is null and
void. In such cases, a point of order can be made at any time
during the continuance of the breach—that is, at any time that
the action has continuing force and effect—regardless of how
much time has elapsed. Instances of this kind occur when:
a) a main motion has been adopted that conflicts with the
bylaws (or constitution) of the organization or assembly,2
b) a main motion has been adopted that conflicts with a main
motion previously adopted and still in force, unless the
subsequently adopted motion was adopted by the vote
required to rescind or amend the previously adopted motion,
c) any action has been taken in violation of applicable
procedural rules prescribed by federal, state, or local law,
d) any action has been taken in violation of a fundamental
principle of parliamentary law (25:9), or
e) any action has been taken in violation of a rule protecting
absentees, a rule in the bylaws protecting the secrecy of the
members’ votes (as on a ballot vote), or a rule protecting a
basic right of an individual member (25:7, 25:10–11).
(For particular rules applicable to boards, see 23:9.)
23:7 Remedy for Violation of the Right to Vote. If one or more
members have been denied the right to vote, or the right to
attend all or part of a regular or properly called meeting during
 which a vote was taken while a quorum was present, a point of
order concerning the action taken in denying the basic rights of
the individual members can be raised so long as the decision
arrived at as a result of the vote has continuing force and
effect. If there is any possibility that the members’ vote(s)
would have affected the outcome, then the results of the vote
must be declared invalid if the point of order is sustained. If
there is no such possibility, the results of the vote itself can be
made invalid only if the point of order is raised immediately
following the chair’s announcement of the vote. If the vote was
such that the number of members excluded from participating
would not have affected the outcome, a member may wish, in
the appropriate circumstances, to move to Rescind or Amend
Something Previously Adopted (35), to move to Reconsider
(37), or to renew a motion (38), arguing that comments in
debate by the excluded members could have led to a different
result; but the action resulting from the vote is not invalidated
by a ruling in response to a point of order raised at a later time.
23:8 Remedy for Inclusion of Improper Votes. If the announced
result of a vote included votes cast in violation of a
fundamental principle of parliamentary law, such as votes cast
by nonmembers or by absent members, or multiple votes
improperly cast by a single member, a point of order can be
raised so long as the decision arrived at as a result of the vote
has continuing force and effect. If there is any possibility that
the vote(s) would have affected the outcome, the results of the
vote must be declared invalid if the point of order is sustained.
23:9 Remedy When Action Taken by an Executive Board Is Null
and Void. If the executive board of a society takes action that
exceeds the board’s instructions or authority, that conflicts with
a decision made by the assembly of the society, or that falls
under any of the categories listed in 23:6, a point of order can
 be raised at a board meeting at any time during the
continuance of the breach. If the point of order is sustained, the
action must be declared null and void. Alternatively, the
society’s assembly can adopt an incidental main motion by
majority vote declaring that the board’s action is null and void;
or, if it is affecting business at a meeting of the assembly, the
board’s action can be declared null and void by a ruling of the
chair relating to the affected business or on a relevant point of
order raised by a member. It is also possible for the assembly
to bring disciplinary measures against the board members who
voted for the improper action. If the assembly finds itself in
sympathy with the board’s action and the action is one that that
assembly could have authorized in advance, the assembly can
instead ratify the action as explained in 10:54–57.

23:10 Precedent. The minutes include the reasons given by the

chair for his or her ruling (see 48:4(10)). The ruling and its
rationale serve as a precedent for future reference by the chair
and the assembly, unless overturned on appeal, the result of
which is also recorded in the minutes and may create a
contrary precedent. When similar issues arise in the future,
such precedents are persuasive in resolving them—that is,
they carry weight in the absence of overriding reasons for
following a different course—but they are not binding on the
chair or the assembly. The weight given to precedent
increases with the number of times the same or similar rulings
have been repeated and with the length of time during which
the assembly has consistently adhered to them.

23:11 If an assembly is or becomes dissatisfied with a precedent,

it may be overruled, in whole or in part, by a later ruling of the
chair or a decision of the assembly in an appeal in a similar
situation, which will then create a new precedent. Alternatively,
adoption, rescission, or amendment (35) of a bylaw provision,
special rule of order, standing rule, or other motion may alter
the rule or policy on which the unsatisfactory precedent was
based.
Form and Example
23:12 When a member notices a breach of order that may do
harm if allowed to pass, he rises and, without waiting for
recognition, immediately addresses the chair as follows:

MEMBER A: I rise to a point of order. [Or, “Point of order!”]

23:13 Anyone who is speaking takes his seat. If the point relates
to a transgression of the rules of debate, the form used may
be:
MEMBER A: Mr. President, I call the gentleman to order.

23:14 The chair then asks the member to state his point of order,
or what words in the debate he objects to.
MEMBER A: I make the point of order that…

23:15 On completing his statement, the member resumes his

seat. The chair then rules whether “the point of order is well
taken” or “is not well taken,” stating briefly his reasons, which
are recorded in the minutes. If the chair desires, he can review
the parliamentary situation without leaving the chair, but
standing, before giving his ruling.
23:16 If the chair’s decision requires any action and no appeal is
made, he sees that the necessary action is taken before
proceeding with the pending business. Thus, if the point of
order relates to a breach of decorum in debate that is not
serious, the chair can allow the member to continue his
speech. But if the member’s remarks are decided to be
improper and anyone objects, the member cannot continue
speaking without a vote of the assembly to that effect (see
61:11).
23:17 Before rendering his decision, the chair can consult the
parliamentarian, if there is one. The chair can also request the
advice of experienced members, but no one has the right to
express such opinions in the meeting unless requested to do
so by the chair.
23:18 When the chair is in doubt as to how to rule on an
important point, he can submit it to the assembly for decision
in some such manner as:

CHAIR: Mr. Downey raises a point of order that the amendment is not
germane to the resolution. The chair is in doubt and submits the
question to the assembly. The resolution is [reading it]. The proposed
amendment is [reading it]. The question is, “Is the amendment
germane to the resolution?”

23:19 Since no appeal can be made from a decision of the

assembly itself, this question is open to debate whenever an
appeal would be—that is, the question submitted by the chair
to the assembly for decision is debatable except when it
relates to indecorum or transgression of the rules of speaking,
or to the priority of business, or when an undebatable question
is immediately pending or involved in the point of order. As in
the case of debate on an appeal (24), when a point of order
that is submitted to a vote is debatable, no member can speak
more than once in the debate except the chair, who can speak
in preference to other members the first time, and who is also
entitled to speak a second time at the close of debate.
23:20 In the example given above, the question may be put as
follows:

CHAIR: Those of the opinion that the amendment is germane, say aye.
… Those of the opinion that it is not germane, say no.… The ayes
have it and the amendment is in order. The question is on the
adoption of the amendment.
 Or:
CHAIR:… The noes have it and the amendment is not in order. The
question is on the adoption of the resolution.

23:21 When a point of order is submitted to a vote of the

assembly and the point relates to stopping something from
being done, it is usually best to put the question so that an
affirmative vote will be in favor of allowing the proceedings to
continue as if the point had not been raised. Thus, if a point is
made that the chair is admitting a motion which is not in order,
the question should be put so that an affirmative result of the
vote will mean that the motion is in order—as in the example
above, or as follows: “… Those of the opinion that the motion
is in order, say aye.… ; etc.” When a member has been called
to order because of indecorum in debate, the corresponding
form is: “… Those of the opinion that the member should be
allowed to resume speaking, say aye.…” If the foregoing
principle has no clear application to the case, the question can
be put so that an affirmative result will uphold the point of
order: “… Those of the opinion that the point is well taken, say
aye.…”3
§24. APPEAL
24:1 By electing a presiding officer, the assembly delegates to
him the authority and duty to make necessary rulings on
questions of parliamentary law. But any two members have the
right to Appeal from his decision on such a question. By one
member making (or “taking”) the appeal and another seconding
it, the question is taken from the chair and vested in the
assembly for final decision.
24:2 Members have no right to criticize a ruling of the chair
unless they appeal from his decision.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
24:3 An Appeal:
1. Takes precedence over any question pending at the time the
chair makes a ruling from which the appeal is made. It yields
to all privileged motions (provided that they are in order at
the time according to the order of precedence of motions),
and it yields to incidental motions arising out of itself. If it is
debatable (see Standard Characteristic 5, below), it also
yields to the subsidiary motions to Limit or Extend Limits of
Debate and for the Previous Question, and yields to the
motions to Commit, to Postpone Definitely, and to Lay on the
Table, provided that they are in order at the time according to
the order of precedence of motions. If it is undebatable and
adheres to pending question(s), it does not yield to any
subsidiary motion except to Lay on the Table; and if it is
undebatable and does not adhere to pending question(s), it
yields to no subsidiary motion.
2. Can be applied to any ruling by the presiding officer except
that:
a) if a point of order is raised while an appeal is pending,
there is no appeal from the chair’s decision on this point of
order, although the correctness of the ruling can be
brought up later by a motion covering the case; and
b) when the chair rules on a question about which there
cannot possibly be two reasonable opinions, an appeal
would be dilatory and is not allowed.
Rules governing the applicability of subsidiary motions to
debatable appeals are as follows: A motion limiting or
extending debate or a motion for the Previous Question can
be applied to a debatable appeal without affecting any other
pending question. Also:
 • When a debatable appeal does not adhere to pending
question(s)—that is, when the decision on it would in no
way affect pending question(s)—such a debatable
appeal can have any of the subsidiary motions applied to
it except Postpone Indefinitely and Amend.
• But when a debatable appeal adheres to pending
question(s)—as in the case of an appeal from a ruling
that an amendment is not germane—the subsidiary
motions, except the motions affecting debate, cannot be
applied to the appeal alone. However, they can be
applied to the main question, and if the latter is
committed, postponed, or laid on the table, the appeal
goes with this main question.
In the case of undebatable appeals:
• When an undebatable appeal does not adhere to
pending question(s), no subsidiary motion can be applied
to it; however,
• When an undebatable appeal adheres to pending
question(s), no subsidiary motion can be applied to it
alone; but the main question can be laid on the table,
and the appeal then goes to the table with the main
question and all adhering motions.
3. Is in order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is debatable, unless it (a) relates to indecorum or a
transgression of the rules of speaking; (b) relates to the
priority of business; or (c) is made when an undebatable
question is immediately pending or involved in the appeal.
When an appeal is debatable, no member is allowed to
speak more than once except the presiding officer—who
need not leave the chair while so speaking, but should stand.
The first time the chair speaks in debate on the appeal, he is
entitled to preference over other members seeking
 recognition. He can answer arguments against the decision
or give additional reasons by speaking a second time at the
close of the debate. He may announce his intention to speak
in rebuttal and ask if there are others who wish to speak first.
Even when the appeal is not debatable, the chair can, when
stating the question on it, give the reasons for his decision
without leaving the chair.
6. Is not amendable.
7. A majority or a tie vote sustains the decision of the chair on
the principle that the chair’s decision stands until reversed by
a majority. If the presiding officer is a member of the
assembly, he can vote to create a tie and thus sustain his
decision.
8. Can be reconsidered.
Further Rules and Explanation
24:4 Appropriateness of Appeal. If a member disagrees with a
ruling of the chair affecting any substantial question, he should
not hesitate to appeal. The situation is no more delicate than
disagreeing with another member in debate. In the case of
serious questions when proponents and opponents appear
nearly equal, a presiding officer may welcome an appeal from
his decision. By relieving the chair of responsibility in a strongly
contested situation and placing it on the assembly itself, better
relationships are often preserved.
24:5 Applicability Limited to Rulings. As explained in Standard
Characteristic 2, an appeal is applicable only to a ruling by the
chair.
24:6 No appeal can be made from the chair’s response to a
parliamentary inquiry or other query, since such a reply is an
opinion rendered by the chair, not a ruling on a question that
has actually arisen. For example, if, in answer to a
parliamentary inquiry, the chair states that a certain motion
would not be in order at the time, this reply is not subject to
appeal. But the point can be put at issue before the assembly
by making the motion despite the chair’s opinion and, when he
rules that the motion is not in order, appealing from the chair’s
decision.
24:7 The chair’s judgment as to the more numerous side in a
vote, or whether there are two thirds in the affirmative, also is
not a ruling and is not subject to appeal.4 If a member doubts
the correctness of such an announced result, however, he
should call for a Division (see 29) or move that the vote be
counted.
24:8 Timeliness Requirement for an Appeal. If an appeal is to be
made, it must be made at the time of the chair’s ruling. If any
debate or business has intervened, it is too late to appeal.
Form and Example
24:9 A member desiring to appeal rises and, without waiting to
be recognized, addresses the chair as follows:

MEMBER A: I appeal from the decision of the chair. (Second.)

CHAIR: The decision of the chair is appealed from.

24:10 The chair, after stating clearly the exact question at issue,
and the reasons for his decision if he thinks an explanation
necessary, states the question on the appeal as follows:

CHAIR: The question is: “Shall the decision of the chair stand as the
judgment of the assembly [or “club,” “society,” “board,” etc.]?”

Or:
CHAIR: The question is, “Shall the decision of the chair be sustained?”

24:11 The question is not on “sustaining the chair,” because the

decision, not the presiding officer, is in question.
24:12 The vote is taken so that the affirmative will be in favor of
sustaining the chair’s decision, as follows:

CHAIR: Those in favor of sustaining the chair’s decision, say aye.…

Those opposed to sustaining this decision, say no.…

24:13 After the result of the vote is announced, business is

resumed in accordance with the situation existing after the
action on the appeal.
§25. SUSPEND THE RULES
25:1 When an assembly wishes to do something during a
meeting that it cannot do without violating one or more of its
regular rules, it can adopt a motion to Suspend the Rules
interfering with the proposed action—provided that the
proposal is not in conflict with the organization’s bylaws (or
constitution), with local, state, or national law prescribing
procedural rules applicable to the organization or assembly, or
with a fundamental principle of parliamentary law.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
25:2 The incidental motion to Suspend the Rules:
1. Can be made at any time that no question is pending. When
business is pending, Suspend the Rules takes precedence
over any motion if it is for a purpose connected with that
motion. It yields to the motion to Lay on the Table and to all
privileged motions when these motions are in order at the
time according to the order of precedence of motions—
except that if it relates to the priority of business it does not
yield to a Call for the Orders of the Day. It also yields to
incidental motions arising out of itself.
2. Can be applied to any rule of the assembly except bylaws
(or rules contained in a constitution or corporate charter).5
No subsidiary motion can be applied to Suspend the Rules.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is not debatable. (But see 43:31–32 regarding allowable
explanation of an undebatable motion.)
6. Is not amendable.
7. Usually requires a two-thirds vote (see below, however). In
any case, no rule protecting a minority of a particular size
can be suspended in the face of a negative vote as large as
the minority protected by the rule.
8. Cannot be reconsidered (see below regarding its renewal).
Further Rules and Explanation
25:3 Object and Effect of the Motion. The object of this motion is
to suspend one or more rules applicable to the assembly—
such as rules contained in the parliamentary authority, special
rules of order, or standing rules6—that interfere with proposed
action during a meeting. A motion to “take up a question out of
its proper order,” or to consider one before a time to which it
has been postponed, is an application of the motion to
Suspend the Rules (see 14, 41).
25:4 In making the incidental motion to Suspend the Rules, the
particular rule or rules to be suspended are not mentioned; but
the motion must state its specific purpose, and its adoption
permits nothing else to be done under the suspension. Such a
motion, for instance, may be “to suspend the rules and take up
the report of the Building Committee,” or “to suspend the rules
and agree to [that is, to adopt without debate or amendment]
the resolution…” When the purpose of a motion to Suspend the
Rules is to permit the making of another motion, and the
adoption of the first motion would obviously be followed by
adoption of the second, the two motions can be combined, as
in “to suspend the rules and take from the table (34) the
question relating to…” The foregoing is an exception to the
general rule that no member can make two motions at the
same time except with the consent of the assembly—
unanimous consent being required if the two motions are
unrelated (see also 10:25, 27:10–11).
25:5 If a motion to Suspend the Rules is adopted and its object is
to allow consideration of business that could not otherwise
have been considered at the time, the chair immediately
recognizes the member who moved the suspension of the
rules, to make the appropriate motion that will bring up the
 desired business. Or, if no further motion is necessary (for
example, if the two motions were combined as indicated
above, or if the question is one that was postponed), the chair
announces the business as pending.
25:6 Renewal of the Motion. If a motion to suspend the rules is
voted down, it cannot be renewed by moving to suspend the
rules for the same purpose at the same meeting, unless
unanimous consent is given. It can, however, be renewed for
the same purpose after an adjournment, even if the next
meeting is held the same day. Any number of motions to
suspend the rules for different purposes can be entertained at
the same meeting.
25:7 Rules That Cannot Be Suspended. Rules contained in the
bylaws (or constitution) cannot be suspended—no matter how
large the vote in favor of doing so or how inconvenient the rule
in question may be—unless the particular rule specifically
provides for its own suspension, or unless the rule properly is
in the nature of a rule of order as described in 2:14. However, a
rule in the bylaws requiring that a vote—such as, for example,
on the election of officers—be taken by (secret) ballot cannot
be suspended so as to violate the secrecy of the members’
votes unless the bylaws so provide (see also Voting by Ballot,
45:18–24). Nothing in a corporate charter can be suspended
unless the charter or applicable law so provides.
25:8 No applicable procedural rule prescribed by federal, state,
or local law can be suspended unless the rule specifically
provides for its own suspension.
25:9 Rules which embody fundamental principles of
parliamentary law, such as the rule that allows only one
question to be considered at a time (5:4), cannot be
suspended, even by a unanimous vote. Thus, since it is a
fundamental principle of parliamentary law that the right to vote
 is limited to the members of an organization who are actually
present at the time the vote is taken in a regular or properly
called meeting (45:56), the rules cannot be suspended so as to
give the right to vote to a nonmember,7 or to authorize
absentee voting (45:56ff.). Likewise, since it is a fundamental
principle that each member of a deliberative assembly is
entitled to one—and only one—vote on a question, the rules
may not be suspended so as to authorize cumulative voting
(46:43).
25:10 Rules protecting absentees cannot be suspended, even by
unanimous consent or an actual unanimous vote, because the
absentees do not consent to such suspension. For example,
the rules requiring the presence of a quorum, restricting
business transacted at a special meeting to that mentioned in
the call of the meeting, and requiring previous notice of a
proposed amendment to the bylaws protect absentees, if there
are any, and cannot be suspended when any member is
absent.8
25:11 Rules protecting a basic right of the individual member
cannot be suspended. Thus, while generally applicable limits
on debate and the making of motions may be imposed by
motions such as the Previous Question, the rules may not be
suspended so as to deny any particular member the right to
attend meetings, make motions or nominations, speak in
debate, give previous notice, or vote. These basic rights may
be curtailed only through disciplinary proceedings.
25:12 At a regular meeting of an organization that has an
established order of business, the assembly cannot, even
unanimously, vote to dispense with that order of business (in
the sense of voting, in advance of the time when it adjourns,
that the order of business shall not be gone through at all at
that meeting). If the assembly, by a two-thirds vote, adopts a
motion “to dispense with the regular order of business and
 proceed to”9 a certain subject, it has in effect voted to suspend
the rules and pass all classes in the order of business which
normally would precede that subject (see 41:37–39). In such a
case, when the matter taken up out of its proper order has
been disposed of, even if it has consumed as much time as
the usual meeting, the chair must return to the regular order of
business and call for the items in sequence, unless the
assembly then votes to adjourn (see 21).
25:13 Rules that have their application outside of the session
which is in progress cannot be suspended. For example, a
policy prohibiting total contributions to any one charitable
organization in excess of $500.00 in any one calendar year is
a rule which has its application outside of a meeting context,
and thus cannot be suspended so as to permit the adoption of
a motion to make a contribution in excess of the specified
amount. (Such a rule can, however, be rescinded or amended;
see 35.) Likewise, the rules cannot be suspended in order to
permit postponement of a motion to a future session that will
be held after the next regular business session or that will be
held after more than a quarterly time interval has elapsed.

25:14 Rules Whose Suspension Requires a Two-Thirds Vote.

The rules of order of a society, as contained in the manual
established by the bylaws as the parliamentary authority, or as
included in any special rules of order adopted by the
organization (see 2), are rules of parliamentary procedure, the
suspension of which requires a two-thirds vote. Some
societies call all their rules “standing rules.” But by whatever
name a rule is called, if it relates to parliamentary procedure, it
requires a two-thirds vote for its suspension.
25:15 Rules That Can Be Suspended by a Majority Vote. An
ordinary10 standing rule, as the term is used in this book, is a
rule that does not relate to parliamentary procedure as such
 and refers, for example, to such matters as the use of
recording devices at meetings (see 2:23). Standing rules can
be suspended by a majority vote. Through an incidental main
motion adopted by a majority vote, a standing rule can be
suspended for the duration of the current session.
25:16 Suspension of Rules by Unanimous Consent. Frequently,
when the matter is clearly not controversial, time may be
saved by asking unanimous consent rather than by making a
formal motion to suspend the rules. A member who has
obtained the floor can say, for example, “Madam President, I
ask unanimous consent to offer the courtesy resolutions
before we receive the report of the special committee.” The
chair then asks if anyone objects and, if so, proceeds to take a
vote on suspending the rules, just as if a formal motion had
been made.
Form and Example
25:17 The usual form of this motion is:
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move that the rules be suspended
[or “to suspend the rules”] which interfere with… [stating the object of
the suspension]. (Second.)

Or:
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move to suspend the rules and
take up… (Second.)

25:18 When the object is to adopt a motion without debate or

amendment, the form is:
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move to suspend the rules and
adopt [or “agree to”] the following resolution: “Resolved, That…”
(Second.)

25:19 A member moving to suspend the rules can briefly give

sufficient information to enable the members to vote
intelligently on his undebatable motion. (For the manner of
taking a two-thirds vote, see 4:38–39 and provisions (d), (e),
and (g) in 4:49.) In announcing an affirmative result, the chair
says, for example,
CHAIR: There are two thirds in the affirmative and the rules are
suspended for the purpose of… The chair recognizes Mrs. Watkins.

25:20 If such a motion does not receive the required two-thirds

vote, the main motion can be taken up only in the normal way.
§26. OBJECTION TO THE CONSIDERATION OF A
QUESTION
26:1 The purpose of an Objection to the Consideration of a
Question is to enable the assembly to avoid a particular
original main motion altogether when it believes it would be
strongly undesirable for the motion even to come before the
assembly.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
26:2 An Objection to the Consideration of a Question:
1. Takes precedence over original main motions and over an
unstated subsidiary motion except Lay on the Table. The
objection can be raised only before there has been any
debate or any subsidiary motion except Lay on the Table has
been stated by the chair; thereafter, consideration of the
main question has begun and it is too late to object. It does
not take precedence over any pending subsidiary motion. It
yields to the motion to Lay on the Table, to all privileged
motions, and to incidental motions arising out of itself.
2. Can be applied to original main motions (10:3) and to
petitions and communications that are not from a superior
body. It cannot be applied to incidental main motions. No
subsidiary motion can be applied to it alone, but while it is
pending the main question can be laid on the table, and the
objection then goes to the table with the main question.
3. Is in order when another has the floor, until consideration of
the question has begun, as indicated in Standard
Characteristic 1, above.
4. Does not require a second.
5. Is not debatable. (But see 43:31–32 regarding allowable
explanation of an undebatable motion.)
6. Is not amendable.
7. A two-thirds vote against consideration is required to sustain
the objection.
8. A negative vote—that is, a vote sustaining the objection—
can be reconsidered, but not an affirmative vote.
Further Rules and Explanation
26:3 Resemblance to Point of Order. An Objection to the
Consideration of a Question is similar in some ways to a Point
of Order. The presiding officer, on his own initiative, can submit
his objection of this kind to a vote, just as he can raise a
question of order on his own accord. An Objection to the
Consideration of a Question is not used if a main motion is
outside the society’s objects as defined in the bylaws or
constitution, or outside the announced purpose for which a
mass meeting has been called; such a motion is not in order
unless the assembly by a two-thirds vote in the affirmative
authorizes its introduction (10:26(2)).
26:4 Difference from Objection in Other Context. Objection to the
Consideration of a Question should not be confused with an
objection to a request for unanimous consent (see 4:58–63).
26:5 Effect of the Objection. If an objection to consideration is
sustained, the main motion is dismissed for that session and
cannot be renewed during the same session except by
unanimous consent or by reconsideration of the vote on the
objection. If the objection is not sustained, consideration of the
main motion proceeds as if no objection had been made. Even
if the objection is sustained, the same main motion can be
introduced at any succeeding session.
26:6 Reconsideration of a Vote That Has Sustained the
Objection. As noted in Standard Characteristic 8, a vote
sustaining an objection to consideration can be reconsidered.
The motion to reconsider such a vote is undebatable and
requires a majority vote for its adoption, and it can be taken up
or called up only when no other motion is pending. If the
motion to Reconsider is adopted, it is also presumed to have
 overturned the objection, and the chair immediately states the
question on the main motion whose consideration had been
objected to, without again putting the objection to a vote. (The
reason for this abbreviated procedure is that only the members
who wish to consider the main question would vote to
reconsider the objection to its consideration; consequently, if a
majority have voted for reconsideration of the objection, this
implies that there are less than two thirds who wish to prevent
consideration of the main question.)
26:7 Manner of Putting the Question. When the objection is put to
a vote in its correct form (see Form and Example, below),
members are asked to vote for or against consideration of the
question objected to (not for or against sustaining the
objection). Therefore, those who wish to prevent consideration
of the question vote in the negative. The objection is sustained
if there are at least twice as many negative as affirmative
votes.
Form and Example
26:8 A member rises, even if another has been assigned the
floor, and without waiting to be recognized, addresses the chair
as follows:
MEMBER A: Mr. President, I object to the consideration of the question
[or “resolution,” “motion,” etc.].

The chair responds:

CHAIR: The consideration of the question is objected to. Shall the
question be considered? Those in favor of considering it, rise.… Be
seated. Those opposed to considering the question, rise.… Be
seated. There are two thirds opposed and the question will not be
considered.

Or, if the objection is not sustained, the announcement of the

vote may be worded as follows:
CHAIR: There are less than two thirds opposed and the objection is not
sustained. The question is on the resolution, “Resolved, That…”

26:9 In putting the objection to vote, the chair must be careful not
to say, “Shall the objection be sustained?” This would reverse
the effect of affirmative and negative votes and might cause
confusion.
§27. DIVISION OF A QUESTION
27:1 When a motion relating to a single subject contains several
parts, each of which is capable of standing as a complete
proposition if the others are removed, the parts can be
separated to be considered and voted on as if they were
distinct questions—by adoption of the motion for Division of a
Question (or “to divide the question”).
27:2 There are also certain motions which must be divided on
the demand of a single member, in which case a formal motion
to divide is not used (see 27:10–11). The eight characteristics
below apply only to the incidental motion for Division of a
Question.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
27:3 The incidental motion for Division of a Question:
1. Takes precedence over the main motion and over the
subsidiary motion to Postpone Indefinitely. If applied to an
amendment, it also takes precedence over that amendment;
but a motion to divide the main question cannot be made
while an amendment to the main question is pending. It
yields to all subsidiary motions except Postpone Indefinitely,
Amend, and Limit or Extend Limits of Debate; to all
privileged motions; and to all applicable incidental motions.
Although it is preferable to divide a question when it is first
introduced, a motion to divide can be made at any time that
the main motion, an amendment which it is proposed to
divide, or the motion to Postpone Indefinitely is immediately
pending—even after the Previous Question has been
ordered.
2. Can be applied to main motions and their amendments, if
they are susceptible to division (see below). No subsidiary
motion can be applied to it alone except Amend and (for the
purpose of stopping its amendment) the Previous Question;
but while it is pending the main question can be committed,
postponed, or laid on the table, and it then undergoes the
same process with the main question.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is not debatable. (But see 43:31–32 regarding allowable
explanation of an undebatable motion.)
6. Is amendable.
7. Requires a majority vote.
8. Cannot be reconsidered.
Further Rules and Explanation
27:4 Specification of the Manner in Which the Question Is to Be
Divided. The motion to divide must clearly state the manner in
which the question is to be divided. While the motion to divide
is pending, another member can propose a different division by
moving an amendment. If several different proposals are
made, they are treated as filling blanks; that is, they are voted
on in the order in which they were proposed unless they
suggest different numbers of questions, in which case the
largest number is voted on first (12:92–113). Usually, however,
little formality is involved in dividing a question, and it is
arranged by unanimous consent.
27:5 Motions That Cannot Be Divided. A motion cannot be divided
unless each part presents a proper question for the assembly
to act upon if none of the other parts is adopted, and unless the
effect of adopting all of the parts will be exactly the same—no
more, no less—as adoption of the compound main question.
Thus, if it is moved to establish a committee and give it
instructions, this motion is indivisible because, should the part
establishing the committee fail, the part giving the committee
instructions would be absurd. Similarly, if a single motion
proposes a series of amendments to something previously
adopted (35)—existing bylaws, for example—and all of the
individual amendments must be made, if any one of them is
made, in order for the document being amended to be
coherent, then the motion cannot be divided. For the same
reason, multiple conforming amendments to a pending motion,
as described in 12:15, cannot be divided.
27:6 Another type of motion that cannot be divided is one whose
parts are not easily separated. The division cannot require a
rewriting of the resolution beyond an essentially mechanical
 separation of it into the required parts. If possible, the division
should be carried out by no more than a renumbering of
phrases or clauses, prefacing each part with the formal
word(s), “That,” “Resolved, That,” or “Ordered, That,” dropping
conjunctions where necessary, or replacing pronouns with the
nouns for which they stand, with or without the definite article
“the,” as required. Depending on how the compound main
motion or resolution is worded, however, it may sometimes be
necessary to repeat words in more than one part which, in the
main motion, appear only once and apply to more than one
element of the proposed division. Also needed in this
connection may be slight corrections in syntax or phrase
structure in order to render each part as a complete
grammatical sentence free of awkward wording. These
adjustments are permissible provided care is taken to preserve
exact logical equivalence of statement and no new language is
introduced.
27:7 For example, suppose that the following resolution is
pending: “Resolved, That the Society congratulate its member
Ernest Dunn on his novel Crestwood, and that three copies be
purchased for the Society’s library.” Suppose also that a
member wishes to divide the question so as to consider the
purchase of the books separately. The first divided part
obviously would be, “Resolved, That the Society congratulate
its member Ernest Dunn on his novel Crestwood.” The second
part, with the wording adjusted no more than necessary to
avoid awkwardness, would have to read, “Resolved, That three
copies of the novel Crestwood by the Society’s member Ernest
Dunn be purchased for the Society’s library.” The phrasing of
the second part involves both types of modification described
in the last three sentences of the preceding paragraph.
27:8 As indicated in this subsection, if separating the elements of
action in a proposed resolution would require recasting the
 parts more than described above, the resolution cannot be
divided.
27:9 Striking Out Part of an Indivisible Motion or Series of
Motions. When a question is indivisible and a member is
opposed to a portion of it, he can seek the desired result by
moving to strike out (12) the part to which he is opposed. In like
manner, when a series of resolutions is proposed as a
substitute for another series, the substitute series is indivisible
if the several resolutions are not completely parallel, but a
motion can be made to strike out of the series any of the
component resolutions before the vote is taken on whether to
make the substitution.

27:10 Motions That Must Be Divided on Demand. Sometimes a

series of independent resolutions or main motions dealing with
different subjects is offered in one motion. In such a case, one
or more of the several resolutions must receive separate
consideration and vote at the request of a single member, and
the motion for Division of a Question is not used. Such a
demand (which should not be confused with a demand for a
division of the assembly—that is, for a rising vote) can be
made even when another has the floor, as in, “Mr. President, I
call for a separate vote on Resolution No. 3.” This demand
must be asserted before the question on adopting the series
has actually been put to vote.
27:11 Similarly, a series of amendments to a pending main motion
(or to a lengthy primary amendment, such as a substitute) may
be offered in one motion. Unless these amendments meet the
standard for conforming amendments given in 12:15, any
member may demand a separate vote on one or more of
them. After the others have been voted on together, the
amendment(s) on which separate votes were requested are
disposed of.
Form and Example
27:12 Referring to the example relating to Ernest Dunn’s novel
Crestwood in 27:7, a motion to divide the question may be
made either by stating the proposed parts in their entirety or
by using a shorter description of how the division is to be
made, if it is perfectly clear.
27:13 In the first instance, the motion would be made thus:
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): Madam President, I move to divide
the resolution into two parts as follows: [repeating them as shown in
the example in 27:7]. (Second.)

The question as to whether to divide the resolution is voted on

first. In this case, the chair would doubtless use unanimous
consent.
27:14 Under the shorter form of the motion, it may be made
instead as follows:

MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): Madam President, I move to divide

the resolution so as to consider separately the question of
purchasing the books. [Or, “… so that the question of purchasing the
books be considered separately.”] (Second.)

The procedure is then the same as in the first case.

27:15 If the motion for the division prevails, the chair states each
of the separated resolutions in full as it is considered.
§28. CONSIDERATION BY PARAGRAPH OR
SERIATIM
28:1 A report or long motion consisting of a series of resolutions,
paragraphs, articles, or sections that are not totally separate
questions can be considered by opening the different parts to
debate and amendment separately, without a division of the
question. If the chair does not follow such a course of his own
accord and the assembly wishes to do so, the procedure can
be ordered by adopting a motion to Consider by Paragraph (or
to Consider Seriatim). Several distinct main motions on
different subjects cannot be considered seriatim if a single
member objects.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
28:2 The incidental motion for Consideration by Paragraph or
Seriatim:
1. Takes precedence over the main motion and over the
subsidiary motion to Postpone Indefinitely. If applied to an
amendment, it also takes precedence over that amendment;
but it cannot be applied to the main question while an
amendment to the main question is pending. It yields to all
subsidiary motions except Postpone Indefinitely, Amend, and
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate; to all privileged motions;
and to all applicable incidental motions.
2. Can be applied to main motions and amendments of such
length and structure that the method is appropriate. No
subsidiary motion can be applied to it alone except Amend
and (for the purpose of stopping its amendment) the
Previous Question; but while it is pending the main question
can be committed, postponed, or laid on the table, and it
then undergoes the same process with the main question.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is not debatable. (But see 43:31–32 regarding allowable
explanation of an undebatable motion.)
6. Is amendable.
7. Requires a majority vote.
8. Cannot be reconsidered.
Further Rules and Explanation
28:3 Effect of Consideration by Paragraph. The effect of
considering a document by paragraph or seriatim is as follows:
If a member exhausts his right to debate under the usual rules
on one part, his right to debate begins over again as each
succeeding part is opened to debate and amendment; yet no
vote on adoption is taken until there has been opportunity to
perfect all the parts by amendment. Keeping all subdivisions of
the series open until one final vote avoids the possibility of
complications which would result—especially in the case of
bylaws—if amendments to later paragraphs necessitated
changes in others that had already been adopted.
28:4 Cases in Which the Chair Normally Applies the Method. In
adopting a set of bylaws or the articles of a platform,
consideration by paragraph is the normal and advisable
procedure, followed as a matter of course unless the assembly
votes to do otherwise. The chair, on his own initiative, can
apply this method to any elaborate proposition susceptible to
such treatment, unless he thinks the assembly wishes to act on
the question as a whole; or the manner of consideration can be
settled by unanimous consent. Should the chair neglect this, a
member can move “that the resolution be considered by
paragraph” (or “seriatim”).
28:5 Motion to Consider as a Whole. If the chair suggests
consideration by paragraph and a member feels that time could
be saved by acting on it as a whole, the member can move
“that it be considered as a whole.” This motion is governed by
standard descriptive characteristics identical to those for
Consideration by Paragraph or Seriatim.
28:6 Procedure for Consideration by Paragraph. The procedure
 in considering by paragraph or seriatim is as follows: The
member who moved the adoption of the document, the
secretary, or the presiding officer (as the chair may decide)
reads the first subdivision, and it is explained by its proponent.
The chair then asks, “Is there any debate or amendment to this
paragraph [or “section,” etc.]?” When there is no further debate
or amendment to the first paragraph, each succeeding one is
taken up. Amendments are voted on as they arise, but no
paragraph as amended is acted upon (as to final adoption or
rejection) at that time. After all parts have been considered, the
chair opens the entire document to amendment. At this time
additional parts can be inserted, or parts can be struck out, or
any one of them can be further amended. It is not necessary to
amend the numbers of articles, sections, or other subdivisions.
It is the duty of the secretary to make all such corrections
where they become necessary (see 57:18–19).
28:7 If there is a preamble, it is treated in the same way before
the final vote. Then the entire document is acted upon in a
single vote. If the Previous Question is ordered before the
preamble has been considered, it does not apply to the
preamble unless expressly so stated.
28:8 Application of Subsidiary and Incidental Motions During
Consideration by Paragraph. During the consideration of the
separate paragraphs, any motion to Postpone Indefinitely,
Commit, Postpone, or Lay on the Table can apply only to the
entire series or proposition. If a motion to Postpone Indefinitely
is made under these circumstances, it is stated by the chair,
but is not debated or voted on until the paragraph-by-
paragraph phase of consideration is completed and the entire
document has been declared open to amendment. This rule is
a consequence of two characteristics of the motion to
Postpone Indefinitely—that amendments take precedence over
it, and that while it is pending the entire main question is open
 to debate. Motions to Commit, Postpone (definitely), or Lay on
the Table, on the other hand, are taken up as they arise; and, if
adopted, they affect the entire main question immediately. If or
when the main question comes before the assembly again
later, the consideration by paragraph or seriatim is resumed at
the point where it was interrupted. The Previous Question and
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate can be applied to
amendments or to the entire document but not to the individual
paragraphs.
28:9 If it has been decided to consider divisible material seriatim,
even if the material was divisible on the demand of a single
member, it is too late to move or demand a division of the
question.
Form and Example
28:10 When the chair does not initiate seriatim consideration, this
form can be used:
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): Mr. President, I move that the
resolution [or “the platform,” etc.] be considered by paragraph [or
“seriatim”]. (Second.)

28:11 If the chair suggests consideration by paragraph and a

member feels that the proposition could be acted upon as a
whole, this form may be used:
MEMBER X (obtaining the floor): Madam President, I move that… be
considered as a whole. (Second.)
§29. DIVISION OF THE ASSEMBLY
29:1 Whenever a member doubts the result of a voice (viva-
voce) vote or a vote by show of hands—either because the
result appears close or because he doubts that a
representative number of the members present have voted—
he can call for a Division of the Assembly, thereby requiring the
vote to be taken again by rising.11
29:2 A voice vote retaken by a show of hands is not a Division of
the Assembly, since in large assemblies it may be less
accurate than a rising vote, and since—even in a small
meeting—the rising vote may be more effective in causing a
maximum number of members to vote.
29:3 On an inconclusive voice vote in a very small meeting
where all present can clearly see one another, if, instead of
calling for a Division, a member asks for a show of hands, this
is in the nature of a request, and the chair can retake the vote
by this method unless a call for a Division is also made. Before
or after the vote is thus retaken, however, any member still has
the right to demand a Division if he believes it will obtain a
more conclusive result.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
29:4 A Division of the Assembly:
1. Takes precedence over any motion on which a vote is being
taken or has just been taken. It may be called for from the
moment the negative votes have been cast until the
announcement of the result is complete, or immediately
thereafter (see 45:9). It does not yield to any motion.
2. Can be applied to any motion on which the assembly is
called upon to vote by voice or by a show of hands. No
subsidiary motion can be applied to it.
3. Is in order when another has the floor and is called for
without obtaining the floor.
4. Does not require a second.
5. Is not debatable.
6. Is not amendable.
7. Does not require a vote, since a single member can demand
a division.
8. Cannot be reconsidered.
Further Rules and Explanation
29:5 Procedure for Retaking a Vote. When a Division is
demanded, the chair immediately takes the vote again, first by
having the affirmative rise, then by having the negative rise. If it
appears to the chair, when those in the affirmative rise, that the
vote will be close, he can count the vote or order it to be
counted. If a member desires the vote on the division to be
counted, he must make a motion to that effect, which requires
a majority vote (see 4:53; 30; 45:14).
29:6 Vote Retaken at Chair’s Initiative. The chair has the
responsibility of obtaining a correct expression of the will of the
assembly. If he is uncertain of the result of a vote or if he feels
that the vote is unrepresentative, the chair can of his own
accord take the vote again by a rising vote.
29:7 Dilatory Use. When it is clear that there has been a full vote
and there can be no reasonable doubt as to which side is in the
majority, a call for a Division is dilatory, and the chair should not
allow the individual member’s right of demanding a Division to
be abused to the annoyance of the assembly.
Form and Example
29:8 While, or immediately after, the chair announces the result
of a vote, “The ayes [or “noes”] have it and…,” a member can
call for a division from his seat, without obtaining the floor:
MEMBER: Division!

Or:
MEMBER: I call for [or “demand”] a division.

Or:
MEMBER: I doubt the result of the vote.

To such a call in any of these forms, the chair responds:

CHAIR: A division is called for [or “demanded”].

The chair then proceeds to take the rising vote, as shown in

4:38.
§30. MOTIONS RELATING TO METHODS OF
VOTING AND THE POLLS
30:1 The object of motions relating to methods of voting and the
polls is to obtain a vote on a question in some form other than
by voice, by show of hands, or by Division (rising); or to
otherwise direct how and when voting is to be conducted. This
category includes motions that the vote be taken by ballot, that
it be taken by roll call (the yeas and nays), that a standing vote
be counted (tellers), or that the vote be taken by an unusual
method such as the use of black and white balls or a signed
ballot (see 45:46). This category also includes motions relating
to the conduct of a vote, such as those closing or reopening
the polls, or ordering a recapitulation of a roll-call vote (see
45:51) or a recount (see 45:41).
30:2 A motion in this category is an incidental motion—and
subject to the rules given here—only when a motion or election
is pending or the vote on it has just been taken or announced;
otherwise, it is an incidental main motion.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
30:3 Incidental motions relating to methods of voting and the
polls:
1. Take precedence over the motion being voted on or to be
voted on. When applied to a vote which has just been taken,
they can be moved from the moment the chair has reported
the vote (see 4:43(1)) until the announcement of the result is
complete, or immediately thereafter (see 45:9). They can be
moved while an order for the Previous Question is in effect
on the votes to which they apply. They yield to the privileged
motions, and to a motion to Lay on the Table moved while
the question to which they are applied is pending.
2. Can be applied to any motion on which the assembly is
called upon to vote other than another motion relating to the
method of voting, or a motion to close or reopen the polls.12
No subsidiary motion can be applied to them except
Amend.13
3. Are out of order when another has the floor; but, within the
time limits specified in Standard Characteristic 1 above, a
member can claim preference in being recognized for the
purpose of making one of these motions when applied to a
vote that has just been taken.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Are not debatable. (But see 43:31–32 regarding allowable
explanation of an undebatable motion.)
6. Are amendable.
7. Require a majority vote, except a motion to close the polls,
which requires a two-thirds vote.
8. The vote on a motion ordering that the polls be closed or
reopened at a specified time can be reconsidered at any
time before the order has been carried out. Otherwise,
neither a vote to close the polls nor an affirmative vote to
reopen the polls can be reconsidered; the same effect can
be obtained by renewal or by the opposite motion. A
negative vote on a motion to reopen the polls can be
reconsidered within the period during which a motion to
reopen the polls could be made originally. Other motions
relating to methods of voting can be reconsidered.
Further Rules and Explanation
30:4 Methods of Voting. In practice, the method of taking a vote
usually can be agreed upon informally. But when different
methods are suggested, they are usually treated not as
amendments but as filling blanks, the vote normally being
taken first on the one taking the most time. (For ways of voting,
see 4:34–56; 45.)
30:5 A member who believes that a secret vote will give a truer
expression of the assembly’s will on a pending motion can
move that the vote on the motion be taken by ballot. An order
that the vote on a main motion be taken by ballot also applies
to a vote on whether to postpone the main motion indefinitely.
(See also Roll-Call Vote, 45:45ff.)
30:6 Retaking a Vote. As explained in 4 (see 4:34–56) and 45 (see
45:11), the regular methods of initially taking a vote are by
voice (viva voce), by rising (division), or by show of hands—the
latter two of which may also be called for by any member as a
means of verifying an inconclusive vote that has just been
taken (see 29)—and the chair may order that a vote be
counted or that an uncounted vote be retaken as a counted
vote. After a question has been voted on in any of these ways,
and within the time specified in Standard Characteristic 1
above, the assembly can still order that the vote be taken again
by some method other than any of the regular ones (see Other
Methods of Voting, 45:17ff.) or that an uncounted vote be
retaken as a counted vote. But after a vote has been taken by
one of those other methods, or after the assembly has ordered
that a counted vote be taken, it is not in order to move that the
vote be taken again. It is never in order to move that the vote
on a question be taken a second time by the same method.
30:7 Exhaustion of an Order Prescribing the Method of Voting.
If the method of voting on a motion is ordered by the assembly
(and not prescribed by the assembly’s rules), such an order is
exhausted (1) when the question on which it was imposed has
been finally disposed of, or (2) at the conclusion of the session
in which the order has been adopted—whichever occurs first.
If, after such an order is exhausted, the motion to which it
previously applied comes to a vote (for example, during
reconsideration or at a subsequent session), the order is no
longer in effect. Notwithstanding the exhaustion of this order,
however, a motion which has been voted on by ballot must also
be voted on by ballot during any reconsideration of it, since no
action is in order that would force the disclosure of a member’s
vote or views on the matter (see 45:21). Likewise, if the
assembly adjourns after balloting for an office has begun but
before the election to that office is complete (46:44–45), any
additional votes needed to complete the election must also be
taken by ballot, even if they are taken at a subsequent session.
30:8 Closing or Reopening the Polls. Motions relating to opening
and closing the polls are applicable only with respect to ballot
votes. It is usually better to leave it to the chair to close the
polls. When the vote is taken by ballot, as soon as the chair
thinks that all have voted who wish to, he inquires if all have
voted. If there is no response, he declares the polls closed, and
the tellers proceed to count the vote.
30:9 If a motion is made to close the polls when the voting has
closed naturally, the chair can treat the motion as a
unanimous-consent request and declare the polls closed. In
any case, a formal motion to close the polls may not be
recognized until all have presumably voted. Like motions
relating to the close of debate or nominations, the motion to
close the polls requires a two-thirds vote.
30:10 If members enter afterward and it is desired to reopen the
polls, this can be done by a majority vote.
30:11 The time at which the polls shall be closed or reopened can
be specified in the motion, or added by amendment.
§31. MOTIONS RELATING TO NOMINATIONS
31:1 While an election is pending, a member may wish to offer a
motion to determine the method of making nominations14
(when it is not prescribed in the bylaws or rules of order).
Members also may wish to offer motions to close or reopen
nominations.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
31:2 Incidental motions relating to nominations:
1. Take precedence over the pending election for which
nominations are to be made. They yield to the privileged
motions, and to the motion to Lay on the Table.
2. Apply to any pending election. No subsidiary motion except
Amend15 can be applied to them.
3. Are out of order when another has the floor or any member
is attempting to make a nomination.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Are not debatable. (But see 43:31–32 regarding allowable
explanation of an undebatable motion.)
6. Are amendable.
7. Require a majority vote, except a motion to close
nominations, which requires a two-thirds vote because (a) its
adoption deprives members of a basic right—to nominate;
and (b) the assembly must be protected against attempted
abuse of the power to close nominations by a temporary
majority.
8. Can be reconsidered, except the motion to close
nominations, or an affirmative vote on a motion to reopen
nominations. (In the latter cases, the same effect can be
obtained by renewal or by the opposite motion.)
Further Rules and Explanation
31:3 Motions to Prescribe Methods of Nominating. If no method
of making nominations is designated by the bylaws or rules
and the assembly has adopted no order on the subject, anyone
can make a motion prescribing the method of nomination for an
office to be filled. When different methods are proposed, they
can be moved as amendments, but are frequently treated as
filling blanks (12:92–113). In that event, the vote is taken on the
various suggested methods of nominating, in this order: (a) by
the chair; (b) from the floor (sometimes called “open
nominations”); (c) by a committee; (d) by ballot; (e) by mail;
and (f) by petition (see 46). It should be noted that not all of
these methods are appropriate or desirable in average
societies.
31:4 Motions to Close or Reopen Nominations. In the average
society, a motion to close nominations is not a necessary part
of the election procedure and it should not generally be moved.
When nominations have been made by a committee or from
the floor, the chair inquires whether there are any further
nominations; and when there is no response, he declares that
nominations are closed. In very large bodies, the formality of a
motion to close nominations is sometimes allowed, but this
motion is not in order until a reasonable opportunity to make
nominations has been given; as noted above, it is out of order
if a member is rising, addressing the chair, or otherwise
attempting to make a nomination, and it always requires a two-
thirds vote. When no one wishes to make a further nomination,
the motion serves no useful purpose.
31:5 A legitimate use of the motion to close nominations would
be, for example, to end delay of an election by numbers of
nominations obviously intended only to honor persons who
 have no chance of being elected.
31:6 When for any reason it is desired to reopen nominations,
this can be done by a majority vote. The closing of nominations
—whether or not a formal motion to close them has been
adopted—does not limit the making of further nominations at a
later session at which the election is held (see also 46:6).
31:7 The time at which nominations shall be closed or reopened
can be specified in the motion, or added by amendment.
§32. REQUEST TO BE EXCUSED FROM A DUTY
32:1 Occasionally the bylaws of a society may impose specific
duties on members beyond the mere payment of dues.
Members may be obligated to attend a certain number of
meetings, to prepare talks or papers, to serve on committees,
or even to accept office if elected. In these cases, a member
cannot, as a matter of right, decline such a duty or demand that
he or she be excused from it, but the assembly—except as the
bylaws may provide otherwise—can grant the member’s
request to be so excused. The request can be granted by
unanimous consent, or a motion to grant it, which is debatable
and amendable, can be offered.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
32:2 A Request to Be Excused from a Duty:
1. Takes precedence over any motion with whose purpose it is
connected and can also be made at any time when no
question is pending. A motion on a request that is pending
yields to all subsidiary motions except Postpone Indefinitely,
to all privileged motions, and to other incidental motions.
2. Can be applied in reference to any motion or parliamentary
situation out of which it arises. All subsidiary motions except
Postpone Indefinitely can be applied to it.
3. Is in order when another has the floor if it requires immediate
attention.
4. Does not require a second except when moved formally by
the maker of the request. A motion to grant the request of
another member does not require a second since the maker
of the request and the maker of the motion—two members—
wish the question to be considered.
5. Is debatable.
6. Is amendable.
7. Requires a majority vote, but is frequently settled by
unanimous consent.
8. Where the member requesting to be excused from a duty
has learned of the action taken on his or her request, only a
negative vote can be reconsidered.
Further Rules and Explanation
32:3 If a duty is not compulsory, a member can decline when he
is first named to it or, if absent at that time, when he first learns
of his election or appointment. At times other than during a
meeting, such a notice of declination can be addressed to the
secretary or to the appointing power. Since in these cases the
duty is not compulsory, no motion to excuse the member is
necessary.
32:4 A member who remains silent when presumably aware that
he has been named to a duty is regarded as accepting, and he
thereby places himself under the same obligations as if he had
expressly accepted.
32:5 If a member who has accepted an office, committee
assignment, or other duty finds that he is unable to perform it,
he should submit his resignation. A resignation is submitted in
writing, addressed to the secretary or appointing power;
alternatively, it may be submitted during a meeting either orally
or in writing.16 By submitting a resignation, the member is, in
effect, requesting to be excused from a duty. The chair, on
reading or announcing the resignation, can assume a motion
“that the resignation be accepted.”
32:6 The duties of a position must not be abandoned until a
resignation has been accepted and becomes effective, or at
least until there has been a reasonable opportunity for it to be
accepted.
32:7 A request to be excused from a duty essential to the
functioning of a society or assembly is a question of privilege
affecting the organization of the assembly; and so also is the
filling of a vacancy created by the acceptance of a resignation.
In such cases, the assembly can proceed immediately to fill the
vacancy, unless notice is required or other provision for filling
 vacancies is made in the bylaws. In the case of a resignation
from office, unless the bylaws provide otherwise, the assembly
cannot proceed to fill the vacancy immediately since notice is a
requirement. But if a member is elected and declines, no notice
is required to complete the election immediately or at the next
meeting (see 46:46).
32:8 Resignation from Membership. A member in good standing
with his dues paid cannot be compelled to continue his
membership so that additional obligations are incurred. His
resignation should be accepted immediately, and if it is not, he
incurs no obligation after his resignation has been sent in,
provided he does not avail himself of the privileges of
membership. It is different with members who have not paid
their dues up to the date of sending in their resignations. Until
they have settled their dues, the society is under no obligation
to accept their resignations, and thus additional amounts may
become due. If their dues are not paid within a reasonable
time, instead of accepting their resignations, the society may
expel them. A resignation sent in to escape charges need not
be accepted. The charges may be preferred, and the trial
should proceed the same as if the resignation had not been
sent in.
§33. REQUESTS AND INQUIRIES
33:1 In connection with business in a meeting, members may
wish to obtain information or to do or have something done that
requires permission of the assembly. Any member can make
the following types of inquiry or request: (a) Parliamentary
Inquiry; (b) For Information; (c) For Permission (or Leave) to
Withdraw or Modify a Motion; (d) To Read Papers; and (e) For
Any Other Privilege.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
33:2 With respect to the requests and inquiries growing out of
the business of the assembly that are listed above, the
following rules apply:
1. All take precedence over any motion with whose purpose
they are connected, and can also be made at any time when
no question is pending. A motion on a request that is
pending yields to all privileged motions and to other
incidental motions.
2. All can be applied in reference to any motion or
parliamentary situation out of which they arise. No subsidiary
motion can be applied to any of them.
3. All are in order when another has the floor if they require
immediate attention.
4. A Parliamentary Inquiry and a Request for Information do not
require a second. The other requests do not require a
second, except when moved formally by the maker of the
request. A motion to grant the request of another member
does not require a second, since two members already wish
the question to come up—the maker of the request and the
maker of the motion.
5. All are not debatable, although they may be accompanied by
brief explanations as necessary (cf. 43:31–32).
6. All are not amendable.
7. No vote is taken on a Parliamentary Inquiry and a Request
for Information. The other requests require a majority vote in
order to be granted, and are frequently settled by unanimous
consent. When it is too late for renewal, unanimous consent
is required to grant permission to withdraw a motion to
Reconsider (37:10(b)), or to withdraw previous notice of a
proposed motion requiring such notice (10:44–51).
8. A Parliamentary Inquiry and a Request for Information are
not subject to reconsideration. The vote on a request For
Permission to Modify a Motion, To Read Papers, and For
Any Other Privilege can be reconsidered. On a request For
Permission to Withdraw a Motion, only a negative vote can
be reconsidered.
Further Rules and Explanation (with Forms)
33:3 A. Parliamentary Inquiry. A Parliamentary Inquiry is a
question directed to the presiding officer to obtain information
on a matter of parliamentary law or the rules of the
organization bearing on the business at hand. It is the chair’s
duty to answer such questions when it may assist a member to
make an appropriate motion, raise a proper point of order, or
understand the parliamentary situation or the effect of a
motion. The chair is not obliged to answer hypothetical
questions.
33:4 In making an inquiry, the inquirer arises, and without
obtaining the floor, addresses the chair as follows:
MEMBER A: Madam President, I rise to a parliamentary inquiry. [Or, “A
parliamentary inquiry, please.”]
CHAIR: The member will state the inquiry.
MEMBER A: Is it in order at this time to move the previous question?

33:5 The chair’s reply to a parliamentary inquiry is not subject to

an appeal, since it is an opinion, not a ruling. A member may
act contrary to this opinion, however, and may appeal from a
resulting adverse ruling by the chair. If an inquiry is made when
another member has the floor and an immediate answer is not
necessary, the chair can defer a reply until the floor has been
yielded.
33:6 B. Request for Information. A Request for Information (also
called a Point of Information) is a request directed to the chair,
or through the chair to another officer or member, for
information relevant to the business at hand but not related to
parliamentary procedure.
33:7 It is treated like a parliamentary inquiry, as follows:
MEMBER A: Mr. President, I have a request for information. [Or, “A
 point of information, please.”]
CHAIR: The member will state his question.
MEMBER A: Will the convention delegates report at this meeting?

Or:
MEMBER A: This motion calls for a large expenditure. Will the
Treasurer state the present balance?

33:8 If information is desired of a member who is speaking, the

inquirer, upon rising, may use the following form instead:
MEMBER A: Madam President, will the member yield for a question?

Or:

MEMBER A: Mr. President, I would like to ask the gentleman [or “the
member”] a question.

33:9 If the speaker consents to the interruption, the time

consumed will be taken out of his allowed time. The chair
therefore asks if the speaker is willing to be interrupted, and if
he consents, directs the inquirer to proceed. Although the
presiding officer generally remains silent during the ensuing
exchange, the inquiry, the reply, and any resulting colloquy are
made in the third person through the chair. To protect decorum,
members are not allowed to carry on discussion directly with
one another.
33:10 An inquiry of this kind may also be for the purpose of
reminding a speaker of a point to be made in argument, or it
may be intended to rebut his position; but it must always be
put in the form of a question.
33:11 C. Request for Permission (or Leave) to Withdraw or
Modify a Motion. Conditions for withdrawing or modifying a
motion depend upon how soon the mover states his wish to
 withdraw or modify it. Permission for him to do so is required
only after the motion to which it pertains has been stated by
the chair as pending.
33:12 Before a motion has been stated by the chair, it is the
property of its mover, who can withdraw it or modify it without
asking the consent of anyone. Thus, in the brief interval
between the making of a motion and the time when the chair
places it before the assembly by stating it, the maker can
withdraw it as follows:
MEMBER A (who made the motion): Madam President, I withdraw
the motion.

Or:
MEMBER A (who made the motion): Mr. President, I wish to modify
the motion by striking out “demand” and inserting “urge.”

In the same interval also, another member can ask if the maker
of the motion is willing to withdraw it or accept a change in it,
which suggestion the maker can either accept or reject. In such
a case the chair either announces, “The motion has been
withdrawn,” or states the question on the modified motion. If a
motion is modified, the seconder can withdraw his second.
When the seconder withdraws his second to the modified
motion, the member who suggested the modification has, in
effect, supplied a second.
33:13 After a motion has been stated by the chair, it belongs to
the meeting as a whole, and the maker must request the
assembly’s permission to withdraw or modify his own motion,
according to the rules stated in Standard Characteristics 1–8,
above. In such cases the procedure is as follows.
33:14 To withdraw a motion that is before the assembly, the
member who made it may use this form:
 MEMBER A (who made the motion): Madam President, I ask
permission [or “leave”] to withdraw the motion.

33:15 The chair treats this first as a unanimous-consent request.

That is, if no one objects, the announcement is:
CHAIR: Unless there is objection [pause] the motion is withdrawn.

If there is an objection, the chair of his own accord can put the
question on granting the request, or any member can move
“that permission to withdraw the motion be granted.” If a
member other than the one making the request made the
motion, it does not require a second, since the maker of the
motion to grant permission and the maker of the request surely
both favor it.
33:16 A request for permission to withdraw a motion, or a motion
to grant such permission, can be made at any time before
voting on the question has begun, even though the motion has
been amended, and even though subsidiary or incidental
motions may be pending. Any such motions that adhere to the
main motion cease to be before the assembly and require no
further disposition if the main motion is withdrawn. Any
member can suggest that the maker of a motion ask
permission to withdraw it, which the maker can do or decline
to do, as he chooses.
33:17 After a question has been divided, one or more of the parts
can be withdrawn without affecting the other parts. A motion to
Reconsider (37), or a previous notice of a proposed motion
requiring such notice (10:44–51), cannot be withdrawn after it
is too late for renewal, unless unanimous consent is given.
33:18 After a motion has been withdrawn, the situation is as
though it had never been made; therefore, the same motion
can be made again at the same meeting.

33:19 To modify a motion after it has been stated by the chair, the
 maker asks permission to do so, as in the case of withdrawal
of a motion. If there is no objection, the chair states the
question on the modified motion. If anyone objects, the chair
must then determine whether an amendment equivalent to the
requested modification would be in order. If not, the
modification may not be made unless a motion to suspend the
rules is made and adopted. If a motion for such an
amendment is in order, the chair can assume it or any member
can move it formally. The amendment requires a second if
moved by the member who originally made the request. The
rules governing consideration of amendments are followed
(see 12). A pending motion can be amended only by vote or
unanimous consent of the assembly, even if the maker of the
motion states that he “accepts” the amendment. (See also
treatment of “friendly amendments,” 12:91.)

33:20 D. Request to Read Papers. If any member objects, a

member has no right to read from—or to have the secretary
read from—any paper or book as a part of his speech without
permission of the assembly. This rule is a protection against
the use of reading as a means of prolonging debate and
delaying business. It is customary, however, to permit
members to read short, pertinent, printed extracts in debate so
long as they do not abuse the privilege. If a member wishes to
do so, he can, while speaking in debate, say, “If there is no
objection, I would like to read… [indicating the nature and
length of the paper].” The member can then begin to read
unless another member objects.17 In such a case, at any time
until the speaker has finished reading, another member can
interrupt him by an objection, which must be addressed to the
chair. Or, if the speaker desiring to read prefers, he can
formally request permission: “Mr. President, I ask permission
to read a statement… [briefly describing it, as above]”; and the
 chair then asks if there is objection. In either case, if there is
an objection, the chair can, of his own accord, put the question
on granting permission, or any member can move “that
permission to read a paper in debate be granted.” This motion
requires no second unless moved by the member who made
the request. Action of the assembly granting a request to read
a paper can be reconsidered at any time until the reading has
been concluded.
33:21 The foregoing paragraph applies only to papers or
documents that are not before the assembly for action. When
any paper is laid before the assembly for action, it is a right of
every member that it be read once; and, if there is any debate
or amendment, that it be read again before members are
asked to vote on it. Except as just stated, no member has the
right to have anything read without permission of the
assembly. But whenever any member requests that a
document that is before the assembly be read—obviously for
information and not for delay—and no one objects, the chair
normally should direct that it be read. If there is an objection, a
majority vote is required to order that it be read. If a member
was absent from the hall when the paper under consideration
was read—even though absent on duty—he cannot insist on
its being read again; in this case, the convenience of the
assembly is more important than that of a single member.
33:22 E. Request for Any Other Privilege. When a member
desires to make a request not covered by one of the four types
explained above—as, for example, a request to address
remarks or make a presentation while no motion is pending—
he rises, addresses the chair, and, as soon as he catches the
presiding officer’s attention, states his request. Although he
does not have to wait for recognition and can make his
request even though another member has been assigned the
floor, he should never interrupt a member speaking unless
sure that urgency justifies it. Generally, such matters are
settled by unanimous consent or informally, but if there is an
objection, a motion can be made to grant the request. If
explanation is required, it can be requested or given, but this
must not extend into debate. These requests should be
treated so as to interrupt the proceedings as little as is
consistent with the demands of justice.
Footnotes to Chapter
VIII
1. There can be no appeal from a ruling on a point of order that is raised while an appeal is
pending.
2. However, see 10:26(1) and the footnote there for exceptions.
3. It should be noted that the latter method of putting the question may often be the
opposite of the first method in cases where the first method is applicable. Thus, in the
example of a point of order that an amendment is not germane, as shown above, the
question is put so that a vote of aye is a vote that the amendment is germane; but in that
case, a vote of aye is a vote that the point is not well taken.
4. If the chair made a procedural error in declaring a motion adopted or lost, for example,
in declaring that a motion which received a majority vote but not a two-thirds vote was
adopted when a two-thirds vote was required under the rules, a point of order may be
raised to that effect.
5. Regarding the suspendibility of rules in the nature of rules of order when placed within
the bylaws (or constitution), see 2:21. Nothing in a corporate charter can be suspended
unless the charter or applicable law so provides.
6. For the classes of rules that an organization or an assembly may adopt, see 2.
7. In contrast, the rules may be suspended to allow a nonmember to speak in debate.
8. An elected or appointed body that lacks the authority to determine its own quorum may
not suspend the quorum requirement, even if all members are present.
9. This usage should be avoided.
10. In conventions, the term standing rule is used in a special sense that may include
parliamentary rules adopted by the convention (see 59:27ff.).
11. In the earliest forms of this procedure, members in favor of a measure and those
opposed were asked to rise from their seats and proceed to the opposite sides of the
meeting hall—hence the name, “division.”
12. However, a motion to take a counted vote can be applied to any motion except to
another motion to take a counted vote.
13. In principle, the Previous Question can also be applied to them to stop their
 amendment, though such a case will rarely arise in practice.
14. A motion prescribing the method of nominating is an incidental motion—and subject to
the rules given here—only when the election is pending; otherwise, it is an incidental
main motion (see 10).
15. See 30:3(2)n14, which also applies to these motions.
16. See 13:23, 47:57–58.
17. The procedure of presuming permission to read until objection is raised is applicable
only in debate on a pending question.
 CHAPTER
IX

MOTIONS THAT BRING A QUESTION

AGAIN BEFORE THE ASSEMBLY
 See 6:25ff. for a list of these motions and a description of their
characteristics as a group.

§34. TAKE FROM THE TABLE

34:1 The object of the motion to Take from the Table is to make
pending again before the assembly a motion or a series of
adhering motions that previously has been laid on the table
(see 17).
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
34:2 The motion to Take from the Table:
1. Takes precedence over no pending motion, and therefore
cannot be moved while any other question is pending; but,
subject to the conditions indicated in the next sentence, it
takes precedence over a main motion that has been made
but has not yet been stated by the chair. Unless it is moved
under a suspension of the rules (25) it must be moved at a
time when no program or rule interferes, and while business
of the class to which the subject question belongs, or
unfinished business, general orders, or new business, is in
order; and it cannot interrupt a series of motions connected
with taking up a single item of business (see below). It yields
to privileged and incidental motions but not to subsidiary
ones.
2. Can be applied to any question or series of adhering motions
that lies on the table as explained in the first paragraph
under Further Rules and Explanation, below. This motion is
not in order, however, until some business or interrupting
matter has been transacted or dealt with since the question
was laid on the table; and if it is moved and voted down, the
motion to Take from the Table cannot be renewed until some
further business has been transacted. No subsidiary motion
can be applied to the motion to Take from the Table.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor; but a member can
claim preference in being recognized for the purpose of
making this motion ahead of a new main motion, or he can
claim the floor for such a purpose after a new main motion
has been made but before the new motion has been stated
by the chair (see below).
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is not debatable. (But see 43:31–32 regarding allowable
explanation of an undebatable motion.)
6. Is not amendable.
7. Requires a majority vote.
8. Cannot be reconsidered. If the motion to Take from the Table
is adopted, the question can be laid on the table again
should any legitimate need arise to do so, according to the
rules stated in 17:11. If the motion to Take from the Table is
rejected, it can be renewed each time that any business has
been transacted (see 38:7(2)).
Further Rules and Explanation
34:3 Time Limits on Taking a Question from the Table. A
question that has been laid on the table remains there and can
be taken from the table during the same session (8), or, if the
next regular business session will be held before a quarterly
time interval has elapsed (see 9:7), also until the end of the
next regular session.1 If not taken from the table within these
time limits, the question dies, although it can be reintroduced
later as a new question. As long as a question remains on the
table, any member can move to take it from the table at a
regular meeting, including a meeting that is an adjournment (9)
of a regular meeting. At a special meeting, however, a question
can be taken from the table only if: (a) it has been laid on the
table earlier at the same session, or (b) the call of the special
meeting specifies either the particular question that lies on the
table or its subject matter.
34:4 Right of Way in Preference to a New Main Motion. In
ordinary assemblies a question is supposed to be laid on the
table only temporarily, with the expectation that its
consideration will be resumed after disposal of the interrupting
matter or at a more convenient time. Consequently, as soon as
the business or interrupting matter has been disposed of, any
member can seek recognition for the purpose of moving to take
the question from the table; or, so long as it remains on the
table, he can do so at any time under the classes of business
listed in Standard Characteristic 1 above—except while
another motion is pending or while a series of motions
connected with one question is being introduced, as explained
in the next paragraph. If the chair recognizes someone else as
having risen and addressed the chair first, a member who rose
at about the same time to move to take the question from the
 table should remain standing and say that he rises for this
purpose, and the chair then assigns him the floor. Or, even
after a new motion has been made but before it has been
stated by the chair, a member who quickly rises and says that
he does so to move to take the question from the table is
entitled to be assigned the floor. The principle is that, if the
assembly so desires, a motion already within its control by
being only temporarily disposed of (9:7–11, 38:8) has the right
of way over a new main motion.
34:5 Even if no question is pending, a motion to Take from the
Table cannot interrupt a series of motions connected with
bringing up a single item of business, but must wait until the
complete series is disposed of. For example, such a series of
motions is in process of being dealt with:
• when the assembly has just voted to suspend the rules and
permit a certain main motion to be introduced;
• when a question has just been laid on the table for the
announced purpose of admitting another motion;
• when a previous action has just been rescinded (35) to
enable a conflicting main motion to be made; or
• when a main motion has just been voted down after a
member stated in debate that in that event he would offer a
different motion covering the case.
In each of the above instances, until the main motion that was
specified has been made and disposed of, it is not in order to
move to take still another question from the table.
34:6 Status of a Question Taken from the Table. When a question
is taken from the table, it is before the assembly, with
everything adhering to it, so far as possible (and with the
exceptions noted below), exactly as it was when laid on the
table.2 For example, if amendments and a motion to Commit
were pending when a resolution was laid on the table, then
 when it is taken from the table the question is first on the
motion to Commit. The same would be true if a motion to
Postpone to a Certain Time were adhering to a resolution—that
is, the motion to Postpone would become immediately pending
—except that if the resolution is not taken from the table until
after the time of proposed postponement, the motion to
Postpone is ignored. If the question is taken up on the same
day that it was laid on the table, members who had exhausted
their right of debate cannot speak on the question again; but if
on another day, all members have their right to debate
renewed with reference to each question being debated under
the regular limitations (see 43:12–13). An order for the
Previous Question or a limitation or extension of debate is not
exhausted, however, if the question to which such an order
was applied is taken from the table at the same session, even
on another day—as in a convention.
34:7 At the next session any such order is exhausted and the
regular rules of debate prevail. For the rules relating to the
exhaustion of an order prescribing the method of voting on a
question, see 30:7.
Form and Example
34:8 The form used in making this motion is, for example, “I
move to take from the table the resolution relating to… and its
amendment.”
34:9 If Member A, who has risen to seek the floor for the purpose
of making this motion, observes that the chair has recognized
another member who rose at about the same time and who
apparently intends to make a new main motion, the procedure
would be as follows:
MEMBER A (remaining standing and interrupting): Mr. President, I
rise for the purpose of moving to take a question from the table.

Upon recognition, Member A then would move “… to take from

the table the motion relating to…”
34:10 If Member A did not rise to claim the floor before the chair
recognized another member who already has made a new
motion, then before this question has been stated by the chair,
Member A can quickly rise and address the chair, thus:
MEMBER A: Madam President.
CHAIR: For what purpose does the member rise?
MEMBER A: I rise for the purpose of moving… [and so on, as in the
case above].
§35. RESCIND; AMEND SOMETHING
PREVIOUSLY ADOPTED
35:1 By means of the motions to Rescind and to Amend
Something Previously Adopted—which are two forms of one
incidental main motion governed by identical rules—the
assembly can change an action previously taken or ordered.
Rescind—also known as Repeal or Annul—is the motion by
which a previous action or order can be canceled or
countermanded. The effect of Rescind is to strike out an entire
main motion, resolution, order, or rule that has been adopted at
some previous time. Amend Something Previously Adopted is
the motion that can be used if it is desired to change only a
part of the text, or to substitute a different version.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
35:2 The motions to Rescind and to Amend Something
Previously Adopted:
1. Take precedence over nothing, and can therefore be moved
only when no other motion is pending. Previous notice
(10:44–51) of intent to offer one of these motions at the next
meeting can be given while another question is pending,
however—provided that it does not interrupt a speaker (see
Standard Characteristic 7). These motions yield to
subsidiary, privileged, and incidental motions.
2. Can be applied to anything (e.g., bylaw, rule, policy,
decision, or choice) which has continuing force and effect
and which was made or created at any time or times as the
result of the adoption of one or more main motions.
(However, see below for actions that cannot be rescinded or
amended.) All of the subsidiary motions can be applied to
the motions to Rescind and to Amend Something Previously
Adopted.
3. Are out of order when another has the floor; but previous
notice of intent to offer one of these motions at the next
meeting can be given after another member has been
assigned the floor, provided that he has not begun to speak.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Are debatable; debate can go into the merits of the question
which it is proposed to rescind or amend.
6. Are amendable, by the processes of primary and secondary
amendment in any of the forms discussed in 12, as
applicable to the particular case. Thus, a motion to Rescind
can be amended, for example, by substituting for it a motion
to amend what is proposed to be rescinded. But if a motion
to Rescind or to Amend Something Previously Adopted is
 amended so that the change proposed by the amended
motion then exceeds the scope of a previous notice that was
given, the effect of the previous notice is destroyed and the
motion can no longer be adopted by a majority vote (see
Standard Characteristic 7). When these motions require
previous notice (as may be the case with respect to a motion
to rescind or amend a provision of the bylaws or a special
rule of order), such a motion cannot be amended so as to
make the proposed change greater than that for which notice
has been given.
7. In an assembly, except when applied to a constitution,
bylaws, or special rules of order, require (a) a two-thirds
vote, (b) a majority vote when notice of intent to make the
motion, stating the complete substance of the proposed
change, has been given at the previous meeting within a
quarterly time interval or in the call of the present meeting, or
(c) a vote of a majority of the entire membership—any one of
which will suffice. The same vote is required for the
assembly to rescind or amend an action taken by
subordinate bodies, such as some executive boards,
empowered to act on behalf of the assembly. In a committee,
these motions require a two-thirds vote unless all committee
members who voted for the motion to be rescinded or
amended are present or have received reasonable notice, in
which case they require a majority vote. A motion to rescind
or amend provisions of a constitution or bylaws is subject to
the requirements for amendment as contained in the
constitution or bylaws (see 56, 57). If the bylaws or
governing instrument contains no provision relating to
amendment, a motion to rescind or amend applied to a
constitution or to bylaws is subject to the same voting
requirement as to rescind or amend special rules of order—
that is, it requires (a) previous notice as described above and
 a two-thirds vote or (b) a vote of a majority of the entire
membership.
8. A negative vote on these motions can be reconsidered, but
not an affirmative vote.
Further Rules and Explanation
35:3 Right of Any Member to Make the Motions, Without Time
Limit. In contrast to the case of the motion to Reconsider,
there is no time limit on making these motions after the
adoption of the measure to which they are applied, and they
can be moved by any member, regardless of how he voted on
the original question. When previous notice has been given, it
is usual to wait for the member who gave notice of these
motions to move them; but if he does not, any member can do
so.
35:4 Proposed Amendments Beyond the Scope of the Notice.
As noted in Standard Descriptive Characteristic 6 above, when
previous notice is a requirement for the adoption of a motion to
Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted, no
subsidiary motion to Amend is in order that proposes a change
greater than that for which notice was given. This is always the
case, for example, when the bylaws of an organization require
previous notice for their amendment, which they should do
(56:50–53). It will also be the case, as a practical matter,
whenever a majority of the entire membership is not in
attendance at the time the vote is taken on a motion to rescind
or amend a provision of the constitution or bylaws, or a special
rule of order. In either of the situations described above, no
subsidiary motion to Amend is in order that proposes a change
going beyond the scope of the notice which was given, for the
reason that adoption of such a motion will destroy the effect of
the notice, and the motion is thus tantamount to a motion to
Postpone Indefinitely.
35:5 Series of Amendments to Previously Adopted Text. It is
possible to offer and adopt several amendments to previously
 adopted text by means of a single incidental main motion to
Amend Something Previously Adopted governed by the rules
in this section and in 10. See 10:25 and 27:5 for the rules
governing whether and how such a motion may be divided.
(For an example, see 57:3.)
35:6 Actions That Cannot Be Rescinded or Amended. The
motions to Rescind and to Amend Something Previously
Adopted are not in order under the following circumstances:
a) When it has previously been moved to reconsider the vote
on the main motion, and the question can be reached by
calling up the motion to Reconsider (37).
b) When something has been done, as a result of the vote on
the main motion, that is impossible to undo. (The unexecuted
part of an order, however, can be rescinded or amended.)
c) When a resignation has been acted upon, or a person has
been elected to or expelled from membership or office, and
the person was present or has been officially notified of the
action. (The only way to reverse an expulsion is to follow
whatever procedure is prescribed by the bylaws for
admission or reinstatement. For the case of an election, see
62:16 regarding removal of a person from office.)
Form and Example
35:7 When previous notice has been given, the motions to
Rescind or to Amend Something Previously Adopted may be
made as follows:
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): In accordance with notice given at
the last meeting, I move to rescind the resolution that authorized
additional landscaping of the grounds. [Or “… to amend the
resolution… by adding…”] (Second.)

In such a case, a majority vote is sufficient.

35:8 When no notice of the motion to Rescind or to Amend
Something Previously Adopted has been given, the motions
may be made as follows:
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move to rescind the motion
relating to… adopted at the May meeting. [Or “… to amend the
motion… by inserting…”] (Second.)

Without previous notice, the motion requires a two-thirds vote

or a majority of the entire membership for its adoption.
35:9 In a great many instances, the motion or resolution
originally adopted is not referred to, and only the bylaw, rule, or
policy to be rescinded or amended is mentioned. For example:
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): In accordance with the notice given
in the call of this meeting, I move to amend Article V, Section 3 of the
bylaws by striking out subparagraph (c) thereof. (Second.)

35:10 To offer an amendment to change one form of the motion

into the other:
35:11 If the motion was made “To amend the motion relating to…
adopted at the May meeting… by inserting…”:
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move to substitute for the pending
 motion the following: “To rescind the motion relating to… adopted at
the May meeting.”

35:12 If the motion was made “To rescind the resolution that
authorized additional landscaping of the grounds”:
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move to substitute for the pending
motion the following: “To amend the resolution that authorized
additional landscaping of the grounds by adding ‘at a cost not to
exceed $100,000.’”
Rescind and Expunge from the Minutes
35:13 On extremely rare occasions when it is desired not only to
rescind action but also to express the strongest disapproval, a
member may move to Rescind and Expunge from the Minutes
(or the Record). Adoption of this motion requires an affirmative
vote of a majority of the entire membership, and may be
inadvisable unless the support is even greater. Even a
unanimous vote at a meeting is insufficient if that vote is not a
majority of the entire membership. If such a motion is adopted,
the secretary, in the presence of the assembly, draws a single
line through or around the offending words in the minutes, and
writes across them the words, “Rescinded and Ordered
Expunged,” with the date and his signature. In the recorded
minutes the words that are expunged must not be blotted or
cut out so that they cannot be read, since this would make it
impossible to verify whether more was expunged than
ordered. In any published record of the proceedings, the
expunged material is omitted. Rather than expunging, it is
usually better to rescind the previous action and then, if
advisable, to adopt a resolution condemning the action which
has been rescinded.
§36. DISCHARGE A COMMITTEE
36:1 By means of the motion to Discharge a Committee from
further consideration of a question or subject, the assembly
can take the matter out of a committee’s hands3 after referring
it to the committee and before the committee has made a final
report on it, and the assembly itself can consider it.
36:2 So long as a question is in the hands of a committee, the
assembly cannot consider another motion involving practically
the same question.
36:3 The rules governing this motion are similar to those
applying to the motion to Rescind or to Amend Something
Previously Adopted—of which it is a particular case in certain
applications, as explained in 36:10–11.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
36:4 The motion to Discharge a Committee:
1. Takes precedence over nothing, and therefore can be moved
only when no other question is pending. Previous notice of
intent to offer the motion at the next meeting can be given
while another question is pending, however—provided that it
does not interrupt a speaker. This motion yields to all
subsidiary, privileged, and incidental motions.
2. Can be applied to any main motion, or any other matter, that
has been referred to a committee and that the committee
has not yet finally reported to the assembly. All of the
subsidiary motions can be applied to it.
3. Is out of order when another has the floor; but previous
notice of intent to offer this motion at the next meeting can
be given after another member has been assigned the floor,
provided that he has not begun to speak.
4. Must be seconded.
5. Is debatable; debate can go into the merits of the question in
the hands of the committee.
6. Is amendable. For example, the motion can be amended as
to the time at which the assembly is to consider the question;
or an amendment to the effect that the committee be
instructed to report instead of being discharged can be
moved as a substitute.
7. Since the motion would change action already taken by the
assembly, requires (a) a two-thirds vote, (b) a majority vote
when notice of intent to make the motion has been given at
the previous meeting within a quarterly time interval or in the
call of the present meeting, or (c) a vote of a majority of the
entire membership—any one of which will suffice. To prevent
business from being delayed by a committee, however, there
 are two special circumstances under which the motion
requires only a majority vote (even without notice): (a) if the
committee fails to report within a prescribed time as
instructed, and (b) while the assembly is considering any
partial report of the committee.
8. A negative vote can be reconsidered, but not an affirmative
vote.
Further Rules and Explanation
36:5 Circumstances Justifying the Motion; Alternative
Procedures. Action to discharge a committee from further
consideration of a question or subject is generally advisable
only when the committee has failed to report with appropriate
promptness or when, for some urgent reason, the assembly
desires to proceed on the matter without further aid from the
committee, or wishes to drop the matter.
36:6 If the committee to which the matter was referred has not
yet taken it up and if it is not too late to move to Reconsider
(the day of its committal or the next business-meeting day), the
appropriate motion is to reconsider the vote on the motion of
referral, which requires only a majority vote. The motion of
referral may have been a subsidiary motion to Commit (13) or
a main motion, depending on the case, as explained below.
36:7 Instead of discharging the committee, the assembly can
instruct it to report at a reasonable specified time. A motion to
do this can be moved as a substitute (see 12) for a pending
motion to Discharge a Committee, or it can be introduced as an
incidental main motion when no question is pending. If no
instruction as to time of reporting has been given previously,
this motion requires only a majority vote for adoption. If it
changes a previously specified reporting time before that time
has arrived, however, the vote required is the same as for the
motion to Discharge a Committee.
36:8 No motion to Discharge a Committee is needed when a
committee’s final report on a referred question or subject has
been received by the assembly, since the committee is then
automatically discharged from further consideration of the
matter.
36:9 Effect of Discharging a Committee. When a committee is
 discharged from considering a matter, either by the adoption of
a motion to discharge it or by the submission of its final report,
the committee continues in existence if it is a standing
committee, but ceases to exist if it is a special committee that
was appointed to take up the matter. In any case, when a
committee is thus discharged, its chairman returns to the
secretary of the society all papers relating to the referred
matter that were previously entrusted to him.
36:10 When a committee is discharged from further consideration
of a question which was pending at the time of its referral and
which was referred by means of the subsidiary motion to
Commit, the question comes before the assembly
automatically at that time (unless the committee is discharged
by means of a motion that includes the specification of a later
time for considering it). If no later time was specified in the
motion, the question can then be postponed, if desired; or if
the assembly wishes to drop the matter, the question can be
postponed indefinitely. If a motion to Discharge a Committee
specifies a later time for considering the question and does not
make it a special order, the question comes up under the
same conditions as if postponed to that time without making it
a special order—that is, it is a general order for the time
named. If the motion to Discharge a Committee includes a
provision making the question a special order, it requires a
two-thirds vote, just as any other motion to make a special
order. (See 14:12–17 regarding the priority to which a question
is subject when it is due to come up after postponement.)
36:11 On the other hand, a motion to discharge a committee from
further consideration of a subject that was referred to the
committee by means of a main motion is a particular case of
the motion to Rescind or to Amend Something Previously
Adopted (35). When such a motion to Discharge a Committee
has been adopted, another main motion is needed to bring
before the assembly the matter that was referred; otherwise it
dies.
Form and Example
36:12 The form used in making this motion, as applied to a
question being considered by a standing committee, may be:
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move that the Finance Committee
be discharged from further consideration of the resolution relating
to… (Second.)

36:13 In the case of a special committee, the following form may

be used:

MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I move that the committee to which

was referred the resolution relating to… be discharged. (Second.)

36:14 If it is desired to take up the question at a later time, there

may be added to either of the above forms, for example, the
words, “and that the resolution be considered at 4 P.M.” (in
which case it is a general order for that time), or, “and that it be
made a special order for…”
36:15 If the motion to discharge the committee is adopted and
includes no provision for consideration at a later time, and if
the question was referred while pending (by means of the
subsidiary motion to Commit), the chair announces the result
and immediately states the question brought out of committee.
For example:
CHAIR: There are two thirds in the affirmative and the committee is
discharged. The question is now on the resolution, “Resolved,…”
§37. RECONSIDER
37:1 Reconsider—a motion of American origin—enables a
majority in an assembly, within a limited time and without
notice, to bring back for further consideration a motion that has
already been voted on. The purpose of reconsidering a vote is
to permit correction of hasty, ill-advised, or erroneous action, or
to take into account added information or a changed situation
that has developed since the taking of the vote.
37:2 Whenever it is stated in this book that a motion or a vote
“can be reconsidered” or “cannot be reconsidered,” specific
reference is being made to the use of the motion to
Reconsider, and not to any of the other motions or procedures
that bring a question again before the assembly (see 6:25–28;
34–36; 38; also 10:26(3–5) to 10:27).
37:3 The motion to Reconsider can, in general, be applied to a
vote that either adopted or rejected a motion, and it proposes
no specific change in a decision but simply that the original
question be reopened. It is neither a main motion nor a
secondary motion, but in certain respects it assumes the
character of the motion to which it is applied (that is, the motion
to be reconsidered), as will be seen below.
37:4 The full procedure for reconsidering a vote involves
essentially three stages, which may be summarized as follows:
37:5 First, the mere making of a motion to Reconsider, when
seconded by another member and acknowledged by the chair,
has the effect of suspending, at least temporarily, any action
growing out of the vote proposed to be reconsidered (see
37:11). The general rule therefore is that Reconsider cannot be
applied to an affirmative vote whose provisions have been
partly carried out or to any vote that has caused something to
 be done that it is impossible to undo (see Standard
Characteristic 2, below).
37:6 Second, the motion to Reconsider is considered by the
assembly—either immediately after it is made or at some later
time, depending on the parliamentary situation (see 37:14–17).
Although at this stage the motion to be reconsidered is not yet
pending, debate on the motion to Reconsider (if it is debatable;
see 37:18) can go fully into the merits of that question.
37:7 Third, if the motion to Reconsider is adopted, the effect is—
to the extent practicable, and with certain exceptions—to place
before the assembly again the question on which the vote has
been reconsidered, in the exact position it occupied the
moment before it was voted on originally. The original vote is
thus canceled, and, before any new vote on it is taken, the
question is again open to debate, amendment, or any other
action appropriate in the case. If, however, the motion to
Reconsider is rejected, the vote which it proposed to
reconsider, as well as any action held up because of the
proposed reconsideration, goes back into effect, just as though
the motion to Reconsider had never been made. The same
result occurs if the motion to Reconsider is dropped without
having been voted on at all. (See 37:11.)
37:8 To provide both usefulness and protection against abuse,
the motion to Reconsider has the following unique
characteristics, as more fully explained in 37:10:
a) Except in committees, it can be made only by a member
who voted on the prevailing side.
b) Except in committees, it must be moved either on the same
day the original vote was taken or on the next succeeding
day within the same session on which a business meeting is
held.
c) It can be made even when its consideration would not be in
order, in which case it may be “called up” for consideration at
a later time whose limits are longer than those for its making.
Under those circumstances, action growing out of the vote
proposed to be considered is temporarily suspended.
Standard Descriptive Characteristics
37:9 The motion to Reconsider:
1. a) With respect to making the motion, takes precedence over
any other motion whatever and yields to nothing.4 The
making of this motion is in order when any other question is
pending, and also after the assembly has voted to adjourn, if
the member rose and addressed the chair before the chair
declared the meeting adjourned. If a reconsideration appears
to require immediate action in the latter case, the vote on
adjourning must be retaken. Even while an order for the
Previous Question is in effect on a motion which is
immediately pending, until the chair actually begins to take
the vote, the making of a motion to Reconsider an earlier
vote on another question is in order.
b) With respect to its consideration, has only the same rank as
that of the motion to be reconsidered, but it takes
precedence over, and supersedes, any new motion of equal
rank that has been made but has not yet been stated by the
chair. (The procedure for calling up a motion to Reconsider
in preference to a main motion just made by someone else,
and relating to another matter, is similar to that described for
moving to Take from the Table; see 34.) Provided that no
question is pending, the reconsideration of a vote disposing
of a main motion, either temporarily or permanently, can be
taken up even while the assembly is in the midst of taking up
the general orders.
2. Can be applied to the vote on any motion except:
a) a motion which can be renewed (see 38:6–7);
b) a negative vote on a motion which, at the time the motion
to Reconsider is made, would be out of order because:
i) it conflicts with a motion previously adopted and still in
 force,
ii) it conflicts with a motion which has been temporarily but
not finally disposed of and which remains within the
control of the assembly, or
iii) it would conflict with a pending motion if that motion
were adopted;
c) an affirmative vote whose provisions have been partly
carried out;5
d) an affirmative vote in the nature of a contract when the
party to the contract has been notified of the outcome;
e) any vote which has caused something to be done that it is
impossible to undo;
f) a vote on a motion to Reconsider;
g) an election that has become final as provided in 46:46; or
h) when practically the same result as desired can be
obtained by some other parliamentary motion that can be
adopted by a majority vote without previous notice.
In the case of subsidiary or incidental motions that adhered
to a main motion, however, Reconsider can be applied only
in such a way that the reconsideration takes place while the
main motion to which they adhered is pending—either before
the main motion is voted on or when it is being reconsidered
at the same time. The same is true where one subsidiary or
incidental motion adheres to another; for example,
Reconsider can be applied to the vote on a secondary
amendment only in such a way that the reconsideration
takes place before the primary amendment involved is voted
on or while the primary amendment is being reconsidered.
(See 37:24–34.)
By application of these principles, it follows that certain
motions cannot be reconsidered, while in the case of others
only the vote on an affirmative result can be reconsidered,
and with still others, only the vote on a negative result. (See
 pages t50–t51 for a list of the motions in each of these
categories; see also Standard Characteristic 8 in the
sections on each individual motion.)
The motion to Lay on the Table can be applied to the
motion to Reconsider. Motions to Postpone to a Certain
Time, to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, and for the
Previous Question can also be applied to it when it is
debatable (see Standard Characteristic 5). When a motion to
Reconsider is postponed or laid on the table, all adhering
questions are also postponed or go to the table. Motions to
Postpone Indefinitely, Amend, or Commit cannot be applied
to a motion to Reconsider.
3. Is in order (with respect to making the motion) even after
another person has been assigned the floor, so long as he
has not actually begun to speak. The calling up of a motion
to Reconsider is out of order when another has the floor. A
member can, however, claim preference in being recognized
for the purpose of either making or calling up a motion to
Reconsider ahead of another who rose first for the purpose
of making a new motion; see also Standard Characteristic
1(b), above.
4. Must be seconded at the time it is made. Unlike the making
of the motion, which must be done by a person who voted
with the prevailing side, the seconding can be done by any
member regardless of how he voted on the motion to be
reconsidered. The calling up of the motion to Reconsider
does not require a second.
5. Is debatable whenever the motion proposed to be
reconsidered would be debatable, and when debatable,
opens to debate the merits of the question whose
reconsideration is proposed. (See 37:29–32, however,
regarding a series of motions proposed to be reconsidered,
and the question that is opened to debate in such a case.)
 When the motion proposed to be reconsidered is not
debatable—either because of its nature or because it is
subject to an unexhausted order for the Previous Question
(16)—the motion to Reconsider is undebatable (but see
43:31–32 regarding allowable explanation of an undebatable
motion). Similarly, if the Previous Question is in effect on a
pending question or series of questions, and if a motion
which is proposed to be reconsidered adheres to these
pending question(s) in such a way that the reconsideration
must be taken up before the Previous Question is
exhausted, both the motion to Reconsider and the motion to
be reconsidered are undebatable—even if the latter motion
was open to debate at its earlier consideration and the
Previous Question was ordered later.
6. Is not amendable.
7. Requires only a majority vote, regardless of the vote
necessary to adopt the motion to be reconsidered. (But see
37:35 for a different rule in the case of standing and special
committees.)
8. Cannot be reconsidered. If it is voted on and lost, the motion
to Reconsider cannot be renewed except by unanimous
consent. By the same principle, no question can be
reconsidered twice unless it was materially amended during
its first reconsideration.
Further Rules and Explanation
37:10 By Whom and When a Motion to Reconsider Can Be
Made. As briefly mentioned above (37:8), to provide both
usefulness and protection against abuse, the motion to
Reconsider has the following unique characteristics:
a) The motion to Reconsider can be made only by a member
who voted with the prevailing side. In other words, a
reconsideration can be moved only by one who voted aye if
the motion involved was adopted, or no if the motion was
lost. (In standing and special committees, however, the
motion to Reconsider can be made by any member who did
not vote on the losing side—including one who did not vote
at all.) It should be noted that it is possible for a minority to
be the prevailing side if a motion requiring a two-thirds vote
for adoption is lost.
A member who voted by ballot may make the motion if he
is willing to waive the secrecy of his ballot. If the motion to be
reconsidered was adopted by unanimous consent, all the
members present at the time of the adoption are in the same
position as if they had voted on the prevailing side and
qualify to move to reconsider. Similarly, if a motion was lost
but the negative vote was not taken because it was
intrinsically irrelevant (see 44:9(a)), the members present at
the time who did not vote in favor qualify to move to
reconsider.
This requirement for making the motion to Reconsider is
a protection against its dilatory use by a defeated minority—
especially when the motion is debatable (see Standard
Characteristic 5, above) and the minority is large enough to
prevent adoption of the Previous Question (16). When a
 member who cannot move a reconsideration believes there
are valid reasons for one, he should try, if there is time or
opportunity, to persuade someone who voted with the
prevailing side to make such a motion. Otherwise, he can
obtain the floor while no business is pending and briefly state
his reasons for hoping that a reconsideration will be moved,
provided that this does not run into debate; or, if necessary
while business is pending, he can request permission to
state such reasons (see Request for Any Other Privilege,
33:22).
b) The making of this motion is subject to time limits, as
follows: In a session of one day—such as an ordinary
meeting of a club or a one-day convention—the motion to
Reconsider can be made only on the same day the vote to
be reconsidered was taken. In a convention or session of
more than one day, a reconsideration can be moved only on
the same day the original vote was taken or on the next
succeeding day within the session on which a business
meeting is held. These time limitations do not apply to
standing or special committees (see 37:35). Except by
unanimous consent, a motion to Reconsider that has not
been finally disposed of cannot be withdrawn after it is too
late to renew it; that is, it can be withdrawn only within the
same time limits as for making the motion in the first place.
c) The making of this motion has a higher rank than its
consideration; that is, the motion can be made and seconded
at a time when it is not in order for it to come before the
assembly for debate or vote. In such a case it can be taken
up later, even after it would be too late to move it in the first
place. If the motion to Reconsider is introduced at a time
when it cannot be taken up, the chair does not state the
question on it as pending, but instructs the secretary to
record the motion as made and seconded. While a motion to
 reconsider the vote on a main motion has this status, a
member can bring the motion before the assembly at any
time when its consideration is in order. When he does this,
he is said to call up the motion to Reconsider (see 37:15).
37:11 Suspending Effect of Making a Motion to Reconsider. The
effect of making a motion to Reconsider is the suspension of
all action that depends on the result of the vote proposed to be
reconsidered. This suspending effect lasts until:
a) the motion to Reconsider is adopted or rejected;
b) it is withdrawn (see 37:10(b), 33:11–18);
c) it falls to the ground without having been voted on, because
it was pending, or remained temporarily disposed of, upon
the final adjournment of a session under conditions stated in
21:7(c); or
d) if it has not yet been taken up, when the limits of time for
calling it up have expired (see 37:15).
37:12 If the motion to Reconsider is adopted, the original vote on
the motion being reconsidered is thereby canceled altogether;
but if the suspending effect is terminated by a vote rejecting
the motion to Reconsider or in any other way, the situation
becomes the same as if there had been no such motion, and
the vote which it was proposed to reconsider—and any other
action held up because of the proposed reconsideration—
comes into full force, as if in effect, so far as applicable, from
the time the vote was originally taken.

37:13 Reconsideration of a Motion That Is No Longer in Order

Because of Intervening Action. It should be noted that, as a
consequence of the rule set forth in (b) of Standard
Characteristic 2 above, action taken by an assembly may
preclude the making of a motion to reconsider the vote on a
previously rejected motion. For an example, assume that a
 motion to spend all of an available sum of money for library
books is voted down, and thereafter a motion to spend the
same money for athletic equipment is made and adopted. No
motion to reconsider the vote on the motion to purchase library
books will thereafter be in order because, if adopted, it would
place before the assembly a motion which conflicts with a
motion previously adopted and still in force (see 39:5). In such
a case, if it is desired to reconsider the vote on the rejected
motion, the subsequently adopted motion must first be
rescinded (or amended in some fashion so that it no longer
conflicts), or the vote on it must be reconsidered and reversed.
37:14 Taking Up the Motion to Reconsider at the Time It Is Made.
If a motion to Reconsider is made at a time when it can be
taken up—that is, when the motion proposed to be
reconsidered would be in order initially—the chair immediately
states the question on the motion to Reconsider as pending
before the assembly. In proposing a reconsideration of the
vote on a main motion, it is usually better to make the motion
to Reconsider when no other business is pending and the
motion can be taken up immediately—unless it appears that
there may be no such opportunity or there is an important
reason for doing otherwise.
37:15 Calling Up the Motion to Reconsider at a Later Time. If a
motion to Reconsider that involves a main motion cannot be
taken up when it is made, then it can be called up and acted
upon whenever no question is pending and no other member
has the floor, within the following limits: The motion to
Reconsider may be called up at any meeting of the same
session in which it was made. If the next regular business
session will be held within a quarterly time interval (9:7), it may
also be called up at any meeting of that next session, or at any
intervening special meeting called for that purpose. To call it
 up, a member obtains the floor and says, “Mr. President, I call
up the motion to reconsider the vote on the motion…
[identifying it].” (The member is entitled to preference in
recognition for this purpose; see 42:13(4)(c)). No second is
necessary, since the motion to Reconsider was seconded at
the time it was made. When this motion is called up, the chair
immediately states the question on it as pending (see Form
and Example).

37:16 Privilege accorded the mover in regard to the time at

which reconsideration takes place. Although any member
can call up the motion to Reconsider as just described, usually
no one but the mover of the reconsideration calls it up on the
day the motion is made—at least in cases where the session
is to last beyond that day and there is no need for immediate
action. The reason is that the mover may wish time to
assemble new information, or—if the reconsideration is moved
on the same day the original vote was taken—he may want
the unrestricted debate that will be allowable if the motion is
taken up on another day (see below). So long as business is
not unreasonably delayed and the mover of the
reconsideration acts in good faith, he is entitled to have it take
place at a time he feels will make for the fullest and fairest
reexamination of the question.
37:17 Duty of the chair when failure to call up the motion may
do harm. In cases where a failure to call up a motion to
Reconsider may do harm, the chair has the duty to point out
the situation to the assembly. Suppose, for example, that in a
meeting of an ordinary society that will meet within a quarterly
time interval (9:7), there has been a motion to Reconsider a
vote to do something that can only be done before the next
meeting. Should the present meeting adjourn without taking up
the motion to Reconsider, the measure proposed to be
 reconsidered would be killed unless an adjourned meeting or
special meeting were held to consider it. Therefore, if this
meeting seems on the point of adjourning before the motion to
Reconsider has been taken up, the chair should explain the
facts and suggest that someone call up the motion. If it has
been moved to adjourn under these circumstances, the motion
to Adjourn can be withdrawn or voted down—or the time can
be fixed for an adjourned meeting, which can be done either
before or after the vote on adjournment has been taken (see
Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn, 22).
37:18 Debate on the Motion to Reconsider. Whenever the motion
to Reconsider is taken up, it is debatable if the motion
proposed to be reconsidered is debatable, and debate can go
into the merits of the question proposed to be reconsidered, as
noted in Standard Characteristic 5. The right of each member
to debate the motion to Reconsider is separate from the
original consideration of the motion proposed to be
reconsidered. Therefore, even if a member exhausted his right
to debate in the original consideration and the motion to
Reconsider is taken up on the same day, he still has the right
to speak the regular number of times (twice unless the
assembly has a special rule providing otherwise) in debate on
the motion to Reconsider. (For rules affecting a member’s right
to debate in the reconsideration if the motion to Reconsider is
adopted, see below.)

37:19 Effect of Adoption of the Motion to Reconsider; Rules

Governing Debate on the Reconsideration. The effect of the
adoption of the motion to Reconsider is immediately to place
before the assembly again the question on which the vote is to
be reconsidered—in the exact position it occupied the moment
before it was voted on originally.6
37:20 Rules governing debate on the reconsideration of the vote
are as follows:
37:21 Reconsideration of a vote on the same day. A member’s
right to debate the reconsideration of a vote is independent of
the extent to which he took part in debate on the motion to
Reconsider. If the reconsideration takes place on the same
day as the first consideration, however, anyone who
exhausted his right to debate in the first consideration will not
be able to speak on it again during the reconsideration,
without permission of the assembly. (But such a member can
pursue an equivalent purpose while the motion to Reconsider
is pending, since the motion proposed to be reconsidered is
also open to discussion in debate on the motion to
Reconsider.)
37:22 Reconsideration of a vote on a later day. Every member’s
right to debate in the reconsideration of a question begins over
again, regardless of speeches made previously, if
reconsideration takes place on a day other than that on which
the vote to be reconsidered was taken.
37:23 Reconsideration under an order limiting or extending
limits of debate. If a vote on one of a series of motions is
taken under an order limiting debate or for the Previous
Question, and then is reconsidered before such an order is
exhausted (as explained in the sections on those motions, 15
and 16), the same restrictions continue to apply to debate both
on the motion to Reconsider and on the reconsideration. In the
case of reconsidering a motion similarly covered by an
unexhausted order extending limits of debate, the extension
applies only to the reconsideration itself, not to debate on the
motion to Reconsider. When reconsideration takes place after
exhaustion of the Previous Question or a limitation or
 extension of debate, these orders do not come back into force,
and debate or amendment is subject to the ordinary rules.

37:24 Reconsideration of Subsidiary, Privileged, and Incidental

Motions. Conditions under which subsidiary, privileged, or
incidental motions can be reconsidered depend on what other
motions are pending at the time the reconsideration is moved,
as follows:
37:25 To reconsider a subsidiary, privileged, or incidental
motion: Reconsideration moved while the main question
is pending. When a main motion is pending (with or without a
series of adhering motions) and it is moved to reconsider the
vote on a related subsidiary, privileged, or incidental motion,
the motion to Reconsider becomes (a) immediately pending or
(b) pending at a lower position in the series, depending on
whether the motion proposed to be reconsidered would then
be in order if moved for the first time.
37:26 Referring to case (a) above, the motion to Reconsider
takes precedence over all pending questions if the motion
proposed to be reconsidered would take such precedence
(see 5 and 6; see also the chart on pages t3–t5), in which
case the motion to Reconsider becomes the immediately
pending question at once. For example, assume that it is
moved and seconded to reconsider a negative vote on a
motion to refer the pending main question to a committee. If
the main question is now pending alone, or if no other
questions are pending except motions to Postpone Indefinitely
or to Amend (which rank below the motion to Commit), the
chair at once states the question on the motion to Reconsider
as immediately pending.
37:27 On the other hand, referring to case (b) above, if a series of
motions is pending with the main question, and the related
motion whose reconsideration is proposed would not take
 precedence over all of them, the motion to Reconsider does
not become the immediately pending question when it is
moved, but it becomes pending as one of the series, at a
position corresponding to the rank of the motion proposed to
be reconsidered. In such a case, the motion to Reconsider is
taken up immediately after voting has been completed on all
motions that would not yield to the motion to be reconsidered.
For example, suppose that while a main motion, an
amendment, and a motion to lay the pending questions on the
table are pending, it is moved to reconsider a previous
negative vote on referring the same main question and
amendment to a committee. The order of rank, from highest to
lowest, of the four motions is: (1) Lay on the Table, (2)
Commit, (3) Amend, and (4) the main motion. This is the order
in which these motions would be voted on, and the reverse of
the order in which they would be made. The procedure in this
instance is as follows: The chair takes note of the fact that the
motion to Reconsider has been made and seconded,
instructing the secretary to record it. He then proceeds to take
the vote on the motion to Lay on the Table. If that motion is
lost, he automatically states the question on the motion to
reconsider the vote on the referral to the committee, since the
motion to Commit is next lower in rank. If the motion to
Reconsider is adopted, the motion to Commit is then
reconsidered and voted on again; and if this is lost, the
question is then stated on the amendment. (If the motion to
Lay on the Table is adopted, then whenever the questions are
taken from the table, the immediately pending question is the
motion to Reconsider, and from this point the procedure is the
same as above.)
37:28 If the reconsideration of a primary amendment is moved
while another amendment of the same degree is pending, the
pending amendment is disposed of first. Then the chair states
 the question on the motion to reconsider the amendment
previously acted upon.
37:29 When it is moved to reconsider a debatable subsidiary or
incidental motion which relates to a pending main question or
a series of pending questions (in which case the motion to
Reconsider is debatable, as noted in Standard Characteristic
5), debate on the motion to Reconsider can go into the merits
of the motion proposed to be reconsidered, but not into the
merits of any other pending question. For example, in the
debate on a motion to reconsider an amendment to the
pending main question, the merits of the amendment are open
to discussion, but not those of the main question apart from
the amendment.
37:30 To reconsider an adhering subsidiary or incidental
motion: Reconsideration moved after the main question
has been acted upon. If it is desired to reconsider the vote on
a subsidiary or incidental motion (an amendment, for example)
after the main question to which it adhered has been finally
disposed of (by adoption, rejection, or indefinite
postponement), the vote on the main question, or on its
indefinite postponement, must also be reconsidered (see also
Standard Characteristic 2). In such a case, one motion to
Reconsider should be made to cover both the vote on the
subsidiary or incidental motion whose reconsideration is
desired, and the vote on the main question (or its indefinite
postponement). The member who makes this motion to
Reconsider must have voted with the prevailing side in the
original vote on the subsidiary or incidental motion—that is, on
the motion which will be reconsidered first if the
reconsideration takes place.
37:31 The same principle applies to the reconsideration of a
secondary amendment after the related primary amendment
 has been voted on. If such a reconsideration is desired while
the main question is still pending, the primary amendment
must also be reconsidered. If it is desired to reconsider the
secondary amendment after the main question has been
finally disposed of, the secondary amendment, the primary
amendment, and the main question must all be reconsidered,
and one motion to Reconsider should be made covering the
votes of these three motions.
37:32 When a motion to Reconsider covers the votes on two or
more connected motions, not all of these questions can be
discussed in debate on the motion to Reconsider, but only the
one that will be voted on first if the motion to Reconsider is
adopted. Thus, if the motion is to reconsider the votes on a
resolution, a primary amendment, and a secondary
amendment, only the secondary amendment is open to debate
in connection with debate on the motion to Reconsider. If this
motion to Reconsider is adopted, the chair states the question
on the secondary amendment and recognizes the mover of
the reconsideration as entitled to the floor. The question is now
in exactly the same condition as it was just before the original
vote was taken on the secondary amendment.
37:33 If a main motion is included in a series covered by a single
motion to Reconsider, as just described, the reconsideration is
in order at the same times as if it had been moved to
reconsider the main motion alone. If the motion to Reconsider
is made at a time when it cannot be taken up, it suspends
action in the way described in 37:11 and stands until called up,
subject to the same conditions as if it applied only to the main
motion.
37:34 If a motion to reconsider the vote on an adhering subsidiary
or incidental motion (an amendment, for example) is made
after the main question to which it adheres has been either
postponed to a certain time or laid on the table, the motion to
 Reconsider is properly noted and is taken up in due course
(37:27) if and when the main motion is again brought before
the assembly. The same is true if the motion to reconsider the
adhering subsidiary or incidental motion was made before, but
was not called up before, the main question was postponed or
laid on the table. On the other hand, if a main question is
referred to a committee, no motion to reconsider the vote on
an adhering subsidiary or incidental motion is in order while
the question is in the hands of the committee, and any such
motion to Reconsider that was made but not taken up prior to
referral is thereafter ignored.
37:35 Reconsideration in Standing and Special Committees.
Reconsideration in a standing or a special committee (50)
differs from reconsideration in a meeting of the assembly in
the following respects:
1) A motion to reconsider a vote in the committee can be made
and taken up regardless of the time that has elapsed since
the vote was taken, and there is no limit to the number of
times a question can be reconsidered. Likewise, the rule
requiring unanimous consent to renew a defeated motion to
Reconsider does not apply in committees.
2) The motion can be made by any member of the committee
who did not vote with the losing side; or, in other words, the
maker of the motion to Reconsider can be one who voted
with the prevailing side, or one who did not vote at all, or
even was absent.
3) Unless all the members of the committee who voted with the
prevailing side are present or have been given reasonable
notice that the reconsideration will be moved, it requires a
two-thirds vote to adopt the motion to Reconsider.
In other respects, reconsideration in a committee is the same
as in a meeting of the society or its board. A vote cannot be
reconsidered in a committee of the whole.
Form and Example
37:36 This motion may be made in forms such as the following:
a) For the reconsideration of a main question: “I move to
reconsider the vote on the resolution relating to the annual
banquet. I voted for [or “against”] the resolution.”
b) To move the reconsideration of a subsidiary, privileged, or
incidental motion related to the main question, while the
main question is pending: “I move to reconsider the vote on
the amendment to strike out ‘Friday’ and insert ‘Saturday.’ I
voted for [or “against”] the amendment.”
c) When the reconsideration of a subsidiary or incidental
motion is desired after the main question to which it adhered
has been acted upon: “I move to reconsider the votes on the
resolution relating to the annual banquet and on the
amendment to strike out ‘Friday’ and insert ‘Saturday.’ I
voted for [or “against”] the amendment.”
37:37 If the maker of the motion to Reconsider fails to state which
side he voted on, the chair, before making any other response,
directs the member to do so:
CHAIR: The member moving the reconsideration must state how he
voted on the resolution [“motion,” “amendment,” etc.].

37:38 If the resolution was adopted by unanimous consent, the

chair asks whether the member was present at the time. If the
member did not vote with the prevailing side, another member
who did so can make the motion to Reconsider, if he desires.
The motion must be seconded.
37:39 If it is in order to take up the motion to Reconsider when it
is made, the chair immediately states the question as follows:
 CHAIR: It is moved and seconded to reconsider the vote on the
following resolution [reading it].

37:40 If it is not in order to take up the motion to Reconsider

when it is moved, the chair says instead:
CHAIR: It is moved and seconded to reconsider the vote on the
resolution relating to… The Secretary will make a note of it.

He then continues with the pending business.

37:41 When it is in order to call up the motion to Reconsider and
a member wishes to do so, the member rises and addresses
the chair:
MEMBER A (obtaining the floor): I call up the motion to reconsider
the vote [or “votes”] on…

37:42 The chair proceeds:

CHAIR: The motion to reconsider the vote [or “votes”] on… is called
up. The question is on the motion to reconsider… [etc.].

37:43 If a reconsideration that could not be taken up when it was

moved is one that later comes before the assembly
automatically, then when that point is reached, the chair says,
for example:
CHAIR: The question is now on the motion to reconsider the vote on
the amendment to…

37:44 After debate on a motion to Reconsider, assuming that this

motion is adopted, the chair puts the question and states the
result as follows:

CHAIR: As many as are in favor of reconsidering the vote on the

resolution relating to the annual banquet, say aye.… Those opposed,
say no.… The ayes have it and the vote on the resolution is
 reconsidered. The question is now on the resolution, which is…
[etc.].

Or:
CHAIR: The ayes have it and the votes on the resolution and the
amendment are reconsidered. The question is now on the
amendment, which is… [etc.].

37:45 Note that if the result of the vote on the motion to

Reconsider is negative, it is the only vote taken. But if the
motion to Reconsider is adopted, this is followed—after any
debate—by the taking of the vote or votes that are
consequently reconsidered.
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes
37:46 Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes is a special form of
the motion to Reconsider that has a different object from the
regular motion. Its purpose is to prevent a temporary majority
from taking advantage of an unrepresentative attendance at a
meeting to vote an action that is opposed by a majority of a
society’s or a convention’s membership. The effect of this form
of the motion arises from the fact that when it is moved—on
the same day that the vote to be reconsidered was taken—it
cannot be called up until another day, even if another meeting
is held on the same day.7 Thus, with a view to obtaining a
more representative attendance, it ensures reconsideration of
a question on a different day from the one on which the
question was put to vote. The name of this form does not
imply that the regular motion to Reconsider is not also
recorded in the minutes.
37:47 Differences from the Regular Form of the Motion.
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes differs from the regular
form of Reconsider in the following respects:
1) It can be moved only on the same day that the vote
proposed to be reconsidered was taken. The regular form of
the motion to Reconsider can be used on the next
succeeding day within the session on which a business
meeting is held.
2) It takes precedence over the regular motion to Reconsider.
Also, this motion can be made even after the vote has been
taken on the motion to Reconsider, provided that the chair
has not announced the result of the vote. In this case the
regular motion to Reconsider is then ignored. If it were not
for the rule that the motion to Reconsider and Enter on the
 Minutes takes precedence over the regular motion to
Reconsider, the motion to Reconsider and Enter on the
Minutes would generally be forestalled by the regular motion,
which would be voted down, and then Reconsider and Enter
on the Minutes could not be moved.
3) It can be applied only to votes that finally dispose of main
motions; that is, to: (a) an affirmative or negative vote on a
main motion; (b) an affirmative vote on postponing
indefinitely; or (c) a negative vote on an objection to the
consideration of a question, if the session extends beyond
that day.
4) It cannot be applied to votes on motions whose object would
be defeated by a delay of one day. For example, a motion
asking a visitor to address a convention the following day
cannot have this motion applied to it.
5) If more than a quarterly time interval (9:7) will intervene
before the next regular business session, it cannot be moved
at the last business meeting of the current session.
6) It cannot be called up on the day it is made, except that
when it is moved on the last day—but not the last meeting—
of a session of an organization that is not scheduled to meet
again within a quarterly time interval (9:7), it can be called up
at the last business meeting of the session.

37:48 After a motion to Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes has

been called up, its treatment is the same as that of the regular
motion to Reconsider.
37:49 Procedure for Use of the Motion. To illustrate the use of this
form of the motion, suppose that at a long meeting of a county
historical society, many members have left, unknowingly
leaving a quorum composed mainly of a small group
determined to commit the society to certain action that a few of
those present believe would be opposed by most of the
 membership. A member in opposition can prevent the vote on
such action from becoming final by moving “to reconsider and
enter on the minutes the vote on…” To be in a position to do
this, such a member—detecting the hopelessness of
preventing an affirmative result on the vote—should vote in the
affirmative himself. If the motion to Reconsider and Enter on
the Minutes is seconded, all action required by the vote
proposed to be reconsidered is suspended, and there is time
to notify absent members of the proposed action.
37:50 If no member of the temporary minority voted on the
prevailing side and it is too late for anyone to change his vote
(see 45:9), notice can be given that a motion to rescind the
assembly’s action will be made at the next meeting. At this
next meeting, provided that such notice has been given, the
motion to Rescind can then be adopted by a majority vote.
37:51 Protecting Against Abuses of the Motion. The motion to
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes may occasionally be
subject to attempted abuse, particularly in ordinary societies
with single-meeting sessions, since it gives any two members
power to hold up action taken by a meeting. In the average
organization this motion should generally be reserved for
extreme cases, and is in order only when final decision on the
question could, if necessary, wait until the next regular
meeting, or when an adjourned or special meeting to take it up
is a practical possibility.
37:52 If an actual minority in a representative meeting makes
improper use of this motion by moving to reconsider and enter
on the minutes a vote which requires action before the next
regular meeting, the remedy is to fix the time for an adjourned
meeting (9, 22) on another suitable day when the
reconsideration can be called up and disposed of. In such a
case, the mere making of a motion to set an adjourned
meeting would likely cause withdrawal of the motion to
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes, since its object would
be defeated.
Footnotes to Chapter
IX
1. If the term of all or a specified portion of the assembly’s membership will expire before
the start of the next regular session, as may happen in a board or an elected legislative
assembly, the rule is the same as though more than a quarterly time interval will have
elapsed—that is, a question can be taken from the table only until the end of the same
session at which it was laid on the table.
2. However, if an amendable motion is taken from the table at a later session, motions to
amend it may be made without regard to whether or not the same or similar motions to
amend it were either adopted or rejected during any previous session.
3. Or a committee can take it out of a subcommittee’s hands.
4. The motion to Reconsider has a special form known as Reconsider and Enter on the
Minutes, however, which outranks the regular form of the motion (see 37:46–52).
5. Exception (c) does not apply to a motion to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, on which
the vote can be reconsidered even if such an order has been partly carried out.
6. However, passage of a motion to reconsider adoption of the Previous Question (16:16)
or of Objection to the Consideration of a Question (26:6) is deemed to have resulted in
the reversal of the original vote on those motions (that is, the Previous Question is
deemed defeated or the objection is deemed overturned) without taking another vote. It
should also be noted that, if reconsideration of a vote taken on an amendable motion
takes place during a later session, motions to amend the motion being reconsidered may
be made during its reconsideration without regard to whether or not the same or similar
motions to amend it were either adopted or rejected during any previous session.
7. For an exception, see item (6) below.
 CHAPTER
X

RENEWAL OF MOTIONS; DILATORY

AND IMPROPER MOTIONS

§38. RENEWAL OF MOTIONS

38:1 If a motion is made and disposed of without being adopted,
and is later allowed to come before the assembly after being
made again by any member in essentially the same
connection, the motion is said to be renewed. Renewal of
motions is limited by the basic principle that an assembly
cannot be asked to decide the same, or substantially the same,
question twice during one session—except through a motion to
reconsider a vote (37) or a motion to rescind an action (35), or
in connection with amending something already adopted (see
also 6:25). A previously considered motion may become a
substantially different question through a significant change in
the wording or because of a difference in the time or
circumstances in which it is proposed, and such a motion may
thus be in order when it could not otherwise be renewed.
38:2 The rules restricting renewal of motions do not apply to any
motion that was last disposed of by being withdrawn. A motion
that is withdrawn becomes as if it had never been made and
 can be renewed whenever it would be originally in order. The
rules restricting renewal of motions also do not apply to any
motion that dies for lack of a second. Although such a motion is
not treated as if it had never been made, it too is a motion
which the assembly was not called upon to decide, and thus it
too may be renewed whenever it would originally be in order to
make it.
38:3 Two general principles govern the renewal of motions:
1) No motion can be renewed during the same session in
which it has already been before the assembly, except where
its renewal is permitted by a specific rule; and such a rule
always implies circumstances under which the motion has in
some respect become a different question. (For a discussion
of the rules growing out of this principle, see Nonrenewability
During the Same Session, and Exceptions, below.)
Whenever it is stated without qualification that a particular
parliamentary motion “cannot be renewed,” such a statement
means that the motion cannot be renewed during the same
session, or, in the case of a subsidiary or incidental motion,
not during that session in connection with the same motion
to which it directly adhered.
2) Any motion that is still applicable can be renewed at any
later session, except where a specific rule prevents its
renewal; and such an impediment to renewal at a later
session normally can exist only when the first motion goes
over to that session as not finally disposed of, in which case
the question can then be reached through the first motion
(see 9:7–11, 38:8–9).
Nonrenewability During the Same Session, and
Exceptions
38:4 The following rules are derived from the first principle stated
above, by which a motion is not renewable at the same session
unless the question has become somehow different.
38:5 Particular Cases of the General Rule Against Renewal.
Applications of the general rule against renewal during the
same session include the following:
1) A main motion, or a motion for the same amendment to a
given motion, cannot be renewed at the same session
unless there is a change in wording or circumstances
sufficient to present substantially a new question, in which
case this becomes technically a different motion. If a series
of resolutions voted on together is lost, however, one or
more of them can be offered again at the same session, but
enough resolutions must be left out to present a genuinely
different question from the viewpoint of probable voting
result; otherwise this procedure becomes dilatory.
2) A motion to Postpone Indefinitely cannot be renewed in
connection with the same main question during the same
session, even if the main motion has been materially
amended since the previous vote against indefinite
postponement. There will be another opportunity to
accomplish the same object—that is, to defeat the main
motion—when it comes up for a final vote.
3) A motion to Reconsider that has been rejected cannot be
renewed in connection with the same vote. To be able to be
reconsidered a second time, the original question must have
been materially amended during the first reconsideration—in
which case the proposal to reconsider a second time is a
 new question.
4) A motion to Rescind that has been voted down cannot be
renewed at the same session unless the motion proposed to
be rescinded has meanwhile been amended sufficiently to
present a new question.
5) A motion to divide the same question in substantially the
same way cannot be renewed at the same session.
6) When a Question of Privilege or a Point of Order has been
ruled on adversely by the chair, it cannot be raised again at
the same session unless an appeal is made and the chair’s
decision is reversed. After a decision of the chair has been
sustained on an appeal, no point of order or appeal contrary
to it can be made during that session.
38:6 Motions That Can Be Renewed at a Later Meeting of the
Same Session. Following are two cases of motions which
cannot be renewed at the same meeting, but which may have
become different questions—and consequently are renewable
—at another meeting of the same session (see 8):
1) Although the motion to Suspend the Rules for the same
purpose cannot be renewed at the same meeting, such a
motion can be renewed at the next meeting or any later
meeting, even if the next meeting is held on the same day or
is part of the same session. This renewal is allowable
because by the time of the next meeting the attendance or
situation may already have changed sufficiently to justify the
renewal. The mere passage of time may make it a new
question.
2) The same motion to Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn—that
is, a motion to set the same date, hour, and place for an
adjourned meeting—cannot be renewed at the same
meeting at which it is voted down; but if, after the first motion
is rejected, the assembly decides to set an adjourned
 meeting for an earlier time than proposed in the first motion,
then at that adjourned meeting it is in order to move to set a
second adjourned meeting for the same time as originally
considered for the first.
38:7 Motions That Can Be Renewed After Material Progress in
Business or Debate. The following motions are renewable if
they become new questions as described, even within the
same meeting:
1) The subsidiary motions to Commit, to Postpone to a Certain
Time, to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, for the Previous
Question, and to Lay on the Table can be renewed whenever
progress in business or debate has been such that they are
no longer practically the same questions. In addition, a
motion to Lay on the Table can be renewed if something
urgent has arisen that was not known when the assembly
rejected this motion.
2) A motion to Take from the Table that has failed can be
renewed after disposal of the business that was taken up
following rejection of the motion.
3) A Call for the Orders of the Day can be renewed after
disposal of the business that was taken up when the
assembly refused to proceed to the orders of the day.
4) A motion to Adjourn or to Recess can be renewed after
material progress in business or in debate—such as an
important decision or speech. A vote on a motion to Recess
or to Lay on the Table is not business of a character to justify
renewal of a motion to Adjourn; and a vote on any of these
three motions is not sufficient business to allow renewal of
either of the others.
5) Motions to close nominations or the polls can be renewed
after progress in nominations or voting has been such as to
make them essentially new questions.
Conditions That May Impede Renewal at a Later
Session
38:8 Main Motions That Go Over to Another Session; Motions
Within the Control of the Assembly, Because Not Finally
Disposed Of. Referring to the second general principle stated
in 38:3, a main motion that was introduced but not adopted
during one session can, except as noted in this paragraph, be
renewed at any later session unless it has become absurd.
Such exceptions occur only through one of the processes by
which, from one session to another, a main motion can remain
within the control of the assembly (that is, temporarily, but not
finally, disposed of), so that the same motion can be
considered at the later session. Four of these processes
(numbered 1 through 4 below) can arise only in cases of
organizations where no more than a quarterly time interval (see
9:7) will elapse until the next regular session. In such societies,
a main motion cannot be renewed during the next session after
a session at which it was:
1) postponed to, or otherwise set as a general or special order
for, the next session (14, 41);
2) allowed to go over to the next session as unfinished
business or as an unfinished special order (see 21:7(b),
41:18(a), 41:21–24);
3) laid on the table and not taken from the table (17, 34); or
4) the subject of a motion to Reconsider (37) that was made
but not finally disposed of.
Also, in any assembly:
5) a main motion that has been referred to a committee cannot
be renewed until after the session at which the assembly
finally disposes of the main motion—after the committee has
reported it back or has been discharged from its
 consideration (36).
38:9 Nonrenewability of Unsustained Objection to the
Consideration of a Question. An unsustained Objection to
the Consideration of a Question (26) cannot be renewed in
connection with the same main motion—even at a later session
if the main motion goes over to that session through one of the
processes stated immediately above. By deciding to consider
the question, the assembly has already begun its involvement,
and it is too late to make an objection. But if an original main
motion is finally disposed of at one session without being
adopted and is renewed at a later session, it is then a new
motion and its consideration can be objected to, subject to the
usual rules.
§39. DILATORY AND IMPROPER MOTIONS

Dilatory Motions
39:1 A motion is dilatory if it seeks to obstruct or thwart the will of
the assembly as clearly indicated by the existing parliamentary
situation.
39:2 Parliamentary forms are designed to assist in the
transaction of business. Even without adopting a rule on the
subject, every deliberative assembly has the right to protect
itself from the dilatory use of these forms.
39:3 Any main or other motion that is frivolous or absurd or that
contains no rational proposition is dilatory and cannot be
introduced. As further examples, it is dilatory to obstruct
business by appealing from a ruling of the chair on a question
about which there cannot possibly be two reasonable opinions,
by demanding a division (29) on a vote even when there has
been a full vote and the result is clear, by moving to lay on the
table the matter for which a special meeting has been called,
by constantly raising points of order and appealing from the
chair’s decision on them, or by moving to adjourn again and
again when nothing has happened to justify renewal of such a
motion. By use of such tactics, a minority of two or three
members could bring business to a standstill.
39:4 It is the duty of the presiding officer to prevent members
from misusing the legitimate forms of motions, or abusing the
privilege of renewing certain motions, merely to obstruct
business. Whenever the chair becomes convinced that one or
more members are repeatedly using parliamentary forms for
dilatory purposes, he should either not recognize these
members or he should rule that such motions are not in order
—but he should never adopt such a course merely to speed up
business, and he should never permit his personal feelings to
affect his judgment in such cases. If the chair only suspects
that a motion is not made in good faith, he should give the
maker of the motion the benefit of the doubt. The chair should
always be courteous and fair, but at the same time he should
be firm in protecting the assembly from imposition.
Improper Motions
39:5 Motions that conflict with the corporate charter, constitution,
or bylaws of a society, or with procedural rules prescribed by
national, state, or local laws, are not in order,1 and if any
motion of this kind is adopted, it is null and void. Likewise,
apart from motions to Rescind or to Amend Something
Previously Adopted (35), motions are not in order if they
conflict with one or more motions previously adopted at any
time and still in force. Such conflicting motions, if adopted, are
null and void unless adopted by the vote required to rescind or
amend the motion previously adopted.
39:6 Motions are also improper when they present practically the
same question as a motion previously decided at the same
session. In addition, motions are improper that conflict with, or
present practically the same question as, one still within the
control of the society because not finally disposed of (see 9:7–
11, 38:8). If a conflicting motion were allowed in such cases, it
would interfere with the freedom of the assembly in acting on
the earlier motion when its consideration is resumed.
39:7 No motion can be introduced that is outside the object of
the society as defined in the corporate charter, constitution, or
bylaws (see 56:18), unless by a two-thirds vote the assembly
agrees to its consideration (see 10:26(2)). Except as may be
necessary in the case of a motion of censure or a motion
related to disciplinary procedures (61, 63), a motion must not
use language that reflects on a member’s conduct or character,
or is discourteous, unnecessarily harsh, or not allowed in
debate (see 43).
Footnotes to Chapter
X
1. However, see 10:26(1) and the footnote there for exceptions.
 CHAPTER
XI

QUORUM; ORDER OF BUSINESS AND

RELATED CONCEPTS

§40. QUORUM
40:1 As indicated in 3:3, a quorum in an assembly is the number
of members (see definition, 1:4) who must be present in order
that business can be validly transacted. The quorum refers to
the number of members present, not to the number actually
voting on a particular question.
Rules Pertaining to the Quorum
40:2 Number of Members Constituting a Quorum. Depending on
the organization and the provision it adopts in this regard, the
number of members constituting a quorum may vary. As
discussed below, most voluntary societies should provide for a
quorum in their bylaws, but where there is no such provision,
the quorum, in accordance with the common parliamentary law,
is as follows:
1) In a mass meeting, the quorum is simply the number of
persons present at the time, since they constitute the entire
membership at that time.
2) In organizations such as many churches or some societies
in which there are no required or effective annual dues and
the register of members is not generally reliable as a list of
the bona-fide members, the quorum at any regular or
properly called meeting consists of those who attend.
3) In a body of delegates, such as a convention, the quorum is
a majority of the number who have been registered as
attending, irrespective of whether some may have departed.
This may differ greatly from the number elected or
appointed.
4) In any other deliberative assembly with enrolled membership
whose bylaws do not specify a quorum, the quorum is a
majority of all the members.
40:3 To accomplish their work, voluntary societies that have an
enrolled membership generally need a provision in their bylaws
establishing a relatively small quorum—considerably less than
a majority of all the members. In most such organizations, it is
rarely possible to obtain the attendance of a majority of the
membership at a meeting. Sometimes the specification of a
 quorum is based on a percentage of the membership; but such
a method has the disadvantage of requiring recomputation and
may lead to confusion—for example, when the secretary, or
other officer who is in a position to certify as to the current
number of members for purposes of the percentage
calculation, is absent. There is no single number or percentage
of members that will be equally suitable as a quorum in all
societies. The quorum should be as large a number of
members as can reasonably be depended on to be present at
any meeting, except in very bad weather or other exceptionally
unfavorable conditions.
40:4 Note on Procedure in Changing the Quorum Provision in
Bylaws. If it becomes necessary to change the quorum
provision in a society’s bylaws, care should be taken, because
if the rule is struck out first, the quorum will instantly become a
majority of the membership, so that in many cases a quorum
could not be obtained to adopt a new rule. The proper
procedure is to strike out the old provision and insert the new
provision, which is moved and voted on as one question.
40:5 Quorum in Boards and Committees. In a committee of the
whole or its variations (52), the quorum is the same as in the
assembly unless the rules of the assembly or the organization
(that is, either its bylaws or its rules of order) specify otherwise.
In all other committees and in boards, the quorum is a majority
of the members of the board or committee unless a different
quorum is provided for: (a) by the bylaws, in the case of a
board or standing committee that the bylaws specifically
establish; or (b) by a rule of the parent body or organization or
by the motion establishing the particular committee, in the case
of a committee that is not expressly established by the bylaws.
40:6 Proceedings in the Absence of a Quorum. In the absence of
 a quorum, any business transacted (except for the procedural
actions noted in the next paragraph) is null and void. But if a
quorum fails to appear at a regular or properly called meeting,
the inability to transact business does not detract from the fact
that the society’s rules requiring the meeting to be held were
complied with and the meeting was convened—even though it
had to adjourn immediately.
40:7 Even in the absence of a quorum, the assembly may fix the
time to which to adjourn (22), adjourn (21), recess (20), or take
measures to obtain a quorum. Subsidiary and incidental
motions, questions of privilege, motions to Raise a Question of
Privilege or Call for the Orders of the Day, and other motions
may also be considered if they are related to these motions or
to the conduct of the meeting while it remains without a
quorum.
40:8 A motion that absent members be contacted during a
recess would represent a measure to obtain a quorum. A
motion to obtain a quorum may be moved as a main motion
when no business is pending, or as a privileged motion that
takes precedence over a motion to Recess (20). Such motions
are out of order when another has the floor; must be seconded;
are debatable except when privileged; are amendable; require
a majority vote; and can be reconsidered. Motions to obtain a
quorum are similar to a Call of the House, which can be
ordered in assemblies having the power to compel attendance
(see below).
40:9 The prohibition against transacting business in the absence
of a quorum cannot be waived even by unanimous consent,
and a notice (10:44–51) cannot be validly given. If there is
important business that should not be delayed until the next
regular meeting, the assembly should fix the time for an
adjourned meeting and then adjourn. If, instead, the members
present take action informally in the absence of a quorum, they
 do so at their own risk. Although the assembly can later ratify
their action (10:54–57), it is under no obligation to do so.
40:10 If a committee of the whole finds itself without a quorum, it
can do nothing but rise and report to the assembly, which can
then proceed as described above. A quasi committee of the
whole or a meeting in informal consideration of a question can
itself take any of the actions permitted an assembly in the
absence of a quorum, but a quasi committee of the whole is
thereby ended (see 52).
Manner of Enforcing the Quorum Requirement
40:11 Before the presiding officer calls a meeting to order, it is his
duty to determine, although he need not announce, that a
quorum is present. If a quorum is not present, the chair waits
until there is one, or until, after a reasonable time, there
appears to be no prospect that a quorum will assemble. If a
quorum cannot be obtained, the chair calls the meeting to
order, announces the absence of a quorum, and entertains a
motion to adjourn or one of the other motions allowed, as
described above.
40:12 When the chair has called a meeting to order after finding
that a quorum is present, the continued presence of a quorum
is presumed unless the chair or a member notices that a
quorum is no longer present. If the chair notices the absence
of a quorum, it is his duty to declare the fact, at least before
taking any vote or stating the question on any new motion—
which he can no longer do except in connection with the
permissible proceedings related to the absence of a quorum,
as explained above. Any member noticing the apparent
absence of a quorum can make a point of order to that effect
at any time so long as he does not interrupt a person who is
speaking. Debate on a question already pending can be
allowed to continue at length after a quorum is no longer
present, however, until a member raises the point. Because of
the difficulty likely to be encountered in determining exactly
how long the meeting has been without a quorum in such
cases, a point of order relating to the absence of a quorum is
generally not permitted to affect prior action; but upon clear
and convincing proof, such a point of order can be given effect
retrospectively by a ruling of the presiding officer, subject to
appeal (24).1
Call of the House
40:13 In legislative bodies or other assemblies that have legal
power to compel the attendance of their members, a
procedure that can be used to obtain a quorum, if necessary,
is the motion for a Call of the House. This is a motion that
unexcused absent members be brought to the meeting under
arrest. A Call of the House is not applicable in voluntary
societies.
40:14 Assemblies in which there may be occasion to order a Call
of the House should adopt a rule governing this motion and
providing that if one third, one fifth, or some other number less
than a majority of the members or members-elect are present,
they can order a Call of the House by a majority vote. When a
quorum is not present, this motion should take precedence
over everything except a motion to Adjourn (21). If the rule
allows the call to be moved while a quorum is actually present
(for the purpose of obtaining a greater attendance), the motion
at such times should rank only with questions of privilege,
should require a majority vote for adoption, and, if rejected,
should not be allowed to be renewed while a quorum is
present.
40:15 When a Call of the House is ordered, the clerk calls the roll
of the members, then calls again the names of the absentees
—in whose behalf explanations of absence can be made and
excuses can be requested. After this, no member is permitted
to leave, the doors are locked, and the sergeant-at-arms, chief
of police, or other arresting officer is ordered to take into
custody absentees who have not been excused from
attendance and bring them before the house. He does this on
a warrant signed by the presiding officer and attested by the
clerk. When arrested members are brought in, they are
 arraigned separately, their explanations are heard, and, on
motion, they can be excused with or without penalty in the
form of payment of a fee. Until a member has paid such a fee
assessed against him, he cannot vote or be recognized by the
chair for any purpose.
40:16 After a Call of the House has been ordered, no motion is in
order, even by unanimous consent, except motions relating to
the call. Motions to adjourn or dispense with further
proceedings under the call, however, can be entertained after
a quorum is present, or after the arresting officer reports that in
his opinion a quorum cannot be obtained. An adjournment
terminates all proceedings under the Call of the House.
§41. ORDER OF BUSINESS; ORDERS OF THE
DAY; AGENDA OR PROGRAM
41:1 The terms order of business, orders of the day, agenda, and
program refer to closely related concepts having to do with the
order in which business is taken up in a session (8) and the
scheduling of particular business. The meaning of these terms
often coincides, although each has its own applications in
common usage.
41:2 An order of business is any established sequence in which
it may be prescribed that business shall be taken up at a
session of a given assembly. In the case of ordinary societies
that hold frequent regular meetings, an order of business that
specifies such a sequence only in terms of certain general
types or classes of business and gives only the order in which
they are to be taken up is normally prescribed for all regular
meetings by the rules of the organization. The typical order of
business of this kind is described in 41:5–27. In other cases,
such as in a convention, an order of business expressly
adopted for a particular session frequently assigns positions,
and even times, to specific subjects or items of business; and
to this type of order of business the terms agenda and
program2 are applicable, as explained in 41:58–70. Although
the terms order of business, agenda, and program relate
primarily to the business of an entire session, the same terms
are also applied to a part of the whole, in speaking of “the order
of business,” “the agenda,” or “the program” of a meeting within
a session.
41:3 An order of the day is an item of business that is scheduled
to be taken up during a given session, day, or meeting, or at a
given hour (unless there is business having precedence over it
 that interferes). The methods by which orders of the day can
be made, their division into the classes of general orders and
special orders, and their treatment in cases where they come
into conflict are explained in 41:40–57. General orders and
special orders are also discussed with particular reference to
making them by means of the motion to Postpone in 14:13–17
(see also Call for the Orders of the Day, 18). Unless
designated for particular hours or assigned positions item by
item in an agenda or program formally adopted for a given
session, general orders and special orders are taken up under
assigned headings or in customary positions allotted to each of
these categories in the order of business. (Note such headings
in the “standard” order of business described below.)
41:4 Within a meeting in which the only items of business that
are in order have been specified and set in sequence in
advance—as might occur, for example, in a particular meeting
of a convention—the orders of the day are identical with the
order of business (which, in such a case, is in the form of an
agenda or program).
Usual Order of Business in Ordinary Societies
41:5 Basic Headings Covering Business Proper. The customary
or “standard” order of business comprises the following
subdivisions:
1) Reading and Approval of Minutes
2) Reports of Officers, Boards, and Standing Committees
3) Reports of Special (Select or Ad Hoc) Committees
4) Special Orders
5) Unfinished Business and General Orders
6) New Business
41:6 In organizations that have adopted this book as
parliamentary authority and that have not adopted a special
order of business, this series of headings is the prescribed
order of business for regular meetings, unless the periods
intervening between consecutive regular meetings are usually
more than a quarterly time interval (see 9:7). This standard
order of business prescribes only the sequence of the
headings, not the time to be allotted to each—which may vary
with every meeting. Certain optional headings are also
described following the detailed discussion of the regular
headings below.
41:7 The presiding officer may find it helpful to have at hand a
memorandum of the complete order of business, listing, under
headings (2) and (3) as explained below, all known reports
which are expected to be presented, and under headings (4)
and (5), all matters which the minutes show are due to come
up, arranged in proper sequence or, where applicable, listed
with the times for which they have been set. The secretary can
prepare, or assist the presiding officer to prepare, such a
memorandum. In this connection, regarding the practice in
 some societies or assemblies of providing each member with a
copy of the expected agenda in advance of a meeting, see
41:62.
41:8 After the presiding officer has called the meeting to order as
described in 3:15, and after any customary opening
ceremonies (see Optional Headings, 41:28–31 and 41:36), the
meeting proceeds through the different headings in the order of
business:
41:9 1. Reading and Approval of Minutes. The chair says, “The
Secretary will read the minutes.” However, in organizations
where copies of the minutes of each previous meeting as
prepared by the secretary are sent to all members in advance,
the chair announces that this has been done, and the actual
reading of them aloud is omitted unless any member then
requests that they be read. (For “dispensing” with the reading
of the minutes—that is, not reading them for approval at the
regular time—see 48:11.) If for any reason there are minutes of
other meetings in addition to the last meeting that have not
been read previously, they are each read and approved first, in
order of date from earliest to latest. In all but the smallest
meetings, the secretary stands while reading the minutes.
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).
41:11 After any proposed corrections have been disposed of, and
when there is no response to the chair’s inquiry, “Are there any
corrections [or “further corrections”] to the minutes?” the chair
says, “There being no corrections [or “no further corrections”]
to the minutes, the minutes stand [or “are”] approved [or
“approved as read,” or “approved as corrected”].” The minutes
are thus approved without any formal vote, even if a motion for
their approval has been made. The only proper way to object
to the approval of the secretary’s draft of the minutes is to offer
a correction to it.3 It should be noted that a member’s absence
from the meeting for which minutes are being approved does
not prevent the member from participating in their correction or
approval.
41:12 The secretary’s draft of the minutes is often sent to all
members in advance of the meeting at which those minutes
are to be approved, usually with the meeting notice. When this
has been done, it is presumed that the members have had an
opportunity to review these draft minutes, and they are not
read at the meeting unless a member requests it. Correction
and approval, however, is handled in the usual way. A draft of
the minutes circulated to members must be clearly marked as
such. The secretary’s draft of the minutes, whether or not
circulated before their approval, does not become the minutes
—that is, the official record of the proceedings of the society—
unless it is approved, and the minutes may be materially
modified in the correction process. Only the secretary’s
corrected version of the minutes is official in such a case.
41:13 2. Reports of Officers, Boards, and Standing Committees.
In most societies it is customary to hear reports from all
officers (47, 48), boards (49), and standing committees (50)
only at annual meetings. At other meetings the chair calls only
on those who have reports to make, as by saying (in calling
 upon the secretary), “Is there any correspondence?” Or, “May
we have the Treasurer’s report.” Or, “The chair recognizes Mr.
Downey, Chairman of the Membership Committee, for a
report.” If the chair is uncertain, he may ask, for example,
“Does the Program Committee have a report?” Standing
committees listed in the bylaws are called upon in the order in
which they are listed.
41:14 If an officer, in reporting, makes a recommendation, he
should not himself move its implementation, but such a motion
can be made by another member as soon as the officer has
concluded his report. In the case of a committee report, on the
other hand, the chairman or other reporting member should
make any motion(s) necessary to bring the committee’s
recommendations before the assembly for consideration. A
motion arising out of an officer’s, a board’s, or a committee’s
report is taken up immediately, since the object of the order of
business is to give priority to the classes of business in the
order listed.
41:15 If an item of business in this class is on the table (that is, if
it was laid on the table at the present session, or at the
preceding session if no more than a quarterly time interval has
intervened (see 9:7), and if the item has not been taken from
the table), it is in order to move to take such business from the
table under this heading (see 17, 34).
41:16 (For procedures to be followed in making reports and in
handling recommendations arising from reports, see 51.)

41:17 3. Reports of Special Committees. The special committees

(50) that are to report are called on in the order in which they
were appointed. Only those special committees that are
prepared, or were instructed, to report on matters referred to
them should be called on. Business incident to reports of
special committees that is on the table can be taken from the
 table under this heading (17, 34).
41:18 4. Special Orders. Under this heading (referring to the
explanation of Orders of the Day in 41:40ff.) are taken up the
following in the order listed:
a) Any unfinished special orders (that is, special orders that
were not disposed of at the preceding meeting)—taken in
sequence beginning with the special order that was pending
when that meeting adjourned if it adjourned while one was
pending, and continuing with the remaining unfinished
special orders in the order in which they were made (that is,
were set by action of the assembly).
b) Items of business that have been made special orders for
the present meeting4 without being set for specific hours—
taken in the order in which they were made.
Regarding the interruption of business under this heading by
special orders that have been set for particular hours, see
41:53–56.
41:19 Normally—unless an order of the day was made as a part
of an agenda for a session—no motion is necessary at the
time the order comes up, since the introduction of the question
has been accomplished previously, as will be seen from the
description of the methods by which orders of the day are
made, in 41:42. When a special order that was so introduced
comes up, the chair announces it as pending, thus: “At the last
meeting, the resolution relating to funds for a new playground
was made a special order for this meeting [or, if the special
order was made by postponement, “… was postponed to this
meeting and made a special order.”]. The resolution is as
follows: ‘Resolved, That… [reading it].’ The question is on the
adoption of the resolution.”
41:20 Matters that the bylaws require to be considered at a
 particular meeting, such as the nomination and election of
officers, may be regarded as special orders for the meeting
and be considered under the heading of Special Orders in the
order of business. If a special order is on the table, it is in
order to move to take it from the table under this heading
when no question is pending (17, 34).

41:21 5. Unfinished Business and General Orders. The term

unfinished business,5 in cases where the regular business
meetings of an organization are not separated by more than a
quarterly time interval (9:7), refers to questions that have
come over from the previous meeting (other than special
orders) as a result of that meeting’s having adjourned without
completing its order of business (21:7(b)) and without
scheduling an adjourned meeting (9, 22) to complete it.
41:22 A general order (as explained under Orders of the Day,
below) is any question which, usually by postponement, has
been made an order of the day without being made a special
order.
41:23 The heading of Unfinished Business and General Orders
includes items of business in the four categories that are listed
below in the order in which they are taken up. Of these, the
first three constitute “Unfinished Business,” while the fourth
consists of “General Orders”:
a) The question that was pending when the previous meeting
adjourned, if that meeting adjourned while a question other
than a special order was pending.
b) Any questions that were unfinished business at the previous
meeting but were not reached before it adjourned—taken in
the order in which they were due to come up at that meeting
as indicated under (a) and (c).
c) Any questions which, by postponement or otherwise, were
set as general orders for the previous meeting, or for a
 particular hour during that meeting, but were not reached
before it adjourned—taken in the order in which the general
orders were made.
d) Matters that were postponed to, or otherwise made general
orders for, the present meeting—taken in the order in which
they were made.
Regarding the relationship between this heading in the order of
business and general orders for particular hours, see 41:49–
52.
41:24 The chair should not announce the heading of Unfinished
Business and General Orders unless the minutes show that
there is some business to come up under it. In the latter case,
he should have all such subjects listed in correct sequence in
a memorandum prepared in advance of the meeting. He
should not ask, “Is there any unfinished business?” but should
state the question on the first item of business that is due to
come up under this heading; and when it has been disposed
of, he should proceed through the remaining subjects in their
proper order. If a question was pending when the previous
meeting adjourned, for example, the chair might begin this
heading by saying, “Under Unfinished Business and General
Orders, the first item of business is the motion relating to use
of the parking facilities, which was pending when the last
meeting adjourned. The question is on the adoption of the
motion ‘That… [stating the motion].’” Later under the same
heading, in announcing a general order that was made by
postponing a question, the chair might say, “The next item of
business is the resolution relating to proposed improvement of
our newly purchased picnic grounds, which was postponed to
this meeting. The resolution is as follows: ‘Resolved, That…
[reading the resolution].’ The question is on the adoption of the
resolution.”
41:25 Any item of business (in whatever class) that is on the table
can be taken from the table under this heading at any time
when no question is pending (17, 34). To obtain the floor for
the purpose of moving to take a question from the table at
such a time, a member can rise and address the chair,
interrupting him as he starts to announce the next item of
business after the previous one is disposed of.
41:26 It should be noted that, with the exception indicated in the
preceding paragraph, a subject may not be taken up under
Unfinished Business and General Orders unless it has
acquired such status by one of the formal processes (a), (c),
or (d) listed in 41:23. If brief consultation during a meeting
leads to an informal understanding that a certain subject
should be “brought up at the next meeting,” that does not
make it unfinished business. Instead, the matter would have to
be introduced at the next meeting as new business, as
explained below.
41:27 6. New Business. After unfinished business and general
orders have been disposed of, the chair asks, “Is there any
new business?” Members can then introduce new items of
business, or can move to take from the table any matter that is
on the table (17, 34), in the order in which they are able to
obtain the floor when no question is pending, as explained in 3
and 4. So long as members are reasonably prompt in claiming
the floor, the chair cannot prevent the making of legitimate
motions or deprive members of the right to introduce legitimate
business, by hurrying through the proceedings.
41:28 Optional Headings. In addition to the standard order of
business as just described, regular meetings of organizations
sometimes include proceedings in the categories listed below,
which may be regarded as optional in the order of business
prescribed by this book.
41:29 After the call to order and before the reading of the
minutes, the next two headings may be included:
41:30 Opening Ceremonies or Exercises. Opening ceremonies
immediately after the meeting is called to order may include
the invocation (which, if offered, should always be placed first),
the singing of the national anthem, the reciting of the Pledge of
Allegiance to the flag, a ritual briefly recalling the objects or
ideals of the organization, or the like.
41:31 Roll Call. In some organizations it is customary at meetings to
call the roll of officers in order to verify their attendance—or,
sometimes in very small societies, even to call the roll of
members. If there is a roll call of this nature, it should take
place at the end of the opening ceremonies unless a special
rule of the organization assigns it a different position in the
order of business. The chair announces it by saying, “The
Secretary will call the roll of officers [or “will call the roll”].”
41:32 Consent Calendar. Legislatures, city, town, or county
councils, or other assemblies which have a heavy work load
including a large number of routine or noncontroversial
matters may find a consent calendar a useful tool for disposing
of such items of business. Commonly, when such a matter has
been introduced or reported by a committee for consideration
in the assembly, its sponsor, or, sometimes, an administrator,
may seek to have it placed on the consent calendar. This
calendar is called over periodically at a point established in the
agenda by special rule of order, at least preceding standing
committee reports. The matters listed on it are taken up in
order, unless objected to, in which case they are restored to
the ordinary process by which they are placed in line for
consideration on the regular agenda. The special rule of order
establishing a consent calendar may provide that, when the
 matters on the calendar are called up, they may be considered
in gross or without debate or amendment. Otherwise, they are
considered under the rules just as any other business, in
which case the “consent” relates only to permitting the matter
to be on the calendar for consideration without conforming to
the usual, more onerous, rules for reaching measures in the
body.
41:33 After the completion of new business—that is, when no one
claims the floor to make a motion in response to the chair’s
query, “Is there any further new business?”—the chair may
proceed to one or more of the following headings, in an order
that may be subject to variation determined by the practice of
the organization.
41:34 Good of the Order, General Good and Welfare, or Open
Forum. This heading, included by some types of societies in
their order of business, refers to the general welfare of the
organization, and may vary in character. Under this heading
(in contrast to the general parliamentary rule that allows
discussion only with reference to a pending motion), members
who obtain the floor commonly are permitted to offer informal
observations regarding the work of the organization, the public
reputation of the society or its membership, or the like. Certain
types of announcements may tend to fall here. Although the
Good of the Order often involves no business or motions, the
practice of some organizations would place motions or
resolutions relating to formal disciplinary procedures for
offenses outside a meeting (63) at this point. In some
organizations, the program (see below) is looked upon as a
part of the Good of the Order.

41:35 Announcements. The chair may make, or call upon other

officers or members to make, any necessary announcements;
 or, if the practice of the organization permits it, members can
briefly obtain the floor for such a purpose. The placing of
general announcements at this point in the order of business
does not prevent the chair from making an urgent
announcement at any time.
41:36 Program. If there is to be a talk, film, or other program of a
cultural, educational, or civic nature, it is usually presented
before the meeting is adjourned, since it may prompt a desire
on the part of the assembly to take action. Although the
program is commonly placed at the end of the order of
business in such cases, it can, by special rule or practice, be
received before the minutes are read; or, by suspending the
rules (25), it can be proceeded to at any time during the
meeting. If, in courtesy to a guest speaker who is present, the
chair wishes the talk to be located at an unscheduled point
within the business portion of the meeting, he can usually
obtain unanimous consent for a suspension of the rules by
simply announcing, “If there is no objection, we will hear our
speaker’s address at this time.”
Taking Up Business out of Its Proper Order
41:37 Any particular item of business can be taken up out of its
proper order by adopting a motion to Suspend the Rules (25)
by a two-thirds vote, although this is usually arranged by
unanimous consent (4:58–63). Hence, an important committee
report or an urgent item of new business can be advanced in
order to assure its full and unhurried consideration. If desired,
before the completion of the advanced question the regular
order of business can be returned to by a majority vote—by
adopting a motion to lay the pending question on the table
(17).
41:38 To take up a motion out of its proper order—for example, to
introduce an item of new business before that heading is
reached—a member who has obtained the floor can say, “I ask
unanimous consent to introduce at this time a resolution on
financing better schools.” If there is any objection, or the
member anticipates that there may be, he can say, “I move to
suspend the rules that interfere with the introduction at this
time of…” If unanimous consent is given or if this motion is
adopted by a two-thirds vote, the member is immediately
recognized to introduce the resolution. If only one or two items
stand ahead of the item it is desired to reach, it may be just as
simple to lay the intervening items on the table individually
(17), or to postpone them as they arise (14). It is not in order
to lay on the table or postpone a class of questions, like
committee reports, or anything but the question that is actually
before the assembly. (See 14:10–11, 17:3(2), 17:14.)
41:39 The chair himself cannot depart from the prescribed order
of business, which only the assembly can do by at least a two-
thirds vote. This is an important protection in cases where
some of the members principally involved in a particular
question may be unable to be present through an entire
meeting. When such a departure from the order of business is
justified, however, it is usually easy for the chair to obtain the
necessary authorization from the assembly. He can say, for
example, “The chair will entertain a motion to suspend the
rules, and take up…”; or (for obtaining unanimous consent), “If
there is no objection, the chair proposes at this time to
proceed to take up…” (see also illustration under the heading
Program above).
Orders of the Day
41:40 An order of the day, as stated above, is a particular subject,
question, or item of business that is set in advance to be taken
up during a given session, day, or meeting, or at a given hour,
provided that no business having precedence over it
interferes. In cases where more than a quarterly time interval
(9:7) will elapse before the next regular business session of
the organization, an order of the day cannot be made for a
time beyond the end of the present session. If the next regular
business session will be held within a quarterly time interval,
an order of the day cannot be made beyond the end of that
next session. An order of the day cannot be taken up before
the time for which it is set, except by reconsidering (37) the
vote that established the order (so long as a reconsideration is
possible), or by suspending the rules (25) by a two-thirds vote.
41:41 Orders of the day are divided into the classes of general
orders and special orders. A special order is an order of the
day that is made with the stipulation that any rules interfering
with its consideration at the specified time shall be suspended
except those relating: (a) to adjournment or recess (8, 20, 21);
(b) to questions of privilege (19); (c) to special orders that
were made before this special order was made; or (d) to a
question that has been assigned priority over all other
business at a meeting by being made the special order for the
meeting as described in 41:57. An important consequence of
this suspending effect is that, with the four exceptions just
mentioned, a special order for a particular hour interrupts any
business that is pending when that hour arrives. Since the
making of a special order has the effect of suspending any
interfering rules, it requires a two-thirds vote (except where
such action is included in the adoption of an agenda or
 program for a session having no prescribed order of
business). Any matter that is made an order of the day without
being made a special order is a general order for the time
named.
41:42 An item of business can be made an order of the day in the
following ways:
1) While the question is pending, it can be postponed (14) to
the specified time by a majority vote (in which case it is a
general order); or, by a two-thirds vote, it can be postponed
to that time and made a special order.
2) A question that has not yet been brought before the
assembly can be made a special order for a future time by
means of a main motion adopted by a two-thirds vote.
Similarly, it is possible, although less common, to make a
question that is not pending a general order for a future time
by a majority vote.
3) An agenda or program assigning a specific position or hour
to the item of business can be adopted. The subject is then a
general order or a special order, depending on the form of
the agenda or program (see 41:58). For the vote required to
adopt an agenda, see Procedure for Adoption, 41:61.

41:43 Forms for Motions to Make General or Special Orders. The

forms in proposing to make a pending question an order of the
day for a future time by means of the motion to Postpone are
given in 14:20.
41:44 When a question that is not pending is made an order of
the day, it is usually made a special order. A main motion to
make a particular subject a special order can be introduced
whenever business of its class or new business is in order and
nothing is pending. It can be offered in this form: “I move that
the following resolution be made a special order for the next
meeting: ‘Resolved, That…’”; or, “I offer the following
 resolution and move that it be made a special order for 3 P.M.:
‘…’” In the case of a committee report, a resolution such as
this may be adopted: “Resolved, That the report of the
committee on the revision of the bylaws be made the special
order for Wednesday morning and thereafter until it has been
disposed of.”
41:45 Motions in similar forms can also be used to make a
question that is not pending a general order. In this
connection, however, it should be noted that a majority can
thus prevent a matter from coming before the assembly until a
future time, but after a majority has taken such action, nothing
less than a two-thirds vote can change it unless it is
reconsidered (37). If a main motion to make a question that is
not pending an order of the day for a future time is introduced,
any member who would prefer to consider the matter
immediately should speak in debate against the motion that
would make it an order of the day. If that motion is voted down,
he can then introduce the subject of the proposed order as a
main question.
41:46 Relation of Orders of the Day to the Established Order of
Business. In assemblies that follow the “standard” order of
business explained above, orders of the day for a given
session, day, or meeting that are not set for particular hours
are taken up under the headings of Special Orders and
Unfinished Business and General Orders (see 41:18–26). In
cases where an ordinary society has adopted its own order of
business for regular meetings, it usually includes similar
headings covering such orders of the day. Where an
organization’s order of business does not provide such
headings, special orders not set for particular hours are taken
up before unfinished business and general orders, or (if there
are neither of these), at all events before new business. Under
 the same conditions, general orders are taken up after any
unfinished business (that is, business pending at the
adjournment of the previous meeting, if any, and orders of the
day not disposed of at the time of its adjournment), and before
new business unless a later hour is specified (see below).
41:47 The most common instances of orders of the day set for
particular hours occur in conventions.
41:48 In any type of assembly, in cases where orders of the day
have been set for particular hours, their consideration at the
proper time may cause interruption or modification of the order
of business as it exists apart from these orders of the day; and
different orders of the day may come into conflict. Rules
governing such cases are as follows:

41:49 Rules of precedence affecting general orders for

particular hours. As stated above, a general order that has
been set for a particular hour cannot be considered before that
hour unless the rules are suspended by a two-thirds vote, or
unless the vote that made the general order can still be
reconsidered. This is the principal effect of making a subject a
general order for a particular hour. Since the making of a
general order does not suspend any rules, even if it is
designated for a particular hour, delay in its consideration
when that hour arrives may arise from a number of causes.
Even though the hour fixed for a general order has arrived, the
order can be taken up only when all of the following additional
conditions are fulfilled:
a) no other business is pending;
b) no special order interferes;
c) no motion to Reconsider (37) that may then be moved or
called up interferes;
d) the category of General Orders in the prescribed order of
business has been reached or passed; and
 e) all general orders that were made before this order was
made, except any that were set for a time that has not yet
arrived, have been disposed of.
As soon after the designated hour as conditions (a), (b), (d),
and (e) are met, the chair announces the general order as the
pending business; but as he starts to do so, any member can
rise and address the chair for the purpose of moving or calling
up a reconsideration.
41:50 The rule that a general order for a particular hour does not
interrupt a pending question when that hour arrives holds even
when the pending question is a general order that was made
later.6 But if a general order for an earlier time is not reached
by the time set for another general order that was made before
it was, the general order that was made first is taken up in
preference to the one for the earlier time.
41:51 Example. A motion is postponed to 4:30 P.M. Later, another
motion is postponed to 4:15 P.M. If the 4:15 motion is taken up
at that time (or at least before 4:30) and is not disposed of by
4:30, it continues under consideration and is not interrupted.
But if the 4:15 motion is not reached by 4:30, the 4:30 motion,
having been postponed first, has preference and will be taken
up first. Unless something else affects the situation, the 4:15
motion in such a case will be considered after the disposal of
the 4:30 motion.
41:52 If several general orders were made for the same time,
they are taken up in the order in which they were made. If
several general orders were made for the same time in the
same motion, they are taken up in the order in which they are
listed in the motion. If all of this business is not disposed of
before adjournment, it is treated as described in 21:7 and
41:23.
41:53 Rules of precedence affecting special orders for particular
hours. A special order for a particular hour cannot be
considered before that hour except by a two-thirds vote. But
when the designated hour arrives, the special order
automatically interrupts any business that may be pending
except: (a) a motion relating to adjournment or recess; (b) a
question of privilege; (c) a special order that was made before
the special order set for the present hour was made; or (d) the
special order for a meeting, as described below. The chair
simply announces the special order at the proper time, as
shown in 14:22.
41:54 With the exception of the special order for a meeting, when
special orders that have been made at different times come
into conflict, the one that was made first takes precedence
over all special orders made afterward, which rank in the order
in which they were made. This rule holds even when special
orders made later have been set for consideration at earlier
hours. No special order can interfere with one that was made
earlier than itself. If several special orders have been made at
the same time for the same hour, they rank in the order in
which they are listed in the motion by which they were made. If
they were made at the same time for different hours, it is
implied that the vote on each one will be taken when the hour
for the next one arrives, and the same rules apply as those for
taking up topics in an agenda (see 41:65).

41:55 Example. Assume that a special order has been made for 3
P.M. Thereafter, one is made for 2 P.M. Still later, one is made
for 4 P.M. At two o’clock, the special order for that time is taken
up, even if it interrupts a general order that is pending.
However, if the 2 P.M. special order is still pending at 3 P.M., the
3 P.M. special order is immediately taken up—interrupting the
one that is pending—because it was made first. Also, because
 the 3 P.M. order was made first, if it is still under consideration
at four o’clock, it continues regardless of the order for that
time. Even after the 3 P.M. order is disposed of, the 4 P.M. order
must await completion of the prior-made 2 P.M. order, which is
resumed first. Not until all of these special orders are disposed
of, together with any others whose times are reached in the
meantime, can the assembly return to its regular order of
business, first resuming consideration of any subject that may
have been interrupted at 2 P.M. It is possible, of course, to
rearrange these special orders by reconsidering the votes that
made them, or, if reconsideration is no longer possible (37), by
suspending the rules and taking up each one of them in
succession, only to postpone it and make it a special order for
the desired new time.
41:56 It should be noted that a special order does not interfere
with a recess or adjournment that is scheduled for a particular
hour. When such an hour arrives, the chair announces it and
declares the assembly in recess or adjourned, even if a
special order is pending that was made before the hour of
recess or adjournment was fixed. When the chair announces
the hour, anyone can move to postpone the time for
adjournment, or to extend the time of considering the pending
question for a specified period. These motions are
undebatable and require a two-thirds vote (see also 20:6–7,
21:14).
41:57 The special order for a meeting. When it is desired to devote
an entire meeting to a subject, or as much of the meeting as
may be necessary, the matter can be made the special order
for the meeting (as distinguished from a special order for the
meeting; see 41:18–20). The special order for the meeting will
then be taken up as soon as the minutes have been approved,
and the remainder of the order of business will not be taken up
until this special order has been disposed of. Although the
special order for a meeting takes precedence over all other
forms of special orders, even if they were made before it was,
the times of any such orders for particular hours that may
come into conflict should be adjusted, as indicated in the last
sentence of 41:55.
Agenda or Program
41:58 By a single vote, a series of special orders or general
orders—or a mixture of both—can be made; such a series is
called an agenda. When an hour is assigned to a particular
subject in an agenda, that subject is thereby made a special
order unless, by footnote or other means, it is stated that the
time is intended merely for guidance, in which case the subject
is only a general order. Subjects for which no hour is specified
in an agenda are general orders.
41:59 In an agenda, often an hour is assigned only to such
subjects as the calls to order, recesses, adjournments, and
particularly important items of business where it is desired to
give the members greater assurance that the matter will not be
considered before that time. These, then, are special orders
for the time stated, and a strict adherence to these times
provides a protection to the members and invited speakers,
who often come from great distances. Occasionally, a time is
assigned for every item on the agenda. While this practice
may be necessary in some cases, the resulting loss of
flexibility often outweighs any benefits that may be gained.
41:60 Organizations and Meetings in Which Adoption of an
Agenda Is Customary. It is customary to adopt an agenda or
program for each session in organizations that do not hold
frequent regular meetings, and at conventions and other
sessions that may last for several days (see 59). This is also
frequently done when, for any reason, neither the standard
order of business nor a special order of business established
by rule of the organization is practical or applicable.

41:61 Procedure for Adoption. In cases in which an agenda is

adopted, usually this is done at the outset of a session and the
 agenda is intended to cover the entire session. At a session
having no prescribed or adopted order of business, such an
agenda is followed as a guide by the chair pending its formal
adoption and can be adopted by majority vote, even if it
contains special orders; it is then the order of business for that
session. At a session that already has an order of business,
an agenda can be adopted by a majority vote only if it does
not create any special orders and does not conflict with the
existing order of business; otherwise, a two-thirds vote is
required (see also 25:12).
41:62 Agenda Provided in Advance. In some organizations, it is
customary to send each member, in advance of a meeting, an
order of business or agenda, with some indication of the
matters to be considered under each heading. Such an
agenda is often provided for information only, with no intention
or practice of submitting it for adoption. Unless a precirculated
agenda is formally adopted at the session to which it applies, it
is not binding as to detail or order of consideration, other than
as it lists preexisting orders of the day (41:40ff.) or conforms to
the standard order of business (3:16, 41:5ff.) or an order of
business prescribed by the rules of the organization (2:16,
3:16).
41:63 Changing an Agenda. When the adoption of a proposed
agenda is pending, it is subject to amendment by majority
vote. After an agenda has been adopted by the assembly, no
change can be made in it except by a two-thirds vote, a vote of
a majority of the entire membership, or unanimous consent.
(See also Taking Up Business out of Its Proper Order, 41:37–
39; cf. 59:59.) An affirmative vote to adopt an agenda may not
be reconsidered.
41:64 Agenda in the Form of a Program. In reference to an order
 of business specially adopted for a given session, the term
program is often used instead of agenda; but while the latter
technically includes only items of business, the former may
include also the times for speakers, meals, and other
nonbusiness matters.
41:65 Taking Up Topics in an Agenda. When the assigned time for
taking up a topic in an agenda arrives, the chair announces
that fact. Then he puts to a vote any pending questions
without allowing further debate, unless someone immediately
moves to lay the question on the table, postpone it, or refer it
to a committee. If any of these subsidiary motions are moved,
they are likewise put to a vote, together with any amendment
to them, without debate. Besides these subsidiary motions, a
motion to extend the time for considering the pending question
is in order. While an extension under these conditions is
seldom desirable and is often unfair to the next topic, it is
sometimes necessary, and a motion for the extension can be
adopted without debate by a two-thirds vote (see also 18). As
soon as the business that was pending has been disposed of
as described, the chair recognizes the member who is to offer
the motion or resolution embodying the scheduled topic
(unless the question has previously been introduced and has
come over from an earlier time, in which case the chair
announces it as the pending business).
41:66 Declaring a Scheduled Recess or Adjournment. When a
recess or adjournment has been scheduled for a particular
hour (either by provision in the adopted agenda or program or
by adoption of a motion setting the time) and that hour arrives,
the chair announces it and, unless a member promptly seeks
the floor for one of the purposes described below, declares the
assembly in recess or adjourned. (However, if the Previous
Question has already been ordered on one or more pending
 motions when the hour for a recess or adjournment arrives,
there usually will be no objection to the chair’s putting them all
to a vote in succession before declaring the assembly to be in
recess or adjourned.)
41:67 When the chair announces the hour, any member can
move to reschedule the time for recess or adjournment, or to
extend the time of considering the pending question for a
specified period. These motions are undebatable and require
a two-thirds vote; see also 18:8, 20:6–7, and 21:14. Before
declaring the meeting adjourned, the chair must allow, in
addition to the motions just described, any of the
parliamentary steps that would be in order when a privileged
motion to Adjourn is pending or has just been voted for (see
21:10–12).
41:68 In the case of a recess, any pending business is interrupted
for the recess, and taken up again after the recess. In the case
of an adjournment, see Carrying Over Unfinished Business
below.
41:69 Advisability of Providing for Unfinished Business. At
intervals or near the end of the session, an agenda should
include provision for unfinished business. In agendas in which
most or all of the items are special orders for particular times,
it may be necessary to provide for unfinished business near
the end of each day’s sitting. Such provisions give the
assembly a recourse whenever it needs a little more time
before voting on a question. It can postpone a question to a
time provided for unfinished business or, at all events, can
conclude consideration of a question during such a period.
Otherwise, a pending question that is merely postponed until
the disposal of the next item—since it becomes only a general
order—may be severely buffeted by the remaining special
orders. Its further consideration would depend upon the next
 or some successive items taking less time than allotted, and it
might soon be interrupted again by the next subject for which
a time was assigned.
41:70 Carrying Over Unfinished Business. In sessions consisting
of several meetings, if the time set for adjournment of a
meeting arrives before all of the matters scheduled for that
meeting have been considered, the remaining items of
business are carried over to the next meeting.7 The unfinished
items of business are taken first in their order before the
matters scheduled for the later meeting, provided that the
agenda makes no special provision for unfinished business
that day and no conflict arises with a special order. Therefore,
when most items in the agenda are general orders, it is wise to
schedule the more important items of business at a
reasonably early meeting of a convention or to set them as
special orders. (See also 59:55(10).)
Footnotes to Chapter
XI
1. What happens to a question that is pending when a meeting adjourns (because of the
loss of a quorum or for any other reason) is determined by the rules given in 21:7. If such
a question, however, was introduced as new business and it is proven that there was
already no quorum when it was introduced, its introduction was invalid and, to be
considered at a later meeting, it must again be brought up as new business.
2. The term program has two senses in parliamentary usage. In the first sense, as used
here, it refers to a type of order of business that may be identical with an agenda, or (in a
convention) may include an agenda together with the times for events outside of the
business meetings; such events are not themselves orders of the day (see also 59). In
the second sense, as used in 41:36, the term refers to a heading, often included within
the order of business for meetings of ordinary societies, that covers talks, lectures, films,
or other features of informational or entertainment value.
3. However, a member who believes that further investigation or redrafting is necessary in
order to produce a correct version of the minutes may offer a motion to refer the minutes
to a committee or to postpone their approval to a certain time.
4. But not the special order (see 41:57).
5. The expression “old business” should be avoided, since it may incorrectly suggest the
further consideration of matters that have been finally disposed of.
6. If it is desired to take up a general order at its specified hour and a pending question
interferes, that pending question can, however, be laid on the table (17) or postponed
(14).
7. For the treatment of business unfinished at the end of a session, see 21:7(b–c).
 CHAPTER
XII

ASSIGNMENT OF THE FLOOR;

DEBATE

§42. RULES GOVERNING ASSIGNMENT OF THE

FLOOR
42:1 The manner in which a member obtains the floor is
described in 3:30–35, with an initial treatment of the principal
rules governing the assignment of the floor under ordinary
conditions in most business meetings. More complete rules
affecting the assignment of the floor are contained in this
section.
Recognition of a Member
42:2 Before a member in an assembly can make a motion or
speak in debate, he must claim the floor by rising1 and
addressing the chair as described in 3:31, and must be
recognized by the chair. The chair must recognize any member
who seeks the floor while entitled to it. The chair normally
recognizes a member (thereby assigning the floor to him) by
announcing, as applicable, the member’s name or title, or the
place or unit that he represents. If necessary, the member—
either on his own initiative or at the request of the chair—
should state his name, with any appropriate additional
identification, as soon as the presiding officer turns toward him
after he has risen and addressed the chair. Variations in the
granting of recognition are as follows:
• If only one person is seeking the floor in a small meeting
where all present can clearly see one another, the chair may
recognize the member by merely nodding to him.
• If a speech is prearranged, or if several members are
attempting to claim the floor at once in a large meeting, a
wording frequently used by the chair in granting recognition
is, “The chair recognizes Mr. Smith.”
42:3 Whenever a member rises and addresses the chair at a
time when the floor can be granted only for limited purposes
and the chair is not certain that the member understands this
fact—for example, when an undebatable question is
immediately pending as explained in 42:12—the chair, before
recognizing the member, asks, “For what purpose does the
member [or “the gentleman,” or “the lady,” or, as in Congress,
“the gentlewoman”] rise?” If members remain seated around a
conference table and do not rise, the chair may ask, “For what
purpose does the member address the chair?”
42:4 Except by unanimous consent (4:58–63), a motion can be
made only by one who has been recognized by the chair as
having the floor. If a motion is called out by anyone who has
not obtained the floor, the chair must not treat it as having been
properly moved if another member, by rising promptly and
claiming the floor, shows that unanimous consent has not been
given.
42:5 When assigned the floor, a member may use it for any
proper purpose, or a combination of purposes; for example,
although a member may have begun by debating a pending
motion, he may conclude by moving any secondary motion,
including the Previous Question (16), that is in order at the
time.
Assignment of the Floor When More Than One
Person Claims It
42:6 If two or more rise at about the same time to claim the floor,
the general rule is that, all other things being equal, the
member who rose and addressed the chair first after the floor
was yielded is entitled to be recognized. A member who rises
before the floor has been yielded is not entitled to the floor if
any other member rises afterward and addresses the chair.2
42:7 Under a variety of particular conditions, however, when
more than one member claims the floor at about the same
time, the best interests of the assembly require the floor to be
assigned to a claimant who was not the first to rise and
address the chair. Such a claimant to the floor in these cases is
said to be entitled to “preference in being recognized” or
“preference in recognition.” A member cannot rise to claim
preference in recognition after the chair has actually
recognized another member. However, there are a number of
purposes for which a member who has been assigned the floor
may be interrupted (see 42:18–19). A member who sought the
floor for such a purpose before the floor has been assigned is
likewise entitled to preference in recognition. Thus, if there may
be no other opportunity, a member is entitled to preference in
recognition to give notice of intent to introduce a motion
requiring such notice (10:47–50), or to make a motion to
Reconsider (37) or to Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes
(37:46–52), even when another motion is pending or a series
of motions connected with taking up a single item of business
is being disposed of (cf. 42:13(2–3)).
42:8 When the chair has just reported a vote, a member is
entitled to preference in recognition to make an appropriate
motion that the vote be taken again by another method (30).
 Other rules governing preference in recognition may be
grouped as relating to cases when a debatable question is
immediately pending, when an undebatable question is
immediately pending, and when no question is pending.
42:9 Preference in Recognition When a Debatable Question Is
Immediately Pending. While a motion is open to debate:
1) If the member who made the motion that is immediately
pending claims the floor and has not already spoken on the
question, he is entitled to be recognized in preference to
other members. Under some particular cases or variations of
this rule, the members entitled to preference in recognition
are:
a) in the case of a motion to implement a recommendation in
a committee’s report, the reporting member (who
presented the committee’s report to the assembly);
b) in the case of a question that has been taken from the
table (34), the member who moved to take it from the
table; and
c) in the case of a motion to Reconsider (37), the member
who made the motion to Reconsider, not necessarily the
one who may have called it up (see 37:10(c), 37:15–16).
2) No member who has already had the floor in debate on the
immediately pending question is entitled to it again on the
same day for debate on the same question so long as any
member who has not spoken on that question claims the
floor.
3) In cases where the chair knows that persons seeking the
floor have opposite opinions on the question—and the
member to be recognized is not determined by (1) or (2)
above—the chair lets the floor alternate, as far as possible,
between those favoring and those opposing the measure. In
large assemblies, various devices are sometimes used to
 assist the chair in following this rule, such as having
members seeking recognition hold up cards of different
colors, go to different microphones “for” and “against,” or the
like.
42:10 In the case of an Appeal (or a Point of Order that the chair
has submitted to a vote) that is debatable, the chair is entitled
to speak once in preference to any member seeking the floor
and a second time at the close of the debate (see 23:19,
24:3(5)).

42:11 When a member has moved to reconsider the vote on a

motion for the announced purpose of amending the motion, if
the vote is reconsidered he must be recognized in preference
to others in order to move his amendment. This rule also
applies to reconsiderations of amendable motions that are not
debatable (see list on page t47), as noted below.

42:12 Preference in Recognition When an Undebatable Question

Is Immediately Pending. When the immediately pending
question is undebatable (pages t46–t47), the member who
moved it has no preference to the floor. When an undebatable
motion that can be amended is reconsidered for that
announced purpose, however, the maker of the motion to
Reconsider (37) is entitled to preference in recognition, as
explained in the preceding paragraph.

42:13 Preference in Recognition When No Question Is Pending.

Cases where a member is entitled to preference in recognition
when no question is pending occur as follows:
1) When a member has been assigned to offer a motion which
a special meeting was called to consider, or an important
prearranged main motion at any meeting, that member is
entitled to prior recognition and no other members are
permitted to intervene in an effort to offer another motion in
 competition.
2) When a desired object requires a series of motions, each of
which is moved while no question is pending, and when the
assembly has disposed of one motion in such a series, the
next motion in the series has the right of way; and, for the
purpose of making that motion, the chair recognizes the
member who is presenting the series, even if another
member has risen and addressed the chair first. For
example:
a) When a question has been laid on the table (17) for a
legitimate purpose—to enable the assembly to take up a
more urgent matter—the member who moved to lay on the
table is entitled to preference in recognition to introduce
the urgent business.
b) When the rules have been suspended (25) to enable a
certain motion to be made, the member who moved to
suspend the rules is entitled to the floor to make the
motion involved.
3) Similarly, when a motion has been voted down at the urging
of a member who stated in debate that in such event he
would offer a different motion on the same subject (see
10:30(5)), that member is entitled to preference in
recognition so that he may introduce his alternative motion.
4) When no question is pending and no series of motions has
been started, and a member has risen seeking the floor to
make a main motion, another member is entitled to
preference in recognition if he addresses the chair and
states that he rises for one of the following purposes:
a) to make a motion to Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes
(37:46–52);
b) to move to reconsider a vote (37);
c) to call up a motion to Reconsider (in its regular or special
form (37)) that has been made earlier;
 d) to give previous notice (10:44–50);
e) to move to take a question from the table (34) when it is in
order to do so; or
f) to make a motion for which previous notice has been
given.
If members come into competition in rising for these
purposes, they have preference in the order in which the six
actions are listed above. Time limits on making the motion to
Reconsider—and shorter limits on its special form, to
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes—account for first
preference of these two motions in such cases.
42:14 Assignment of the Floor by Vote; Appeals. If the chair is in
doubt as to who is entitled to the floor, he can allow the
assembly to decide the question by a vote, in which case the
member receiving the largest vote is entitled to the floor.
42:15 If at any time the chair makes a mistake and assigns the
floor to the wrong person when more than one member rose
and addressed the chair promptly, a Point of Order can be
raised. Except in a mass meeting, the decision of the chair in
assigning the floor can be appealed from by any two members
—one making the appeal and the other seconding it (24).3

42:16 Variations in Large Assemblies. In large conventions or

similar bodies, some of the rules applicable to the assignment
of the floor may require adaptation, which, pending the
adoption of appropriate convention standing rules or special
rules of order, the chair may direct. For example, in a large hall
where microphones are in use and members must walk some
distance to reach one, members may be asked to line up at
numbered microphones. They may be recognized in numerical
order, or someone may list them for the chair in the order in
which assistant sergeants-at-arms turned on lights affixed to
the microphones. It may be provided that a member who has a
 priority matter, such as a point of order, may ask the assistant
at the microphone to flash the light to so indicate. Should a
member, called in whatever order is established, move an
amendment or other debatable motion, others awaiting a turn
should stand aside unless their debate is germane to the new
motion. If the Previous Question or a motion to limit debate is
moved, members who have been waiting in line cannot validly
protest; as in all other cases, the chair cannot choose the
occasions when such motions will be in order. He may advise
the assembly that, if it wishes to continue debate and hear
from those waiting in line, a minority greater than one third has
this within its power.
42:17 If ushers are equipped with hand microphones and a
microphone is carried to each member who is recognized, the
standard rules in 42:6 can be followed.
Interruption of a Member Assigned the Floor
42:18 When a member has been assigned the floor and has
begun to speak—unless he begins to discuss a subject when
no motion is pending or speaks longer in debate than the rules
of the assembly allow—he cannot be interrupted by another
member or by the chair except for one of the following
purposes, and then only when the urgency of the situation
justifies it:
a) a Call for the Orders of the Day (18) when they are not being
conformed to,
b) the raising of a question of privilege (19),
c) a Point of Order or the calling of the member who has the
floor to order (23, 61)—or the chair’s calling this member’s
attention to the fact that he is failing to observe the rules of
speaking (61:10–11),
d) a call for a separate vote on one or more of a set of
independent resolutions on different subjects, or a divisible
set of amendments, that have been offered by a single
motion (10:25, 12:14, 27:10–11),
e) a request or inquiry (32, 33) that requires an immediate
response;
or, in certain special circumstances, these additional purposes:
f) an Appeal (24),
g) an Objection to the Consideration of a Question (26), or
h) a Division of the Assembly (29).
42:19 After a member has been assigned the floor but before he
has begun to speak, it is in order to take any of the steps listed
above, and also, if there may be no other opportunity, to rise
for the purpose of:
a) giving notice of intent to introduce a motion requiring such
 notice (10:44–50); or
b) making a motion to Reconsider (37) or to Reconsider and
Enter on the Minutes (37:46–52).

42:20 If an interruption occurs for any of the reasons listed above,

the member who had the floor does not lose it, although he
takes his seat while the interrupting matter is being attended
to. As soon as the interruption has been disposed of, the chair
directs him to rise and proceed by saying, for example, “Mr.
Lewis has the floor.”
42:21 If a member presenting a committee report or other
document to the assembly hands it to the secretary or a
reading clerk to be read, the member does not thereby yield
the floor, but has it again when the reading is finished.
42:22 When a member has risen to claim the floor or has been
assigned the floor, it is out of order for another to call out a
motion to adjourn, or a motion to lay the pending question on
the table. If someone does so, or if calls of “Question!” are
made, it is the duty of the chair to obtain order and protect the
rights of the member who is entitled to the floor.
§43. RULES GOVERNING DEBATE
43:1 Debate, rightly understood, is an essential element in the
making of rational decisions of consequence by intelligent
people. In a deliberative assembly, this term applies to
discussion on the merits of a pending question—that is,
whether the proposal under consideration should, or should
not, be agreed to. That the right of debate is inherent in such
an assembly is implied by the word deliberative.
43:2 Debatability is a characteristic of all main motions and of
certain other motions, depending on the parliamentary function
they serve, according to principles summarized at the end of
this section; and from such principles are derived the specific
rules stated under Standard Characteristic 5 in 11–37.
43:3 While the amount of debate on a motion in actual practice
will depend on such factors as its importance, how strongly it is
contested, etc., every member of the assembly has the right to
speak to every debatable motion before it is finally acted upon;
and subject only to general limitations on debate established
by parliamentary law or the rules of the body as explained
below, this right cannot be interfered with except by a two-
thirds vote.
Summary of Procedures Incident to Debate
43:4 Until a matter has been brought before the assembly in the
form of a motion proposing a specific action, it cannot be
debated. As explained in 3 and 4, the motion must be made by
a member who has obtained the floor while no question is
pending (or while the motion is in order, if it is not a main
motion), after which it must be seconded by another member
(unless it is made by direction of a board or committee), and
must be stated by the chair. The chair may conclude his
statement of the question on the debatable motion by asking,
“Are you ready for the question?” or, less formally, “Is there any
debate?” Alternatively, he may simply pause and turn toward
the maker of the motion to see if he desires the floor first in
debate. After the maker of the motion has had the opportunity
to speak first if he wishes, other members can rise and address
the chair to claim the floor for the purpose of debate, as
explained in 3:30ff. and 42.
43:5 While debate is in progress, amendments or other
secondary (subsidiary, privileged, or incidental) motions can be
introduced and disposed of—and can be debated in the
process, if they are debatable—as explained in 10:31–35. A
member may both speak in debate and conclude by offering a
secondary motion, which is a particular application of the
principle that a member having been recognized for any
legitimate purpose has the floor for all legitimate purposes.
43:6 When debate appears to have concluded, the chair may
again ask, “Are you ready for the question?” (or “Is there any
further debate?”) or if, after a reasonable pause, no one rises
to claim the floor, the chair may assume that no member
wishes to speak and, standing, may proceed to put the
question.
43:7 It should be noted that, under legitimate parliamentary
procedure, there is no such thing as “gaveling through” a
measure. The right of members to debate or introduce
secondary motions cannot be cut off by the chair’s attempting
to put a question to vote so quickly that no member can get the
floor—either when the chair first states the question or when he
believes debate is ended. Debate is not closed by the presiding
officer’s rising to put the question. If a vote has been taken or
begun quickly and it is found that a member rose and
addressed the chair with reasonable promptness after the chair
asked, “Are you ready for the question?” or, by a pause or
otherwise, indicated that the floor was open to assignment,
then—even if the chair has announced the result of such a vote
—the vote must be disregarded, the member is entitled to the
floor, and debate begins or resumes. But if the chair gives
ample opportunity for members to claim the floor before he
puts the question, and no one rises, the right to debate cannot
be claimed after the voting has commenced. If, because a
member sought the floor in timely fashion, debate is resumed
after voting has begun, the question must be put fully again—
that is, both the affirmative and the negative votes must be
called for—regardless of how far the earlier vote had
proceeded. When a vote is taken a second time for purposes
of verification—as when a Division (29) is demanded—debate
cannot be resumed except by unanimous consent (4:58–63).
Length and Number of Speeches
43:8 Maximum Time for Each Speech. In a nonlegislative body or
organization that has no special rule relating to the length of
speeches (2), a member, having obtained the floor while a
debatable motion is immediately pending, can speak no longer
than ten minutes unless he obtains the consent of the
assembly. Such permission can be given by unanimous
consent (4:58–63), or by means of a motion to Extend Limits of
Debate (15), which requires a two-thirds vote without debate.
43:9 When a member’s time is exhausted, the chair rises and—if
the member does not immediately conclude his remarks—calls
his attention to the fact by an appropriate signal, or by
interrupting him if necessary. The chair may appoint
timekeepers to provide assistance in fulfilling this responsibility.
If it appears that a minute more will afford sufficient time for the
member to conclude more gracefully, the chair can ask
unanimous consent to extend the member’s time for a short
period, or any member can do so.

43:10 Rights in regard to debate are not transferable. Unless the

organization has a special rule on the subject, a member
cannot yield any unexpired portion of his time to another
member, or reserve any portion of his time for a later time—
that is, if a member yields the floor before speaking his full ten
minutes, he is presumed to have waived his right to the
remaining time.4 If a speaker yields to another member for a
question (Request for Information, 33:6–10), the time
consumed by the question is charged to the speaker.
43:11 A committee chairman or reporting member is not
considered to be debating when presenting or reading the
committee’s report, but he is bound to obey the assembly’s
rules relating to debate in any speech made by him in support
 of the motion offered on behalf of the committee.

43:12 Number of Speeches on the Same Question per Member

per Day. Unless the assembly has a special rule providing
otherwise, no member can speak more than twice to the same
question on the same day—except that in the case of an
Appeal (24), only the presiding officer can speak twice (the
second time at the close of the debate), all other members
being limited to one speech. Merely asking a question or
making a brief suggestion is not counted as speaking in
debate; nor is the making of a secondary motion counted as
speaking in debate,5 so long as in making the motion the
member makes no comment on the then-pending question. It
will be seen from this rule that if debate on a pending motion is
continued at the next meeting, and if that meeting is held on
the same day, members who have already made two
speeches on a question are not allowed to speak on it again
without the assembly’s permission. But if the next meeting is
held on another day, all members have their right to debate
entirely renewed with reference to that question.
43:13 Under this rule, each debatable motion is a separate
question with respect to members’ rights to debate it. Thus, if
a series of debatable questions is pending and a member has,
for example, spoken twice that day while the main motion is
immediately pending, he has exhausted his right to debate the
main motion; but, even on the same day, he can still speak
twice on a motion to postpone the main question indefinitely,
and twice on each amendment that may be moved, and so on.
As noted under the rules for assigning the floor (42), however,
a member cannot make a second speech on the same
question the same day until every member who desires to
speak on it has had an opportunity to do so once. If debate is
closed before the member has an opportunity to make a
second speech, none may be made.
Modification of General Limits of Debate
43:14 The general rules limiting the length and number of
speeches in debate that are stated above can be modified to
serve the assembly’s needs as follows:
43:15 Adopting a Special Rule. The rule allowing each member
two speeches of ten minutes’ length per day on each
debatable question can be made either more restrictive or
more liberal for all meetings of a society by adopting a special
rule of order by a two-thirds vote after notice, or by a vote of a
majority of the entire membership (2:14ff.; see also 10:44–51).
An example of a more restrictive rule might be one setting a
limit of not more than one speech of five minutes’ length on
the same question on the same day for each member.

43:16 Changing the Limits for a Session. An assembly at any

session can change the limits of debate, for that session only,
by means of a main motion adopted by a two-thirds vote
without notice. In a convention—where the limits of debate
generally need to be stricter than in a local society—such a
modification is usually adopted in the form of a standing rule of
the convention (59), requiring a two-thirds vote in such a case.
43:17 Changing the Limits for the Pending Question(s) Only.
While a debatable question is immediately pending, the
allowed length or number of speeches can be reduced or
increased, for that question only, by means of the subsidiary
motion to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate (15), adopted by a
two-thirds vote. This motion can also be used to close debate
at a specified future time. If two thirds of those voting wish to
close debate immediately, they can do so by adopting the
motion for the Previous Question (16). If a series of adhering
 debatable questions (10:35) is pending, either of these
motions can also be applied to the entire series or any
consecutive part of the series beginning with the immediately
pending question. (For forms, see 15:19, 16:20, 59:82.) If it is
desired to prevent any discussion of a subject—even by the
introducer of the motion, who has the right to the floor first—
the only way this can be done is to raise an Objection to the
Consideration of the Question (26) before debate begins or
any subsidiary motion (other than a motion to Lay on the
Table) is stated. If the objection is sustained by a two-thirds
vote, the question cannot be considered in any way at that
time or during that session.
43:18 On the other hand, if, in considering a particular question, it
is desired to retain the usual limit on the length of speeches
but remove restrictions on the total number of times members
can speak, the assembly by a majority vote can resolve itself
into a committee of the whole or into quasi committee of the
whole, or it can consider the question informally (see 52:1).
Speeches made under these procedures do not count against
a member’s right to debate the same question if it is further
considered by the assembly on the same day under the
regular rules. If the question under consideration is composed
of a number of sections or paragraphs—as in the case of
bylaws, for example—the total number of speeches allowed
each member can be greatly increased, but not made
unlimited, by considering the document seriatim (28), in which
case each member can speak twice on each paragraph,
section, or unit that is taken up as a separate part.
Decorum in Debate
43:19 The following practices and customs observed by speakers
and other members in an assembly assist the carrying on of
debate in a smooth and orderly manner. Paragraphs 3:9–13
under the head Pattern of Formality should be read in
connection with this subject.
43:20 Confining Remarks to the Merits of the Pending Question.
In debate a member’s remarks must be germane to the
question before the assembly—that is, his statements must
have bearing on whether the immediately pending motion
should be adopted (see also Principles Governing the
Debatability of Motions, 43:35–40).

43:21 Refraining from Attacking a Member’s Motives. When a

question is pending, a member can condemn the nature or
likely consequences of the proposed measure in strong terms,
but he must avoid personalities, and under no circumstances
can he attack or question the motives of another member. The
measure, not the member, is the subject of debate. If a
member disagrees with a statement by another in regard to an
event that both witnessed, he cannot state in debate that the
other’s statement “is false.” But he might say, “I believe there
is strong evidence that the member is mistaken.” The moment
the chair hears such words as “fraud,” “liar,” or “lie” used about
a member in debate, he must act immediately and decisively
to correct the matter and prevent its repetition (see 61).

43:22 Addressing All Remarks Through the Chair. Members of an

assembly cannot address one another directly, but must
address all remarks through the chair. If, while a member is
speaking in debate, another member wishes to address a
 question to him—which the person speaking can permit or not
as he chooses, but which is taken out of his time if he does—
the member desiring to ask the question rises and addresses
the chair, proceeding as explained under Request for
Information (33:6–10).
43:23 Avoiding the Use of Members’ Names. As much as
possible, the use of names of members should be avoided in
debate. It is better to describe a member in some other way,
as by saying, “the member who spoke last,” or, “the delegate
from Mason County.” The officers of the society should always
be referred to by their official titles. There is no need, however,
to refer to oneself in debate in the third person as by the use
of such expressions as “this member.” A member’s debate is
expected and intended to be partial, and the first person is
quite acceptable.
43:24 Refraining from Speaking Adversely on a Prior Action Not
Pending. In debate, a member cannot reflect adversely on
any prior act of the society that is not then pending, unless a
motion to reconsider, rescind, or amend it is pending, or
unless he intends to conclude his remarks by making or giving
notice of one of these motions.
43:25 Refraining from Speaking Against One’s Own Motion. In
debate, the maker of a motion, while he can vote against it, is
not allowed to speak against his own motion. He need not
speak at all, but if he does he is obliged to take a favorable
position. If he changes his mind while the motion he made is
pending, he can, in effect, advise the assembly of this by
asking permission to withdraw the motion (33:11–18).
43:26 Reading from Reports, Quotations, etc., Only Without
Objection or With Permission. If any member objects, a
member has no right to read from—or to have the secretary
 read from—any paper or book as part of his speech, without
permission of the assembly. Members are usually permitted to
read short, pertinent, printed extracts in debate, however, so
long as they do not abuse the privilege (see also 33:20–21).
43:27 Being Seated During an Interruption by the Chair. If at any
time the presiding officer rises to make a ruling, give
information, or otherwise speak within his privilege, any
member who is speaking should be seated (or should step
back slightly if he is standing at a microphone some distance
from a seat) until the presiding officer has finished. At that time
the member can resume his speech, unless he is denied the
right as a disciplinary measure. (Questions of discipline arising
from disorderly debate by members are treated in 61.)
43:28 Refraining from Disturbing the Assembly. During debate,
during remarks by the presiding officer to the assembly, and
during voting, no member should be permitted to disturb the
assembly by whispering, walking across the floor, or in any
other way. The key words here are disturb the assembly. This
rule does not mean, therefore, that members can never
whisper, or walk from one place to another in the hall during
the deliberations of the assembly. At large meetings it would
be impossible to enforce such a rule. However, the presiding
officer should watch that such activity does not disturb the
meeting or hamper the transaction of business.
Rule Against the Chair’s Participation in Debate
43:29 If the presiding officer is a member of the society, he has—
as an individual—the same rights in debate as any other
member; but the impartiality required of the chair in an
assembly precludes his exercising these rights while he is
presiding. Normally, especially in a large body, he should have
nothing to say on the merits of pending questions. On certain
occasions—which should be extremely rare—the presiding
officer may believe that a crucial factor relating to such a
question has been overlooked and that his obligation as a
member to call attention to the point outweighs his duty to
preside at that time. To participate in debate, he must
relinquish the chair; and in such a case he turns the chair
over:
a) to the highest-ranking vice-president present who has not
spoken on the question and does not decline on the grounds
of wishing to speak on it; or
b) if no such vice-president is in the room, to some other
member qualified as in (a), whom the chair designates (and
who is assumed to receive the assembly’s approval by
unanimous consent unless member(s) then nominate other
person(s), in which case the presiding officer’s choice is also
treated as a nominee and the matter is decided by vote).
The presiding officer who relinquished the chair then may not
return to it until the pending main question has been disposed
of, since he has shown himself to be a partisan as far as that
particular matter is concerned. Indeed, unless a presiding
officer is extremely sparing in leaving the chair to take part in
debate, he may destroy members’ confidence in the impartiality
of his approach to the task of presiding.
43:30 In debate on an appeal (24) or a point of order that the
chair has submitted to the judgment of the assembly (23:18–
21), the foregoing rule does not apply, and the presiding officer
does not leave the chair, since his participation in the debate
relates to the function of presiding.
Occasions Justifying Brief Discussion Outside
Debate
43:31 Allowable Explanations and Requests When No Motion Is
Pending or When an Undebatable Motion Is Pending. As
already stated, debate in a deliberative assembly is permitted
only when it is germane to a debatable motion that has been
stated by the chair as the immediately pending question.
However, as explained in 4, the making of a motion of any kind
—whether debatable or undebatable—may be prefaced, when
necessary, by a few words of explanation, which must not
become a speech; or a member can first request information,
or briefly indicate the substance of a desired proposal and ask
for the chair’s assistance in wording an appropriate motion.
Similarly, business may sometimes be expedited by allowing a
few words of factual explanation while an undebatable motion
is pending.
43:32 The distinction between debate and asking questions or
making brief suggestions should be kept in mind in this
connection. Especially in large assemblies, the chair must be
careful not to allow this type of consultation to develop into an
extended colloquy between members or to take on the
semblance of debate, and should generally remain standing
while the consultation takes place, to show that the floor has
not been assigned.
43:33 Informal Consultation to Assist the Framing of a Motion.
Occasionally, brief informal consultation or discussion of a
subject may assist a member in framing a proper motion. If the
chair permits such discussion, he must not allow it to continue
more than a few moments or longer than is reasonably
necessary to arrive at a motion embodying the member’s
 ideas.
43:34 In general, for a member to speak when no question is
pending, without promptly leading to a motion, implies an
unusual circumstance and requires permission of the
assembly. But occasionally, in very small bodies, a member
who has obtained the floor at such a time may state that, if
there is no objection, he would like to give some explanations
dealing with a specified subject and to conclude by offering a
motion on that subject. If no one objects, the member can then
proceed; and the chair, knowing the subject, can hold him to it
as he would in debate on a motion (see also 4:7–8).
Principles Governing the Debatability of Motions
43:35 Rules as to each motion’s debatability or undebatability are
given under Standard Characteristic 5 in 10–37 and in the
Table of Rules Relating to Motions on pages t6–t33. The
following is a brief summary of these rules in relation to the
principles on which they are based.
43:36 Every main motion is debatable, from the nature of the
deliberative assembly itself.
43:37 With the exception of the two subsidiary motions that have
to do with debate, the degree to which each of the subsidiary
motions can be debated depends on the extent to which its
adoption would restrict the assembly in dealing with the main
question.
1) Since the motion to Postpone Indefinitely (11) will kill the
main motion if it is adopted, it is fully debatable and leaves
the main question open to debate.
2) A motion to Amend (12) is debatable when it is applied to
the main question or to any other debatable motion, since it
would alter the question it proposes to amend; but the
debate is limited to the merits of the amendment, and other
pending questions can be brought into the discussion only as
necessary in this connection. A motion to amend an
undebatable motion is undebatable, because to allow debate
on it would be contrary to the purposes of the other motion’s
undebatability.
3) In the case of the motions to Commit (13) and to Postpone
to a Certain Time (14), debate is quite limited, because the
main question will be open to further debate when the
committee reports or when the time arrives to which the
question was postponed. Hence, debate is confined in the
 first instance to the wisdom of referring or to the choice of
personnel of the committee and to the nature of its
instructions, and in the latter instance to the wisdom of
postponement and the choice of a time to which the question
will be postponed.
4) Motions to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate (15) and for the
Previous Question (16) are undebatable inasmuch as their
very object is to alter the debatability of pending question(s),
and their purpose would be defeated if they were debatable;
they are also in the nature of specialized motions to suspend
the rules, and any such motion made while business is
pending is undebatable.
5) The motion to Lay on the Table (17) is undebatable because
its legitimate purpose would be defeated if it were debatable,
and because its adoption in no way interferes with the right
of the majority to take the question from the table (34) and
resume debate.
43:38 The privileged motions are all undebatable because, if they
were debatable, their high privilege would allow them to
interfere with business. The right of debate is thus
incompatible with high privilege. With reference to the two
lowest-ranking privileged motions, it is, of course, the “calling”
for the orders of the day (18) or the “raising” of a question of
privilege (19) that is undebatable. When the order of the day
or the question of privilege involved in such a case becomes
the pending main motion, it is debatable.
43:39 Except as noted in this paragraph, the incidental motions
are undebatable, because they have high privilege to interrupt
any motions or situations to which they are incidental. In the
case of an Appeal that relates to indecorum, the rules of
debate, or the priority of business, it is assumed that debate
would be a hindrance to business, as it would be if the appeal
 were made when an undebatable question is immediately
pending or involved in the appeal. At all other times, an appeal
is fully debatable so long as the debate is germane to the
subject matter of the appeal. The incidental motion to create a
proviso, like the corresponding subsidiary motion to create a
proviso by amending a motion’s enacting words (see 57:15), is
debatable when the motion to which it applies is debatable. A
Request to Be Excused from a Duty, such as a resignation,
may require some discussion for its proper decision, and for
this reason it is debatable.
43:40 Rules as to the debatability of motions that bring a question
again before the assembly may be summarized as follows:
1) The motion to Take from the Table (34) is undebatable
because debate would serve no useful purpose and would
delay business, and because, if it is voted down, it can be
renewed each time any business has been transacted.
2) The motion to Rescind or to Amend Something Previously
Adopted (35) is fully debatable, and it opens to debate the
entire motion that it proposes to rescind or to amend. The
same is true of the motion to Discharge a Committee (36).
3) The motion to Reconsider (37) is debatable only to the
extent that the motion proposed to be reconsidered is
debatable, and it opens the merits of that question to debate.
A motion to reconsider an undebatable motion is thus
undebatable.
Footnotes to Chapter
XII
1. In small boards and in committees, members generally need not rise to obtain the floor.
See 49:21(1).
2. For modification of these rules in large assemblies, see 42:16.
3. In a mass meeting, the chair’s decision in assigning the floor is not subject to appeal. In
a very large body other than a mass meeting, if the best interests of the assembly require
that the chair be given greater power in assigning the floor, a special rule that there shall
be no appeal from his decision in granting recognition can be adopted (see 2:14ff.; see
also, in regard to standing rules in a convention, 59:27ff.).
4. This rule reflects the traditional parliamentary principles. The House of Representatives
has a different rule which permits control of all time by a single member or the leaders of
the opposing sides of the question. The House rule also prevents members to whom
time has been yielded for debate from making motions. See form (f) in 15:19 and,
especially, the form discussed in 59:82–83.
5. Thus a member who has exhausted the number of speeches permitted him on a main
motion may still seek recognition to move its referral or amendment, for example. In such
a case the chair grants limited recognition by saying, “The member has exhausted his
right to debate. For what purpose does he rise?”
 CHAPTER
XIII

VOTING

§44. BASES FOR DETERMINING A VOTING

RESULT

Majority Vote—the Basic Requirement

44:1 As stated in 1:6, the basic requirement for approval of an
action or choice by a deliberative assembly, except where a
rule provides otherwise, is a majority vote. The word majority
means “more than half”; and when the term majority vote is
used without qualification—as in the case of the basic
requirement—it means more than half of the votes cast by
persons entitled to vote, excluding blanks or abstentions, at a
regular or properly called meeting. For example (assuming that
there are no voters having fractions of a vote, as may occur in
some conventions):
• If 19 votes are cast, a majority (more than 9½) is 10.
• If 20 votes are cast, a majority (more than 10) is 11.
• If 21 votes are cast, a majority (more than 10½) is 11.
44:2 Other bases for determining a voting result, as described
below, are required under parliamentary law for certain
procedures, or may be prescribed by the rules of the particular
body—for decisions in general or for questions of a specified
nature (see also 10:8(7)). Regardless of the basis required, a
decision can be validly made only when a quorum is present
(unless otherwise specified in the rules, as in the case of
certain procedural actions); see 40.
Two-Thirds Vote
44:3 A two-thirds vote—when the term is unqualified—means at
least two thirds of the votes cast by persons entitled to vote,
excluding blanks or abstentions, at a regular or properly called
meeting. For example (assuming that there are no fractions of
votes):
• If 30 votes are cast, a two-thirds vote is 20.
• If 31 votes are cast, a two-thirds vote is 21.
• If 32 votes are cast, a two-thirds vote is 22.
• If 33 votes are cast, a two-thirds vote is 22.
44:4 As a compromise between the rights of the individual and
the rights of the assembly, the principle has been established
that a two-thirds vote is required to adopt any motion that: (a)
suspends or modifies a rule of order previously adopted; (b)
prevents the introduction of a question for consideration; (c)
closes, limits, or extends the limits of debate; (d) closes
nominations or the polls, or otherwise limits the freedom of
nominating or voting; or (e) takes away membership. (For a list
of motions that require a two-thirds vote, see pages t48–t49.)
44:5 In determining whether a question has obtained two thirds
of the votes cast, the chair takes a rising vote (or, in a very
small assembly, if the chair prefers and no one objects, a vote
by show of hands), and it is the chair’s duty to obtain a count of
the vote whenever he is in doubt concerning the result.
44:6 The chair can obtain a count of the vote initially if it appears
—when those in the affirmative rise—that the result will be
close; or he can retake it as a counted rising vote if he is
afterward in doubt. In an assembly that has no special rule
permitting a small fraction (that is, a specified fraction
somewhat less than one third) of the voters to require a two-
thirds vote to be counted, the chair, in judging whether to
obtain a count of the vote at his own instance, must be
particularly careful to leave no room for anyone to doubt the
result in cases where he finds that there are two thirds on the
side that thereby prevails. Without a count at the chair’s
instance under these conditions, if he announces that a two-
thirds vote has been obtained and those on the losing side
doubt the result, they are powerless to have it verified should
those declared the winners choose to prevent a count. The
reason is that—whatever may be the true result in view of the
closeness of the vote in such a case—those declared the
losers are no more than approximately one third of those
voting, and therefore cannot command the majority necessary
to order the vote counted.
Modifications of Usual Bases for Decision
44:7 By modifying the concepts of a majority vote and a two-
thirds vote, other bases for determining a voting result can be
defined and are sometimes prescribed by rule. Two elements
enter into the definition of such bases for decision: (1) the
proportion that must concur—as a majority, two thirds, three
fourths, etc.; and (2) the set of members to which the
proportion applies—which (a) when not stated, is always the
number of members present and voting, but (b) can be
specified by rule as the number of members present, the total
membership, or some other grouping.
44:8 Assume, for example, that at a meeting of a society with a
total membership of 150 and a quorum of 10, there are 30
members present, of whom 25 participate in a given counted
vote (taken by rising, by show of hands, by roll call, or by
ballot). Then, with respect to that vote:
A majority is……13
A majority of the members present is……16
A majority of the entire membership is……76
A two-thirds vote is……17
A vote of two thirds of the members present is……20
A vote of two thirds of the entire membership is……100
44:9 Regarding these bases for determining a voting result, the
following points should be noted:
a) Voting requirements based on the number of members
present—a majority of those present, two thirds of those
present, etc.—while possible, are generally undesirable.
Since an abstention in such cases has the same effect as a
negative vote, these bases deny members the right to
maintain a neutral position by abstaining. For the same
 reason, members present who fail to vote through
indifference rather than through deliberate neutrality may
affect the result negatively. When such a vote is required,
however, the chair must count those present immediately
after the affirmative vote is taken, before any change can
take place in attendance. The negative vote is not taken,
since it is intrinsically irrelevant to determining whether the
motion is adopted. (See 4:35.)
b) A majority of the entire membership1 is a majority of the total
number of those who are members of the voting body at the
time of the vote. (Thus, in a society that has both a general
membership and an executive board, a “majority of the entire
membership” at a board meeting refers to a majority of the
membership of the board, not of the society.) In a convention
of delegates a majority of the entire membership means a
majority of the total number of convention members entitled
to vote as set forth in the official roll of voting members of the
convention (1:16, 59:25–26). The vote of a majority of the
entire membership is frequently an alternative to a
requirement of previous notice, and is required in order to
rescind and expunge from the minutes (see 35:13).
Otherwise, prescribing such a requirement is generally
unsatisfactory in an assembly of an ordinary society, since it
is likely to be impossible to get a majority of the entire
membership even to attend a given meeting, although in
certain instances it may be appropriate in conventions or in
permanent boards where the members are obligated to
attend the meetings.

44:10 Whenever it is desired that the basis for decision be other

than a majority vote or (where the normal rules of
parliamentary law require it) a two-thirds vote or a vote of a
majority of the entire membership, the desired basis should be
precisely defined in the bylaws or in a special rule of order.
Whatever voting basis is used, it is also possible to include a
requirement of previous notice for specified types of action.
Previous notice means that notice of intent to introduce the
proposal must be given at the preceding meeting (in which
case the notice can be oral), or in the call of the meeting at
which it is brought up (for a discussion of previous notice, see
10:44–51).
Plurality Vote
44:11 A plurality vote is the largest number of votes to be given
any candidate or proposition when three or more choices are
possible; the candidate or proposition receiving the largest
number of votes has a plurality. A plurality that is not a majority
never chooses a proposition or elects anyone to office except
by virtue of a special rule previously adopted. If such a rule is
to apply to the election of officers, it must be prescribed in the
bylaws. A rule that a plurality shall elect is unlikely to be in the
best interests of the average organization. In an international
or national society where the election is conducted by mail
ballot, a plurality is sometimes allowed to elect officers, with a
view to avoiding the delay and extra expense that would result
from additional balloting under these conditions. A better
method in such cases is for the bylaws to prescribe some form
of preferential voting (see 45:62–69).
Tie Votes and Cases in Which the Chair’s Vote
Affects the Result
44:12 If the presiding officer is a member of the assembly, he can
vote as any other member when the vote is by ballot (see also
45:28). In all other cases the presiding officer, if a member of
the assembly, can (but is not obliged to) vote whenever his
vote will affect the result—that is, he can vote either to break
or to cause a tie; or, in a case where a two-thirds vote is
required, he can vote either to cause or to block the attainment
of the necessary two thirds. In particular:
• On a tie vote, a motion requiring a majority vote for adoption
is lost, since a tie is not a majority. Thus, if there is a tie
without the chair’s vote, the presiding officer can, if he is a
member, vote in the affirmative, thereby causing the motion to
be adopted; or, if there is one more in the affirmative than in
the negative without the chair’s vote (for example, if there are
72 votes in favor and 71 opposed), he can vote in the
negative to create a tie, thus causing the motion to be
rejected.
• Similarly, in the case of a motion requiring a two-thirds vote,
if, without the chair’s vote, the number in the affirmative is
one less than twice the number in the negative (for example,
if there are 59 in the affirmative and 30 in the negative), the
chair, if a member, can vote in the affirmative and thus cause
the motion to be adopted; or, if there are exactly two thirds in
the affirmative without his vote (for example, if there are 60 in
the affirmative and 30 in the negative), the chair can vote in
the negative, with the result that the motion is rejected.2
Similarly, the chair’s vote might affect the result in cases
where a majority of the members can decide a question.
 The chair cannot vote twice, once as a member, then again in
his capacity as presiding officer.
44:13 In an appeal from the decision of the chair, a tie vote
sustains the chair’s decision, even though his vote created the
tie, on the principle that the decision of the chair can be
reversed only by a majority.
§45. VOTING PROCEDURE

Rights and Obligations in Voting

45:1 Voting Rights of a Member in Arrears. A member of a
society who is in arrears in payment of his dues, but who has
not been formally dropped from the membership rolls and is
not under a disciplinary suspension, retains the full rights of a
voting member and is entitled to vote except as the bylaws
may otherwise provide. (See also 1:13n3, 56:19.)
45:2 One Person, One Vote. It is a fundamental principle of
parliamentary law that each person who is a member of a
deliberative assembly is entitled to one—and only one—vote
on a question. This is true even if a person is elected or
appointed to more than one position, each of which would
entitle the holder to a vote. For example, in a convention, a
person selected as delegate by more than one constituent
body may cast only one vote. An individual member’s right to
vote may not be transferred to another person (for example, by
the use of proxies).
45:3 Right of Abstention. Although it is the duty of every member
who has an opinion on a question to express it by his vote, he
can abstain, since he cannot be compelled to vote. By the
same token, when an office or position is to be filled by a
number of members, as in the case of a committee, or
positions on a board, a member may partially abstain by voting
for less than all of those for whom he is entitled to vote.
45:4 Abstaining from Voting on a Question of Direct Personal
Interest. No member should vote on a question in which he
 has a direct personal or pecuniary interest not common to
other members of the organization. For example, if a motion
proposes that the organization enter into a contract with a
commercial firm of which a member of the organization is an
officer and from which contract he would derive personal
pecuniary profit, the member should abstain from voting on the
motion. However, no member can be compelled to refrain from
voting in such circumstances.
45:5 Voting on Questions Affecting Oneself. The rule on
abstaining from voting on a question of direct personal interest
does not mean that a member should not vote for himself for
an office or other position to which members generally are
eligible, or should not vote when other members are included
with him in a motion. If a member never voted on a question
affecting himself, it would be impossible for a society to vote to
hold a banquet, or for the majority to prevent a small minority
from preferring charges against them and suspending or
expelling them (61, 63).
45:6 Interruption of Votes. When a vote is being taken, no
interruption is permitted from the time that any member has
actually voted until all have presumably voted, unless as
sometimes occurs in ballot voting, other business is being
transacted during voting. For points of order regarding the
conduct of a vote, see below (45:9).
45:7 Rule Against Explanation by Members During Voting. A
member has no right to “explain his vote” during voting, which
would be the same as debate at such a time.
45:8 Changing One’s Vote. Except when the vote has been taken
by ballot (or some other method that provides secrecy), a
member has a right to change his vote up to the time the result
is announced but afterward can make the change only by the
 unanimous consent of the assembly requested and granted,
without debate, immediately following the chair’s
announcement of the result of the vote (see below).
45:9 Time Limits on Efforts to Challenge, Retake, or Change a
Vote. After the result of a vote has been announced, members
can still propose or demand certain actions that may change
the result. A member may raise a point of order regarding the
conduct of the vote, demand a division of the assembly, move
to retake the vote under another method, move for a
recapitulation of a roll-call vote, or request unanimous consent
to change his vote. With the exception of a point of order raised
against a breach of a continuing nature (23:6–9), if any of
these actions is to apply to a vote after the result has been
announced, it must be taken immediately after the chair’s
announcement, before any debate or business has intervened.
For example, it is too late to take these actions after any
member has been recognized and begun to speak in debate or
to give a report or presentation, or after the chair has stated the
question on a subsequently made motion, or after the chair has
begun to take the vote and any member has voted on another
motion that was pending. For the time limits on ordering that a
counted rising vote, a ballot, or a roll-call vote be recounted,
see the last sentence of 45:15; 45:41; and 45:54. See also
Contesting the Announced Result of an Election, 46:48–50.
45:10 Assembly’s Prerogative in Judging Voting Procedures.
The assembly itself is the judge of all questions arising that
are incidental to the voting or the counting of the votes. In an
election by ballot, for example, the tellers should refer to the
assembly for decision all questions on which there is any
uncertainty (see 45:33).
Regular Methods of Voting on Motions
45:11 In Chapter II are described the following methods of voting:
1) by voice (viva voce)—the normal method of voting on a
motion;
2) by rising—used in verifying an inconclusive voice vote, and
in voting on motions requiring a two-thirds vote for adoption;
and
3) by show of hands—an alternative method that can be used
in place of a rising vote in very small assemblies if no
member objects. In some small groups, a vote by show of
hands is also used in place of a voice vote as a normal
method of voting.
Paragraphs 4:34–57 should be read in connection with these
three methods of voting.
45:12 Also described in Chapter II is the procedure of action by
unanimous consent. Paragraphs 4:58–63 should be read in
reference to this method of transacting business.
45:13 A characteristic that the three methods of voting listed
above have in common is that in each case the chair calls first
for those voting in the affirmative to indicate the fact in a
specified manner (“say aye,” “rise,” or “raise the right hand”),
after which he calls for the negative vote, then judges and
declares which side prevails.

45:14 Verifying a Vote. In connection with the methods of voting by

voice, by rising, or by show of hands, as explained in Chapter
II, if the chair is in doubt on a voice vote or a vote by show of
hands, he should retake it as a rising vote and, if necessary to
satisfy himself of the result, he should obtain a count of it. Any
member, by demanding a Division (29), can require a voice
vote or a vote by show of hands to be retaken as a rising vote
 —but no individual member can compel it to be counted. If the
chair does not obtain a count at his own instance and a
member thinks one is desirable, that member should move
that the vote be counted. If this motion is seconded, the
question as to whether a count shall be ordered is voted on by
voice vote, or by an uncounted rising vote or show of hands.
Where no special rule has been adopted, a majority vote is
required to order a count. In organizations where it is desired
to allow less than a majority to order a count, a special rule of
order establishing the required vote should be adopted. Such
a rule is particularly desirable with reference to motions that
require a two-thirds vote for adoption (see also 44:5–6). It
should be noted that a vote is never retaken by the same form
of voting, although, in a counted rising vote, a ballot, or a roll
call, a recount of the votes or of the tellers’ tabulations can be
ordered to ensure that the count is precisely correct as
reported.
45:15 Method of Counting a Rising Vote. In small meetings, the
chair can take such a count himself—with or without directing
the secretary to make an independent count for verification. In
a large assembly, the chair should appoint tellers to take the
count. The count is taken by having those in the affirmative
rise and stand until counted, then having those in the negative
rise and stand until counted. The votes can also be counted by
having the members pass between tellers, or having them
count off by rows and be seated one at a time, although the
latter process is particularly subject to confusion if great care
is not exercised by the tellers. Those in the affirmative are
always counted first. In all but small assemblies, the doors
should be closed and no one should enter or leave the hall
while a count is being taken. The form used in taking a count
is as shown in 4:39. In a meeting small enough that each
 member present can make his own verification of a count on a
show of hands, the chair can take the count by this method, if
he prefers and no one objects. If written records are prepared
in counting the vote, such as tellers’ tally sheets, they are
subject to the same retention and recount rules as ballots
(45:41).

45:16 Voting Cards. Some organizations like to use a brightly

colored cardboard card, approximately three inches wide and
a foot long, in voting on most or all occasions by raising it
when asked to do so by the chair. The authorization of the use
of these devices in voting, however, depends on expected
conditions in the meeting. If the “voters’ cards” have been
distributed to the voters in advance, and the chair or a
member thinks a simple division vote (as described in 4:38) is
called for, the chair may say: “As many as are in favor of the
motion, raise your voters’ cards.… Down. Those opposed,
raise your voters’ cards. Down.…” If a count is desired,
however, the chair or the assembly must authorize the count
as in the case of a counted division (as described in 4:39; see
also 30, Motions Relating to Methods of Voting and the Polls).
If this method of voting is to be used, it must be authorized by
a special rule of order or, in a convention, by a convention
standing rule.
Other Methods of Voting
45:17 In contrast to the methods of voting mentioned in the
preceding subsection, the voting methods described below are
used only when expressly ordered by the assembly or
prescribed by its rules.

45:18 Voting by Ballot. Voting by ballot (also known as secret

ballot) is used when secrecy of the members’ votes is desired.
A ballot vote is a vote taken by instruments, such as slips of
paper or electronic devices,3 by which members can indicate
their choices without revealing how individual members have
voted. On a ballot vote in an election or other vote involving
multiple possible choices, members are able to write in or fill in
a vote for any eligible person or choice and are not confined to
voting for or against candidates that appear on the ballot.
45:19 The bylaws of the organization may prescribe that the vote
be by ballot in certain cases, as in the election of officers and
in admission to membership. Any vote related to charges or
proposed charges before or after a trial of a member or any
officer should always be by ballot. In cases in which there is no
requirement that a vote be by ballot, a ballot vote can be
ordered by a majority vote—which may be desirable whenever
it is believed that members may thereby be more likely to vote
their true sentiments.
45:20 When the bylaws require a vote to be taken by ballot, this
requirement cannot be suspended—even by a unanimous
vote—so as to take the vote by a nonsecret method. A vote
ordering a ballot vote on a particular question (see 30) can,
however, be reconsidered as long as the balloting has not yet
begun.
45:21 When a vote is to be taken, or has been taken, by ballot,
 whether or not the bylaws require that form of voting, no action
is in order that would force the disclosure of a member’s vote
or views on the matter. Applications of this rule arise with
regard to voting on motions to Postpone Indefinitely (30:5) and
the reconsideration of motions that have been previously
voted on by ballot (30:7). Likewise, a motion to make
unanimous a ballot vote that was not unanimous must itself be
voted on by ballot; even a single negative vote in such a case
defeats the motion.
45:22 Whenever a vote is to be taken by ballot, it is not in order to
move that one person—the secretary, for example—cast the
ballot of the assembly.
45:23 Unless another method is specified by an appropriate rule
or motion (see 45:42–43 regarding electronic or machine
voting), a ballot vote is taken on slips of paper on which the
voters mark their votes and is subject to the rules below.

45:24 Form of the ballot. A ballot can consist of simply a small slip
of paper on which the voter writes his choice in a manner
directed by the chair; but if it is known ahead of time that a
vote is to be by ballot and what the exact questions are, the
ballots should be prepared in advance for distribution at the
proper time. In such a case, each question to be voted on
appears on the ballot with a list of the possible answers beside
blank spaces or boxes, so that the voter can check the answer
he desires. Two or more questions can be listed on the same
sheet, provided that each is marked in such a way that there
can be no confusion, as illustrated below.
Indicate vote with X.
1. Shall the National Headquarters be moved to Thresher City?
Yes
No
2. Meeting place of next convention:
 Seattle
New Orleans
Other
(Fill in name)

45:25 In elections, “for” and “against” spaces or boxes may not be

used. They are applicable only with respect to votes on
motions. In an election, a voter can vote against one candidate
only by voting for another who has been nominated or by
writing in the name of another candidate.
45:26 Balloting procedure. In balloting in a meeting where the
voting is in the same room as the meeting, the chair appoints
tellers to distribute, collect, and count the ballots, and to report
the vote. The number of tellers is dependent on the number of
voters, and the number of offices to be filled or questions to be
answered, or the number of candidates. For a small group,
two or three tellers are usually sufficient. The tellers should be
chosen for accuracy and dependability, should have the
confidence of the membership, and should not have a direct
personal involvement in the question or in the result of the
vote to an extent that they should refrain from voting under the
principle stated in 45:4. Often their position with regard to the
issue involved is well known, however, and they are frequently
chosen to protect the interests of each opposing side. They
normally vote themselves.
45:27 To ensure accuracy and to enable the tellers when
unfolding the ballots to detect any error, each ballot should be
folded in a manner announced in advance or stated on the
ballot itself.
45:28 The presiding officer, if a member of the assembly, can
always vote in the case of a ballot at the time other members
do. Should he fail to vote before the polls are closed, he
cannot then do so without the permission of the assembly.
45:29 When the balloting is completed, the chair directs the
tellers to collect the ballots. In collecting the ballots, it is the
tellers’ responsibility to see that no member votes more than
once—for the assurance of which the assembly should adopt
some reasonable and orderly method. For example: (a) In
meetings where only voters are present, members can remain
in their seats and drop their ballots into a receptacle passed by
a teller, accompanied by another teller as watcher and
checker; (b) they can go to a central ballot box monitored by at
least two tellers and deposit their ballots; or (c) they can hand
their ballots to a teller—who judges by the thickness and feel
of the paper that only one ballot is being cast, and who
deposits them in a central ballot box. Whatever method of
collecting the ballots is followed, it—like other details relating
to voting—should be fixed by rule or custom in the
organization and should not be subject to haphazard variation
from occasion to occasion.
45:30 After all have voted who wish to, the polls can be closed on
the motion of a member by a two-thirds vote (30); but it is
usually best to rely on the chair to close the polls. When
everyone appears to have voted, the chair inquires, “Have all
voted who wish to do so?” If there is no response, he says, “If
no one else wishes to vote… [pause], the polls are closed,”
thus in effect declaring the polls closed by unanimous consent.
Thereafter, if other members arrive who wish to vote, a
majority vote is required to reopen the polls (30). The tellers
proceed to count the ballots—in a secluded location or in
another room if the meeting proceeds to other business during
the counting. Some small organizations have a custom that
ballots are counted in full presence of the meeting.
45:31 Recording the votes. In recording the votes cast, the
principle followed is that a choice has no mandate from the
 voting body unless approval is expressed by more than half of
those entitled to vote and registering any evidence of having
some preference. Accordingly, the tellers ignore blank ballots
and other ballots that indicate no preference, treating them as
abstentions. (Blank ballots are sometimes cast by members to
conceal the fact that they do not wish to vote.)
45:32 All ballots that indicate a preference—provided they have
been cast by persons entitled to vote—are taken into account
in determining the number of votes cast for purposes of
computing the majority. Each such ballot is credited to the
voter’s preferred candidate or choice if the meaning of the
ballot is clear and the choice is valid. Unintelligible ballots or
ballots cast for an unidentifiable or ineligible candidate are
treated instead as illegal votes—that is, they are counted as
votes cast but are not credited to any candidate or choice.
Similarly, a ballot that contains votes for too many candidates
for a given office is counted as one illegal vote cast for that
office, because it is not possible for the tellers to determine
which candidate(s) the voter prefers.
45:33 Technical errors, like the misspelling of a word or name, do
not make a vote illegal if the meaning of the ballot is clear. If
the meaning of one or more ballots is doubtful, they can be
treated as illegal if it is impossible for them to affect the result;
but if they may affect the result, the tellers report them to the
chair, who immediately submits to the assembly the question
of how these ballots should be recorded. When reporting
doubtful ballots, the tellers must be careful whenever possible
not to show how the decision would affect any of the
candidates.
45:34 If, in unfolding the ballots, it is found that two or more filled-
out ballots are folded together, they are recorded as illegal
votes—that is, each set of ballots folded together is reported
as one illegal vote, and is not credited. On the other hand, a
 blank ballot folded in with one that is properly filled out is
ignored and does not cause the rejection of the ballot with
which it was folded.
45:35 If one or more ballots are identifiable as cast by persons
not entitled to vote, these ballots are excluded in determining
the number of votes cast for purposes of computing the
majority. If there is evidence that any unidentifiable ballots
were cast by persons not entitled to vote, and if there is any
possibility that such ballots might affect the result, the entire
ballot vote is null and void, and a new ballot vote must be
taken.
45:36 On a ballot containing several questions or several
independent offices or positions to be filled, each section of
the ballot—that is, each portion that contains one question or
position to be filled, or one group of identical positions (such
as on a board or committee) to be filled—is treated for all
purposes as if it were a separate ballot, which is counted in
accordance with the rules given above. Therefore, the number
of votes cast for purposes of computing the majority must be
tallied independently for each section. So, too, if a member
leaves one or more of the sections blank, the blank sections in
no way affect the validity of the sections that are filled; nor do
illegal votes on one section affect the validity of the remaining
sections. Likewise, the folding together of two or more ballots
that contain multiple sections creates an illegal vote only for
each section that is filled out on more than one of the folded-
together ballots. (Regarding the election of members of a
board or committee in which votes are cast for several
identical positions on one section of the ballot, see also 46:33–
34.)
45:37 Tellers’ report and the chair’s declaration of the result.
The chairman of tellers, standing, addresses the chair, reads
 the tellers’ report, and hands it to the chair without declaring
the result. In the case of an election, the report follows this
form:

TELLERS’ REPORT
Number of votes cast……97
Necessary for election (majority)……49
Mr. Miller received……51
Mr. Wilson received……24
Mr. Strong received……14
Illegal Votes
Mr. Friend (ineligible)……7
Two ballots for
Mr. Wilson folded together, rejected……1

45:38 In the case of balloting on a motion, the tellers’ report is as

follows:

TELLERS’ REPORT
Number of votes cast……102
Necessary for adoption (majority)……52
Votes for motion……69
Votes against……32
Illegal votes
Two ballots against, folded together, rejected……1

45:39 The tellers’ report does not include the number of members
eligible to vote nor the number abstaining. In a local society or
other body in which membership continues on a long-term
basis, only the officer responsible for maintaining the
membership roll, and in a convention only an immediate
updated report of the credentials committee, can validly
determine the number of members eligible to vote if this figure
becomes needed. The reporting teller never declares the
result of a ballot vote. The result is always declared by the
 chair, who also reads the tellers’ report before he does so. In
an election, the chair separately declares the election of each
officer (see also 46). In balloting on a motion, the chair
announces the result.
45:40 The tellers’ report is entered in full in the minutes,
becoming a part of the official records of the organization.
Under no circumstances may this be omitted in an election or
in a vote on a critical motion out of a mistaken deference to
the feelings of unsuccessful candidates or members of the
losing side.
45:41 After completion of an election or balloting on a motion,
unless the voting body adopts an incidental main motion
directing otherwise, the tellers place the ballots and tally
sheets in the custody of the secretary, who keeps them under
seal until the time within which a recount may be ordered
expires, and then destroys them. A recount may be ordered by
the voting body, by a majority vote, at the same session at
which the voting result was announced, or at the next regular
session if that session is held within a quarterly time interval
(see 9:7). A recount may also be ordered at a special session
properly called for that purpose, if held within a quarterly time
interval of the session at which the voting result was
announced and before the next regular session. A motion to
order a recount after the vote has just been taken or
announced is an incidental motion (see 30); if the motion is
made at a later time, it is an incidental main motion.
45:42 Electronic or Machine Voting. In many organizations—
especially in those comprising hundreds of voters—the
process of verifying and counting votes is greatly simplified by
the use of electronic or mechanical voting devices, such as
handheld keypads or standalone voting machines. The use of
such devices to conduct voting may be directed by a special
 rule of order or convention standing rule or, for a particular
vote, by a motion relating to methods of voting and the polls
(30). Their use to fulfill a ballot requirement in the bylaws may
be directed in the same manner, provided that the devices
meet the criteria for a ballot vote as stated in 45:18. Members
must be able to indicate their choices without revealing how
they have voted. If the devices are to be used for an election,
provision must be made to allow voters to cast write-in votes.
If the devices are to be used to conduct voting on several
questions or several independent offices simultaneously, then
they must be programmed to allow the number of votes cast
for purposes of computing the majority to be tallied
independently for each question or office (see 45:36).
45:43 Where such devices are to be used, the following
considerations are important:
• Preparations for the meeting should be made in consultation
with the person in charge of installing the devices and
overseeing their use, so that all adjustments required by the
particular conditions of the meeting can be provided for.
• Persons who are to tend the devices during voting must be
carefully instructed in their duties, and must be able to
explain the use of the devices to voters.
• If there are likely to be many voters who have never used the
devices, it may be advisable to have a device available for
the voters’ inspection on a day previous to the meeting or to
conduct a practice vote at the start of the meeting.
45:44 For the use of electronic devices in place of a roll-call vote,
see 45:55.
45:45 Roll-Call Vote. Taking a vote by roll call (or by yeas and nays,
as it is also called) has the effect of placing on the record how
each member, or sometimes each delegation, votes; therefore,
 it has exactly the opposite effect of a ballot vote. It is usually
confined to representative bodies, where the proceedings are
published, since it enables constituents to know how their
representatives voted on certain measures. It should not be
used in a mass meeting or in any assembly whose members
are not responsible to a constituency.
45:46 Ordering a roll-call vote. In a representative body, if there is
no legal or constitutional provision specifying the size of the
minority that can order a roll-call vote, the body should adopt a
rule fixing the size of such a minority—for example, one fifth of
those present, as in Congress, or some other portion of those
present that is less than a majority. In the absence of such a
special rule, a majority vote is required to order the taking of a
vote by roll call—in which case a motion to do so is likely to be
useless, since its purpose is to force the majority to go on
record. In local societies having a large membership but
relatively small attendance at meetings, a motion to take a
vote by roll call is generally dilatory. It is in order, as one of the
Motions Relating to Methods of Voting, however, to move “that
a signed ballot be taken by tellers”; and if such a vote is
ordered, the voter writes “yes” or “no” on the ballot and signs
it. The votes can be recorded in the minutes just as a roll call
would be, but the names of all members need not be called. A
roll-call vote cannot be ordered in committee of the whole.
45:47 Procedure for roll-call vote. When a vote is to be taken by
roll call (see 30 for the motion), the chair puts the question in a
form like the following:
CHAIR: As many as are in favor of the adoption of the resolution will,
as their names are called, answer aye [or “yes,” or “yea”]; those
opposed will answer no [or “nay”]. The Secretary [or “the Clerk”] will
call the roll.
45:48 The roll is called in alphabetical order except that the
presiding officer’s name is called last, and only when his vote
will affect the result. It is too late, after one person has
answered to the roll call, to renew the debate. Each member,
as his name is called, responds in the affirmative or negative
as shown above. If he does not wish to vote, he answers
present (or abstain). If he is not ready to vote, but wishes to be
called on again after the roll has been completely called, he
answers pass.
45:49 The secretary repeats each member’s name and answer
aloud as it is given and notes the answers to the roll call in
separate columns. A convenient method of noting the answers
is to write the number 1 to the left of the name of the first
member answering in the affirmative, the number 2 to the left
of the second name in the affirmative, and so on. The negative
answers are treated similarly in a column to the right of the
names; and those answering present are tallied in a third
column, to the far right or left. In this way, the last number in
each column shows how the vote stands at any given point in
the list.
45:50 At the conclusion of the roll call, the names of those who
failed to answer can be called again, or the chair can ask if
anyone entered the room after his or her name was called.
Each of these members who then responds can be assigned
the final number for his or her vote or abstention in the proper
column, continuing from the last number previously in the
column, although the member’s number will appear in a
position out of sequence. Changes of vote are also permitted
at this time, before the result is announced. When this
happens, the number beside the member’s name is struck
through, the total for that column is adjusted accordingly, and
the next, final number in the proper column is entered.
Changes of vote may be limited when some electronic
 equipment is used.
45:51 The secretary gives the final number of those voting on
each side, and the number answering present, to the chair,
who announces these figures and declares the result. The
chair, at his or her discretion, may direct, or the assembly may
order (see 30), a “recapitulation”—a procedure in which the
secretary calls out the names, first, of the members who voted
in the affirmative, second, of the members who voted in the
negative, and third, of the members who answered present,
with the chair calling for any necessary corrections to each
category after the names in that category have been called.
45:52 In roll-call voting, a record of how each member voted, as
well as the result of the vote, is entered in full in the journal or
minutes. If those responding to the roll call do not total a
sufficient number to constitute a quorum, the chair must direct
the secretary to enter the names of enough members who are
present but not voting to reflect the attendance of a quorum
during the vote.
45:53 In large conventions, the roll is sometimes called of entire
delegations rather than of the individual members. The
secretary, in calling for the votes of a delegation, states the
vote entitlement, as: “Local No. 145: 8 votes.” In such cases,
the chairman or spokesman of each delegation, as it is called
in alphabetical or numerical order, responds by giving its vote,
as: “Local No. 145 votes 5 ‘for’ and 3 ‘against.’” The secretary
repeats this for confirmation and calls the next delegation. If
any member of the assembly doubts the chairman’s
announcement of the delegation’s vote, he may demand a poll
of the delegation, in which case each delegate’s name is
called by the secretary, and the delegation votes individually.
When all delegates have voted, the secretary announces the
totals for the delegation, which are recorded.
45:54 The same rules concerning the custody and preservation of
 tally sheets and the authority of the voting body to order a
recount that govern ballot votes (see 45:41) apply to a roll-call
vote.

45:55 Electronic roll-call vote installation. Various forms of

electronic devices have become available to take the place of
a roll-call vote. Any deliberative body can use such a system
with appropriate adjustments to conform as closely as possible
with the rules given above for roll-call voting procedure. When
used, there is usually a presumption of technical, mechanical
accuracy of the electronic system if properly used by the
members. Changes of votes after the result has been
announced by the chair on the allegation of machine error are
not entertained. On the same grounds, a recapitulation (see
45:51) is not permitted. Where electronic voting is used, it
should be noted that, if it is impossible to erect a display board
in the hall, members of the same delegation will not be able to
ascertain how other members of the delegation vote. Also,
steps must be taken to prevent members from being able to
vote more than once by using a neighbor’s keypad, or a
member lending his keypad to a friend so that the friend can
vote for him in his absence by “proxy.”
45:56 Absentee Voting. It is a fundamental principle of
parliamentary law that the right to vote is limited to the
members of an organization who are actually present at the
time the vote is taken in a regular or properly called meeting,
although it should be noted that a member need not be
present when the question is put. Exceptions to this rule must
be expressly stated in the bylaws. Such possible exceptions
include: (a) voting by postal mail, e-mail, or fax, and (b) proxy
voting. An organization should never adopt a bylaw permitting
a question to be decided by a voting procedure in which the
votes of persons who attend a meeting are counted together
 with ballots mailed in by absentees. The votes of those
present could be affected by debate, by amendments, and
perhaps by the need for repeated balloting, while those absent
would be unable to adjust their votes to reflect these factors.
Consequently, the absentee ballots would in most cases be on
a somewhat different question than that on which those
present were voting, leading to confusion, unfairness, and
inaccuracy in determining the result. If there is a possibility of
any uncertainty about who will be entitled to vote, this should
be spelled out unambiguously and strictly enforced to avoid
unfairness in close votes.
45:57 A Vote by Mail. A vote by mail, when authorized in the
bylaws, is generally reserved for important issues, such as an
amendment to the bylaws or an election of officers—on which
a full vote of the membership is desirable even though only a
small fraction of the members normally attend meetings.
Situations of this kind frequently occur in scientific societies or
in alumni associations whose members may be in many
countries.
45:58 For a vote by mail—so that there may be no question of the
result in the event that the vote is close—it is important that
the mailing list used exactly correspond to the current official
roll of voting members. For this purpose, the secretary
furnishes to the chairman of tellers or other official in charge of
issuing the ballots a list of the names and mailing addresses of
record of all persons entitled to vote, which the secretary
certifies as corrected to the date as of which the ballots are
issued. Each nominee may be allowed to furnish for enclosure
with the ballots a brief factual statement of his service and
qualifications, provided that all nominees are accorded equal
opportunity and space.
45:59 If the vote is not to be secret, the following items should be
 sent to each qualified voter: (1) a printed ballot containing a
space for the voter’s signature, to ensure against votes being
cast by persons not entitled to vote, together with full
instructions for marking and returning by the required date;
and (2) a specially recognizable, self-addressed return
envelope with the name and address of the secretary, the
chairman of tellers, or other person designated to receive the
marked ballot. E-mail and other means of electronic
communication can be tailored to comply with these
requirements.
45:60 If the vote is to be secret, an inner return envelope—with a
space for the voter’s signature placed on its face instead of on
the ballot—should be sent to the voter with the ballot, in
addition to the self-addressed outer return envelope described
above. The ballot sent to the voter should be prefolded a
sufficient number of times so that—when returned marked and
refolded in the same manner and sealed in the inner envelope
—there will be no chance of accidental observance of the
member’s vote by the teller who removes the ballot from the
inner envelope. The person designated as addressee for the
returned ballots holds them in the outer envelopes for delivery,
unopened, at the meeting of the tellers where the votes are to
be counted. At that meeting all inner envelopes are first
removed from the outer envelopes. In the procedure by which
the tellers remove the ballots from the inner envelopes, each
envelope and ballot is handled in the following manner: (1) the
signature on the envelope is checked against the list of
qualified voters; (2) the voter is checked off on the list as
having voted; and (3) the envelope is opened and the ballot is
removed and placed, still folded, into a receptacle. When all
inner envelopes have thus been processed, the ballots are
taken from the receptacle and the votes are counted.
45:61 In order to ensure the accuracy and the secrecy of such a
 vote by mail, special care should be taken in all phases of
handling the ballots. The chairman of tellers or other person
responsible must be able to certify the results from both of
these standpoints. Should the recipient of the ballots receive
two evidently sent in by the same voter, the above procedure
permits the voter to be contacted for a determination of which
is the voter’s true vote and, if both are, which (the most recent)
is to be counted. As with respect to nonsecret ballots, e-mail
and other means of electronic communication may be able to
be tailored to comply with the above requirements for secret
mail balloting.
45:62 Preferential voting. The term preferential voting refers to any
of a number of voting methods by which, on a single ballot
when there are more than two possible choices, the second or
less-preferred choices of voters can be taken into account if
no candidate or proposition attains a majority. While it is more
complicated than other methods of voting in common use and
is not a substitute for the normal procedure of repeated
balloting until a majority is obtained, preferential voting is
especially useful and fair in an election by mail if it is
impractical to take more than one ballot. In such cases it
makes possible a more representative result than under a rule
that a plurality shall elect. It can be used with respect to the
election of officers only if expressly authorized in the bylaws.
45:63 Preferential voting has many variations. One method is
described here by way of illustration. On the preferential ballot
—for each office to be filled or multiple-choice question to be
decided—the voter is asked to indicate the order in which he
prefers all the candidates or propositions, placing the numeral
1 beside his first preference, the numeral 2 beside his second
preference, and so on for every possible choice. In counting
the votes for a given office or question, the ballots are
 arranged in piles according to the indicated first preferences—
one pile for each candidate or proposition. The number of
ballots in each pile is then recorded for the tellers’ report.
These piles remain identified with the names of the same
candidates or propositions throughout the counting procedure
until all but one are eliminated as described below. If more
than half of the ballots show one candidate or proposition
indicated as first choice, that choice has a majority in the
ordinary sense and the candidate is elected or the proposition
is decided upon. But if there is no such majority, candidates or
propositions are eliminated one by one, beginning with the
least popular, until one prevails, as follows:
45:64 The ballots in the thinnest pile—that is, those containing
the name designated as first choice by the fewest number of
voters—are redistributed into the other piles according to the
names marked as second choice on these ballots. The
number of ballots in each remaining pile after this distribution
is again recorded. If more than half of the ballots are now in
one pile, that candidate or proposition is elected or decided
upon. If not, the next least popular candidate or proposition is
similarly eliminated, by taking the thinnest remaining pile and
redistributing its ballots according to their second choices into
the other piles, except that, if the name eliminated in the last
distribution is indicated as second choice on a ballot, that
ballot is placed according to its third choice. Again the number
of ballots in each existing pile is recorded, and, if necessary,
the process is repeated—by redistributing each time the
ballots in the thinnest remaining pile, according to the marked
second choice or most-preferred choice among those not yet
eliminated—until one pile contains more than half of the
ballots, the result being thereby determined.
45:65 The tellers’ report consists of a table listing all candidates
or propositions, with the number of ballots that were in each
 pile after each successive distribution.
45:66 If a ballot having one or more names not marked with any
numeral comes up for placement at any stage of the counting
and all of its marked names have been eliminated, it is not
placed in any pile, but instead is set aside. If at any point two
or more candidates or propositions are tied for the least
popular position, the ballots in their piles are redistributed in a
single step, all of the tied names being treated as eliminated.
In the event of a tie in the winning position—which would imply
that the elimination process is continued until the ballots are
reduced to two or more equal piles—the election is resolved in
favor of the candidate or proposition that was strongest in
terms of first choices (by referring to the record of the first
distribution).
45:67 If more than one person is to be elected to the same type
of office—for example, if three members of a board are to be
chosen—the voters can indicate their order of preference
among the names in a single list of candidates, just as if only
one was to be elected. The counting procedure is the same as
described above, except that it is continued until all but the
necessary number of candidates have been eliminated (that
is, in the example, all but three).
45:68 When this or any other system of preferential voting is to be
used, the voting and counting procedure must be precisely
established in advance and should be prescribed in detail. The
members must be thoroughly instructed as to how to mark the
ballot, and should have sufficient understanding of the
counting process to enable them to have confidence in the
method. Sometimes, for instance, voters decline to indicate a
second or other choice, mistakenly believing that such a
course increases the chances of their first choice. In fact, it
may prevent any candidate from receiving a majority and
require the voting to be repeated. The persons selected as
 tellers must perform their work with particular care.
45:69 The system of preferential voting just described should not
be used in cases where it is possible to follow the normal
procedure of repeated balloting until one candidate or
proposition attains a majority. Although this type of preferential
ballot is preferable to an election by plurality, it affords less
freedom of choice than repeated balloting, because it denies
voters the opportunity of basing their second or lesser choices
on the results of earlier ballots, and because the candidate or
proposition in last place is automatically eliminated and may
thus be prevented from becoming a compromise choice.
45:70 Proxy Voting. A proxy is a power of attorney given by one
person to another to vote in his stead; the term also
designates the person who holds the power of attorney. Proxy
voting is not permitted in ordinary deliberative assemblies
unless the laws of the state in which the society is
incorporated require it, or the charter or bylaws of the
organization provide for it. Ordinarily it should neither be
allowed nor required, because proxy voting is incompatible
with the essential characteristics of a deliberative assembly in
which membership is individual, personal, and
nontransferable. In a stock corporation, on the other hand,
where the ownership is transferable, the voice and vote of the
member also is transferable, by use of a proxy. But in a
nonstock corporation, where membership is usually on the
same basis as in an unincorporated, voluntary association,
voting by proxy should not be permitted unless the state’s
corporation law—as applying to nonstock corporations—
absolutely requires it.
45:71 If the law under which an organization is incorporated
allows proxy voting to be prohibited by a provision of the
bylaws, the adoption of this book as parliamentary authority by
 prescription in the bylaws should be treated as sufficient
provision to accomplish that result (cf. 56:49n1).
45:72 Straw Polls Not in Order. A motion to take an informal straw
poll to “test the water” is not in order because it neither adopts
nor rejects a measure and hence is meaningless and dilatory.
If the assembly wishes to discuss and take a vote on a matter
without the vote constituting final action by the assembly, it
may instead vote to go into a committee of the whole or a
quasi committee of the whole (52). Under these procedures,
the assembly considers the matter as would a committee, and
its vote while in committee of the whole (or quasi committee of
the whole) serves only as a recommendation to the assembly,
which the assembly is free to reject just as would be the case
with regard to the report of any ordinary committee.
Footnotes to Chapter
XIII
1. In the case of a body having a fixed membership—for example, a permanent board—it
is also possible to define a voting requirement as a majority of the fixed membership,
which is greater than a majority of the entire membership if there are vacancies on the
board. Thus, in a board whose membership is fixed at 12, if 2 members have died and
their successors have not been named, a majority of the entire membership is 6, and a
majority of the fixed membership is 7. Where a majority of the fixed membership is
required for a decision, the body cannot act if half or more of the membership positions
are vacant.
2. It should be noted that if, without the chair’s vote, the number of negative votes is one
more than half the number of affirmative votes, the chair’s vote cannot affect the result.
Thus, if there are 60 in the affirmative and 31 in the negative without the chair’s vote, and
he were to vote in the affirmative, the resulting 61 in the affirmative would still fall short of
two thirds of the total vote of 92.
3. In some organizations—particularly secret societies—the use of black and white balls,
deposited in a box out of sight of all but the voter, with a white ball signifying a yes vote
and a black one a no vote, may be directed as a method of balloting. This method is
used principally on voting on the admission of candidates to membership where one or
very few negative votes are to be sufficient to cause a candidate’s rejection. This custom,
however, is apparently declining.
 CHAPTER
XIV

NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

§46. NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

Nominations
46:1 A nomination is, in effect, a proposal to fill the blank in an
assumed motion “that be elected” to the specified
position. In choosing someone to fill an office or other elective
position in a society or assembly, a more effective freedom of
choice is maintained through the practice of nominating
persons for the office, rather than moving that a given person
be elected as in the older British procedure. Hence, a form of
ballot on which provision is made for voting “for” or “against” a
candidate or candidates, as distinguished from a motion, is not
proper. Since such a ballot is improper, in order to defeat a
candidate for an office it is necessary to vote for an opposing
candidate, thus avoiding the anomaly of an assembly refusing
to elect anyone to an office.
46:2 Strictly speaking, nominations are not necessary when an
election is by ballot or roll call, since each member is free to
vote for any eligible person, whether he has been nominated or
not. In most societies, however, it is impractical to proceed to
 an election without first making nominations. While members
are always free to “write in,” on a ballot, the name of an eligible
person who has not been nominated, or to vote for an eligible
non-nominee during a roll-call vote, under normal conditions it
is likely that most members will confine their choice to the
nominees. Without nominations, voting might have to be
repeated many times before a candidate achieved the required
majority.
46:3 Methods of nomination are: (a) by the chair; (b) from the
floor (sometimes called “open nominations”); (c) by a
committee; (d) by ballot; (e) by mail; and (f) by petition. If no
method of nominating has been specified in the bylaws and if
the assembly has adopted no rule on the subject, any member
can make a motion prescribing the method (31).
46:4 As the following descriptions of the six methods of
nomination indicate, not all of them are appropriate or desirable
in average societies. The order in which they are listed
corresponds to that in which they would be voted on if all six
were proposed in motions prescribing the method of
nomination.
46:5 Nominations by the Chair. At a mass meeting it is a common
practice to have the chairman nominated by the person who
was designated to call the meeting to order, but an organized
society should adopt other methods of nominating for office.
The chair, however, can make nominations for committee
membership and similar positions (an exception being made in
the case of the nominating committee), as may be provided in
the bylaws or by the adoption of a motion.
46:6 Nominations from the Floor. Under the procedure of
nominations from the floor, the chair calls for nominations at
the time established by rule or custom of the organization or
assembly—which may be while the election is pending or
 earlier, but in any case is subsequent to the report of the
nominating committee if there is such a committee. Unless the
bylaws or a special rule of order provides otherwise, the chair
must call for further nominations at the session at which the
election is held even if nominations were called for at a
previous session. A member need not be recognized by the
chair to make a nomination unless he or she wishes to speak
in debate on it at the same time (see 46:27–29). In a large
meeting or convention a member should rise when making a
nomination from the floor, but in small assemblies nominations
frequently are made by members from their seats. No second
is required, but sometimes one or more members will second a
nomination to indicate endorsement. Where more than one
person is to be elected to an office, such as to a board of
directors or trustees, or to a position, such as to a committee,
no one may nominate more than one person for the office or
position, if an objection is made, until every member wishing to
nominate has had an opportunity to do so. In no event may a
member nominate more persons than there are places to fill.
46:7 The same person can be nominated for more than one
office, even if voting for all offices is to take place at the same
time on a single ballot. If one person is elected to more than
one office under these conditions, the case is resolved as
described in the second paragraph of 46:31(1).
46:8 If there is no nominating committee and nominations are to
be from the floor, the chair calls for them by saying, for
example, “Nominations are now in order for the office of
President.” If there is a nominating committee, the chair calls
for nominations as shown in 46:19. When the presiding officer
has called for nominations from the floor, a member rises and
makes a nomination as follows:

MEMBER: I nominate Mr. A. [Or, in a large assembly, “Mr. President, I

 nominate Mr. A.”]
CHAIR: Mr. A is nominated. Are there any further nominations [or “any
further nominations for the office of President”]?

The chair repeats each nomination in this way until all

nominations for the office have been made. (For the procedure
for closing nominations, see 46:20.) Nominations for the
different offices are thus called for in the order in which the
offices are listed in the bylaws.
46:9 Nominations by a Committee. In the election of officers of an
ordinary society, nominations often are made by a nominating
committee. Usually in such cases a nominating committee is
chosen in advance to submit nominations for the various
offices for which elections are to be held at the annual meeting.
46:10 Designation of the nominating committee. The nominating
committee should be elected by the organization wherever
possible, or else by its executive board. Although in organizing
a new society it may be feasible for the chair to appoint the
nominating committee, in an organized society the president
should not appoint this committee or be a member of it—ex
officio or otherwise. The bylaws may provide that “the
President shall appoint all committees except the Nominating
Committee…” and that “the President shall be ex officio a
member of all committees except the Nominating
Committee…”; the exception should not be omitted in either
case.
46:11 Nominees. Although it is not common for the nominating
committee to nominate more than one candidate for any office,
the committee can do so unless the bylaws prohibit it. It is
usually not sound to require the committee to nominate more
than one candidate for each office, since the committee can
easily circumvent such a provision by nominating only one
 person who has any chance of being elected (see also 56:25).
46:12 Members of the nominating committee are not barred from
becoming nominees for office themselves. To make such a
requirement would mean, first, that service on the nominating
committee carried a penalty by depriving its members of one
of their privileges; and second, that appointment or election to
the nominating committee could be used to prevent a member
from becoming a nominee.
46:13 It is desirable policy for the nominating committee, before
making its report, to contact each person whom it wishes to
nominate, in order to obtain his acceptance of nomination—
that is, his assurance that he will serve in the specified office if
elected. The bylaws can make such a practice mandatory.

46:14 Report of the nominating committee. The time at which the

nominating committee’s report is made is a matter to be
determined by rule or established custom of the particular
organization—depending on its own conditions. In some
societies this report is not formally presented to the voting
body until the election is pending; but in any organization
where advance interest in the election may develop, the
nominations submitted by the committee should be made
known to the membership earlier. These nominations can be
sent to all members, for example, several days before the
regular meeting—usually the election meeting itself—at which
the chair calls for additional nominations from the floor (see
below). The report should always be formally presented at a
regular meeting, even if the names of the committee’s
nominees have been transmitted to the members of the
society beforehand. Sometimes—in societies that hold
frequent regular meetings—the nominating committee’s report
is presented at the regular meeting preceding the annual
meeting (9) at which the election is to take place.
46:15 When the nominating committee is called upon for its report
at a meeting, its chairman rises and presents the report as
follows:

NOMINATING COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Mr. President, the

Nominating Committee submits the following nominations: For
President, Mr. A [or “John A”]; for Vice-President, Mr. B; for
Secretary, Mr. C;… [and so on for each office to be filled, naming the
nominees in the order in which the offices are listed in the bylaws].

46:16 A minority within a nominating committee, as a group, may

propose other nominees for some or all of the offices in any
case where nominations from the floor are permitted.
46:17 A nominating committee is automatically discharged when
its report is formally presented to the assembly, although if one
of the nominees withdraws before the election, the committee
is revived and should meet immediately to agree upon another
nomination if there is time.
46:18 Call by the chair for further nominations from the floor.
After the nominating committee has presented its report and
before voting for the different offices takes place, the chair
must call for further nominations from the floor. This is another
stage of nomination and election procedure for which a
number of details should be established by rule or custom of
the particular organization. In many organizations,
nominations from the floor are called for immediately after the
presentation of the nominating committee’s report—while the
election is pending or earlier. Note that the chair must call for
further nominations at the session at which the election is held
even if nominations from the floor were called for at a previous
session. When the calling for nominations from the floor is
about to begin, if some time has elapsed since the
presentation of the nominating committee’s report, the
 complete list of the committee’s nominations should be read
again before further nominations are called for. In any case, if
the nominating committee has for any reason failed to make
its report at the appropriate time, this does not prevent the
assembly from proceeding to nominations from the floor.
46:19 In some organizations all nominations from the floor are
completed and nominations are closed for each office before
voting for any office takes place. In other organizations, when
nominations for one office have been completed, votes are
cast for that office and the result is announced before the chair
calls for nominations for the next office (see also 46:31). If the
organization has no rule on the subject, a custom based on its
own conditions may determine which of the two procedures is
used (see 2:25) or this may be decided by a motion (31). In
either case, the different offices are taken in the order in which
they are listed in the bylaws. The chair, as he calls for
nominations, first repeats the name that was submitted by the
nominating committee, thus:

CHAIR: For President, Mr. A is nominated by the Nominating

Committee. Are there any further nominations for President? [If a
member nominates another person, the chair repeats the name of
that nominee.] Mr. N is nominated. Are there any further
nominations?

46:20 When it appears that no one else wishes to make a

nomination, the chair again asks if there are any further
nominations; and if there is no response, he normally declares
that nominations (for that office) are closed, without waiting for
a motion to that effect, as follows:

CHAIR: Are there any further nominations for President?… [Pause.] If

not… [pause], nominations are closed. [Or, “Without objection,…
nominations are closed.”]
 (For use of the motion to close nominations, which requires a
two-thirds vote, see 31.) After nominations have been closed,
they can be reopened by a majority vote.
46:21 After nominations have been closed, voting for that office
takes place, or nominations for the next office are called for by
the chair, depending on the procedure being followed by the
particular organization.
46:22 Nominations by Ballot. The object of a nominating ballot is to
provide the members with an indication of the sentiments of
the voting body, which they may take into account in voting in
the election. The value of the nominating ballot is that it shows
the preferences without electing anyone. The nominating
ballot is conducted in the same way as an ordinary electing
ballot except that everyone receiving a vote is nominated; the
tellers’ report, therefore, does not state the number of votes
necessary for nomination. Since each member has the
opportunity to nominate on his ballot a candidate for every
office, he does not have the right then to make nominations
from the floor, unless the assembly by a majority vote
authorizes such nominations.
46:23 Impropriety of making the nominating ballot the electing
ballot. Sometimes a motion is made to declare the nominating
ballot the electing ballot. Such action negates all the
advantages of a nominating ballot and is, in effect, the same
as having an electing ballot without any nominations. If there is
to be only one ballot, it should be the electing ballot, with
nominations from the floor, or by a nominating committee and
from the floor. A nominating ballot cannot take the place of an
electing ballot in an organization whose bylaws require
elections to be held by ballot.
46:24 Impropriety of limiting voting in the election to the two
 leading candidates. In some organizations using the
nominating ballot, an attempt is made to limit the voting on the
electing ballot to the two nominees for each office receiving
the highest number of votes on the nominating ballot. This—or
any attempt to limit the number of candidates for an office to
two, by whatever method they are nominated—is an
unfortunate practice and should be discouraged. Often the two
leading candidates for a position will represent two different
factions, and division within the organization may be
deepened by limiting the election to them. On the other hand,
it may be possible to unite the members if the assembly has
the choice of a compromise candidate.
46:25 Nominations by Mail. In organizations whose membership is
widely scattered, the method of nominating by mail is often
adopted. In such a case a nominating ballot can be prepared,
deposited, and counted in the same way as an electing ballot
—with the secretary of the organization mailing to every
member a nominating ballot, plus instructions for completing
and returning it as described in 45:57–61. Or, in some
organizations, a blank on which each member can submit the
names of desired nominees, in a signed ballot, is used instead
of a secret nominating ballot.
46:26 Nominations by Petition. The bylaws may provide that a
member shall be a nominee upon the petition of a specified
number of members. Sometimes, a nominating petition blank
is sent to the members with a copy of the list of nominees
submitted by a nominating committee. In large state or
national societies composed of local units, the blanks are
sometimes sent to these units with instructions for their
distribution or processing.

46:27 Debate on Nominations. In large conventions, nominations

 are sometimes accompanied by a speech advocating the
nominee’s election. The nomination may then be seconded by
one or more members also making speeches. In ordinary
societies, however, such speeches are less common.
46:28 To give a nominating or seconding speech, a member must
first be recognized by the chair while the floor is open for
nominations. The member may then nominate a candidate
and, without waiting for the chair to state the nomination,
speak in favor of the candidate, or he or she may speak in
favor of a candidate who was nominated previously. If
candidates are members of the organization, speakers must
exercise caution to avoid making any personal criticisms of
them in debate. Rather than attacking a nominee, a speaker
may advocate the election of a rival candidate. By a two-thirds
vote, the assembly may adopt a motion limiting debate to any
extent desired (15).
46:29 Some organizations adopt rules specifying that debate on
nominations be conducted at a different time or in a different
manner. Such a rule might, for example, allot each candidate
(or his or her designee) equal time to state the candidate’s
credentials and to argue for the candidate’s election.
Elections
46:30 In an assembly or organization that does not have a rule or
established custom prescribing the method of voting in
elections, the voting can be by any of the accepted methods.
While some form of election by ballot is generally appropriate
in organized societies, each assembly should adopt—and
each society should prescribe in its bylaws—the procedure
best suited to its purposes and needs. Where there is no
determining rule, a motion to fix the method of voting (or any
other detail of nomination or election procedure) is an
incidental main motion if made before the election is pending,
or an incidental motion if made while the election is pending
(30, 31). Such a motion can be offered containing a blank so
that different methods are voted on in succession; or the chair
can take votes on the methods in this way, assuming the
motion, if no member objects. In the absence of a rule
establishing the method of voting, the rule that is established
by custom, if any, is followed, unless the assembly, by
adoption of an incidental motion or incidental main motion,
agrees to do otherwise.
46:31 Ballot Election. Two alternative procedures for the sequence
of nominating and voting in elections by ballot can be
prescribed or adopted, as mentioned above. The first method
requires the least time, while the second affords greater
flexibility in choosing officers. These procedures are as
follows:
1) All nominations can be completed before any balloting takes
place—in which case voting for all offices is commonly done
by a single ballot. This method is suitable for use in
conventions where voting takes place at a “polling place”
apart from the convention meetings. It may also be a
preferred method in any large meeting where the time
required for balloting is an important consideration. The
elections should take place early in such a meeting, to allow
time for any necessary additional balloting for any office for
which no candidate receives a vote sufficient for election.
Votes can be cast for any person who is eligible for election,
even if he has not been nominated. The procedure followed
in balloting, in counting the votes, and in reporting the results
is described in 45:18–43. The tellers prepare a tellers’ report
for each office involved, in the form shown in 45:37. When
these reports are completed for all offices, the chairman of
tellers, after reading them to the assembly, submits them to
the chair, who, as he reads each one of them again, declares
the result for that office. In each case where a candidate has
a majority, the chair declares that candidate elected. For
offices for which no candidate has a majority, the chair
announces, “no election.” When the tellers’ reports for all
offices have thus been read, the chair directs that new
ballots be distributed for those offices for which no candidate
attained a majority (see also below).
When voting for multiple offices by a single ballot, the
members are not able to take the result for one office into
account when voting for another office. For this reason, a
candidate is never deemed elected to more than one office
by a single ballot unless the motion or rules governing the
election specifically provide for such simultaneous election.
When there is no such provision, a candidate who receives a
majority for more than one office on a single ballot must, if
present, choose which one of the offices he will accept; if he
is absent, the assembly decides by a ballot vote the office to
be assigned to him. This question, which is debatable,
requires a majority vote for adoption. The assembly then
 ballots again to fill the other office(s). (The assembly is free,
however, to elect the same person to another office on a
subsequent ballot, unless the bylaws prohibit a person from
holding both offices simultaneously.)
2) Under the usual form of the second election procedure,
balloting for each office immediately follows nominations
from the floor for that office. The ballots are counted for one
office and the result of that election is announced—after
repeated balloting, if necessary—before the next office to be
voted on is opened to nominations from the floor. The
members are thus able to take into account the results for
the offices voted on first, in deciding upon both nominations
and votes for the later offices. Under this method the ballots
normally consist of small slips of blank paper handed out by
the tellers as each ballot is taken—on which voters write the
name of the candidate of their choice (who need not have
been nominated). This method is generally practical only in
assemblies small enough that the votes from each balloting
can be counted while the meeting briefly pauses—usually
without recessing or proceeding to other business, although
it can do either of these things if it wishes.
46:32 Whichever one of the preceding methods of election is
used, if any office remains unfilled after the first ballot, the
balloting is repeated for that office as many times as
necessary to obtain a majority vote for a single candidate.
When repeated balloting for an office is necessary, individuals
are never removed from candidacy on the next ballot unless
they voluntarily withdraw—which they are not obligated to do.1
The candidate in lowest place may turn out to be a “dark
horse” on whom all factions may prefer to agree.
46:33 In an election of members of a board or committee in which
votes are cast in one section of the ballot for multiple positions
 on the board or committee, every ballot with a vote in that
section for one or more candidates is counted as one vote
cast, and a candidate must receive a majority of the total of
such votes to be elected. If more candidates receive such a
majority vote than there are positions to fill, then the chair
declares the candidates elected in order of their vote totals,
starting with the candidate who received the largest number of
votes and continuing until every position is filled. If, during this
process, a tie arises involving more candidates than there are
positions remaining to be filled, then the candidates who are
tied, as well as all other nominees not yet elected, remain as
candidates for the repeated balloting necessary to fill the
remaining position(s). Similarly, if the number of candidates
receiving the necessary majority vote is less than the number
of positions to be filled, those who have a majority are
declared elected, and all other nominees remain as
candidates on the next ballot.
46:34 If the multiple positions have varying terms (as may happen
when terms are staggered or there is an election to fill the
remainder of an unexpired term) and the differing term lengths
have not been assigned different sections of the ballot, the
longer terms are allocated among those receiving a majority
vote in the order in which they obtain greater numbers of
votes. If there is a tie, the tied candidates may agree which of
them will take a longer term; if they do not agree, the question
is put to a vote on the next ballot.
46:35 If the bylaws require the election of officers to be by ballot
and there is only one nominee for an office, the ballot must
nevertheless be taken for that office unless the bylaws provide
for an exception in such a case. In the absence of the latter
provision, members still have the right, on the ballot, to cast
“write-in votes” for other eligible persons.
46:36 An election by ballot can be conducted by mail if the bylaws
 so provide, as explained in 45:57–69. For such an election,
however—unless repeated balloting by mail is feasible in
cases where no candidate attains a majority—the bylaws
should authorize the use of some form of preferential voting or
should provide that a plurality shall elect, and should provide
for a method of selection if there is a tie.
46:37 Viva-Voce Election. The viva-voce method of election finds
application principally in mass meetings—or when an election
is not strongly contested and the bylaws do not require
election by ballot.
46:38 When there is more than one nominee for a given office in
a viva-voce election—or in an election by rising vote or by
show of hands—the candidates are voted on in the order in
which they were nominated. When the nominations have
ended, the chair repeats the nominations and continues:

CHAIR: As many as are in favor of Mr. A for President say aye.…

Those opposed say no.… The ayes have it and Mr. A is elected
President.

If the noes are in the majority the wording is:

CHAIR: The noes have it and Mr. A is not elected. Those in favor of Mr.
B [the next nominee] say aye.… Those opposed say no.…

As soon as one of the nominees receives a majority vote, the

chair declares him elected and no votes are taken on the
remaining nominees for that office. The other officers are
elected in the same way. When a number of members are to
be elected to identical offices in the nature of a single office
held by more than one person—as, for example, in electing
four directors—the same procedure is followed; when four
have received a majority, the voting ceases.
46:39 It will be seen that, under the procedure just described, it is
necessary for members wishing to vote for a later nominee to
vote against an earlier one. This fact gives an undue
advantage to earlier nominees and, accordingly, a voice vote
is not a generally suitable method for electing the officers of
organized societies.
46:40 If only one person is nominated and the bylaws do not
require that a ballot vote be taken, the chair, after ensuring
that, in fact, no members present wish to make further
nominations, simply declares that the nominee is elected, thus
effecting the election by unanimous consent or “acclamation.”
The motion to close nominations cannot be used as a means
of moving the election of the candidate in such a case.
46:41 The assembly cannot make valid a viva-voce election if the
bylaws require the election to be by ballot.
46:42 Roll-Call Election. Although unusual, an election can be held
by roll call. Either the first or second procedure described in
46:31 for election by ballot can be generally followed, and the
member (or the chairman of a delegation, as the case may
be), when called upon, declares his vote or the votes of the
members of his delegation for each office to be filled. The
secretary records the vote(s) and then repeats them to be sure
of their accurate recordation.
46:43 Cumulative Voting. For ballot or roll-call elections of boards,
committees, delegates, or other positions held by more than
one individual, the bylaws may provide for cumulative voting.
In this form of voting, each member is entitled to cast one vote
for each position, so that if, for example, three directors are to
be elected, each member may cast three votes. These votes
may all be cast for one, two, or three candidates, as the voter
chooses. A minority group, by coordinating its effort in voting
for only one candidate who is a member of the group, may be
 able to secure the election of that candidate as a minority
member of the board. However, this method of voting, which
permits a member to cast multiple votes for a single candidate,
must be viewed with reservation since it violates the
fundamental principle of parliamentary law that each member
is entitled to one and only one vote on a question.
46:44 Providing for Completion of an Election. An election should
be completed at the session at which it is taken up, unless it is
impossible or impractical to do so. If an assembly wishes to
adjourn when an election is incomplete, an adjourned meeting
(9) should therefore be provided for. If such an adjourned
meeting is not provided for and the organization will hold
another regular business session before a quarterly time
interval has elapsed (see 9:7), the election is taken up
automatically at the next regular meeting. (Cf. 14:12.)
46:45 If, for any reason, the assembly does not complete an
election at the time for which it was scheduled, it should do so
as soon as possible and may do so at any time until the
expiration of the term the election is to fill. In the meantime, if
the term of office extends until a successor is elected (see
56:28–30) failure to complete an election leaves the
incumbent, if any, in office. Otherwise, a vacancy in office
arises (see 47:57–58 for procedures for filling vacancies).
Once the election is completed, however, the person elected
replaces anyone who filled the vacancy. Failure to hold or to
complete an election at the scheduled time does not deprive
the membership of its right to elect an officer of its choice.
46:46 Time at Which an Election Takes Effect. An election to an
office becomes final immediately if the candidate is present
and does not decline, or if he is absent but has consented to
his candidacy. If he is absent and has not consented to his
candidacy, the election becomes final when he is notified of his
 election, provided that he does not immediately decline. If he
does decline, the election is incomplete, and another vote can
be taken immediately or at the next meeting without further
notice. After an election has become final as stated in this
paragraph, it is too late to reconsider (37) the vote on the
election.
46:47 An officer-elect takes possession of his office immediately
upon his election’s becoming final, unless the bylaws or other
rules specify a later time (see 56:27). If a formal installation
ceremony is prescribed, failure to hold it does not affect the
time at which the new officers assume office.
46:48 Contesting the Announced Result of an Election.
Depending on the circumstances, the voting body may be able
to order a recount if an election was conducted by ballot (see
45:41), roll-call vote (see 45:54), or counted vote (see the last
sentence of 45:15). In the case of a roll-call vote, a
recapitulation may be possible (see 45:51). It may be possible,
under some circumstances, to order that the election be voted
on again by another method (see Retaking a Vote, 30:6).
46:49 Otherwise, an election may be contested only by raising a
point of order. The general rule is that such a point of order
must be timely, as described in 23:5. If an election is disputed
on the ground that a quorum was not present, the provisions in
the last sentence of 40:12 apply. Other exceptions to the
general timeliness requirement are those that come within the
five categories listed in 23:6, in which cases a point of order
can be made at any time during the continuance in office of
the individual declared elected. For example:
a) If an individual does not meet the qualifications for the post
established in the bylaws, his or her election is tantamount to
adoption of a main motion that conflicts with the bylaws.
b) If there was a previously valid election for the same term, the
 subsequent election of another is the adoption of a main
motion conflicting with one still in force.
c) If the votes of nonmembers or absentees in the election
affect the result, action has been taken in violation of the
fundamental principle of parliamentary law that the right to
vote is limited to the members of an organization who are
actually present at the time the vote is taken.
d) If an election to fill a vacancy is held without required
previous notice, action has been taken in violation of a rule
protecting the rights of absentees.
e) If a number of members sufficient to affect the result are
improperly prevented from voting in an election, action has
been taken in violation of a rule protecting a basic right of the
individual member.

46:50 Because the voting body itself is the ultimate judge of

election disputes, only that body has the authority to resolve
them in the absence of a bylaw or special rule of order that
specifically grants another body that authority. Thus, for
example, when an election has been conducted at a
membership meeting or in a convention of delegates, an
executive board, even one that is given full power and
authority over the society’s affairs between meetings of the
body that conducted the election, may not entertain a point of
order challenging, or direct a recount concerning, the
announced election result. While an election dispute is
immediately pending before the voting body, however, it may
vote to refer the dispute to a committee or board to which it
delegates power to resolve the dispute.
Footnotes to Chapter
XIV
1. An organization could suspend the rules, or adopt a special rule of order, so that the
nominee with the fewest votes is dropped from the list of nominees for succeeding
ballots in the expectation that voters will then confine their choice to the remaining
nominees. Only a bylaws provision, however, could make the dropped nominee ineligible
for election so as to render illegal any subsequent votes cast for that nominee. (See
46:2.)
 CHAPTER
XV

OFFICERS; MINUTES AND OFFICERS’

REPORTS

§47. OFFICERS
47:1 As stated in 3:6, the minimum essential officers for the
conduct of business in any deliberative assembly are a
presiding officer and a secretary or clerk. The usual duties of
these and other officers generally required in an organized
society are summarized and discussed in this section. Every
society should specify in its bylaws what officers it requires,
how they shall be elected or appointed, their term of office, and
any qualifications for holding office or any duties different from
or in addition to those stated in the parliamentary authority.
Principles Applying to Holding of Office
47:2 In most societies it is usual to elect the officers from among
the members; but in all except secret societies, unless the
bylaws provide otherwise, it is possible for an organization to
choose its officers from outside its membership. In many
legislative bodies the presiding officer is not a member of the
body. A large society with complex financial affairs may wish to
employ a professional as treasurer.
47:3 An office carries with it only the rights necessary for
executing the duties of the office, and it does not deprive a
member of the society of his rights as a member. If a person
holds an office in a society of which he is not a member and
the bylaws make that officer an ex-officio member of the board,
the nonmember is thereby a full-fledged board member with all
the accompanying rights; but this does not make him a
member of the society.
47:4 The bylaws may contain a provision that “No person shall
be eligible to serve consecutive terms in the same
office.” In filling vacancies for unexpired terms, an officer who
has served more than half a term in an office is considered to
have served a full term. As stated in 46:46–47, the term of
office begins as soon as the officer is elected, unless the
bylaws establish a different time (see also 56:27).

Elected Officers
47:5 Chairman or President. The presiding officer of an assembly
ordinarily is called the chairman1 when no special title has
been assigned, or in a body not permanently organized, such
as a mass meeting (53). In organized societies the presiding
officer’s title is usually prescribed by the bylaws, that of
president being most common. The term the chair refers to the
 person in a meeting who is actually presiding at the time,
whether that person is the regular presiding officer or not. The
same term also applies to the presiding officer’s station in the
hall from which he or she presides, which should not be
permitted to be used by other members as a place from which
to make reports or speak in debate during a meeting (see also
47:12). In assemblies where committee chairmen or others will
require a lectern for their papers, another lectern on the side of
the platform or on the floor at the front should be provided so
that the chair can maintain his presiding location. For the
manner in which the chair should be addressed in a meeting,
see 3:10–11.
47:6 The presiding officer of an assembly—especially of a large
one—should be chosen principally for the ability to preside.
This person should be well versed in parliamentary law and
should be thoroughly familiar with the bylaws and other rules of
the organization—even if he or she is to have the assistance of
a parliamentarian. At the same time, any presiding officer will
do well to bear in mind that no rules can take the place of tact
and common sense on the part of the chairman.
47:7 Duties of the presiding officer of an assembly. The principal
duties of the presiding officer of an assembly under
parliamentary law are listed below—with references, where
appropriate, to fuller descriptions elsewhere in this book.
Additional information relating to the duties of the chair in
particular cases will be found in the treatment of the subjects
involved. It is the duty of the presiding officer of an assembly:
1) To open the meeting at the appointed time by taking the
chair and calling the meeting to order (3:15), having
ascertained that a quorum is present (3:3–4; 40).
2) To announce in proper sequence the business that comes
before the assembly or becomes in order in accordance with
 the prescribed order of business, agenda, or program, and
with existing orders of the day (41).
3) To recognize members who are entitled to the floor (3:30–
35; 42).
4) To state and to put to vote all questions that legitimately
come before the assembly as motions or that otherwise arise
in the course of proceedings (except questions that relate to
the presiding officer himself in the manner noted below), and
to announce the result of each vote (4); or, if a motion that is
not in order is made, to rule that it is not in order (although
this may be avoided if the chair can suggest an alternative
that is in order which the maker agrees to offer instead; see
4:16–18). (For a discussion of the circumstances under
which the chair votes, see 44:12–13. See also the discussion
of unanimous consent, 4:58–63.)
5) To protect the assembly from obviously dilatory motions by
refusing to recognize them (39).
6) To enforce the rules relating to debate and those relating to
order and decorum within the assembly (3:9–13; 4:27–32;
43).
7) To expedite business in every way compatible with the rights
of members.
8) To decide all questions of order (23), subject to appeal (24)
—unless, when in doubt, the presiding officer prefers initially
to submit such a question to the assembly for decision.
9) To respond to inquiries of members relating to parliamentary
procedure (Parliamentary Inquiry, 33:3–5) or factual
information (Request for Information, 33:6–10) bearing on
the business of the assembly.
10) To authenticate by his or her signature, when necessary, all
acts, orders, and proceedings of the assembly.
11) To declare the meeting adjourned when the assembly so
votes or—where applicable—at the time prescribed in the
 program, or at any time in the event of a sudden emergency
affecting the safety of those present (8, 21).
47:8 At each meeting, in addition to the necessary papers proper
to that meeting’s business, the presiding officer should have at
hand:
• a copy of the bylaws and other rules of the organization;
• a copy of its parliamentary authority (that is, this book, if it is
prescribed in the bylaws);
• a list of all standing and special committees and their
members; and
• a memorandum of the complete order of business listing all
known matters that are to come up, shown in proper
sequence under the correct headings—or with their
scheduled times—as applicable.
47:9 Except in a small board or a committee, the presiding officer
should stand while calling a meeting to order or declaring it
adjourned, and while putting a question to vote. He should also
stand—without leaving the chair—while explaining his reasons
for a ruling on a point of order (if the explanation entails more
than a few words) or when speaking during debate on an
appeal or a point of order that he has submitted to the
judgment of the assembly (23, 24). When speaking for the first
time during debate in either of the latter two cases, he can do
so in preference to other members (see 23:2(5), 23:19, and
24:3(5)). While a member is speaking in debate on any
question, the presiding officer should remain seated—unless
the view between him and the members would be obstructed,
in which case he should step back slightly during the member’s
speech. At times other than those just mentioned, the presiding
officer can stand or sit as he finds convenient for commanding
the assembly’s attention, preserving order, etc.—provided that
his station is arranged so that even when seated he can see
 the entire hall and all present can see him (see also 3:7, 47:5).
47:10 Whenever a motion is made that refers only to the
presiding officer in a capacity not shared in common with other
members, or that commends or censures him with others, he
should turn the chair over to the vice-president or appropriate
temporary occupant (see below) during the assembly’s
consideration of that motion, just as he would in a case where
he wishes to take part in debate (see also 43:29–30). The
chair, however, should not hesitate to put the question on a
motion to elect officers or appoint delegates or a committee
even if he is included.

47:11 Temporary occupants of the chair. If it is necessary for the

president to vacate the chair during a meeting, or if the
president is absent, the chair is occupied temporarily by
another—who also must not be precluded from presiding by
any of the impediments mentioned in the preceding paragraph
—as follows:
1) A vice-president. If the president for any reason vacates the
chair or is absent, the vice-president or first vice-president
takes the chair unless he also, because of involvement in the
debate or for any other reason, is disqualified from presiding
in the particular case; and if the first vice-president is absent
or must disqualify himself, the duty of presiding devolves on
the other vice-presidents in order. For this reason, the
bylaws should number the vice-presidencies if there are
more than one, and persons should be elected to specific
positions. It should be noted, however, that if the bylaws
provide for a president-elect, they usually provide also that
the president-elect shall precede the first vice-president in
the right to preside.
2) An appointed chairman pro tem. If the president vacates the
chair during a meeting and no vice-president is available, he
 can, subject to the approval of the assembly, as explained in
43:29(b), appoint a temporary chairman who is called the
chairman pro tempore, or chairman pro tem. The return of
the president, the arrival of a vice-president, or the first
adjournment puts an end to this appointment, and the
assembly can terminate it even earlier by the adoption of a
motion to “declare the chair vacant and proceed to elect a
new chairman” (see 62:11). The regular presiding officer,
knowing that he will be absent from a future meeting, cannot
in advance authorize another member to preside in his
place.
3) An elected chairman pro tem. If neither the president nor any
vice-president is present, the secretary—or in the secretary’s
absence some other member—calls the meeting to order,
and the assembly immediately elects a chairman pro tem to
preside during that session. Such office is terminated by the
entrance of the president or a vice-president, or by the
adoption of a motion to “declare the chair vacant and
proceed to elect a new chairman” (see 62:11). If the
assembly is to elect a chairman pro tem to hold office
beyond the current session (in the event that the president
and the vice-presidents are unable to perform their duties for
that length of time), notice must be given at the preceding
meeting or in the call of the meeting at which such election is
held.

47:12 The practice in some organizations of permitting the

chairman of a committee to preside over the assembly or put
questions to vote during the presentation and consideration of
the committee’s report violates numerous principles of
parliamentary law relating to the chair’s appearance of
impartiality and the inappropriateness of his entering into
debate, not to speak of the regular presiding officer’s duty to
 preside (see 47:5–7).

47:13 Invited temporary presiding officer. In certain instances in

an ordinary society—for example, if an adjourned meeting or a
special meeting (9) must deal with a problem that has
intensely divided the organization—it may be that such a
meeting can accomplish more under the chairmanship of an
invited nonmember who is skilled in presiding. (Sometimes
this may be a professional presiding officer.) If the president
and vice-president(s) do not object, the assembly, by majority
vote, can adopt an incidental main motion to effect such an
arrangement for all or part of a session. This motion is a
question of privilege affecting the assembly (19). Alternatively,
the rules may be suspended to authorize this type of
temporary appointment, even over the objection of the
president or a vice-president. Cf. 62:13–14.

47:14 Suggestions for inexperienced presiding officers. The

larger the assembly, the more readily it will detect the slightest
weakness in a presiding officer. Efforts to capitalize on any
such failing may follow with sometimes disastrous results. It is
often said that knowledge is strength, and certainly that is true
in this case. The presiding officer should be thoroughly familiar
with the duties of the presiding officer of an assembly, as
stated in 47:7–10, and should have with him the documents
listed in 47:8. There is no acceptable alternative to
parliamentary procedure for the conduct of business in a
deliberative assembly; yet many presiding officers try to get
along with a minimum of knowledge. This approach inevitably
results in signs of unsureness.
47:15 A presiding officer should make every effort to know more
parliamentary procedure than other members. A good first
step is to read through Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised
In Brief—a concise introductory guide prepared by the authors
 of this book and fully compatible with it—paying particular
attention to Chapter 15 (“President or Vice-President”). A
presiding officer should also at least become familiar with 1
through 9 of this book and memorize the list of motions on
page t4, in their order of precedence. The chair should be able
to refer to the table of rules relating to motions on pages t6–
t33 quickly enough that there will be no delay in deciding all
points contained there. These steps are simple and will enable
a president to master parliamentary procedure more quickly.
As more difficult points arise, a careful reading of the detailed
treatment of such points in the body of this book will make
them readily understood and mastered.
47:16 The presiding officer must not permit members to press on
so rapidly that the parliamentary steps are abridged or go
unobserved. When a motion is made, he must not recognize
any member or allow anyone to speak until the motion is
seconded (where that is required) and he has stated the
question.
47:17 The chair should take special care to make sure that the
members always understand what is the immediately pending
business—the exact question to be voted on the next time a
vote is taken. Failure of presiding officers to do so is one of the
greatest causes of confusion in meetings. The chair should
carefully follow the directions for stating a question on a
motion or resolution given in 4:15. Particularly in stating the
question on an unwritten motion, the chair should always say,
“It is moved and seconded that” and then give the precise
words of the motion fully, no matter how clearly the motion
may have been framed when moved by its maker. The chair
should never try to avoid this critically important duty by
saying, “You have heard the motion” or by saying, “The motion
is moved and seconded” without repeating its words. The chair
must be careful to be exact in stating any proposed
 amendment so as to make clear the effect its adoption would
have on the motion to be amended. After the vote on an
amendment, he should fully restate that motion as it stands as
a result of the amendment’s adoption or failure (see 12:33–
40). Above all, just before the vote, the chair must make clear
the precise question the assembly is to decide. It is far better
to risk taxing the patience of an assembly by repeating the
wording of a motion on which all may be clear, than to risk
taking a vote whose effect may be unclear to even a few
members.
47:18 When a vote is taken, the result should be announced and
also what question, if any, is then pending, before any member
who addresses the chair is recognized. In a large assembly
where a microphone is required, the chair should insist that a
member go to it and identify himself. This brief delay is often
very salutary in quieting heated feelings. Efforts to abbreviate
the requirements of parliamentary procedure often signal an
effort to substitute the member’s will for the parliamentary
leadership of the presiding officer. A not uncommon instance
of this kind is described in 42:13(1), where a member attempts
quickly to obtain the floor to offer a motion in competition with
one arranged by the officers to be offered by another member.
Firmness and, at the same time, calm insistence on the
regular order is a technique essential to the development of a
skilled presiding officer.
47:19 While a commanding presence and knowledge are
essential in procedural matters, the president of an ordinary
deliberative assembly, especially a large one, should, of all the
members, have the least to say upon the substance of
pending questions. While providing strong leadership, he
should be fair. He should never get excited; he should never
be unjust to even the most troublesome member, or take
advantage of such member’s lack of knowledge of
 parliamentary law, even though a temporary good might be
accomplished thereby. The president should never be
technical or more strict than is necessary for the good of the
meeting. Good judgment is essential; the assembly may be of
such a nature, through its unfamiliarity with parliamentary
usage and its peaceable disposition, that strict enforcement of
the rules, instead of assisting, would greatly hinder business.
But in large assemblies where there is much work to be done,
and especially where there is likelihood of trouble, the only
safe course is to require a strict observance of the rules.

47:20 Administrative duties of the president of a society. All of

the duties of the presiding officer described above relate to the
function of presiding over the assembly at its meetings. In
addition, in many organized societies, the president has duties
as an administrative or executive officer; but these are outside
the scope of parliamentary law, and the president has such
authority only insofar as the bylaws provide it. In some
organizations, the president is responsible for appointing, and
is ex officio a member of, all committees (with the exception of
the nominating committee, which should be expressly
excluded from such a provision, and with the further possible
exception of all disciplinary committees; see 56:47). But only
when he is so authorized by the bylaws—or, in the case of a
particular committee, by vote of the assembly—does he have
this authority and status. As an ex-officio member of a
committee, the president has the same rights as the other
committee members, but is not obligated to attend meetings of
the committee and is not counted in determining the number
required for a quorum or whether a quorum is present.

47:21 President-Elect. Some organizations desire to elect their

president one entire term in advance, and in such cases,
during the term following the election, the person chosen is
 called the president-elect. This office exists only if expressly
provided for in the bylaws, in which case the members never
vote on any candidate for the office of president, but elect a
president-elect and the other officers of the organization.
Accordingly, when a member has served his full term as
president-elect, he automatically becomes president for a full
term. Once a person has been elected president-elect, the
assembly cannot alter its decision regarding the succession of
that person to the presidency, unless he vacates office during
his term as president-elect or unless ground arises for
removing him from that office (see 62:16).
47:22 When the bylaws of an organization provide for a
president-elect, it is usual to provide also that if the president
should be absent, or if the office of the president should
become vacant between elections, the president-elect shall
preside, if present, or shall fill the vacancy. Unless such
provision is made, the first vice-president would preside or
complete the president’s term. It is also customary to provide
in the bylaws for some method to fill a vacancy in the office of
president-elect, should one occur between elections. It is
important to consider these provisions with great care. The
bylaws can assign the president-elect specific responsibilities.
47:23 Vice-President. In the absence of the president, or when for
any reason the president vacates the chair (see 43:29, 47:11,
62:12–14), the vice-president serves in his stead (see the
previous paragraph, however, regarding the usual duties of the
president-elect in organizations that have one). Thus, it is
important to elect a vice-president who is competent to
perform the duties of president. When an assembly resolves
itself into a committee of the whole, frequently it is the vice-
president who is appointed to preside as committee chairman
(see 52:2(a), 52:7).
47:24 When a vice-president is presiding over the assembly, he
or she is addressed as “Mr. President” or “Madam President”
(unless confusion might result—for example, when the
president is also on the platform—in which case the form “Mr.
Vice-President” or “Madam Vice-President” may be used).
47:25 Where the bylaws of a state, regional, or national society
make the president of each constituent unit automatically a
delegate to the society’s convention, the vice-president of a
unit serves as the president’s alternate (see 58:12) and usually
acts as vice-chairman of the unit’s delegation (see 58:19).
47:26 If the bylaws provide that the president shall appoint all
committees, this power does not transfer to a vice-president
occupying the chair, even when the president is absent (see
the second paragraph of 50:13(d)).
47:27 The president and vice-president may have occasion to
make reports in connection with administrative duties
prescribed in the society’s bylaws or other rules (see 48:19). If
the president has prepared a report but cannot attend the
meeting at which it is to be presented, the vice-president
should present it for him. But the vice-president cannot modify
the president’s report, or substitute a different one for it, simply
because the president is absent.
47:28 In case of the president’s resignation, death, or removal,
the vice-president automatically becomes president for the
remainder of the term, unless the bylaws expressly provide
otherwise for filling a vacancy in the office of president (see
also 56:32).
47:29 Some societies elect several vice-presidents in an order of
precedence—first, second, third, and so on—in which case the
highest-ranking one present has the duty of serving in place of
the president when needed. In case of the president’s
resignation, death, or removal, the first vice-president then
automatically becomes president (unless, as indicated above,
 the bylaws expressly provide otherwise for the office of
president). Likewise, in case of any vice-president’s
resignation, death, or removal, or upon his or her automatic
promotion to a higher office, the next-highest-ranking vice-
president, if there is one, is automatically promoted (unless the
bylaws expressly provide otherwise). Thus, for example, if the
first vice-president resigns, the second vice-president
becomes first vice-president, the third vice-president becomes
second-vice-president, and so on, with the vacancy to be filled
occurring in the lowest-ranking vice-presidency. A vice-
president cannot decline to take the higher office to which he
has been automatically promoted; if unable or unwilling to
carry out the duties of the new office, his only recourse is then
to submit his resignation, upon the acceptance of which he will
no longer hold either office.
47:30 Sometimes the bylaws provide that the different vice-
presidents shall have administrative charge of different
departments. In many such cases, it is inadvisable for the
vice-presidents to have to change their duties whenever a
vacancy occurs among them, and the bylaws should therefore
also provide a method for filling vacancies that expressly
applies to the offices of president and all vice-presidents.
47:31 Although in many instances the outgoing vice-president (or
first vice-president) will be the logical nominee for president in
the next term, the society has the freedom to make its own
choice and to elect the most promising candidate at that
particular time, unless stated otherwise in the bylaws (cf.
President-Elect, above).

47:32 Secretary. The secretary is the recording officer of the

assembly and the custodian of its records, except those
specifically assigned to others, such as the treasurer’s books.
The recording officer is sometimes called the clerk, the
 recording secretary (when there is also, for example, a
corresponding secretary or financial secretary), the recorder,
or the scribe.

47:33 Duties of the secretary. The duties of the secretary are:

1) To keep a record of all the proceedings of the organization—
usually called the minutes.
2) To keep on file all committee reports.
3) To keep the organization’s official membership roll (unless
another officer or staff member has this duty); and to call the
roll where it is required.
4) To make the minutes and records available to members
upon request (see 47:36).
5) To notify officers, committee members, and delegates of
their election or appointment, to furnish committees with
whatever documents are required for the performance of
their duties, and to have on hand at each meeting a list of all
existing committees and their members.
6) To furnish delegates with credentials.
7) To sign all certified copies of acts of the society.
8) To maintain record book(s) in which the bylaws, special rules
of order, standing rules, and minutes are entered, with any
amendments to these documents properly recorded, and to
have the current record book(s) on hand at every meeting.
9) To send out to the membership any required notice of each
meeting, known as the call of the meeting, and to conduct
the general correspondence of the organization—that is,
correspondence that is not a function proper to other offices
or to committees (see also Corresponding Secretary and
Executive Secretary, below).
10) To prepare, prior to each meeting, an order of business (41)
for the use of the presiding officer, showing in their exact
order, under the correct headings, all matters known in
 advance that are due to come up and—if applicable—the
times for which they are set.
11) In the absence of the president and vice-president, to call the
meeting to order and preside until the immediate election of
a chairman pro tem.
47:34 In the absence of the secretary, a secretary pro tem must
be elected; the corresponding, financial, or executive secretary
in organizations having such officers is not an automatic
replacement. If, under “Reports of Officers” in the order of
business, correspondence of an official character is to be read,
it is normally read by the recording secretary and not by the
corresponding secretary.
47:35 Records of the secretary. When written reports are received
from boards or committees, the secretary records on them the
date they were received and what further action was taken on
them, and preserves them among his records. It is not
necessary for an assembly to vote that a board or committee
report be “placed on file,” as that is done without a vote.
47:36 Any member has a right to examine these reports and the
record book(s) referred to in 47:33(8), including the minutes of
an executive session, at a reasonable time and place, but this
privilege must not be abused to the annoyance of the
secretary. Members are free to share their contents with
others, except for any content protected by the secrecy of an
executive session that has not been lifted (see 9:26). The
same principles apply to records kept by boards and
committees, these being accessible to members of the boards
or committees (see also 49:17–19). When a committee
requires certain records for the proper performance of its
duties, the secretary turns them over to the committee
chairman—after consulting with the president in any cases
where he or she is in doubt. The corporation law of each state
 frequently provides for the availability of records of any group
incorporated in that state.
47:37 Corresponding Secretary. In larger societies, the duties of
issuing notices of meetings and conducting the general
correspondence of the organization as described in 47:33(9)
are frequently assigned to a separate elected officer, usually
called the corresponding secretary. When there is a
corresponding secretary, the unqualified word secretary used
alone refers to the recording officer.

47:38 Treasurer, and Financial Secretary. The treasurer of an

organization is the officer entrusted with the custody of its
funds. The treasurer, and any other officers who handle funds
of the society, should be bonded for a sum sufficient to protect
the society from loss. The specific duties of the treasurer will
vary depending on the size and complexity of the society; but
this officer cannot disburse funds except by authority of the
society or as the bylaws prescribe. The treasurer is required to
make a full financial report annually or as the bylaws may
prescribe, and to make such interim reports as the assembly
or the executive board may direct. (For the suggested form of
this annual report in simple cases, see 48:22ff.)
47:39 In ordinary societies, tasks incident to the collection of dues
from members are a part of the treasurer’s duties unless the
bylaws provide otherwise. Much clerical work may be attached
to this function, however, in large organizations, in societies
where dues are payable in frequent installments, or in
societies that suspend the voting-membership rights of
members who fall in arrears in dues payments (see 1:13n3,
45:1, 56:19). In such cases some organizations have, in
addition to the treasurer, a financial secretary—an officer
whose usual duties are to bill members for their dues and to
receive payment of them, to maintain a ledger of each
 member’s account, and to turn over to the treasurer and obtain
his receipt for moneys received.

47:40 Other Officers. In addition to the officers described above, an

organization can provide in its bylaws for any other officers it
may wish—including assistant officers. Officers sometimes
included, and their usual duties, are:
• Directors (or trustees, or managers), who sit as members of
the executive board (49)—usually in addition to the other
officers—and perform such duties as the bylaws may require.
In some organizations the term trustees refers to officers who
perform the duties of elected auditors (see 48:25).
• A historian, who prepares a narrative account of the society’s
activities during his or her term of office, which, when
approved by the assembly, will become a permanent part of
the society’s official history.
• A librarian, who, if the society possesses a collection of
books or other written or printed matter, has custody of these
items, and—subject to the society’s direction—control over
members’ access to them.
• A curator, who serves as custodian of any objects of value
that may belong to the society (other than library holdings).
• A chaplain, who recites or leads invocations and benedictions
where such prayers are offered at the opening and closing of
meetings or other events, and who—if a clergyman—serves
the organization in that capacity in such manner as it may
require.
• A sergeant-at-arms (or warden, or warrant officer, as
sometimes called), who, on the floor of the meeting hall,
assists in preserving order as the chair may direct. In a
convention or large meeting this officer may have charge of
the ushers. He may handle certain physical arrangements in
the hall as well, such as being responsible in some cases for
 seeing that the furnishings are in proper order for each
meeting. In a legislative or public body that has the power to
penalize or compel the attendance of its members, the
sergeant-at-arms may have the duty of serving warrants or
notices of fines, or of arresting absent members in the event
of a Call of the House (40:13–16).
• A doorkeeper or guard, who, in meetings where only
members or some other limited category of persons are
permitted to enter, checks the credentials or eligibility of those
arriving, and denies entrance to unauthorized persons.
47:41 Directors should always be elected. The other officers
mentioned above are usually elected also, but the bylaws can
provide for their appointment.

47:42 Honorary Officers (and Members). An honorary office is in

fact not an office but—like honorary membership—a
complimentary title that may be bestowed on members or
nonmembers. When it is desired to honor a nonmember, it is
more usual to elect such a person to honorary membership.
An honorary officer—for example, an honorary president or an
honorary treasurer—is often elected at the time of retirement
from the corresponding actual office, particularly when the
person has filled it creditably for a long time. If there are to be
honorary officers or honorary members, they must be
authorized by the bylaws. Like an honorary degree conferred
by a college or university, an honorary office or membership is
perpetual—unless rescinded or unless its duration is limited by
the bylaws. Rights carried with the honor include the right to
attend meetings and to speak, but not to make motions or vote
unless the person is also a regular member, or unless the
bylaws provide full membership rights.2 Honorary presidents
and vice-presidents should sit on the platform, but they do not
preside. An honorary office entails no duties and in no way
 conflicts with a member’s holding a regular office or being
assigned any duty whatever. It is not improper to include in the
published list of honorary officers the names of those who are
deceased, if that fact is clearly indicated.

Appointed Officers or Consultants

47:43 Executive Secretary. The term executive secretary, or
executive director, is usually applied to a salaried officer who
devotes full time to the position of administrative officer and
general manager of an organization, especially at the national,
regional, or state level; and unless otherwise indicated the
term is used in that sense in this book. In most organizations,
the executive secretary is employed by the board of directors
under contract, but in some this officer is elected by the
convention.
47:44 Duties of the executive secretary. The executive secretary is
in charge of the central office of the society and acts under the
immediate direction of the board and the executive committee,
if there is one (see 49:13). He is sometimes ex officio the
secretary of the executive committee (and sometimes of the
board) and is responsible for seeing that the committee’s
instructions are carried out. He is expected to recommend
plans of work and to conduct the day-to-day business of the
organization. He is often responsible for the work that would
otherwise be carried out by an elected corresponding
secretary. He usually hires, fires, and determines the salaries
of other staff members with the approval of the board or
executive committee, which may regulate this function by
adopting personnel policies. The bylaws should specify the
duties of the executive secretary and should describe the
manner in which he is to be selected, and for how long a term.
47:45 Relationship to the president. The relationship between the
office of executive secretary and that of president depends on
the duties and authority of these officers as defined in the
bylaws. In some organizations, the executive and managerial
function that would otherwise be exercised by the president is
entirely split off and vested in the executive secretary. This
arrangement leaves the president his duties as presiding
officer and spokesman for the organization. In any case, the
president may not give orders to the executive secretary
independently unless the bylaws so authorize; in the absence
of such a provision, the executive secretary receives his
direction from the board or executive committee.

47:46 Parliamentarian. The parliamentarian is a consultant,

commonly a professional, who advises the president and other
officers, committees, and members on matters of
parliamentary procedure. The parliamentarian’s role during a
meeting is purely an advisory and consultative one—since
parliamentary law gives to the chair alone the power to rule on
questions of order or to answer parliamentary inquiries.
47:47 A small local organization should rarely require the services
of a parliamentarian, unless it undertakes a general revision of
its bylaws; but for large assemblies and conventions or
organizations where the transaction of business is apt to be
complex, it is advisable to engage one. Some state or national
organizations find it advisable to employ a parliamentarian
throughout the year to assist with any questions that may arise
in interpreting bylaws and rules, or in connection with the work
of the board and of officers or committees. In such a case, the
parliamentarian’s duties extend beyond giving opinions to the
presiding officer during meetings, and may include assisting in
the planning and steering of business to be introduced.

47:48 Appointment of the parliamentarian. If a parliamentarian is

 needed by an organization, the president should be free to
appoint one in whom he has confidence. The board or society
must approve any fee that will be required, however. If needed
for only one meeting, a parliamentarian should be appointed
as far as possible in advance of the meeting at which he is to
serve, since his main work should be done outside the
meeting.
47:49 Duties of the parliamentarian. The president, knowing in
advance the business to come before the assembly, should
confer with the parliamentarian before the meetings open, and
during recesses, in order to anticipate any problems that may
arise and to avoid, as much as possible, frequent consultation
during the meetings. There is no set rule for the number of
additional functions a parliamentarian may be asked to
perform as a permanent appointee, such as teaching classes,
holding office hours during conventions, and the like.
47:50 During a meeting the work of the parliamentarian should be
limited to giving advice to the chair and, when requested, to
any other member. It is also the duty of the parliamentarian—
as inconspicuously as possible—to call the attention of the
chair to any error in the proceedings that may affect the
substantive rights of any member or may otherwise do harm.
47:51 There should be an understanding between the
parliamentarian and the presiding officer that there will
probably be occasions when it may be essential for the chair
to listen to suggestions being made by the parliamentarian,
even if it means momentarily not giving full attention to others
or asking the assembly to stand at ease during the
consultation (see 8:2(4), 23:3). This practice will enable the
chair to be in a position to act promptly at the correct time and
be fully informed. In advising the chair, the parliamentarian
should not wait until asked for advice—that may be too late.
 An experienced parliamentarian will often see a problem
developing and be able to head it off with a few words to the
chair.
47:52 Only on the most involved matters should the
parliamentarian actually be called upon to speak to the
assembly; and the practice should be avoided if at all possible.
47:53 The parliamentarian should be assigned a seat next to the
chair, so as to be convenient for consultation in a low voice,
but the chair should try to avoid checking with the
parliamentarian too frequently or too obviously.
47:54 After the parliamentarian has expressed an opinion on a
point, the chair has the duty to make the final ruling and, in
doing so, has the right to follow the advice of the
parliamentarian or to disregard it. But if the parliamentarian’s
advice on important procedural issues is habitually
disregarded, he may find it necessary, at the end of the
present engagement or session, to resign.
47:55 A member of an assembly who acts as its parliamentarian
has the same duty as the presiding officer to maintain a
position of impartiality, and therefore does not make motions,
participate in debate, or vote on any question except in the
case of a ballot vote. He does not cast a deciding vote, even if
his vote would affect the result, since that would interfere with
the chair’s prerogative of doing so. If a member feels that he
cannot properly forgo these rights in order to serve as
parliamentarian, he should not accept that position. Unlike the
presiding officer, the parliamentarian cannot temporarily
relinquish his position in order to exercise such rights on a
particular motion.
47:56 Regarding the duties of the parliamentarian in connection
with a convention, see also 59:9.
Vacancies
47:57 The power to appoint or elect persons to any office or
board carries with it the power to accept their resignations,
and also the power to fill any vacancy occurring in it, unless
the bylaws expressly provide otherwise. In the case of a
society whose bylaws confer upon its executive board full
power and authority over the society’s affairs between
meetings of the society’s assembly (as in the example in
56:43) without reserving to the society itself the exclusive right
to fill vacancies, the executive board is empowered to accept
resignations and fill vacancies between meetings of the
society’s assembly. For particular vacancies, see 47:22
(president-elect), and 47:28–30 and 56:32 (president and vice-
presidents). See also 13:23 (vacancies in a committee).
47:58 Notice of filling a vacancy in an office (including a vacancy
in an executive board or executive committee) must always be
given to the members of the body that will elect the person to
fill it, unless the bylaws or special rules of order clearly provide
otherwise.
§48. MINUTES AND REPORTS OF OFFICERS

Minutes
48:1 The official record of the proceedings of a deliberative
assembly is usually called the minutes, or sometimes—
particularly in legislative bodies—the journal. The minutes
should be kept in a substantial book or binder.
48:2 Content of the Minutes. In an ordinary society, the minutes
should contain mainly a record of what was done at the
meeting, not what was said by the members. The minutes must
never reflect the secretary’s opinion, favorable or otherwise, on
anything said or done.
48:3 To modify the rules governing what is regularly to be
included in the minutes requires adoption of a special rule of
order, although a majority vote may direct the inclusion of
specific additional information in the minutes of a particular
meeting.
48:4 The first paragraph of the minutes should contain the
following information (which need not, however, be divided into
numbered or separated items directly corresponding to those
below):
1) the kind of meeting: regular, special, adjourned regular, or
adjourned special;
2) the name of the society or assembly;
3) the date and time of the meeting, and the place, if it is not
always the same;
4) the fact that the regular chairman and secretary were
present or, in their absence, the names of the persons who
substituted for them; and
5) whether the minutes of the previous meeting were read and
 approved—as read, or as corrected—and the date of that
meeting if it was other than a regular business meeting. Any
correction approved by the assembly is made in the text of
the minutes being approved; the minutes of the meeting
making the correction merely state that the minutes were
approved “as corrected,” without specifying what the
correction was (see first paragraph of form, 48:8).
The body of the minutes should contain a separate
paragraph for each subject matter, and should show:
6) all main motions (10) or motions to bring a main question
again before the assembly (6:25–27; 34–37) that were made
or taken up—except, normally, any that were withdrawn3—
stating:
a) the wording in which each motion was adopted or
otherwise disposed of (with the facts as to whether the
motion may have been debated or amended before
disposition being mentioned only parenthetically); and
b) the disposition of the motion, including—if it was
temporarily disposed of (9:7–11, 38:8)—any primary and
secondary amendments and all adhering secondary
motions that were then pending;
7) secondary motions that were not lost or withdrawn, in cases
where it is necessary to record them for completeness or
clarity—for example, motions to Recess or to Fix the Time to
Which to Adjourn (among the privileged motions), or motions
to Suspend the Rules or grant a Request to Be Excused
from a Duty (among the incidental motions), generally only
alluding to the adoption of such motions, however, as “… the
matter having been advanced in the agenda on motion of…”
or “… a ballot vote having been ordered, the tellers…”;
8) the complete substance of oral committee reports that are
permitted to be given in small assemblies in particular cases
 as provided in 51:60–62;
9) all notices of motions (10:44–51);
10) all points of order and appeals, whether sustained or lost,
together with the reasons given by the chair for his or her
ruling; and
11) the declaration by the chair in “naming” an offending member
as a part of disciplinary procedures, as well as any disorderly
words that led to such naming and that the chair directed the
secretary to take down (see 61:12–14).
The last paragraph should state:
12) the hour of adjournment.
48:5 Additional rules and practices relating to the content of the
minutes are the following:
1) The name of the maker of a main motion should be entered
in the minutes, but the name of the seconder should not be
entered unless ordered by the assembly.
2) a) When a count has been ordered, the number of votes on
each side is entered, unless the vote was on a motion that
would not otherwise be entered in the minutes.
b) When the voting is by ballot, the full tellers’ report (45:37–
40) is entered.
c) When the voting is by roll call, the names of those voting
on each side and those answering “present,” as well as
the total number in each category, are entered. If members
who are present fail to respond on a roll-call vote, enough
of their names must be recorded as present to reflect that
a quorum was present at the time of the vote. If the chair
voted, no special mention of this fact is made in the
minutes.
3) The proceedings of a committee of the whole, or a quasi
committee of the whole, are not entered in the minutes, but
the fact that the assembly went into committee of the whole
 (or into quasi committee) and the committee report is
recorded (see 52).
4) When a question is considered informally, the same
information is recorded as under the regular rules, since the
only informality in the proceedings is in the debate.
5) When a committee report is of great importance or should be
recorded to show the legislative history of a measure, the
assembly can order it “to be entered in the minutes,” in which
case the secretary copies it in full in, or attaches a copy of it
to, the minutes.
6) The name and subject of a guest speaker can be given, but
no effort should be made to summarize his remarks.
48:6 The use by the secretary of a recording device can be of
great benefit in preparing the minutes, but a transcription from
it should never be used as the minutes themselves.
48:7 The Signature. Minutes should be signed by the secretary and
can also be signed, if the assembly wishes, by the president.
The words Respectfully submitted—although occasionally used
—represent an older practice that is not essential in signing the
minutes.
48:8 Form of the Minutes. The principles stated above are
illustrated in the following model form for minutes:
The regular monthly meeting of the L.M. Society was held on
Thursday, January 4, 20__, at 8:30 P.M., at the Society’s building, the
President being in the chair and the Secretary being present. The
minutes of the last meeting were read and approved as corrected.
The Treasurer reported the receipt of a bill from the Downs
Construction Company in the amount of $5,000 for the improvements
recently made in the Society’s building. The question put by the chair
“that the bill be paid” was adopted.
Mr. Johnson, reporting on behalf of the Membership Committee,
moved “that John R. Brown be admitted to membership in the Society.”
 The motion was adopted after debate.
The report of the Program Committee was received and placed on
file.
The special committee that was appointed to investigate and report
on suitable parking facilities near the Society’s building reported, through
its chairman, Mrs. Smith, a resolution, which, after debate and
amendment, was adopted as follows: “Resolved, That… [its exact words
immediately before being acted upon, incorporating all amendments].”
The resolution relating to the use of the Society’s library by
nonmembers, which was postponed from the last meeting, was then
taken up. This motion and a pending amendment were laid on the table
after the chair announced that the guest speaker had received a phone
message which would require his early departure.
The President introduced the guest speaker, Mr. James F. Mitchell,
whose subject was .
At the conclusion of Mr. Mitchell’s talk, the resolution relating to the
use of the Society’s library by nonmembers was taken from the table.
After amendment and further debate, the resolution was adopted as
follows: “Resolved, That… [its exact wording immediately before being
finally voted on].”
Mr. Gordon moved “that the Society undertake the establishment of a
summer camp for boys on its lakefront property.” Mrs. Thomas moved to
amend this motion by inserting the word “underprivileged” before “boys.”
On motion of Mr. Dorsey, the motion to establish the camp, with the
pending amendment, was referred to a committee of three to be
appointed by the chair with instructions to report at the next meeting. The
chair appointed Messrs. Flynn, Dorsey, and Fine to the committee.
The meeting adjourned at 10:05 P.M.
Margaret Duffy, Secretary

48:9 Approval of the Minutes. In an organization that holds regular

meetings at frequent intervals, such as weekly, monthly, or
quarterly, the minutes of each regular or special meeting are
normally read and approved at the beginning of the next
regular meeting, immediately after the call to order and any
 opening ceremonies. A special meeting does not approve
minutes of a previous session unless the meeting was called
for that purpose, which is not ordinarily the case. In a session
lasting longer than one day, the minutes of meetings held the
preceding day are read and approved at the beginning of each
day’s business after the first. In particular, an adjourned
meeting of an ordinary society approves the minutes of the
meeting that established the adjourned meeting; its own
minutes are approved at the next adjourned or regular meeting,
whichever occurs first.
48:10 Procedures for the reading, correction, and approval of
minutes at a meeting are shown in 41:9–12.
48:11 If the assembly does not wish to carry out the reading and
approval of the minutes at the regular time, it may, by majority
vote without debate, “dispense with the reading of the
minutes.” The minutes can then be taken up by majority vote
without debate at any later time during the meeting while no
business is pending, under the same rules as those governing
Take from the Table (34). If the minutes are not thus taken up
before adjournment, they are read and approved at the
following meeting, before the later minutes are taken up. A
motion to “dispense with the reading of the minutes” is not a
request to omit their reading altogether; it can be made at any
time while the minutes are actually pending for approval
regardless of whether the minutes have already been read or
corrected in some respect.
48:12 Exceptions to the rule that minutes are approved at the
next regular meeting (or at the next meeting within the
session) arise when the next meeting will not be held within a
quarterly time interval, when the term of a specified portion of
the membership will expire before the start of the next
meeting, or when, as at the final meeting of a convention, the
assembly will be dissolved at the close of the present meeting.
 In any of these cases, minutes that have not been approved
previously should be approved before final adjournment, or the
assembly should authorize the executive board or a special
committee to approve the minutes. The fact that the minutes
are not read for approval at the next meeting does not prevent
a member from having a relevant excerpt read for information;
nor does it prevent the assembly in such a case from making
additional corrections, treating the minutes as having been
previously approved (see 48:15).
48:13 Minutes of an executive session may be read and
approved only in executive session, as described in 9:26–27.
Common practices when approving minutes at a convention
are discussed in 59:55(9).
48:14 When the minutes are approved, the word Approved, with
the secretary’s initials (or the signature of the chairman of the
approving committee) and the date, should be written below
them. If the minutes are approved with corrections, the
secretary should prepare a fully corrected version and
distribute copies to the members as well as placing it in the
minute book. (As noted in 48:4(5) all such corrections should
be incorporated in the minutes to which they pertain, and not
in the minutes of the meeting making the corrections.)
48:15 If the existence of an error or material omission in the
minutes becomes reasonably established after their approval
—even many years later—the minutes can then be corrected
by means of the motion to Amend Something Previously
Adopted (35), which requires a two-thirds vote, or a majority
vote with notice, or the vote of a majority of the entire
membership, or unanimous consent. In such a case the
content of the original minutes must not be altered, although it
may be advisable for the secretary to make a marginal
notation indicating the corrected text or referring to the
minutes of the meeting at which the correction was adopted.
 The minutes of the latter meeting must include the full text of
the motion to Amend Something Previously Adopted, which
necessarily includes all information required to construct an
accurate record of the actions taken at the earlier meeting.
48:16 Publication of an Assembly’s Proceedings. Sometimes a
society wishes to have a full record of its proceedings made
available to the public, and when such a record of the
proceedings is to be published (in which case it is often called
“proceedings,” “transactions,” or the like), it frequently
contains, in addition to the information described above for
inclusion in the minutes, a list of the speakers on each side of
every question, with an abstract or the text of each address. In
such cases the secretary should have an assistant. When it is
desired, as in some conventions, to publish the proceedings in
full, the secretary’s assistant should be a stenographic reporter
or recording technician. The presiding officer should then take
particular care that everyone to whom he assigns the floor is
fully identified. Under these conditions it is usually necessary
to require members to use a public-address system. Reports
of committees should be printed exactly as submitted, the
record showing what action was taken by the assembly in
regard to them; or they can be printed with all additions in
italics and parts struck out enclosed in brackets, in which case
a note to that effect should precede the report or resolution.
Any such record or transcript of the proceedings prepared for
publication, however, does not take the place of the minutes,
and it is the minutes which comprise the official record of the
assembly’s proceedings.
Reports of Officers
48:17 In principle, all reports of officers in a society are incident to
administrative duties that these officers have by virtue of
provisions in the bylaws or other rules. Strictly speaking, in a
purely deliberative assembly, the officers make no reports.
48:18 In an organized society, the bylaws may require each of the
principal officers to make a report of the year’s work at the
annual meeting (9). At any meeting at which officers’ reports
are made, they immediately follow the reading and approval of
the minutes.

48:19 Reports of Executive Officers. In addition to their annual

reports, the president and vice-president from time to time
may wish or need to report on their activities in connection
with administrative duties. Such reports are usually for
purposes of information only, but may sometimes contain
recommendations calling for action by the assembly. In either
case, the reports should generally conform to the rules as to
form, substance, and disposition that govern committee
reports (51). Motions to adopt or implement any
recommendations should be made from the floor by a member
other than the reporting officer.
48:20 Reports by the Treasurer. At each meeting of a society, the
chair may ask for a “Treasurer’s report,” which may consist
simply of a verbal statement of the cash balance on hand—or
of this balance less outstanding obligations. Such a report
requires no action by the assembly.
48:21 In addition, the treasurer is required to make a full financial
report annually, and in some societies more often. Such an
annual report should always be audited. It is compiled and
dated as of the last day of the fiscal year, if there is one, or
 December 31 if no different financial year is stated in the
bylaws.
48:22 Form and content of the financial report. The best form for
the financial report depends on particular conditions, such as
the kind and size of the society, the nature of its activities, the
frequency of reporting, and so on. The form used should be
patterned after reports in similar organizations. In any case,
since the financial report is made for the information of the
members, it should not contain details of dates and separate
payments, which are a hindrance to the report’s being
understood.
48:23 The brief model report below is in a form suitable for most
small societies whose financial affairs are simple and primarily
involve cash. In organizations whose finances are more
involved, a double-entry set of books may be advisable or
required. Such a system should be set up with the assistance
of an accountant, and the report would normally consist of a
balance sheet showing the society’s assets, liabilities, and
fund balance (or members’ equity) as well as an income
statement similar to the report below without the opening and
closing cash balances. Other statements may be included as
needed, such as a statement of changes in members’ equity, a
statement of sources and application of funds, and a cash
forecast. This system may be on a cash or an accrual basis
and will usually require review or audit by an accountant.
48:24 Action on the financial report. No action of acceptance by
the assembly is required—or proper—on a financial report of
the treasurer unless it is of sufficient importance, as an annual
report, to be referred to auditors. In the latter case it is the
auditors’ report which the assembly accepts. The treasurer’s
financial report should therefore be prepared long enough in
advance for the audit to be completed before the report is
made at a meeting of the society.
48:25 When the amounts involved are very large and the reports
complicated, or the organization’s contributors or others
require it, it is desirable to have the audits made by
independent certified accountants. But in ordinary societies
and those in which the expense of a professional cannot be
justified, it is practical to have the financial reports audited by
 an auditing committee of two or more members of the society
—appointed in advance if there is not a standing auditing
committee. In some organizations the financial reports are
audited by elected officers known as “trustees.” Where
professional examination is desired but the organization does
not require a full audit, a “review” (as distinct from a mere
“compilation”) by an accountant may supply sufficient testing
and verification to satisfy the organization. If the auditors’
report consists only of an endorsement on the financial report
—to the effect that it has been found correct, as shown in the
model above—the treasurer can simply read out this
certification as he concludes the presentation of his own
report. After the treasurer has made his report to the assembly
(and after any detailed report presented by the chairman of the
auditing committee, if it is needed), the chair states the
question on adopting the auditors’ report. The adoption of the
auditors’ report has the effect of relieving the treasurer of
responsibility for the period covered by his report, except in
case of fraud.
48:26 If the treasurer presents an unaudited annual report or
other financial report that the bylaws require to be audited, and
if there is a standing auditing committee or if auditors have
already been chosen in some other manner, the chair, without
waiting for a motion when the treasurer has finished reading
his report, immediately says, “The report is referred to the
Auditing Committee [or “to the auditors,” or “to the Trustees for
audit”].” If no auditors have been chosen, the proper
procedure is to adopt a motion to refer the report to an
auditing committee to be appointed by one of the methods
described in 50.

48:27 Reports of Other Officers. Other officers as may be

prescribed in the bylaws, such as a historian or a librarian,
may also have occasion to report to the assembly. These
reports are usually made annually and, like those of the
executive officers, are generally for purposes of information
only. They can, however, contain recommendations upon
which it is hoped the assembly will act. If the report is to
become a permanent official document of the organization, it
must be formally adopted by the assembly. Thus, for example,
historical accounts prepared by the historian do not become
part of the official history of the society until the assembly
formally adopts them, with any desired changes, after their
presentation by the historian.
Footnotes to Chapter
XV
1 See 3:10 regarding variations of this term which have come into use.
2 Some societies provide in the bylaws for electing to “honorary life membership”—or even
its automatic conferment upon—a person who has been an active member for a
specified long period of years, sometimes with the added requirement that he shall have
attained a certain age. The bylaws may prescribe that such an honorary member shall
pay no dues but shall retain full voting privileges.
3 There may be certain instances in which a main motion is withdrawn under
circumstances that require some mention in the minutes. In such a case, only as much
information should be included in the minutes as is needed to reflect the necessary
details clearly. For example, if, at one meeting, a main motion was made the special
order for the next meeting (41:57), or a main motion was postponed after lengthy
consideration to a meeting at which it was withdrawn by consent, action at the first
meeting should always be recorded, and the withdrawal at the second meeting should be
stated for completeness of the minutes.
 CHAPTER
XVI

BOARDS AND COMMITTEES

§49. BOARDS
49:1 The essential characteristics of a board are stated in 1:22–
23. All of the material under the heading Types of Deliberative
Assembly in 1:9–23 should be read in connection with this
section.
49:2 The authority by which a board is constituted commonly
prescribes the times at which it shall hold regular meetings,
and the procedure by which special meetings of the board can
be called; or the board can establish such provisions to the
extent that it has the authority to adopt its own rules (see
49:15).
The Executive Board of an Organized Society
49:3 Except in the simplest and smallest local societies, or those
holding very frequent regular meetings, it is generally found
advisable to provide in the bylaws for a board to be
empowered to act for the society when necessary between its
regular meetings, and in some cases to have complete control
over certain phases of the society’s business. Such a board is
usually known as the executive board, or—in organizations
where there is an executive committee within and subordinate
to the board as described below—the board of directors, board
of managers, or board of trustees. Any such body is referred to
in this book as an executive board, however—regardless of
whether there is an executive committee—in cases where the
distinction is immaterial.
49:4 If a society is to have an executive board, the bylaws should
specify the number of board members and how they are to be
determined, should define the board’s duties and powers, and
should make provision for meetings of the board as stated
above. An executive board commonly consists of those of the
society’s officers (47) who also have duties apart from the
board, together with a number of directors, managers, or
trustees who may or may not have other duties such as the
chairmanship of important standing committees (50). (See
Sample Bylaws, Article IV, Section 1 (56:62) and Article VI,
Section 1 (56:64).) The directors usually should be elected in
the same way and at the same time as the other officers of the
society. Frequently it is provided that a specified percentage of
the directors shall be chosen periodically in such a way that
their terms of office overlap those of the others—as when, for
example, there are six directors and it is provided that two shall
be elected at each annual meeting for three-year terms.
49:5 A society has no executive board, nor can its officers act as
a board, except as the bylaws may provide; and when so
established, the board has only such power as is delegated to
it by the bylaws or by vote of the society’s assembly referring
individual matters to it.
49:6 The amount of regular power delegated to an executive
board under the bylaws varies considerably from one
organization to another. If the society as a whole usually meets
less often than within quarterly time intervals (9:7), or if its main
purpose is other than to transact business, the entire
administrative authority of the society is best left to the board
between the society’s meetings. Usually in organizations
meeting monthly or oftener, and sometimes in those meeting
quarterly, the board is not given so much power, since the
society can attend to much of its business at its regular
meetings. (For appropriate wordings for the governing
provision in the bylaws in each of these two cases, see 56:43,
56:64(2).)
49:7 In any event, no action of the board can alter or conflict with
any decision made by the assembly of the society, and any
such action of the board is null and void (see 56:41 and 23:9).
Except in matters placed by the bylaws exclusively under the
control of the board, the society’s assembly can give the board
instructions which it must carry out, and can rescind or amend
any action of the board if it is not too late (see 35). It should be
noted, however, that exactly the opposite condition prevails in
connection with boards of business corporations, in which the
board has exclusive power and authority to operate the
business.
Ex-Officio Board Members
49:8 Frequently boards include ex-officio members—that is,
persons who are members of the board by virtue of an office or
committee chairmanship held in the society, or in the parent
state or national society or federation or some allied group; or
—sometimes in boards outside of organized societies—by
virtue of a public office. In the executive board of a society, if
the ex-officio member of the board is under the authority of the
society (that is, if he is a member, an employee, or an elected
or appointed officer of the society), there is no distinction
between him and the other board members. If the ex-officio
member is not under the authority of the society, he has all the
privileges of board membership, including the right to make
motions and to vote, but none of the obligations—just as in a
case, for example, where the governor of a state is ex officio a
trustee of a private academy. The latter class of ex-officio
board member, who has no obligation to participate, is not
counted in determining the number required for a quorum or
whether a quorum is present at a meeting. Whenever an ex-
officio board member is also ex officio an officer of the board,
he of course has the obligation to serve as a regular working
member and is therefore counted in the quorum.
49:9 When an ex-officio member of a board ceases to hold the
office that entitles him to such membership, his membership on
the board terminates automatically.
49:10 Concerning ex-officio members of committees, including
the president, see 50:16.
Officers of Boards
49:11 A board that is not an instrumentality of a parent assembly
or membership body is organized as any deliberative
assembly, with a chairman1 or president, a secretary, and
other officers as may be needed. In general, such a board
elects its own officers if the authority under which the board is
constituted makes no other provision as to how the officers are
to be determined. A board that is to elect its officers should
meet for this purpose as soon as possible after the selection of
its members (see also 49:22). In ordinary societies having
executive boards, on the other hand, the president and the
secretary of the society serve in the same capacities within the
board (and the executive committee, if there is one), unless
the bylaws provide otherwise.
Bodies Subordinate to a Board
49:12 As a general principle, a board cannot delegate its authority
—that is, it cannot empower a subordinate group to act
independently in its name—except as may be authorized by
the bylaws (of the society) or other instrument under which the
board is constituted; but any board can appoint committees to
work under its supervision or according to its specific
instructions. Such committees of the board always report to
the board.
49:13 Executive Committee. In a society where the board is large
or its members must travel from a distance to meet, it is usual
for the bylaws to establish an executive committee composed
of a specified number of board members, which shall have all
or much of the power of the board between meetings (just as
the board has all or much of the power of the society between
the society’s meetings), but which cannot alter any decision
made by the board (just as the board cannot alter any decision
made by the society). The executive committee is thus in
reality a “board within a board” and operates under the rules in
this book applicable to boards rather than those applicable to
committees. Usually the membership of the executive
committee is specified in the bylaws, rather than being left to
the choice of the full board. It is advisable that the executive
committee be small and, unless it has been authorized to
conduct electronic meetings (see 9:30–36), that its members
live near enough to each other to be able to hold frequent
regular meetings and also special meetings when necessary.
The executive secretary, if there is one, should work closely
with the executive committee, but should be appointed by the
parent body or at least by the board. A board cannot appoint
 an executive committee unless the bylaws so authorize.

49:14 Committees of a Board. Where an organization is local—for

example, a society for sustaining a foster home for children—
the executive board usually divides itself into committees
having charge of different branches of the work during the
interval between the monthly or quarterly meetings of the
board. At the board meetings these committees report on the
fulfillment of their assigned responsibilities. In such cases the
committees are genuinely subordinate to the board and must
ordinarily report back to it for authority to act (in contrast to an
executive committee, which usually has power to act as the
board, and in contrast to standing committees of the society,
which are not subordinate to the board unless made so by a
provision in the bylaws). Any board can appoint committees of
the kind just described without authorization in the bylaws.
Conduct of Business in Boards
49:15 General Procedure. The executive board of an organized
society operates under the society’s bylaws, the society’s
parliamentary authority, and any special rules of order or
standing rules of the society which may be applicable to it.
Such a board may adopt its own special rules of order or
standing rules only to the extent that such rules do not conflict
with any of the rules of the society listed above. It may protect
itself against breaches of order by its members during board
meetings, and against annoyance by nonmembers, by
employing the procedures outlined in 61:10–21, but the
maximum penalty which may be imposed upon a disorderly
member of the board is that he be required to leave the
meeting room during the remainder of the meeting. A board
that is not a part of a society can adopt its own rules, provided
that they do not conflict with anything in the legal instrument
under which the board is constituted.
49:16 Under the general parliamentary law, business is
transacted in large boards according to the same rules of
procedure as in other deliberative assemblies. In smaller
boards, these rules apply as far as practicable, with the
exceptions noted below. In any case, a board can transact
business only in a regular or properly called meeting of which
every board member has been sent any required notice (see
9:2–5, 9:13–16)—or at an adjournment of one of these
meetings2—and at which a quorum (see 40:5) is present. The
personal approval of a proposed action obtained separately by
telephone, by individual interviews, or in writing, even from
every member of the board, is not the approval of the board,
since the members lacked the opportunity to mutually debate
and decide the matter as a deliberative body. (See also
 Electronic Meetings, 9:30–36.)
49:17 A record of the board’s proceedings is kept by the
secretary, just as in any other assembly. Only members of the
board have the right to examine the minute book kept by the
secretary (cf. 47:36), unless the board orders otherwise (see
next paragraph). Board members are, however, free to share
the content of the minutes with others, except for any content
protected by the secrecy of an executive session that has not
been lifted (see 9:26–27).
49:18 The board can order that any specified person(s)—
including, for example, all members of the society—be
permitted to view, or be furnished with copies of, board
minutes. A motion to do so is an incidental main motion, which
can be adopted by a majority vote if the minutes are not
protected by executive-session secrecy. If they are protected
by such secrecy, the motion requires a two-thirds vote, the
vote of a majority of the entire membership of the board, or a
majority vote if previous notice has been given.
49:19 Whether or not board minutes are protected by the secrecy
of an executive session, the assembly of the society can adopt
a motion granting such permission, or can order that the
board’s minutes be produced and read at a meeting of the
assembly, by a two-thirds vote, the vote of a majority of the
entire membership of the assembly, or a majority vote if
previous notice has been given.
49:20 At regular board meetings the executive committee, if there
is one, should be required to make a report of its activities
since the last board meeting. No action need be taken on this
report, which is generally intended as information only.

49:21 Procedure in Small Boards. In a board meeting where there

are not more than about a dozen members present, some of
the formality that is necessary in a large assembly would
 hinder business. The rules governing such meetings are
different from the rules that hold in other assemblies, in the
following respects:
1) Members may raise a hand instead of standing when
seeking to obtain the floor, and may remain seated while
making motions or speaking.
2) Motions need not be seconded.
3) There is no limit to the number of times a member can speak
to a debatable question.3 Appeals, however, are debatable
under the regular rules—that is, each member (except the
chair) can speak only once in debate on them, while the
chair may speak twice.
4) Informal discussion of a subject is permitted while no motion
is pending.
5) When a proposal is perfectly clear to all present, a vote can
be taken without a motion’s having been introduced. Unless
agreed to by unanimous consent, however, all proposed
actions must be approved by vote under the same rules as in
larger meetings, except that a vote can be taken initially by a
show of hands, which is often a better method in small
meetings.
6) The chairman need not rise while putting questions to a
vote.
7) If the chairman is a member, he may, without leaving the
chair, speak in informal discussions and in debate, and vote
on all questions.4

49:22 Effect of Periodic Partial Change in Board Membership. In

cases where a board is constituted so that a specified portion
of its membership is chosen periodically (as, for example,
where one third of the board is elected annually for three-year
terms), it becomes, in effect, a new board each time such a
group assumes board membership. Consequently, when the
outgoing portion of the board vacates membership, all matters
temporarily but not finally disposed of (see 9:8–11, 38:8),
except those that remain in the hands of a committee to which
they have been referred, fall to the ground under provision (c)
in 21:7. (See also 50:30, regarding the continuity of matters
that have been referred to a special committee appointed by
the board.) If the board is one that elects its own officers or
appoints standing committees, it chooses new officers and
committees as soon as the new board members have taken
up their duties, just as if the entire board membership had
changed. The individual replacement of persons who may
occasionally vacate board membership at other times,
however, does not have these effects.
§50. COMMITTEES
50:1 A committee, as understood in parliamentary law, is a body
of one or more persons, elected or appointed by (or by
direction of) an assembly or society, to consider, investigate, or
take action on certain matters or subjects, or to do all of these
things. Unlike a board, a committee is not itself considered to
be a form of assembly.
50:2 Although the term committee commonly implies a relatively
small number of persons appointed to give a task more
detailed attention than is possible in a body the size of the
assembly, this characteristic more accurately describes what
are known as ordinary committees. An assembly can also
designate all of its members present to act as a committee,
which is called a committee of the whole and is distinguished
from an ordinary committee. In large assemblies, the use of a
committee of the whole is a convenient method of considering
a question when it is desired to allow each member to speak
an unlimited number of times in debate. Committees of the
whole are treated separately in 52. The statements in this
section apply principally to ordinary committees.
50:3 Ordinary committees are of two types—standing
committees (which have a continuing existence) and special
committees (which go out of existence as soon as they have
completed a specified task).
50:4 Generally the term committee implies that, within the area
of its assigned responsibilities, the committee has less
authority to act independently for the society (or other
constituting power) than a board is usually understood to have.
Thus, if the committee is to do more than report its findings or
recommendations to the assembly, it may be empowered to act
 for the society only on specific instructions; or, if it is given
standing powers, its actions may be more closely subject to
review than a board’s, or it may be required to report more fully.
Also, unlike most boards, a committee in general does not
have regular meeting times established by rule; but meetings
of the committee are called as stated in 50:21–22. Some
standing committees, however—particularly in large state or
national organizations—function virtually in the manner of
boards, although not designated as such.
50:5 When a committee is appointed “with power,” this means
with power to take all the steps necessary to carry out its
instructions.
50:6 In large assemblies or those doing a great volume of
business, much of the preliminary work in the preparation of
subjects for consideration is usually done by committees. In
many such bodies, in fact, it is advisable to have every main
question go to a committee before final action on it is taken by
the assembly.
50:7 Standing committees are constituted to perform a
continuing function, and remain in existence permanently or for
the life of the assembly that establishes them. In an ordinary
society, the members of such a committee serve for a term
corresponding to that of the officers, or until their successors
have been chosen, unless the bylaws or other rules otherwise
expressly provide. Thus, a new body of committee members is
normally appointed at the beginning of each administration.
50:8 A standing committee must be constituted by name (a) by a
specific provision of the bylaws or (b) by a resolution which is
in effect a special rule of order and therefore requires for its
adoption either previous notice and a two-thirds vote or a vote
of a majority of the entire membership, if any of the following
conditions are to apply:
• if the committee is to have standing authority to act for the
 society on matters of a certain class without specific
instructions from the assembly;
• if all business of a certain class is to be automatically referred
to the committee; or
• if some other rule of parliamentary procedure is affected by
the committee’s assigned function.
50:9 If a standing committee’s assigned function does not affect
a rule of parliamentary procedure in any of these three ways, it
can be established by a standing rule adopted by a majority
vote without notice, although, even in such a case, the
committee is frequently constituted by name in the bylaws as
indicated above. If certain standing committees are
enumerated in the bylaws, no standing committee aside from
those enumerated can be established without amending the
bylaws, unless the bylaws also include a provision authorizing
the creation of additional standing committees (see also 56:44–
48). A standing committee of a society reports to the assembly
of the society, and not to the executive board or board of
directors, unless the bylaws provide otherwise. In some
societies, standing committees in effect have charge of certain
branches of the organization’s work, in which case these
committees are really in the nature of boards.
50:10 A special (select, or ad hoc) committee is a committee
appointed, as the need arises, to carry out a specified task, at
the completion of which—that is, on presentation of its final
report to the assembly—it automatically ceases to exist. A
special committee may not be appointed to perform a task that
falls within the assigned function of an existing standing
committee.
Appointment of Committees
50:11 Methods of Appointment. In an assembly or organization
that has not prescribed in its bylaws or rules how the members
of its committees shall be selected, the method can be
decided by unanimous consent or by majority vote at the time
the committee is appointed, as described in 13:13; or (in the
case of a special committee) the method can be specified in
the motion to establish the committee. The power to appoint a
committee carries with it the power to appoint the chairman
and to fill any vacancy that may arise in the committee. The
two paragraphs headed Designating the Committee Chairman,
13:17–18, should be read in connection with the five methods
of appointing a committee described below.
50:12 It is possible for persons who are not members of the
assembly or the society to be appointed to committees—even
to the position of committee chairman—but control over each
such appointment is reserved to the assembly in the individual
case. From this principle, it follows that, referring to these five
methods of appointment, non–assembly members may be
appointed to committees by methods (a), (b), (c), and (e), as
listed below. When method (d) is used and the chair appoints
either a standing or a special committee, however, the
governing rule regarding the appointment of non–assembly
members is as stated under Naming Members to a Special
Committee, in 13:15–16.
50:13 Methods by which committees can be appointed are as
follows:
a) Election by ballot. This method is principally applicable to
important standing committees having extensive powers.
Under this procedure, nominations for committee
 membership can be made by any of the methods described
in 46; then the nominees are voted on by ballot just as in an
election of a board, a majority vote being necessary to elect.
In the event that more, or less, than the required number
receive a majority, places on the committee are filled as
explained in 46:33. If it is the assembly’s practice—or its
wish in the particular case—to select the committee
chairman (rather than leave it to the committee to do so; cf.
13:18), the chairmanship can be treated as a separate
position to be voted for on the same ballot with the other
committee members; or, in a smaller assembly, if preferred,
the chairman can be elected from among the committee’s
members on a second ballot, after their names have been
announced.
b) Nominations from the floor (open nominations) with viva-
voce election (usually called simply “nominations from the
floor”). This is a common method of appointing members to a
committee when the assembly wishes to reserve the
selection to itself without requiring secrecy in the voting.
When this method has been decided upon, the chair says,
“Members will please nominate,” or, “Nominations for the
committee are now in order.” The chair announces each
nomination as he hears it, as shown in 46:8. No one has a
right to nominate more than one person to membership on
the committee until every other member has had an
opportunity to nominate a candidate; and thus the
nomination of more than one person at a time by a single
member can be entertained only by unanimous consent.
If no more than the prescribed number of committee
members are nominated, a vote is unnecessary since the
fact that no more than the required number are nominated
shows that there is unanimous consent that the committee
should consist of these persons, which the chair declares as
 follows: “Messrs. A, B, and C, Mrs. D, and Mrs. E are
nominated. Are there any further nominations?… Since there
are no further nominations, the committee is composed of
the persons just named [or he repeats the names if he feels
it advisable].”
If there are more nominees than the required number of
committee members, then, when there are no further
nominations, the chair repeats all of the names in the order
in which they were nominated, and in the same order puts
the question on the election of each nominee—one at a time
until the proper number have been elected—as described for
viva-voce elections (46). For reasons explained in 46:37–39,
those nominated last in such a case have less chance of
being elected.
After the selection of committee members has been
completed, the assembly can elect a committee chairman
from among them, if desired; or a chairman can be elected
separately, first.
c) Nominations by the chair (with confirmation by voice vote).
This method is used when the assembly wishes to take
advantage of the chair’s knowledge and judgment as to
suitable appointees, yet wishes to have veto power. In this
case, the chair names the same number of persons as there
are to be members of the committee, always naming his
choice of committee chairman first, thus: “The chair
nominates Mr. X as chairman, Mrs. Y, and Mr. Z.5 The
question is: Shall these persons constitute the committee?”
Any member can then move to strike out one or more names
—but not to insert new ones, which the chair must do if such
a motion to strike out is adopted. After any changes in the
original names have thus been made, the chair repeats the
proposed names as they stand and puts the question on the
entire list: “Mr. X, Mrs. Y, and Mr. W are nominated. Those in
 favor of these persons constituting the committee, say aye.
… Those opposed, say no.…, etc.”
d) Appointment by the chair. In the absence of special
conditions, appointment of committees by the chair, or by the
regular presiding officer, is usually the best method in large
assemblies, and it is the ordinary procedure in many smaller
societies as well. The president cannot assume such power,
however, unless it is given to him by the bylaws or by action
of the assembly in the individual case (13:8(c), 13:13, 13:15,
56:46).
When the bylaws provide that the president shall appoint
all committees, this power does not transfer to the chair if
someone else presides. A clause in the bylaws assigning to
the president the duty of appointing all committees should
therefore contain appropriate provision for its own
suspension if necessary (for example, if there is occasion to
appoint a special committee during a meeting from which the
president is absent). In addition, a clause conferring on the
president such power of appointment should exclude the
nominating committee, and it may be advisable for such a
clause also to exclude all disciplinary committees.
Whenever it is stated in the bylaws (with or without the
proper exceptions just noted) that the president “shall
appoint all committees,” this means that the president shall
select the persons to serve on such committees as the
bylaws prescribe to be established or the assembly may
direct to be appointed; it does not mean that the president
can himself decide to appoint and assign a task to a group
and thereby give it the status of a committee of the society.
When the chair appoints a committee, no vote is taken on
the appointees, except any who are not members of the
assembly in cases where there is no prior authorization for
the chair to appoint non–assembly members to the
 committee—either in the bylaws or in a motion directing the
appointment of the particular committee (see also 13:15,
56:46). But the chair must announce the names of the
committee members to the assembly, naming the chairman
of the committee first, as in (c) above; and until such
announcement is made the committee cannot act. If the
assembly orders the appointment of a special committee and
it is desired to let the chair select the committee members
after adjournment, this delay must be authorized by the
assembly; the names of the committee members must then
be announced at the next meeting and recorded in the
minutes.
e) Appointment by adoption of a motion naming members of a
committee. This method finds use in the case of special
committees when the rules or particular conditions do not
dictate the use of another procedure. The names of the
proposed committee members can be included in the motion
proposing to appoint the committee, either as it is originally
offered or by way of an amendment. Or, if the motion to
appoint the committee is adopted without prescribing the
manner of appointment, a second motion can be made “That
the committee be composed of Mr. X, Mr. Y,…” In either
case, the motion naming the committee members can
specify the committee chairman or not as the assembly
wishes. If other names (intended to replace one or more of
those in the motion) are proposed while the motion is
pending, all such names and those in the motion are treated
as nominations and are voted on as in the case of an
election (see also 13:8(c), 13:10–18).
50:14 Unless the bylaws or other governing rules expressly
provide that committee members shall serve “… and until their
successors are chosen” or for a fixed period, as “… for a term
 of two years” (in which case the procedure for their removal or
replacement is the same as that for officers described in the
second bulleted item in 62:16), committee members (including
the chairman) may be removed or replaced as follows: If
appointment was as provided in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), or (e)
above, the removal or replacement of a committee member
requires the same vote as for any other motion to Rescind or
Amend Something Previously Adopted. If appointment was by
the president acting alone under paragraph (d), he may
remove or replace committee members by his own act (see
13:23).
50:15 A committee (except a committee of the whole, 52) can
appoint subcommittees, which are responsible to and report to
the committee and not to the assembly. Subcommittees must
consist of members of the committee, except when otherwise
authorized by the society in cases where the committee is
appointed to take action that requires the assistance of others.
50:16 The rules affecting ex-officio members of committees are
the same as those applying to ex-officio members of boards
(49:8–9). When the bylaws provide that the president shall be
ex officio a member of all committees (or of all committees
with the stated exception of those from which the president is
best excluded; see 56:47), the president is an ex-officio
member who has the right, but not the obligation, to participate
in the proceedings of the committees, and he is not counted in
determining the number required for a quorum or whether a
quorum is present at a meeting.
50:17 The resignation of a member of a committee should be
addressed to the appointing power, and it is the responsibility
of that power to fill the resulting vacancy (cf. 47:57–58).
50:18 Proper Composition of Committees. The members of a
standing committee should be chosen so as to provide the
 strongest possible group for the handling of any task that may
arise within the province of the committee. In the case of a
special committee, the purpose for which it is appointed affects
the desirable size and composition, as follows:
• When a special committee is appointed to implement an
order of the assembly, it should be small and should consist
only of those in favor of the action to be carried out. If anyone
not in sympathy with the action is appointed, he should ask to
be excused.
• When a special committee is appointed for deliberation or
investigation, however, it should often be larger, and it should
represent, as far as possible, all points of view in the
organization, so that its opinion will carry maximum weight.
When such a committee is properly selected, its
recommendations will most often reflect the will of the
assembly. By care in selecting committees, debates on
delicate and troublesome questions in ordinary societies can
be mostly confined to the committees. The usefulness of the
committee will be greatly impaired, on the other hand, if any
important faction of the assembly is not represented.
50:19 Information, Instructions, and Referred Papers. Upon the
appointment of a committee, it is the duty of the secretary of
the society to see that all persons appointed are notified, and
to furnish a list of the members of the committee to its
chairman or, in the chairman’s absence, to some other
authorized committee member. When a subject or item of
business is referred to the committee (normally at the time of
its appointment if it is a special committee, or at any time if it is
a standing committee), the secretary provides the committee
chairman or his representative with copies of the papers,
motion, or other matter formally referred to it, and whatever
instructions the assembly has given. Upon the committee’s
 request, any other papers or books necessary for the proper
performance of its duties must be made available to it by the
appropriate officers of the society, who can first consult with
the president if in doubt whether the requested papers or
books are indeed needed by the committee.
50:20 A committee should take care to preserve the papers
referred to it from the society, since, after its assignment is
completed, they must be returned in the same condition as
when received. If the committee wishes to write on copies of
the documents, therefore, it must obtain its own photocopies,
unless it has been provided with extra copies specified in its
instructions as for that purpose. In any case, amendments
prepared for recommendation to the assembly when the
committee reports should be drawn up on a separate sheet.
Conduct of Business in Committees
50:21 Committee Meetings. When a committee has been
appointed, its chairman (or first-named member temporarily
acting—see 13:18) should call it together.6 If some members
of the committee believe that the chairman has failed to call
this initial meeting or any subsequent meeting when
necessary, a meeting of the committee may be called by any
two of its members, unless (such as for very large committees)
the assembly’s rules or instructions prescribe, or empower the
committee itself to require, a larger number. It is the
responsibility of the person or persons calling a committee
meeting to ensure that reasonable notice of its time and place
is sent to every committee member. The quorum in a
committee is a majority of its membership unless the assembly
has prescribed a different quorum (40).

50:22 Adjournment; Provision for Future Meetings. When a

committee intends to reconvene, it can simply adjourn, or
adjourn to meet at a later time. In the first case—when it
adjourns without appointing a time for another meeting—the
next meeting is called as provided in the previous paragraph.
In the second case—when it sets an adjourned meeting—
notice of the adjourned meeting is not required (although it is
desirable to give such notice if feasible), but reasonable efforts
must be made to inform absent members of its time and place.
50:23 All of the meetings of a special committee constitute one
session (8). When a special committee has finished with the
business assigned to it, a motion is made for the committee to
“rise”—which is equivalent to the motion to adjourn sine die (or
without day)—and for the chairman or some other member to
make its report to the assembly. The motion to rise is never
 used in standing committees, or in special committees until
they are ready to go out of existence.
50:24 Committee Procedure. In small committees, the chairman
usually acts as secretary, but in large ones and many standing
committees, a secretary may be chosen to keep a brief
memorandum in the nature of minutes for the use of the
committee.
50:25 The informalities and modifications of the regular rules of
parliamentary procedure listed in 49:21 for use in small boards
are applicable during the meetings of all standing and special
committees, unless the committee is otherwise instructed by
the society (see next paragraph below); also, the rules
governing the motions to Rescind, to Amend Something
Previously Adopted, and to Reconsider are modified as stated
in 35:2(7) and 37:35. In committees, the chairman is usually
the most active participant in the discussions and work of the
committee. In order that there may be no interference with the
assembly’s having the benefit of its committees’ matured
judgment, motions to close or limit debate (15, 16) are not
allowed in committees.7
50:26 Committees of organized societies operate under the
bylaws, the parliamentary authority, and any special rules of
order or standing rules of the society which may be applicable
to them. A committee may not adopt its own rules except as
authorized in the rules of the society or in instructions given to
the committee by its parent assembly in a particular case. If a
standing or special committee is so large that it can function
best in the manner of a full-scale assembly, it should be
instructed that the informalities and modifications of the
regular rules of parliamentary procedure listed for small
boards in 49:21 are not to apply to its proceedings. The parent
assembly may adopt such instructions to the committee by
 majority vote.
50:27 When a committee is to make substantive
recommendations or decisions on an important matter, it
should give members of the society an opportunity to appear
before it and present their views on the subject at a time
scheduled by the committee. Such a meeting is usually called
a hearing. During actual deliberations of the committee, only
committee members have the right to be present.
50:28 A standing or special committee may protect itself against
breaches of order by its members during committee meetings,
and against annoyance by nonmembers, by employing the
procedures outlined in 61:10–21, but the committee, instead of
itself imposing any penalty on a disorderly member, can only
report such behavior to the committee’s parent body, which
may then take such action as it deems advisable. However, if
there will be no opportunity for this to occur within the time
needed to effectively resolve the problem and enable the
committee to complete its assigned tasks, the committee may
protect itself against such disruptive behavior by requiring the
disorderly member to leave the meeting room during the
remainder of the meeting.

50:29 Continuity and Conclusion of Committee Assignment.

Since members of standing committees in ordinary societies
are appointed for a term corresponding to that of the officers,
such a committee is generally required to report at least once
a year, usually at the annual meeting, on its activities and
everything referred to it during the year. When a standing
committee submits such a report at the conclusion of its
members’ term, the committee is not discharged from further
consideration of referred matters on which it reports partially at
that time, unless the assembly so votes (36); thus such
matters normally go over to the new committee. The members
 of the old committee continue their duties until their
successors are chosen.
50:30 A special committee—since it is appointed for a specific
purpose—continues to exist until the duty assigned to it is
accomplished, unless discharged sooner (see 36); and it
ceases to exist as soon as the assembly receives its final
report. The fact that an annual meeting intervenes does not
discharge a special committee. But in a body which ceases to
exist or in which the terms of some or all of its members expire
at a definite time, like a convention of delegates, a city council,
or a board of directors, a special committee expires with the
body that appointed it, unless it is appointed expressly to
report at a later time. If it does not report, its life expires with
that of the body to which it was to report.
§51. REPORTS OF BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
51:1 A report of a subordinate board or a committee is an official
statement formally adopted by, and submitted in the name of,
the reporting body, informing the parent assembly of action
taken or recommended, or information obtained.
General Considerations Affecting Board and
Committee Reports
51:2 Limitation of Report Content to What Has Been Properly
Agreed To. Except as noted in this paragraph, a report of a
board or committee can contain only what has been agreed to
by a majority vote at a regular or properly called meeting of
which every member has been notified (or at an adjournment
of one of these meetings, 9:17–19)—where a quorum of the
board or committee was present. A presentation of facts or
recommendations made merely upon separate consultation
with every member of a board must be described thus to the
parent assembly, and not as an official report of the board (see
also 49:16). In the case of a committee, however, if it is
impractical to bring its members together for a meeting, the
report of the committee can contain what has been agreed to
by every one of its members. (See also Electronic Meetings,
9:30–36.)
51:3 Types of Reports. For convenience in the discussions in this
section, reports may be divided into two general categories as
follows:
a) Annual or periodic reports of boards or standing committees
are usually submitted in accordance with requirements in the
bylaws, are primarily for information, and should summarize
important work done by the board or committee during the
year or other period covered by the report. They may also
contain recommendations—which may relate to general
policy to be followed by the organization, or may propose
specific action by its assembly (see next paragraph).
b) Reports relating to single items of business arising during
the year fall into a number of particular forms—which are
 described for the case of committees in 51:30ff. As will be
seen from examples there, these reports can often be quite
brief unless special circumstances or instructions to the
reporting body call for a detailed presentation of facts.
51:4 Recommendations in a Report. In any report of a
subordinate board or a committee (of type (a) or (b) above),
specific recommendations for immediate action by the parent
assembly should be grouped at the end—repeating them if
they have already been noted at separate places in the report
—and should generally be cast in the form of one or more
proposed resolutions. Although it is possible for a report, in the
circumstances just described, to present recommendations
which are not in the form of resolutions or motions, the
“adoption” of such recommendations by the parent assembly
may, depending on their wording or that of the motion to adopt,
lead to confusion as to whether their adoption authorizes
action, or only has the force of a declaration of intent (requiring
the adoption of subsequent resolutions for implementation). A
board or committee is usually best fitted to prepare resolutions
to carry out its recommendations, and it should never leave this
responsibility to others.
51:5 When a report is made for the purpose of presenting
recommendations on a single subject—especially if it is the
report of a committee to which the subject was referred—it is
often best for the formal report to be confined as much as
possible to the recommendations, whether they are in the form
of resolutions or otherwise (see examples in 51:30–51). If this
approach is followed and it is desired to bring supporting
reasons to the attention of the assembly, the reporting member
(that is, the person who presents the report) can include brief
oral explanations with his presentation. Or, supporting reasons
can be explained at greater length during debate on the report
 —by the reporting member, who has the right to the floor first in
debate, and also by other members of the board or committee,
if appropriate, as the debate progresses.
51:6 In the foregoing connection, it should be noted that under
parliamentary conditions the inclusion of supporting facts or
reasoning in a report proposing certain action may tend to work
against the taking of that action, since some members who
might otherwise have been willing to accept the proposals may
be led to vote against them if they disagree with the factual
background as reported or the reasoning of the reporting body.
51:7 Form of Detailed Report. If special conditions dictate that a
report devoted to a single subject and presenting
recommendations should include a full account of the details
involved in the case, the body of the report is best organized
according to the following topics, as applicable:
1) a description of the way in which the reporting body (usually
a committee in such cases) undertook its charge;
2) the facts uncovered or information obtained;
3) the findings or conclusions derived from the facts or
information; and
4) resolutions or recommendations.
If for any reason one or more resolutions or recommendations
are placed within this type of detailed report before its
conclusion, they should be repeated at the end, as stated
above. In this way they can be more easily dealt with apart
from any implied endorsement of reported facts and reasoning
which some members may not accept.
51:8 Presentation and Reception of Reports. A report of a board
or committee to an assembly is presented at the proper time by
a “reporting member” of the board or committee. For the report
of a board whose chairman is also the presiding officer of the
 assembly, the secretary or another one of its members acts as
reporting member. In the case of a committee, the committee
chairman is the reporting member unless—because he does
not agree with the report or for any other reason—he does not
wish to give it, in which event the committee chooses another
one of its members.
51:9 A reporting member makes or presents a report on behalf of
a board or a committee when, having been assigned the floor
for such a purpose in a meeting, he does one of the following
things (depending on the nature of the report and other
conditions): (a) renders the report orally, if it is not in writing; (b)
reads the report to the assembly and passes it to the chair or
the secretary; or (c) announces that he is submitting it and
passes it to one of these officers to be read by a reading clerk.
When the assembly hears the report thus read or orally
rendered, it receives the report. The terms presentation and
reception accordingly describe one and the same event from
the respective viewpoints of the reporting member and the
assembly.
51:10 Motions for Action on Reports. Immediately after receiving a
board’s or a committee’s report—unless it is a report
containing only information on which no action is taken (51:53)
—an assembly normally considers whatever action may be
recommended in or arise out of the report. In the remainder of
this section, it is explained how such action under various
conditions may involve the introduction of motions—to
implement recommendations or, occasionally, to adopt the
entire report.

51:11 Motions to implement recommendations. When a report

contains recommendations—except in cases where the
recommendations relate only to the adoption or rejection of
question(s) that were referred while pending (13) and
 consequently become pending again automatically when
reported (51:37–43)—the reporting board or committee
member usually makes the necessary motion to implement the
recommendations at the conclusion of his presentation,
provided he is a member of the assembly (see examples in
51:31–35 and 51:44–51, in which it is generally assumed that
the “reporting member” is a member of the assembly). If the
report is read by the secretary or a reading clerk in such a
case, the reporting member resumes the floor for the purpose
of making the motion immediately after the reading is
completed. No second is required in these cases, since the
motion is made on behalf of the board or committee (see
4:11).
51:12 If the person presenting the report is not a member of the
assembly or for any other reason does not make the required
motion to implement the recommendations as just described,
any member of the assembly can do so; but the motion must
then be seconded. Or, when the proper motion is a matter of
clear-cut procedure and must necessarily be introduced to
resolve the case, the chair may sometimes expedite matters
by assuming the motion—that is, stating the question on it
without waiting for it to be made.

51:13 Motion to adopt an entire report. In rare instances after an

assembly has received a report, it may have occasion to adopt
the (entire) report; an affirmative vote on such a motion has
the effect of the assembly’s endorsing every word of the report
—including the indicated facts and the reasoning—as its own
statement (see also 10:52–53). Unlike motions to take the
action recommended in a report as described above, a motion
“to adopt the report” should be made by someone other than
the reporting member and requires a second. Adoption of an
entire report is seldom wise except when it is to be issued or
 published in the name of the whole organization.

51:14 Equivalence of Terms; Incorrect Motions. As applied to an

assembly’s action with respect to board or committee reports
or any of their contents, the expressions adopt, accept, and
agree to are all equivalent—that is, the text adopted becomes
in effect the act or statement of the assembly. It is usually best
to use the word adopt, however, since it is the least likely to be
misunderstood.
51:15 A common error is to move that a report “be received” after
it has been read—apparently on the supposition that such a
motion is necessary in order for the report to be taken under
consideration or to be recorded as having been made. In fact,
this motion is meaningless and is therefore not in order, since
the report has already been received. Even before a report
has been read, a motion to receive it is unnecessary if the time
for its reception is established by the order of business, or if no
member objects (see also below).
51:16 Another error—less common, but dangerous—is to move,
after the report has been read (or even before the reading),
that it “be accepted,” when the actual intent is that of the
mistaken motion to receive, as just explained, or of a
legitimate motion to receive made before the report is read. If
a motion “to accept” made under any of these circumstances
is adopted and is given its proper interpretation, it implies that
the assembly has endorsed the complete report.
51:17 Applicability of Regular Rules to Questions Arising out of
Reports. When a board or committee report has been
received and the chair has stated the question on the adoption
of the motion, resolution(s), recommendation(s), or report—
whether the question became pending automatically, or the
proper motion was made or was assumed by the chair as
explained above—the matter is treated as any other main
 question, is open to debate and amendment, and can have
any of the subsidiary motions applied to it. Similarly, if a
committee to which the main question was referred has
recommended that it be amended or definitely or indefinitely
postponed, the motion to take such action is debatable and
(for primary amendment or definite postponement)
amendable, under the regular rules for these motions.
51:18 In the foregoing connection it should be noted that the
consideration of a matter that was referred to a board or
committee cannot be objected to (26) when it is reported on—
regardless of whether the matter was referred as a pending
question (13) or as a subject on which no question was
pending. The reason is that an Objection to the Consideration
of a Question can be raised only against an original main
motion at the time of its introduction; and the reported matter
in no case has this status since (a) if it was referred as a
pending question, it was introduced at an earlier time, or (b) if
it was referred as a subject on which no question was
pending, the main question introduced following the report is
an incidental main motion (see 10:4–6).
51:19 Conditions for Amendment of a Report by the Assembly
Before Its Adoption. An assembly that is to adopt an entire
report which it has received can amend the report, but the text
as published or recorded must not make the reporting board or
committee appear to say anything different from the wording
that was actually reported. For this reason, the published or
recorded text must show clearly the reported version and the
changes that the assembly has made—for example, by
enclosing in brackets all that was struck out and underlining or
putting in italics all that was inserted, and including a note
explaining this notation at the beginning of the report (see also
51:13, 51:22).
Board Reports
51:20 Occasion and Manner of Preparation. The executive board
(or board of directors) of a society reports to the assembly
annually on the work done during the year, and at such other
times and upon such subjects as the bylaws may prescribe or
the society’s business may require.
51:21 A board report is usually drafted by the president or
secretary, and this draft often passes through the executive
committee first, if there is one, before it comes up for
consideration and adoption by the board at one of its meetings
(see also 51:1–3). A board report should be signed by the
president or chairman of the board and its secretary only.

51:22 Reception and Disposition of Board Reports. In meetings

at which the executive board is to make a report, the chair
calls for it at the time provided in the order of business, or, if
there is no such provision, before committee reports are
received or unfinished business is taken up. After the reading
of the report, the reporting member moves the adoption of any
resolutions included in it, which, as indicated above, should be
grouped or repeated at the end. If the annual report of the
board is to be formally adopted by the society before being
published, an appropriate wording for the minutes in such a
case is the following: “The Executive Board [or “Board of
Directors,” etc.] submitted its report, which, after debate and
amendment [if any], was adopted as follows, the words in
brackets having been struck out and those underlined [or, “in
italics”] having been inserted before the report was adopted.”
A society need not endorse the report of its board, and can
even decline to allow the report to be printed, or it can adopt
only a part; but whatever it prints or records from the report
must show any changes clearly marked.
Form and Reception of Committee Reports in
General
51:23 General Form of Committee Reports. All committee reports
should be submitted in writing, except as noted (for particular
types of brief reports in a small assembly) in 51:60–62. In the
case of such exceptions, a report can be given orally only if it
is brief enough that the secretary can record its complete
substance in the minutes on hearing it given—which he must
do if no written copy is submitted for file.
51:24 Usually a written committee report is not addressed or
dated. It is understood to be addressed to the assembly, and
its date is that on which it is presented in a meeting of the
assembly as recorded in the minutes.
51:25 A committee report should always be worded in the third
person—that is, as shown in the next paragraph (not “I
report…” or “We recommend…”). Similarly, in an assembly a
committee report is always spoken of by the chair and others
as, for example, “the report of the Finance Committee” or “the
report of the committee to which was referred… [stating the
subject].” It should never be spoken of as “the report of the
chairman of the Finance Committee” and never as “Mr. Smith’s
report,” even though it is usually presented by the committee
chairman and even if he may have personally drafted it or
done most of the work reported.
51:26 A committee report should begin with an identification of
the committee submitting it—the name of the committee in the
case of a standing committee, or the subject that was referred
in the case of a special committee; thus:
[For a standing committee:]
The Committee on… wishes to report [or, “reports”] that… [or, “submits
 the following report:…”].

Or:
Report of the Committee on…:

[For a special committee:]

The committee to which was referred [stating the subject] reports [or
“recommends”] that…

Or:
The committee appointed to [stating the purpose] reports that… [or,
“submits the following report:…”].

51:27 If a written committee report is of considerable importance,

it should be signed by all the members concurring.8
Otherwise, the committee can authorize its chairman to sign
the report alone, in which case he adds the word Chairman
after his signature. By so signing, the committee chairman
certifies that the report has been adopted by the committee as
explained in 51:2. When all concurring members sign the
report, it is customary for the chairman to sign first, but this is
not obligatory. In any case, he should not place the word
Chairman after his name except when he signs alone on
behalf of the entire committee. The use of the words
Respectfully submitted preceding the signature(s) on a
committee report is unnecessary and no longer customary.
51:28 Reception of Committee Reports. Reports of committees
are called for or can be presented in a meeting as follows:
• If, as is usually the case, a place has been provided in the
order of business for the reports of committees, the chair
calls for the reports of standing committees first, in the order
in which they are listed in the bylaws or other rules; after that
he calls for the reports of the special committees, in the order
 of their appointment. (The chair omits calling for the report of
any committee that he knows has no report to make; see also
41:13.) As each report is called for, the committee chairman
or other reporting member rises, addresses the chair, and
presents the report.
• Or, if the order of business makes no provision for committee
reports, the committee chairman or other reporting member
seeks to obtain the floor when no business is pending and,
addressing the chair, informs the assembly that the
committee has agreed upon a report which he is prepared to
submit. If the chair thinks that the assembly wishes to hear
the report, the chair directs the member to proceed. If anyone
objects to the report’s reception or if the chair is in doubt as to
whether the report should be received at that time, the chair
asks if there is a motion to receive the report, or the chair
assumes such a motion and puts the question to the
assembly:
CHAIR: The question is, “Shall the report be received now?” Those in
favor of receiving the report now, say aye.… Those opposed say no.
…, etc.

This question requires a majority vote and is neither debatable

nor amendable. If the vote is in the negative, a later time for the
reception of the report should be set, either by unanimous
consent or by a vote on an incidental main motion setting such
a time. The manner of presenting the report is the same as
described above.
51:29 (For the reception of “minority reports,” see 51:69–70.)
Disposition of Particular Types of Committee Reports
51:30 The proper method of presenting and disposing of different
types of committee reports is explained below, with sample
reports being given in certain cases. Whenever a motion by
the reporting member is a normal part of the procedure in the
examples, it is assumed that this member actually makes the
motion rather than leaving it to the chair to state the question
without a formal motion (see 51:10–13).
51:31 A Report at the Initiative of a Standing Committee
Recommending Action. If a standing committee wishes on
its own initiative to recommend action by the assembly on a
matter within the committee’s concern, it is generally desirable,
as stated above, for the report to consist of or conclude with
one or more proposed resolutions embodying the committee’s
recommendations. Such resolutions should always be in
writing. Although the reporting member in a small assembly
may sometimes give accompanying explanations orally, it is
usually better to submit a formal written report if it is to contain
anything other than the resolutions themselves. In any event,
after giving or reading the report, the reporting member moves
the adoption of the resolution(s). He may make such a
presentation, for example, as follows:
REPORTING MEMBER (reading written report):
The Buildings and Grounds Committee wishes to report that the
clubhouse roof was extensively damaged by the hurricane last week.
The committee therefore recommends the adoption of the following
resolution: “Resolved, That the Buildings and Grounds Committee be
authorized to request bids for repair of the clubhouse roof and to
award a contract for the same, provided that, without further
authorization, the cost shall not exceed $5,000.”
 George Wilson, Chairman
Mr. President, by direction of [or “on behalf of”] the committee, I move
the adoption of the resolution just read.

51:32 The chair then states the question on the resolution, and it
is considered just as any other main motion. If the report
contains more than one resolution, the reporting member
makes a single motion for the adoption of them all, and the
rules given in 10:25 apply.
51:33 Although it is not generally the best procedure, a report
may sometimes contain recommendations not in the form of
motions or resolutions. In any case, as stated above, the
recommendations should be placed at the end of the report
even if they have been given separately before. Sometimes
also, in this connection, it is moved “to adopt the committee’s
recommendation(s),” although, as noted in 51:4, this can lead
to confusion as to the precise effect of the motion. A better
method of treating a committee recommendation that is not in
the form of a resolution—in a case, for example, where the
recommendation is to authorize a $2,000 expenditure for a
personnel consultant’s fee—is to offer a motion like this: “In
accordance with the recommendation in the committee’s
report, I move that the expenditure of $2,000 for a personnel
consultant’s fee be authorized.” The reporting member can
make such a motion after reading the report, or another
member can obtain the floor to do so. In cases where the
committee has offered no resolutions embodying its
recommendations and the drafting of satisfactory resolution(s)
covering them is likely to require the further attention of a
committee, another member can move to refer the matter to
the same or another committee for this purpose.9
51:34 A Report on a Referred Subject on Which No Resolution
 or Motion Was Pending. If a subject on which no resolution
or motion was pending has been referred to a committee for
recommendations, the report usually should conclude with one
or more resolutions, unless the committee recommends that
no action be taken. The committee’s report on the subject
referred to it may be presented, for example, thus:
REPORTING MEMBER (reading written report):
The committee that was appointed to recommend a suitable
recreational facility for the Club to donate to the new Runnymede
Park project finds that no provision has been made for tennis courts.
The committee therefore recommends the adoption of the following
resolution: “Resolved, That the Club underwrite the cost of two tennis
courts to be constructed in Runnymede Park.”
Howard Ford, Chairman
Mr. President, on behalf of the committee, I move the adoption of the
resolution just read.

51:35 The resolution is treated as any other main question, just

as in the preceding case dealing with the recommendation of a
standing committee. Recommendations not in the form of
resolutions are also handled as described in the preceding
case.
51:36 A Report on a Resolution Previously Referred to a
Committee. When a committee reports on a resolution or
other main question which was referred to it (13) or which the
rules require to be considered by it before coming before the
assembly with the committee’s recommendation, the form of
the report and the type of action depends on the nature of the
case, as follows:
51:37 Recommending adoption, or rejection, or (when a majority
of the committee fail to agree) making no
recommendation. Such a report in a small assembly can be
 given orally (provided that the secretary records it in the
minutes); for example, thus:
REPORTING MEMBER: The committee to which was referred the
resolution “Resolved, That the Federation endorse the so-called
Farnsworth Plan for financing the proposed new school construction
program” recommends that the resolution be adopted [or “not be
adopted”].

Or:
The committee to which was referred… has been unable to arrive at a
recommendation.

51:38 If the resolution is too long to fit into the form given above,
a form such as the following may be used:
REPORTING MEMBER: The committee to which was referred the
resolution relating to governmental reorganization reports it with the
recommendation that it be adopted as referred.

51:39 The reporting member then hands to the chair or the

secretary the copy of the resolution that was turned over to the
committee.
51:40 When the presentation of the report is concluded in each of
the above cases, the resolution or main question becomes
pending automatically and the chair states the question
accordingly, no motion being necessary. If the committee
recommends adoption or makes no recommendation, the
chair, as soon as the reporting member has resumed his seat,
proceeds:
CHAIR: The committee to which was referred the resolution on…
recommends its adoption [or, “is unable to arrive at a
recommendation”]. The resolution is… [reading it]. The question is on
the adoption of the resolution.
51:41 The question is always stated and put on the adoption of
the resolution (that is, so that a vote of aye is a vote in favor of
it). Thus, when the committee’s recommendation is in the
negative, the chair states the question as follows:
CHAIR: The committee to which was referred… recommends that it not
be adopted. The resolution is… [reading it]. The question is on the
adoption of the resolution, the recommendation of the committee to
the contrary notwithstanding. [Or, simply, “The question is on the
adoption of the resolution,” in which case the chair may add, “The
committee recommends that the resolution be rejected.”]

51:42 Recommending action on a resolution and an amendment

that were pending when referred. If an amendment was
pending when the resolution was referred, the report can be
given orally in a small assembly provided that it is recorded in
the minutes; and it should first state the committee’s
recommendation as to the disposition of the amendment, then
as to the disposition of the resolution. For example:
REPORTING MEMBER: The committee to which was referred the
resolution “Resolved, That the proposed expansion of the yacht
basin be authorized,” together with the pending amendment “to add
the words, ‘at a cost not to exceed $150,000,’” recommends that the
amendment be adopted and that the resolution as thus amended be
adopted.

51:43 As in the preceding case, no motions are necessary, and

the chair states the question first on the amendment, and after
it is voted on, then on the resolution. The same principles
apply if a primary amendment and a secondary amendment
were pending when the resolution was referred. The report
states the committee’s recommendations first on the
secondary amendment, then on the primary amendment, and
finally on the resolution; and the chair states the questions in
 that order.
51:44 Recommending definite or indefinite postponement. If a
resolution or other main question is referred to a committee
while a motion to postpone it indefinitely is pending, that
motion to Postpone Indefinitely (11) is ignored by the
committee and by the assembly when the committee reports.
But whether or not such a motion was pending at the time of
referral, the committee can report the main question with a
recommendation that it be postponed indefinitely or that it be
postponed to a certain time (14). Thus, if (a) no amendment
was pending at the time of referral, or if (b) an amendment
was pending and the committee recommends postponement
to a certain time, the reporting member makes a motion for the
postponement at the conclusion of his presentation. But if (c)
an amendment was pending and the recommendation is for
indefinite postponement, the motion to Postpone Indefinitely
cannot be made until after the amendment has been voted on
(see Order of Precedence of Motions, 5). In each of the three
cases, the report can be given orally in a small assembly,
provided that it is recorded in the minutes, as follows:
a) If no amendment was pending at the time of referral:
REPORTING MEMBER: The committee to which was referred the
resolution “Resolved, That…” recommends, and on behalf of [or “by
direction of”] the committee I move, that the resolution be postponed
until… [or “be postponed indefinitely”].

The chair then states the question first on the

postponement, and if that is voted down, next on the
resolution.
b) If an amendment was pending and the recommendation is
for postponement to a certain time:
 REPORTING MEMBER: The committee to which was referred the
resolution “Resolved, That…,” together with the pending amendment
[stating the amendment], recommends, and by direction of the
committee I move, that the resolution be postponed until…

The chair states the question first on the postponement as

in (a); but if that is voted down, the question in this case is
next on the amendment, and then on the resolution.
c) If an amendment was pending and the recommendation is
for indefinite postponement (in which case the motion to
Postpone Indefinitely is not in order when the report is
made):
REPORTING MEMBER: The committee to which was referred the
resolution “Resolved, That…,” together with the pending amendment
[stating the amendment], recommends that the resolution be
postponed indefinitely.

The reporting member resumes his seat without making a

motion, and the chair immediately states the question on
the amendment. After it has been voted on, he can state
the question on the indefinite postponement (thus assuming
this motion), or he can recognize the reporting member to
move it by direction of the committee, and the procedure is
then as in (a) above.
51:45 Recommending amendments. When a committee reports
back a resolution or paper with amendments that it proposes,
the amendments, at least, should be in writing unless they are
very simple. In a small assembly, depending on the complexity
of the case, the amendments can be written out on a separate
sheet that is handed to the chair or the secretary at the
conclusion of an oral presentation, or a more formal written
report can be submitted; the latter procedure should be
followed in a large body. In the report, the resolution can be
 included in full and be followed by a statement of the proposed
amendments as in the example below; or, if the resolution or
document is long and copies are available to the members,
the report can contain only the amendments with enough of
the context of the resolution to make them understood.
51:46 If no amendment was pending at the time of referral, the
reporting member at the conclusion of his presentation moves
the adoption of the amendments proposed by the committee,
making a single motion covering them all. But if an
amendment was pending at the time of referral, the chair
(unless the committee recommends a secondary amendment,
whose adoption the reporting member would first move) states
the question on the referred amendment first—the reporting
member making no motion until after that amendment has
been voted on.
51:47 The following example (although equally suitable for
treatment by the method of reporting a substitute as in 51:49–
51) illustrates the presentation of a written report proposing
amendments to a resolution short enough to be read in full, in
a case where no amendment was pending at the time of
referral.
REPORTING MEMBER (reading written report):
The committee to which was referred the resolution relating to a
proposed scholarship in journalism hereby submits its report. The
resolution is the following: “Resolved, That the Guild establish a four-
year scholarship in journalism at the State University, to be open to
sons and daughters of Guild members, the recipient to be chosen
annually by the Board of Directors of the Guild.”
The committee recommends that the resolution be amended as
follows:
1) by striking out the words “four-year scholarship” and inserting the
words “scholarship covering the last three undergraduate years”;
2) by striking out the words “to be open to sons and daughters of Guild
 members”; and
3) by adding the words “upon the recommendation of the Dean of the
School of Journalism”;
and the committee further recommends that, as thus amended, the
resolution be adopted.
Milton Roth, Chairman
[Or (see 51:27):]
Milton Roth
John Harley
Elizabeth Norton
Elwood Quinn
Mr. President, by direction of the committee, I move the adoption of
the amendments contained in the report.

51:48 After the chair states the question on the adoption of the
amendments proposed by the committee, the procedure is by
one of the following methods:
a) Normally the chair immediately rereads or calls for a
rereading of the first of these amendments, after which it is
open to debate and secondary amendment. A vote is then
taken on the adoption of the first committee amendment,
after which the next one is read, and so on. Until all of the
committee’s amendments have been voted on, no other
primary amendments are in order, but only secondary
amendments as each committee amendment comes up.
After all of the committee’s amendments have been acted
upon, other amendments which are not precluded by action
taken on the committee amendments can be proposed from
the floor. When these have been voted on, the chair puts the
question on adopting the resolution or paper as amended.10
b) Alternatively, the chair puts a single question on all of the
committee’s amendments together, except those for which a
member asks for a separate vote,11 thus: “Those in favor of
adopting the amendments recommended by the committee,
 except those for which a separate vote has been asked, say
aye.… Those opposed, say no.…” This is called putting the
question on the amendments in gross. He then takes up the
remaining amendments separately in their order. This
alternative, although it is in order whenever a committee
reports multiple amendments to a referred resolution, may
be most advisable when the amendments may be expected
not to occasion debate or secondary amendment—for
example, if they are reported from a committee of the whole
(52) where they have already been open to debate and
amendment.
c) By unanimous consent (4:58–63), the assembly can allow
the introduction of a motion to adopt all recommendations in
the report, without considering the amendments separately.
51:49 Recommending a substitute. If a committee reports back a
resolution with a substitute that it recommends for adoption, at
least the substitute should be in writing, just as in the case of
any other report proposing amendments.
51:50 If no amendment was pending when the resolution was
referred, the reporting member concludes his presentation by
making the motion to substitute; for example, thus:
REPORTING MEMBER: The committee to which was referred the
resolution “Resolved, That the proceeds from the recent bequest to
the Association from the Asquith estate be invested in stock of the
Consolidated Development Corporation” recommends that, for the
resolution, the following substitute be adopted: “Resolved, That the
Executive Board be authorized to retain reputable investment
counsel with a view to determining appropriate investment of the
proceeds from the Asquith bequest.” On behalf of the committee I
move that the resolution last read be substituted for the referred
resolution.

51:51 The chair then states the question on the motion to

 substitute. But if amendment(s) were pending when the
resolution was referred, then, before the motion to substitute
can be made, the question is first on the secondary
amendment if one was pending, then on the primary
amendment that was pending. When these amendments have
been voted on, the reporting member makes the motion to
substitute and the chair states the question on it (or the chair
can state the question assuming the motion). In any event, the
substitute proposed by the committee is treated as in the case
of any other motion to substitute (see 12:69–90). If the motion
to substitute is lost, the “original” resolution is open to further
amendment; but if the motion to substitute is adopted, the
resolution thus substituted can be amended only by adding.
(Regarding substitutes proposed by committees, see also
12:77–78.)
51:52 In regard to referred questions reported back, see also
Resolutions Committee, 59:67–75, 59:80–83.
51:53 A Report Containing Only Information. Even if a report
contains only an account of work done or a statement of fact
or opinion for the assembly’s information, it should be in
writing. Apart from filing such a report, however, no action on it
is necessary and usually none should be taken. (See also
Motion to Adopt an Entire Report, 51:13, and Conditions for
Amendment of a Report by the Assembly Before Its Adoption,
51:19.)
51:54 Membership and Nominating Committee Reports; Reports
of Other Kinds of Committees. When a membership
committee reports on names of persons referred to the
committee as applicants for society membership, the report
can be rendered orally, but a list of the names of the persons
recommended for membership should be submitted in writing.
When such a report is made, the chair at once states the
 question on the admission to membership of the candidates
recommended by the committee.
51:55 The report of the nominating committee consists of a
written list of candidates for office, just as in the case of the
membership committee’s report. No vote on the nominating
committee’s report is taken, however; the procedure is as
described in 46.
51:56 For the handling of the report of an auditing committee, see
48:24–25.
51:57 For the report of a committee on bylaws, see 54 and 56.
51:58 For the reports of the three principal committees that
perform parliamentary functions in the organization of a
convention—the Credentials Committee, the Committee on
Standing Rules, and the Program Committee—see 59.
51:59 For the report of an investigating committee appointed
under disciplinary procedures, see 63.
Oral Reports; Partial and Minority Reports
51:60 Summary of Types of Reports That Can Be Rendered
Orally in a Small Assembly. As stated in 51:23, committee
reports should be submitted in writing, with the permissible
exceptions noted in the following two paragraphs (51:61–62),
which apply to very brief reports in a small assembly, provided
that the secretary records the complete substance of the
report in the minutes as it is given orally.
51:61 With respect to a resolution or main question that was
referred while pending:
1) If the committee report consists only of a recommendation
as to the disposition of the referred resolution or motion, the
report can be given orally if implementation of the
recommendation involves:
a) no further motion, as when the committee recommends
that the referred resolution or motion be adopted, or
rejected; or
b) the introduction of a subsidiary motion that can be made
orally, as when the committee recommends that the
referred resolution be postponed definitely or indefinitely,
or be amended by the change of only a few words.
2) If an amendment or a primary and a secondary amendment
were pending with a resolution or main question that was
referred and the committee has no new amendments to
propose, the report can also usually be oral, in which case
the reporting member simply states the committee’s
recommendation as to the adoption or rejection, first, of the
secondary amendment, and then of the primary amendment,
and finally its recommendation as to the disposition of the
resolution or main motion—all before any of the referred
 questions are voted on.
3) When the committee wishes to propose amendments, the
amendments themselves should always be in writing if they
involve more than a few words; but the complete report—that
is, the declaration on behalf of the committee that it
recommends the amendments—can be oral or written
depending on the complexity of statement required by the
resulting parliamentary situation.
51:62 If a subject that was not in the form of a pending resolution
or motion was referred to a committee for recommendations,
and if the committee in its report presents the
recommendations in one or more resolutions offered with no
comment, only the resolutions need be in writing and the
statement that the committee recommends their adoption can
be given orally.
51:63 Action Required by a Partial Report. A partial report of a
committee is handled in the same way as the final report. If it
is a progress report only, with no recommendations or
conclusions, it is treated as any other report for information
only, and no action need be taken. But if the partial report
recommends action, the question is put on adopting its
proposed resolutions, or its recommendations, or the report
itself, just as if it were the final report. A committee can be
discharged (36) by a majority vote at the time at which it
makes a partial report.
51:64 Formal Expression of Minority View (“Minority Report”).
The formal presentation of a so-called “minority report”—that
is, the presentation of an expression of views in the name of a
group of committee members not concurring with the
committee report—is usually allowed by the assembly when
such permission is requested, as explained below. Regardless
 of whether a minority report is submitted, however, the report
adopted by vote of a majority in the committee should always
be referred to as “the committee report,” never “the majority
report.”
51:65 Nature of committee minority’s rights with respect to
reports. As indicated above, the formal presentation of a
“minority report” is a privilege that the assembly may accord,
not a matter of right—since the appointment of the committee
implies that the assembly is primarily interested in the findings
of the majority of the committee’s members. But in debate on
any written or oral report in the assembly, any member of the
reporting committee who does not concur has the same right
as any other member of the assembly to speak individually in
opposition. No one can make allusion in the assembly to what
has occurred during the deliberations of the committee,
however, unless it is by report of the committee or by
unanimous consent.
51:66 Form of minority report; minority recommendations. A
“minority report” in writing may begin:
The undersigned, a minority of the committee appointed to…, not
agreeing with the majority, desire to express their views in the case.…

51:67 If the committee report concludes with a proposed

resolution, the minority can (a) recommend rejection of the
resolution; (b) recommend amendment of it; or (c) recommend
adoption of some other suitable motion designed to dispose of
the resolution appropriately.
51:68 If the committee report is for information only, the views of
the minority may be similarly constructed or may conclude with
a motion.
51:69 Reception of minority report. When the minority of a
 committee wishes to make a formal presentation of its views, it
is customary, unless the assembly refuses permission, to
receive its report immediately after the report of the
committee. In such a case, the member presenting the
committee report can properly notify the assembly that the
minority wishes to submit its views in a separate report. As
soon as the chair has stated the appropriate question on the
committee report, he calls for the minority presentation unless
someone objects, in which case he puts the question on the
report’s being received. A majority vote is required to receive a
minority report; the question is undebatable.
51:70 When the minority report is presented, it is for information,
and it cannot be acted upon except by a motion to substitute it
for the report of the committee. Whether the views of the
minority are formally presented or not, however, any member
can move that resolutions proposed by the committee be
amended, or that they be postponed indefinitely, or that some
other appropriate action be taken.
51:71 Indicating Agreement with a Report Except in a Specified
Particular. If a written report of a committee is signed by all
who concur and a committee member is in agreement with the
report except in one particular, he can, after all who agree to
the report have signed, add a statement that he concurs with
the report except the part that he specifies, and then sign the
statement—regardless of whether a minority report is to be
submitted. Similarly, a committee member who agrees with
most of a minority report can sign it with an added note
indicating what he does not agree with, just as in the case of a
committee report. If the committee members in the minority do
not agree, the assembly can allow more than one minority
report to be submitted.
§52. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE AND ITS
ALTERNATE FORMS
52:1 The committee of the whole and its two alternate forms, the
quasi committee of the whole (or consideration as if in
committee of the whole) and informal consideration, are
devices that enable the full assembly to give detailed
consideration to a matter under conditions of freedom
somewhat like those of a committee. Under each of these
procedures, any member can speak in debate on the main
question or any amendment—for the same length of time as
allowed by the assembly’s rules—as often as he is able to get
the floor. As under the regular rules of debate, however, he
cannot speak another time on the same question so long as a
member who has not spoken on it is seeking the floor.
52:2 Each of these three devices is best suited to assemblies of
a particular range in size and provides a different degree of
protection against disorderliness and its possible
consequences—which are risked when each member is
allowed to speak an unlimited number of times in debate, such
risk increasing in proportion to the size of the assembly. With
respect to this type of protection, the essential distinctions
between the three procedures may be summarized as follows:
a) In a committee of the whole, which is suited to large
assemblies, the results of votes taken are not final decisions
of the assembly, but have the status of recommendations
which the assembly is given the opportunity to consider
further and which it votes on finally under its regular rules.
Also, a chairman of the committee of the whole is appointed
and the regular presiding officer leaves the chair, so that, by
 being disengaged from any difficulties that may arise in the
committee, he may be in a better position to preside
effectively during the final consideration by the assembly.
b) In the quasi committee of the whole, which may be
convenient in meetings of medium size (about 50 to 100
members), the results of votes taken are reported to the
assembly for final consideration under the regular rules, just
as with a committee of the whole. But in this case the
presiding officer of the assembly remains in the chair and
presides.
c) Informal consideration, which is suited to small meetings of
ordinary societies, simply removes the normal limitations on
the number of times members can speak in debate, as
stated in the first paragraph of this section. The regular
presiding officer remains in the chair; and the results of votes
taken during informal consideration are decisions of the
assembly, which are not voted on again.
52:3 The complete rules governing committees of the whole,
proceedings in quasi committee of the whole, and informal
consideration are given below.
Committee of the Whole
52:4 Although the committee of the whole is not used extensively
except in legislative bodies, it is the oldest of the three devices
described above and is the prototype from which the other two
are derived. Unlike the processes of quasi committee of the
whole and informal consideration, a committee of the whole is
a real committee in the parliamentary sense. Therefore, during
the time that a meeting is “in committee of the whole,” even
though the committee consists of the entire body of members
in attendance at the assembly’s meeting, it is technically not
“the assembly.”
52:5 The parliamentary steps in making use of a committee of
the whole are essentially the same as those involved in
referring a subject to an ordinary committee. The assembly
votes to go into a committee of the whole (which is equivalent
to voting to refer the matter to the committee), and a chairman
of the committee is appointed. The committee considers the
referred matter, adopts a report to be made to the assembly,
then votes to “rise and report.” Finally, the committee chairman
presents the report and the assembly considers the
committee’s recommendations—all as in the case of an
ordinary committee.
52:6 Going into Committee of the Whole. As implied above, the
motion to go into a committee of the whole is a form of the
motion to commit (13). The motion is made as follows:
MEMBER (obtaining the floor): I move to go into a committee of the
whole [or, “I move that the assembly now resolve itself into a
committee of the whole”] to consider the pending question [or “to
take under consideration… (stating the subject)”]. (Second.)

Instructions to the committee of the whole can be included in

 this motion of referral.
52:7 If the motion of referral to the committee of the whole is
adopted, the presiding officer immediately calls another
member to the chair—frequently, but not necessarily, the vice-
president—and takes his place as a member of the committee.
In large assemblies, the secretary may also leave his seat, the
committee chairman may preside from that position, and an
assistant secretary may act as secretary of the committee. For
the committee’s use until it reports, its secretary keeps a
temporary memorandum of the business it transacts, but the
committee’s proceedings are not entered in the minutes of the
assembly. Those minutes carry only the same kind of record of
the referral to a committee of the whole, the committee’s
report, and the assembly’s action on the report, as if the
committee had been an ordinary one.
52:8 Conduct of Business. Like ordinary committees, a committee
of the whole cannot alter the text of any resolution referred to it;
but it can propose amendments, which it must report in the
form of recommendations to the assembly. Amendments to a
resolution originating in the committee are in order, however;
and if such amendments are adopted within the committee,
they are incorporated in the resolution before it is reported to
the assembly for action.
52:9 A committee of the whole is under the rules of the assembly,
except as follows:
1) The only motions that are in order in a committee of the
whole are to adopt (within the committee, for inclusion in its
report), to amend (what it is proposed to report), and to “rise”
or “rise and report”12—except that, among the incidental
motions, a point of order (23) can be raised, an appeal from
the decision of the chair (24) can be made, a division of the
assembly (29) can be called for, and applicable requests and
 inquiries (32, 33) can be made.
2) In debate on motions to adopt or amend, unless a limit is
prescribed by the assembly before it goes into committee of
the whole as explained below, each member can speak an
unlimited number of times under the rules given in the first
paragraph of this section.13
If the committee of the whole wishes action to be taken which
requires the adoption of any motion other than those that are in
order in the committee as listed in (1) above, it must vote to
rise and report a recommendation that the assembly take the
desired action (see below). The motion to rise must be
seconded, is undebatable, cannot be amended, and requires a
majority vote. It is always in order in committee of the whole,
except during voting or verifying a vote and when another
member has the floor.
52:10 Among the consequences of the rules stated in the
preceding paragraph are the following:
1) A committee of the whole cannot appoint subcommittees or
refer a matter to another (ordinary) committee.
2) An appeal from the decision of the chair must be voted on
directly, since it cannot be postponed or laid on the table in
the committee.
3) The only way for debate to be closed or limited in the
committee is for the assembly to specify such conditions
before going into committee of the whole. If the committee
develops a desire to have debate limited, it can only do so by
rising and requesting the assembly to impose the desired
limits, as explained below. If debate has been closed at a
particular time by order of the assembly, the committee does
not have the power, even by unanimous consent, to extend
the time.
4) A roll-call vote or a vote by ballot cannot be ordered in a
 committee of the whole, nor can a counted rising vote be
ordered except by the chair.
5) A committee of the whole has no power to impose
disciplinary measures on its members, but can only report
the facts to the assembly. If the committee becomes
disorderly and its chairman loses control of it, the presiding
officer of the assembly should take the chair and declare the
committee dissolved.
6) A committee of the whole cannot adjourn or recess, but must
rise in order that the assembly may do so.
52:11 Rising and Reporting. When a committee of the whole has
completed its consideration of the matter referred to it, or
when it wishes to bring the meeting to an end, or wishes the
assembly to take any other action requiring the adoption of a
motion which is not in order in the committee, the committee
rises and reports.
52:12 If the committee originates a resolution, it concludes by
voting to report the resolution, as perfected. If a resolution was
referred to the committee, however, it votes only on any
amendments that it will recommend, not on the resolution,
which it reports back to the assembly with the recommended
amendments. On a motion, or by unanimous consent, the
committee rises and the presiding officer of the assembly
resumes the chair. The committee chairman returns to a place
in the assembly in front of the presiding officer, at which,
standing, he addresses the chair:
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Mr. President, the committee of the whole
has had under consideration… [describing the resolution or other
matter] and has directed me to report the same as follows:…

52:13 The sample reports in the subsection Disposition of

Particular Types of Committee Reports (see 51:31–51) may be
 used as guides for reporting similar cases from a committee of
the whole, and the procedures for disposing of such reports as
described in the same subsection are likewise applicable. If no
amendments are reported, the chair states the question on the
resolution that was referred to the committee or that it
recommends for adoption; and this question is then open to
debate and amendment in the assembly. If amendments
proposed by the committee are reported, the committee
chairman reads them and hands the paper to the chair, who
reads them again or has the secretary do so. The chair then
states and puts the question on all of the committee’s
amendments in gross (that is, taken together), unless a
member asks for a separate vote on one or more of them. If
so, a single vote is taken on all of the other amendments, and
then the question is stated separately on each of the
amendments for which a separate vote was asked. These
amendments can be further debated and amended in the
assembly, as can the main question after action on all the
committee’s amendments—under the same rules as when any
other committee reports.
52:14 If the committee, to facilitate completion of its work, wishes
the assembly to take an action outside the committee’s powers
that requires the adoption of an undebatable motion—for
example, to limit debate in the committee—a motion to rise
should be made in a form like the following:
MEMBER (obtaining the floor): I move that the committee rise and
request that debate be limited… [specifying the desired limitation].
(Second.)

If this motion is adopted, the committee chairman reports to the

assembly as follows:
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Mr. President, the committee of the whole
 has had under consideration… [describing the referred matter] and
has come to no conclusion thereon, but asks permission [or “leave”]
to continue sitting with debate limited… [specifying the limitation].

The presiding officer then puts the question on granting the

request, and if the result is affirmative, the committee chairman
resumes the chair.
52:15 A committee of the whole can also rise, before completing
its work, to request instructions, in which case the nature or
wording of the request needs to be agreed to before the
motion to rise is made.
52:16 If the committee wishes to bring its proceedings to an end
because it believes the matter can be better handled under the
assembly’s rules, or because it wishes the meeting to be
adjourned, the motion to rise can be made in this form:
MEMBER (obtaining the floor): I move that the committee rise.
(Second.)

If this motion is adopted, the committee chairman then reports:

COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: The committee of the whole has had under
consideration… [describing the matter] and has come to no
conclusion thereon.

With such a report, the committee passes out of existence

unless the assembly directs it to sit again. In this connection,
however, the committee in reporting can “ask permission to sit
again,” with or without specifying a time; and in granting such a
request, the assembly can make the sitting a general order or a
special order (41) for a particular time. If the assembly grants
the committee permission to sit again without specifying a time,
the sitting is unfinished business. A committee of the whole
cannot itself arrange a future meeting.
52:17 If an hour for adjournment has been preset in the assembly
 and it arrives while the meeting is in committee of the whole,
the committee chairman announces, “The hour for
adjournment of the assembly has arrived and the committee
will rise.” The committee chairman then reports that the
committee has come to no conclusion on the referred matter,
as described in the preceding paragraph.
52:18 Quorum in Committee of the Whole. The quorum of a
committee of the whole is the same as that of the assembly
unless the bylaws provide, or the assembly establishes, a
different quorum for the committee. If the bylaws do not
provide a different quorum for the committee, the assembly
can establish one in the particular case before going into
committee of the whole, regardless of the quorum that the
bylaws require for the assembly. If at any time the committee
finds itself without a quorum, it must rise and report the fact to
the assembly. If the assembly itself is thereupon without a
quorum, it must then adjourn or take one of the other courses
that are open in the absence of a quorum (40:6–10).
Quasi Committee of the Whole (Consideration as if in
Committee of the Whole)
52:19 A somewhat simpler version of the committee of the whole,
in effect, is the procedure of consideration in quasi committee
of the whole (or consideration as if in committee of the whole),
which is convenient in assemblies of medium size. In contrast
to a committee of the whole, the quasi committee of the whole
is not a real committee, but is “the assembly acting as if in
committee of the whole.”
52:20 Going into Quasi Committee of the Whole. The motion for
consideration in quasi committee is made in a form like this:
MEMBER (obtaining the floor): I move that the resolution be
considered in quasi committee of the whole [or “be considered as if
in committee of the whole”]. (Second.)

This motion is debatable as to the desirability of going into

quasi committee, just as any other motion to Commit. If it is
adopted, the chair concludes his announcement of the result of
the vote as follows:
CHAIR (after declaring the voting result): The resolution is before
the assembly as if in committee of the whole.

52:21 The presiding officer of the assembly does not appoint a

chairman of the quasi committee, but remains in the chair
himself throughout its proceedings. The assembly’s secretary
keeps a temporary memorandum of the business transacted in
quasi committee; but, just as in the case of a real committee of
the whole, the minutes of the assembly carry only a record of
the report from quasi committee and the action thereon, as
shown below.
52:22 Conduct of Business. In the quasi committee of the whole,
the main question and any amendments that may be proposed
are open to debate under the same rules as in a real
committee of the whole—each member being allowed to
speak an unlimited number of times as explained in 52:1. In
contrast to the case of a real committee of the whole, however,
any motion that would be in order in the assembly is also in
order in the quasi committee, where it is debatable only to the
extent permitted under the assembly’s rules. But if any such
motion except an amendment or other motion that would be in
order in a real committee of the whole is adopted, it
automatically puts an end to the proceedings in quasi
committee. Thus, for example, if a motion to refer the main
question to an ordinary committee is made in quasi committee
of the whole, such a motion to Commit would be equivalent to
the following series of motions if the matter were being
considered in a real committee of the whole: (1) that the
committee of the whole rise; (2) that the committee of the
whole be discharged from further consideration of the subject;
and (3) that the question be referred to an ordinary committee.
52:23 Reporting. The motion to rise is not used in quasi committee
of the whole. If the quasi committee is not brought to an end
as described in the preceding paragraph, then, when no
further amendments are offered in response to the chair’s call
for them, the presiding officer immediately proceeds to report
to the assembly and to state the question on the amendments
as follows:
CHAIR: The assembly, acting as if in committee of the whole, has had
under consideration… [describing the resolution] and has made the
following amendments… [reading them]. The question is on the
adoption of the amendments.
The proceedings in a quasi committee of the whole are thus
concluded, and from this point the procedure is the same as in
disposing of the report of a real committee of the whole (52:13)
—the chair putting the question on the reported amendments in
gross, except those for which a separate vote may be asked,
and so on.
Informal Consideration
52:24 As explained above, if a question is considered in either a
real committee of the whole or in quasi committee of the
whole, the recommendations of the committee or quasi
committee must be reported to the assembly and then the
assembly must take action on these recommendations. In
ordinary societies whose meetings are not large, a much
simpler method is to consider the question informally, which in
effect only suspends the rule limiting the number of times a
member can speak in debate on the main question and any
amendments to it.
52:25 When it is desired to consider a question informally, a
member makes the motion that this be done:
MEMBER (obtaining the floor): I move that the question be
considered informally. (Second.)

This is a variation of the motion to Commit, and can be

debated only as to the desirability of considering the question
informally. If the motion is adopted, the chair announces the
result thus:
CHAIR (after declaring the voting result): The question is now open
to informal consideration. There is no limit to the number of times a
member can speak on the question or any amendment.

52:26 The “informal” aspect of the consideration applies only to

the number of speeches allowed in debate on the main
question and its amendments; all votes are formal, and any
other motion that is made is under the regular rules of debate.
In contrast to the case of a committee of the whole or quasi
committee of the whole, the proceedings under informal
consideration are recorded in the assembly’s minutes, just as
 they would be if the consideration were formal. While
considering a question informally the assembly can, by a two-
thirds vote, limit the number or length of speeches, or in any
other way limit or close debate. As soon as the main question
is disposed of, temporarily or permanently, the informal
consideration automatically ceases without any motion or vote.
52:27 Before the main question is disposed of, the informal
consideration can be brought to an end, if desired, by adopting
by majority vote a motion “that the regular rules of debate be
in force,” or “that the question be considered formally.”
Aids to the Crystallization of Opinion
52:28 The more traditional aids to the crystallization of opinion in
societies have been, simply, to take a Recess or to refer the
matter to a committee—often a large committee composed of
members representing differing views in the society, such as a
committee of the whole or one of its alternate forms. In more
recent years, a practice has developed of establishing
breakout groups with every member in attendance being
urged to participate in a group. Each breakout group, of which
there may be many, is usually kept small—frequently ten or
twelve persons—and a moderator is appointed for each group.
Often, the groups meet during a recess or adjournment of the
assembly. Sometimes, the conclusions reached by the various
breakout groups are conveyed to a committee that assembles
them and attempts to report a consolidated response to the
assembly. At other times, the breakout groups report through
their moderators directly to the assembly after it has been
reconvened and the matter under consideration is again
pending. These reports are in the nature of debate. Whatever
method is used, in the end, the pending measure must be
returned to the full assembly for final consideration under
normal parliamentary procedure—just as in the case of a
referred question reported back by a committee—and the
assembly must make the final decision, if whatever is to
purport to be a product of the assembly is to be valid as the
assembly’s act.
Footnotes to Chapter
XVI
1. See 3:10 regarding variations of this term that have come into use.
2. For an adjourned meeting (9:17–19), no additional notice is required—except, of course,
when it is to meet at the call of the chair rather than at a specified time—although it is
desirable to give such notice if feasible.
3. However, motions to close or limit debate (15, 16), including motions to limit the number
of times a member can speak to a question, are in order even in meetings of a small
board (but not in meetings of a committee; see 50:25), although occasions where they
are necessary or appropriate may be rarer than in larger assemblies.
4. Informal discussion may be initiated by the chairman himself, which, in effect, enables
the chairman to submit his own proposals without formally making a motion as described
in 4:4–8 (although he has the right to make a motion if he wishes).
5. The first person that the chair names is automatically chairman of the committee unless
the assembly rejects that person as a committee member or unless he or she declines
the chairmanship; but it is good practice for the chair to mention him or her as chairman
(see 13:17).
6. For cases in which it is impractical to bring the members of a committee together for a
meeting, the report of the committee can contain what has been agreed to by every one
of its members (see 51:2). Also, committees are sometimes authorized to hold
“electronic meetings”; see 9:30–36, especially Electronic Meetings in Committees (9:35).
7. If a member abuses his privilege of speaking an unlimited number of times in debate in
order to obstruct the business of the committee, such dilatory behavior should be
reported to the committee’s parent, which may then remove that member from the
committee, adopt an order limiting or closing debate in the committee, or take such other
action as it deems advisable. However, if there will be no opportunity for this to occur
within the time needed to effectively resolve the problem, it is the duty of the committee
chairman to deny such a member any further recognition to speak in debate on the
pending question.
8. Regarding signature with an expression of disagreement in a certain particular, see
 51:71.
9. The motion to refer in such a case is a main motion, since the matter being referred is
not a pending question (see 13:6).
10. The step of taking a vote on the adoption of the entire paper applies only to cases
where that paper is pending. This step does not apply in the case of a report on a series
of amendments to something previously adopted (35), such as bylaws that are in effect
(see also 57).
11. Separate votes may not be demanded on conforming amendments. See 12:14–15.
12. As applied to committees in general, the word rise simply describes the parliamentary
step of ceasing to function as a committee, preparatory to making a report. As stated in
50:23, the motion to rise is not used in ordinary standing committees, and in ordinary
special committees it is used only when the committee is ready to make its final report
and go out of existence. In a committee of the whole, on the other hand, the word rise
applies to any case of the committee’s returning to the status of the assembly—whether
it is expected to be temporarily or permanently.
13. Appeals in committee of the whole are debatable under the same rules as in the
assembly—that is, each member (except the chair) can speak only once in debate on
them.
 CHAPTER
XVII

MASS MEETINGS; ORGANIZATION OF

A PERMANENT SOCIETY

§53. MASS MEETINGS

Distinguishing Characteristics of a Mass Meeting

53:1 A mass meeting, as understood in parliamentary law, is a
meeting of an unorganized group, which—in a publicized or
selectively distributed notice known as the call of the meeting—
has been announced:
• as called to take appropriate action on a particular problem or
toward a particular purpose stated by the meeting’s sponsors,
and
• as open to everyone interested in the stated problem or
purpose (or to everyone within a specified sector of the
population thus interested).
53:2 To the extent that persons in the invited category are clearly
identifiable—as, for example, registered voters of a particular
political party, or residents of a certain area—only such
persons have the right to make motions, to speak, and to vote
at the meeting, and none others need be admitted if the
sponsors so choose. In any event, a mass meeting is
convened—and those who attend are admitted—upon the
implied understanding that the sponsors (who have engaged
the hall and assumed the expenses of promoting the meeting)
have the right to have the proceedings confined to the overall
object they have announced; but that the entire assembly
(which is made up of persons whose help the sponsors are
seeking) has the right to determine the action to be taken in
pursuit of the stated object. With respect to this limitation of the
right of attendance—or, at least, of participation—to persons in
general sympathy with the announced object of the meeting, a
mass meeting differs from a “town meeting,” a public forum, a
“lecture-and-discussion-period” type of meeting, or an open
hearing held by an instrumentality of government.
Organization of a Mass Meeting
53:3 Call of the Meeting. The call or announcement of a mass
meeting should specify the date, hour, and place of the
meeting, its purpose, and—where applicable—who is invited to
attend. It may also carry an identification of the sponsorship.
Depending on the funds available and the people to be
reached, the call can be given the desired publicity or
distribution by whatever means are expected to be most
effective—announcements in the newspapers or by radio or
television, a website, mailings, posters, handbills or flyers, or
the like.
53:4 Preparation. While a mass meeting should be conducted so
as to accord the assembly its proper role in determining the
outcome as described above, at the same time, a certain
amount of planning by the sponsors is advisable to avoid the
risk of the meeting’s foundering.
53:5 Before the meeting, the sponsors should agree on the
following:
• whom they prefer for its chairman;
• who shall call the meeting to order and nominate their choice
of chairman;
• who shall be nominated for secretary and by whom;
• what rules—if any—shall be proposed for adoption; and
• who shall make the initial talk explaining the purpose of the
meeting.
(See also the detailed discussion of these steps below.)
53:6 The person chosen as chairman should be competent as a
presiding officer and in sympathy with the object of the
meeting, and it is an advantage if he personally knows many of
the people who may attend. Depending on conditions, it is
 sometimes good policy to have a set of resolutions drafted in
advance to submit to the meeting. Provision should also be
made for occupying the time of the gathering in the event that
resolutions are referred to a committee—or a committee is
assigned to draft them (see below).
53:7 The “Membership” of a Mass Meeting. At a mass meeting,
the “membership” consists of all persons in the invited category
who attend. If no qualification was placed in the call, anyone
who attends is regarded as a member and has the same rights
as members in other assemblies—to make motions, to speak
in debate, and to vote. If the call specified only a particular
category of persons as invited and if no attempt is made to
screen the attendance at the door, anyone attending is
presumed to be entitled to participate as a member, subject
only to his subsequent identification to the contrary. If only
those invited are admitted, anyone legitimately admitted has
the rights of a member, and a person who is discovered to
have entered fraudulently can be asked to leave.
53:8 Rules in a Mass Meeting. Mass meetings frequently operate
with no formally adopted rules, upon the assumption that the
meeting will proceed according to the common parliamentary
law—or that any differences of opinion on procedural questions
can be resolved by citing a recognized parliamentary manual
as persuasive (see 1:5, 2:18–19). Depending on the probable
character of the assembly, however, it may be wise to adopt a
standard parliamentary authority, which can be done by a
majority vote on the motion of a member—made, as
prearranged by the sponsors, immediately after the election of
the secretary (see below). Other rules are seldom necessary at
a mass meeting unless it is desired to modify the general rules
(43:8–13) as to the allowable length and number of speeches.
If such a modification is desired, the assembly can adopt a
 standing rule covering the desired provisions at the same time
as it adopts the parliamentary authority, or at a later time. In
regard to the vote required for their adoption, amendment,
rescission, or suspension, standing rules of a mass meeting (or
a series of mass meetings) are similar to standing rules of a
convention as described in 59:32–37.
53:9 In any event, without adoption at a mass meeting and
regardless of what rules the meeting may adopt, the provisions
of the call, specifying the meeting’s purpose and those invited
to attend it, have a force equivalent to bylaws of an organized
society; that is, they define the subject matter within which
motions or resolutions are in order, and determine who have
the right to participate as members (see also 53:7, 53:14–17).
This effect is a consequence of the sponsors’ rights as
explained in the first paragraph of this section.
53:10 Any person at a mass meeting who, after being advised,
persists in an obvious attempt to divert the meeting to a
different purpose from that for which it was called, or who
otherwise tries to disrupt the proceedings, becomes subject to
the disciplinary procedures described in 61.
53:11 Opening of the Meeting; Election of Officers. A chairman
and a secretary are in general the only officers required by a
mass meeting. Their election takes place immediately after the
meeting is called to order, a convenient method of electing
them being by voice vote. As explained in 46, the first person
nominated is voted on first under this method. In the interest of
electing competent persons, it is therefore advisable that a
name chosen by the sponsors be placed in nomination first for
each office. Additional nominations can be made from the floor
and the assembly can elect anyone it wishes, but except
under unusual circumstances it is likely to elect the apparent
choices of the sponsors.
53:12 Although the person who calls the meeting to order can call
for nominations for chairman, and another can nominate the
sponsors’ choice, it is proper—and simpler—for one person to
perform both functions (see Nominations by the Chair, 46:5).
In the latter case, at the scheduled hour or shortly thereafter,
this person steps to the chair and, after waiting or signaling for
quiet, says, “The meeting will come to order. I nominate Mr. A
for chairman of this meeting.” After any additional nominations
from the floor, the chair puts the question on each name in
succession, beginning with the one he placed in nomination
himself, as described under Viva-Voce Election, 46:37–41.
53:13 When the chairman of the meeting has been elected, he
takes the chair and may say a few words of acknowledgment if
he wishes, after which he says, “Nominations are now in order
for secretary of this meeting.” The person agreed upon to
nominate the sponsors’ choice for secretary should promptly
place that name in nomination; members can also make
additional nominations. The secretary is elected viva voce in
the same manner as the chairman. When the secretary has
been elected, he takes his seat near the chairman and keeps
a record of the proceedings. If additional officers are desired,
they can be elected in the same way.
Transaction of Business Specified in the Call
53:14 Explanation of the Meeting’s Purpose. When the elections
are completed, the chair says, “The Secretary will now read
the call of this meeting.” This reading of the call should include
the names of the sponsors. The chair then recognizes the
person who is to explain the purpose of the meeting more fully,
or the chairman gives this presentation himself if he has been
selected to do so.
53:15 Resolutions to Accomplish the Purpose. After the purpose
of the meeting has been explained, it is in order for a member
to offer a resolution, or a series of resolutions, to accomplish
this purpose; or, if believed more suitable to the conditions, it
can be moved that a committee be appointed to draft such
resolution(s).

53:16 If the plan is for the resolution(s) to be offered immediately

after the initial explanation, they can have been prepared in
advance—with double-spaced reproduced copies for
distribution to those in attendance—and a preselected
member can now move their adoption. (For considerations to
be observed in the drafting of resolutions, see The Framing of
Main Motions, 10:9–25.) After another member has seconded
the resolution(s), the chair states the question on them, they
are open to debate and amendment, and the assembly
proceeds to consider them, the entire procedure being as
described in 4 and (for a series of resolutions) in 10:25.
53:17 In stating the question, the chair should make sure that
those present understand the means by which the assembly
can modify the proposals contained in the resolutions (see
10:29–30), and should provide such explanations as he
believes necessary. With reference to the proposal of
 substitutes or other amendments—or alternative resolutions if
those first introduced are rejected—any motion within the
scope of the meeting’s purpose as announced in the call is in
order; but any motion outside of or contrary to that purpose is
not in order. For example, if the announced purpose of a mass
meeting is to oppose the construction of a proposed airport in
a particular location, any motion or resolution directed toward
preventing the airport’s construction can be brought up at the
meeting; but a motion whose effect would be to endorse the
airport construction project is not in order.
53:18 The rules governing the assignment of the floor and
debate, as given in 42 and 43, are generally applicable. In a
mass meeting, however, there is no appeal from the chair’s
decision in assigning the floor. The rule requiring the
assembly’s permission to speak for longer than ten minutes at
a time in debate on pending questions applies if the meeting
has adopted no other rule.

53:19 Resolutions Drafted by a Committee Appointed at the

Meeting. If resolutions have not been prepared in advance, a
committee should be appointed at the meeting to draft them.
Such a procedure is appropriate when it is believed advisable
to obtain expressions of opinion from persons who attend the
meeting, before attempting to frame resolutions. In a small
mass meeting, the chair at his discretion can permit those
present to make brief statements of this nature after the initial
explanation of the meeting’s purpose and before the motion to
appoint the committee is made. In that case, the chair should
specify the time to be allowed each member—which is a
matter entirely under the chair’s control unless the meeting
has adopted a special rule, since the procedure is in effect a
relaxation of the general parliamentary rule prohibiting
speeches when no question is pending (see 4:7–8). In any
 event, the same kind of discussion can also take place in
regular debate on the motion to appoint the committee, since it
is relevant to the committee’s instructions to draft resolution(s)
“expressing the sense of the meeting” on the specified subject,
as explained below.
53:20 The person who is to make the motion to appoint the
committee should be agreed upon by the sponsors in
advance, as well as the matter of whether preliminary
discussion is to be permitted before the motion is made. The
motion may be made in a form such as the following:

MEMBER (obtaining the floor): I move that a committee of five be

appointed by the chair to draft resolutions expressing the sense of
this meeting on… [the subject for which the meeting was called].
(Second.)

This is a main motion, since it is made when no question is

pending. It is debatable and amendable and can have any
subsidiary motion applied to it.
53:21 In a mass meeting it is usually advisable to have all
committees appointed by the chair—assuming that the
chairman has been well chosen. If the assembly prefers a
different method of appointment, however, the procedures that
can be followed are as described in 50. When the committee
has been appointed, it should immediately retire and prepare
the resolution(s).
53:22 During the committee’s absence from the hall, the
assembly can attend to any other business related to the
object of the meeting; or it can occupy the time in listening to
talks, in engaging in forums or seminar-type discussions, or in
watching a relevant film; or it can recess (20).
53:23 If the assembly does not recess and the chair sees the
committee return to the room, he asks, as soon as the pending
business is disposed of (or as soon as the person giving a talk
 closes, etc.), “Is the committee that was appointed to draft
resolutions prepared to report?”
53:24 When the committee chairman has answered affirmatively,
the chair says, “If there is no objection, the meeting will now
hear the committee’s report. [Pause.] The chair recognizes the
chairman of the committee appointed to draft resolutions.”
(See treatment of unanimous consent, 4:58–63.)
53:25 If the chair does not notice the committee’s return, the
committee chairman, at the first opportunity, obtains the floor
and says, “The committee appointed to draft resolutions is
prepared to report.” Unless objection is then made, the chair
directs the committee chairman to proceed. If anyone objects,
the chair puts the question on the report’s being received (see
second bulleted item in 51:28).
53:26 The committee chairman, addressing the presiding officer
of the assembly, presents the report as follows:

COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Madam President, the committee

appointed to draft resolutions recommends, and on behalf of the
committee I move, the adoption of the following resolution(s)…
[reading them].

53:27 On the presentation of this report, the committee is

discharged automatically. The chair then states the question
on the resolutions, and they are considered in the same way
as summarized above for the case in which resolutions are
offered by a member from the floor (see also 51).
Adjournment
53:28 In a mass meeting, unless a time for another meeting has
already been set (by adopting a motion to Fix the Time to
Which to Adjourn, 22, or by adopting temporary rules as
described below), a motion to adjourn is not in order while
business is pending (see 21:2, 21:3(3)).
53:29 When the business for which the mass meeting was called
has apparently been completed and no question is pending,
someone should move “to adjourn,” or the chair can call for
such a motion. Unless a time has been set for another
meeting, the adoption of this motion dissolves the assembly—
so that, as explained in 21, it is a main motion and can be
debated and amended just as any other main motion. An
example of an amendment to a main motion “to adjourn” might
be “to add the words ‘until eight o’clock Wednesday evening,’”
which would thereby include in the motion a provision to set a
time for another meeting.
53:30 In cases where it is desired to close the meeting before its
business has been completed, the rules are as follows:
a) If the time for another meeting has already been set, the
motion to adjourn is privileged, just as in a meeting of an
ordinary permanent society, and is subject to the rules given
in 21.
b) If no time has been set for another meeting and a question is
pending, a motion to Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn (22)
should first be moved and adopted, after which the privileged
motion to Adjourn (21) is in order; the procedure is as shown
in 22:17–20.
c) If no time has been set for another meeting and no question
is pending, any member can move, for example, “to adjourn
 until eight o’clock Wednesday evening,” which is a main
motion.
53:31 When a motion to adjourn a mass meeting has been
adopted and no time is set for another meeting, the chair says,
“The ayes have it and the meeting is adjourned.” This
announcement in effect declares the assembly dissolved. If a
time for an adjourned meeting has been set, on the other hand
—either previously or by means of a provision included in the
motion to adjourn—the chair announces the result by saying,
“The ayes have it and this meeting is [or “stands”] adjourned
until eight o’clock Wednesday evening.” Before declaring the
adjournment, or even taking a vote on adjourning, the chair
should make sure that all necessary announcements have
been made.
Series of Mass Meetings; Temporary Society
53:32 If more than one mass meeting is necessary to achieve a
certain objective, or if the group is working toward the
formation of an organized society, a temporary organization to
continue beyond a single mass meeting may become
necessary. If so, the officers elected at the first meeting are
designated chairman pro tem and secretary pro tem—
although the words pro tem are not used in addressing these
officers. If a permanent society is the aim of the group, the
temporary officers serve until the election of permanent
officers. If special rules were not adopted at the first meeting, a
committee on rules can be appointed to recommend a few
rules, providing for the hour and place for holding the
meetings, the number and length of speeches allowed (if the
general rules given in 43:8–13 are not satisfactory), and a
work on parliamentary law to be used as parliamentary
authority. If such rules specify periodic dates on which
meetings are to be held, each meeting is a separate session
(8) as in an ordinary society; but if the time of each succeeding
meeting is set at the previous meeting or is “at the call of the
chair,” the entire series of meetings constitutes a single
session.
§54. ORGANIZATION OF A PERMANENT
SOCIETY
54:1 When it is desired to form a permanent society, the
organizers proceed in much the same way as for a mass
meeting, except that the meetings while the organization is
being formed should usually be carefully limited to persons
whose interest in the project is known. For this reason, it may
be desirable to solicit attendance for these meetings by
personal contact or by letter, rather than by public
announcement.
First Organizational Meeting
54:2 The first meeting, at which the business portion should be
kept brief, sometimes follows a luncheon or dinner. At these
meetings for purposes of organization, the call to order can be
delayed a few minutes beyond the scheduled time, if desired.
54:3 Election of Temporary Officers, and Introductory Talks.
When the person designated for the purpose has called the
meeting to order, he announces, “The first business is the
election of a chairman.” As in a mass meeting, the one who
calls the meeting to order can either nominate a chairman pro
tem or immediately call for nominations from the floor, and the
nominees are voted on by voice. After the chairman pro tem
has taken the chair, a secretary is elected, also as in the case
of a mass meeting (see 53:11–13).
54:4 The chair then calls on the member most interested in the
formation of the society to provide background information, or
he himself can make the talk. Others can also be asked to give
their opinions on the subject, but the chair should not permit
any one person to monopolize the meeting.
54:5 Adoption of a Resolution to Form a Society. After a
reasonable time for such informal discussion, someone should
offer a resolution proposing definite action. Those who planned
the meeting should have prepared in advance a suitable
resolution, which may be in a form essentially as follows:
54:6 Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that a society for… [the
object of the proposed society] now be formed [or “shall now be
formed”].

54:7 This resolution, when seconded, is stated by the chair, and

is then open to debate and amendment. Such a resolution, it
 should be noted, is only a declaration of intention; its adoption
does not bring the organization into being, which is
accomplished by the adoption of bylaws and the signing of the
membership roll by those who initially join the society, as
described below. If the meeting is a large one, it is usually
better that, except for a brief statement of purpose, the
resolution be offered before the introductory talks mentioned
above.
54:8 Further Business Relating to Organization. After the
resolution to organize the society is adopted, the succeeding
steps generally are:
1) Introduction and adoption of a motion that a committee of a
specified number be appointed by the chair to draft bylaws1
for the society—and, where incorporation may be necessary,
to consult an attorney as described below.
2) Introduction and adoption of a motion to fix the date, hour,
and place of the next meeting (22), at which the report of the
bylaws committee will be presented. If it is impractical to set
a time and place for the next meeting, the motion can be that
“when the meeting adjourns, it adjourn to meet at the call of
the chair.”
3) Introduction and adoption of a motion authorizing the
committee on bylaws to provide reproduced copies of the
completed draft for distribution to all who attend the next
meeting. In this connection, persons seeking to form a
society should take into account the fact that expenses may
be involved, whether or not an organization materializes.
Initiation fees or dues cannot be collected or received in the
name of the society until its organization, as described in this
section, is completed. Expenses advanced can be
reimbursed.
54:9 Other business before adjournment may include informal
 discussion of aims and structure of the proposed society—
which may serve to guide the bylaws committee (see also
below).
54:10 When the business of the first meeting is concluded and a
motion to adjourn is adopted (see 53:28–31), the chair says
either: (1) “The meeting stands [or “is”] adjourned to meet
again at… [the date, hour, and place of next meeting]”; or (2)
“The meeting is adjourned to meet again at the call of the
chair.”
Work of the Bylaws Committee
54:11 General principles for guidance in the drafting of bylaws are
given in 56. The drafting committee may find it helpful to
procure and study copies of the bylaws of other organizations
similar to the one being formed, although the possible
applicability of their provisions must be carefully evaluated in
the light of expected conditions within the new society. The
committee may also find it advisable to consult a professional
parliamentarian.
54:12 If it is expected that the society will own real estate,
become a beneficiary under wills, engage employees, or the
like, it may need to be incorporated according to the laws of
the state in which it is situated (see 2:5–7). In such a case, the
bylaws committee should be authorized to have one or more
of its members consult an attorney to secure information and
advice regarding the legal requirements that must be taken
into account in drawing up the society’s bylaws. If the society
is to be incorporated, the same attorney should draft the
charter or other instrument of incorporation, which the
committee submits for approval at the second organizational
meeting, before the bylaws are considered, unless there is
some reason for delay (see below).
54:13 As indicated above, it is advisable to prepare double-
spaced reproduced copies of the proposed bylaws—as drawn
up by the committee—for distribution to each person entering
the hall for the second organizational meeting. If desired, such
copies can be sent in advance to everyone who attended the
first meeting.
Second Organizational Meeting
54:14 Reading and Approval of the Minutes. With the temporary
officers elected at the first organizational meeting serving until
the regular officers are elected, the first item of business at the
second meeting is the reading and approval of the minutes of
the first meeting, with corrections if necessary.
54:15 Consideration and Adoption of Proposed Bylaws. After the
minutes are approved, the report of the bylaws committee
normally is received. If there is a proposed corporate charter,
that document is presented first. The assembly can amend the
draft of the charter, but any resulting modification should be
checked by the attorney, to whom the charter is returned after
its adoption, for processing under the legal procedure for
incorporation in the particular state.
54:16 If there is no proposed corporate charter, the bylaws
committee chairman, when recognized for the purpose of
presenting the report, begins somewhat as follows:

COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Chairman, the committee appointed to

draw up proposed bylaws has agreed upon the following draft and
has directed me to move its adoption. [Reads proposals in full—
members following on their own copies—unless the first reading is
dispensed with; then moves the adoption of the document, as
follows:] Mr. Chairman, by direction of the committee, I move the
adoption of the bylaws.

54:17 No second is necessary, since the motion is offered by a

committee of more than one person. Since a complete set of
bylaws is commonly considered by article or section (see 28),
the chair states the question as follows:
CHAIR: The question is on the adoption of the bylaws as proposed by
 the committee. The committee chairman [or “the Secretary”] will now
read the proposed bylaws, one article or section at a time. After each
article or section is read, it will be open to debate and amendment.
When amendment of one article or section is completed, the next
one will be read and considered. No section or article will be adopted
until all have been opened to amendment.

54:18 Each article or section is read separately, each provision

being carefully explained by the chairman of the bylaws
committee, as described above; and after the last one has
been completed, the chair gives opportunity to insert additional
paragraphs or sections and to correct any inconsistency or
oversight that may have arisen during the process of
amendment, as follows:
CHAIR: The entire set of bylaws is now open to amendment. Are there
any further amendments?

54:19 If, at any point during the consideration of the bylaws, it

develops that important additions or amendments are
desirable but will require time or investigation to prepare, it is
in order to move to recommit (13) the proposed bylaws, with
instructions that the committee report at another meeting for
which the time can be fixed. Or, further consideration of the
bylaws can simply be postponed (14) to such a meeting. This
third meeting in forming an organization, although in many
cases unnecessary, in others often pays dividends in
increased understanding and a larger membership. In any
event, at the second or third meeting, when there are no
further amendments, the question is put on adopting the
bylaws:

CHAIR: The question is on the adoption of the bylaws as amended.

Those in favor of adopting the bylaws, say aye.… Those opposed,
say no.… [and so on, taking a voice vote in the regular manner].
54:20 In case of doubt, the chair calls for a rising vote and, if
necessary, directs that a count be made; or a member can call
for a division (29), and can move that the vote be counted, as
described in 4:50–53. Unlike the case of amending or revising
the bylaws of an organization already established (57), the
adoption of the bylaws through which a society is brought into
being requires only a majority vote. The bylaws take effect
immediately upon their adoption. A negative vote on their
adoption can be reconsidered, but not an affirmative one.
54:21 Recess to Enroll Members. After the adoption of the bylaws,
only those who join the society are entitled to vote in further
proceedings. At this point, therefore, the meeting recesses to
enroll initial members. Immediate admission to membership is
contingent upon signing a permanent record sheet provided in
advance by the secretary pro tem—to be filed with the original
papers of the organization. This signature constitutes
agreement to abide by the bylaws, and is a commitment to
prompt payment of the initiation fee (if there is one) and dues
for the first year or other period prescribed by the bylaws.
Persons thus signing become “charter members.”2 The
secretary pro tem records and gives receipt for payments
received from members until the treasurer is elected and takes
office.
54:22 Reading of the Roll and Election of Permanent Officers.
After the recess the chairman pro tem calls for the reading of
the roll of members, and the secretary pro tem does so. The
chair then says, “The next business in order is the nomination
and election of the permanent officers as prescribed in the
bylaws.”
54:23 The nomination and election processes are as described in
46, the election being by ballot if the bylaws so prescribe,
which they usually should. The members for whom one can
 vote are not limited to nominees, since each member is free to
vote for any member who is not made ineligible by the bylaws.
After the election is completed, the chair declares the results.
Unless a proviso attached to the bylaws (57:15–17) prescribes
otherwise, the newly elected officers immediately replace the
temporary ones.
54:24 Any Other Essential Business. When the offices have been
filled and the new president has taken the chair, he should call
for any business requiring immediate attention. In a new
society it is generally important that the president have time to
give careful thought to committee appointments after
examining the list of members. It is therefore often advisable
to provide for an adjourned meeting to complete the
organization before the first regular meeting. The president
may find it essential, however, to name the chairmen of certain
committees, such as the membership or program committees,
immediately.
54:25 When the business of the meeting has been completed, or
when an adjourned meeting has been provided for, a motion to
adjourn is in order. If it is adopted, the chair announces the
result and declares the meeting adjourned.
54:26 Subsequent meetings of the society are conducted as
described in 3 and 4. For additional information regarding the
organization of a federation by a convention of delegates from
prospective member societies, see 60.
§55. MERGER, CONSOLIDATION, AND
DISSOLUTION OF SOCIETIES

Combining of Societies
55:1 Distinction Between Merger and Consolidation. In cases
where two existing societies wish to combine, there are two
possible procedures, which are legally distinct:
• In the case of a merger, one of the two organizations
continues, while the other loses its independent identity and
ceases to exist, since it is merged—that is, absorbed—into
the former.
• In the case of a consolidation, two or more organizations
each discontinue their independent existence, and a new
entity is formed that includes the memberships of the
consolidating organizations, continues their work, and
assumes their assets and liabilities.
In either a merger or a consolidation, the resulting organization
may be given a new name, which may include, for example,
elements of the names of each of the combining organizations.
55:2 Cases Involving Incorporated Societies. If one or more of
the organizations involved in a merger or a consolidation are
incorporated, an attorney should be consulted to draw up the
proper papers and advise as to all steps necessary to fulfill the
legal requirements.
55:3 Cases Involving Unincorporated Societies. If none of the
organizations involved in a merger or a consolidation is
incorporated, the respective procedures are as follows:
• In the case of a merger, the organization that is giving up its
 independent identity should adopt a resolution substantially
as follows: “Resolved, That the A Society be, and hereby is,
merged into the B Society as of [date] or when such merger
shall be accepted by the B Society.” For its adoption, such a
resolution requires the same notice and vote as for amending
the bylaws (see 56:50–56). This resolution should be joined
with, or its adoption should be followed by the adoption of,
resolutions transferring all of the assets and liabilities to the
organization into which it is merging, and providing for
whatever other administrative details will be required in the
mechanics of transition. The society into which the first
organization is being merged should adopt a resolution
accepting the merger, and this motion similarly requires the
same notice and vote as to amend the accepting
organization’s bylaws, because it so greatly alters the per-
capita interest of each member. Often, resolutions authorizing
and approving mergers contain stipulations and
qualifications, sometimes even to the extent of naming the
officers who will serve during the first year after the merger.
Usually these resolutions are the work of a joint committee of
the two organizations and form a part of its
recommendations.
• In the case of a consolidation, the two or more consolidating
organizations adopt resolutions authorizing the consolidation,
similar to the resolutions described in the preceding item
relating to merger. Often—but not necessarily—these
meetings are held simultaneously in the same building. As in
the case of a merger, the resolutions containing details
relating to the mechanics of transition are usually drafted by a
joint committee. After the consolidating organizations have
each adopted resolutions which are substantially identical
and which provide for consolidation as of a stated date, a
joint meeting of the members of the consolidating groups is
held for the purpose of organizing the new society that is to
emerge. In contrast to the case of a merger, a new set of
bylaws must be drawn up and adopted. The procedure is
similar to that for the original establishment of a society as
described in 54, except that the necessary resolutions and
motions normally are worded so that the date on which the
new organization is established, its bylaws take effect, and its
officers assume office coincides with the date on which the
consolidating groups discontinue separate existence.
Dissolution of a Society
55:4 It may sometimes happen over a period of time that the
needs which led to the formation of a society have largely
disappeared, and the organization may wish formally to
disband or dissolve.
55:5 Dissolution of an Incorporated Society. If a society is
incorporated, the laws of the state in which it is incorporated
provide in some detail the legal requirements for the dissolution
of the corporation. An attorney should be consulted to draw up
the necessary papers and advise the society as to the
procedure to be followed.
55:6 Dissolution of an Unincorporated Society. In the case of an
unincorporated society, a resolution should be prepared, such
as: “Resolved, That the X Society be dissolved as of March 31,
20__.” This resolution may be preceded by a preamble setting
forth the reasons for the dissolution. It is in effect a motion to
rescind the bylaws, and therefore requires for its adoption the
same notice and vote as to amend them (see 56:50–56). The
required notice must be sent to all members of record.
55:7 Such a resolution can be coupled with other resolutions
stating the manner in which the society’s assets shall be
disposed of and attending to other administrative details—or
these can be adopted separately. In certain tax-exempt
organizations of a charitable or educational character, federal
and state tax laws must be adhered to in the disposal of the
organization’s assets. Often such assets are distributed to
societies with similar objectives, or to a superior body.
Footnotes to Chapter
XVII
1. Called the constitution or constitution and bylaws in some organizations (see 2:8–13).
For factors affecting the appropriate size of this committee, see 56:4.
2. Sometimes, in forming a society, all who join before a specified date after the actual
establishment of the organization are included in the roll of charter members.
 CHAPTER
XVIII

BYLAWS

§56. CONTENT AND COMPOSITION OF BYLAWS

Nature and Importance of Bylaws

56:1 The constitution and/or bylaws of a society, as explained in
2, contains its own basic rules that relate to itself as an
organization, except for what must be included in the corporate
charter of an incorporated society. Under the preferred practice
for ordinary societies today, the constitution and the bylaws—
once usually separate—are now combined in a single
instrument, referred to in this book as the bylaws (although in
some organizations called the constitution, or—even though
only one document—the constitution and bylaws). A precise
statement of the essential characteristics of bylaws, in the
sense of the combination-type instrument, and their relation to
the other kinds of rules that an organization may have is given
in 2, which should be read in connection with this chapter.
Because bylaws in this sense are the most important rules
which an organization must compose for itself, and because
certain considerations must be taken into account that affect
their construction as a unified document rather than a series of
 separate rules, bylaws are given more detailed treatment
below.
56:2 The content of a society’s bylaws has important bearing on
the rights and duties of members within the organization—
whether present or absent from the assembly—and on the
degree to which the general membership is to retain control of,
or be relieved of detailed concern with, the society’s business.
Except as the rules of a society may provide otherwise, its
assembly (that is, the members attending one of its regular or
properly called meetings) has full and sole power to act for the
entire organization, and does so by majority vote. Any limitation
or standing delegation of the assembly’s power with respect to
the society as a whole can only be by provision in the bylaws—
or in the corporate charter or separate constitution, if either of
these exists.
Committee to Draw Up Bylaws
56:3 Appointment of Committee. A committee to draw up
proposed bylaws is usually appointed at the first organizational
meeting when a new society is being formed, as described in
54; or, if an existing society wishes to undertake a general
revision of its bylaws, a committee to draw up the proposed
revision can be appointed at any regular meeting, just as any
other special committee.
56:4 A committee to draw up proposed bylaws should generally
be large, and should include the most judicious persons
available, those who have a special interest in the rules of the
society, and those who would otherwise be likely to consume
much time in discussing the bylaws when they come before the
assembly for adoption. Persons having writing ability of the
kind required should also be included, unless a professional
parliamentarian is to do the actual drafting of the bylaws. Even
if the drafting is to be done by members of the committee, a
parliamentarian can often be of great assistance as a
consultant.
56:5 The committee should consult an attorney with reference to
the considerations indicated in 54:12 if there is any possibility
that the society should be incorporated. If it is to be
incorporated, the committee works with the attorney to provide
him with the necessary information for drafting an appropriate
corporate charter, to which the bylaws must conform. The
committee should review the draft of the charter before
submitting it to the assembly.
56:6 Initial Discussions; Factors Influencing Content of Bylaws.
The committee normally begins its work—with the entire
committee present—in general discussion of the desired
content of the bylaws. Besides reviewing the existing bylaws
 (in the case of a revision), it is well for the committee to study
the bylaws of a number of similar organizations, or—if
applicable—of other subordinate units within the same state or
national society. Before any provisions from other documents
are used as a pattern, however, possible differences between
the conditions in the other organizations and the one for which
the bylaws are being prepared should be carefully analyzed.
56:7 If the unit for which the bylaws are to be drawn up is subject
to a parent organization or superior body, such as a state or a
national society (or both), or a federation, the bylaws governing
at these higher levels should be studied for provisions which
are binding upon subordinate units in a way that must be taken
into account. The bylaws of a subordinate unit need to conform
to those of a superior body only on clearly requisite points. For
example, if the superior body limits the size of its subordinate
units to 200 members, the bylaws may not contain a higher
limit. But the subordinate unit should not adopt provisions from
the other document that have no local application, and the
bylaws of the superior body should not require it to do so.
56:8 In order to give the organization the greatest freedom to act
within its object, bylaws should be made no more restrictive nor
more detailed in specification than necessary.
56:9 The description of the basic bylaw articles in 56:16–57
provides a brief indication of the framework within which the
particular needs of the society should be considered in
determining the content of its bylaws. A sample set of bylaws
of the type that might be adopted by a small and independent
local society is shown in 56:58–67. Such a model can only
illustrate how a typical document of this kind is put together,
however; and the provisions must be varied, additional ones
inserted, or inapplicable ones omitted, as appropriate to the
individual organization.
56:10 Drafting of Bylaws; Appointment of Subcommittee(s).
After conferences on the topics described above, the
committee should appoint a drafting subcommittee, or several
of them for various articles if the bylaws are expected to be
long and complex. Another subcommittee may be needed in
the latter case to eliminate inconsistencies, make the style
uniform, and make sure that, as far as possible, everything
relating to a single subject is placed in the same or adjacent
articles.
56:11 The composition of bylaws is somewhat different from
ordinary expository writing, in that it places greater demand on
a “tight” clarity and precision in word choice, sentence
structure, and punctuation. In bylaws, every punctuation mark
may have an important effect; and what is omitted may carry
as much significance as what is included. Indisputability of
meaning and application is a more important consideration
than “readability,” and the latter must be sacrificed when both
cannot be achieved. Each sentence should be written so as to
be impossible to quote out of context; that is, either its
complete meaning should be clear without reference to
sentences preceding or following, or it should be worded so as
to compel the reader to refer to adjoining sentences—as by
beginning, “Any member so elected…” Exceptions or
qualifications to statements should be included, as far as
possible, within the sentence to which they apply—which can
often be accomplished by ending sentences with clauses
beginning “except that…” or “provided, however, that…”
Where such a technique is impractical, a sentence should
contain at least an allusion or reference to any exceptions to
its own applicability—as in “Except as provided in Article VI,
Section 2 of these bylaws, officers shall…”
56:12 Provisions of a temporary nature or relating to the
mechanics of transition from old to revised bylaws should not
 be included within bylaws (see 57:15–17).
56:13 Regarding the inclusion of provisions in the nature of rules
of order within bylaws, see 2:20–21.

56:14 Critical Review by Full Committee. After the first draft of the
bylaws has been completed, it should be given thorough
critical examination in discussions by the full committee. The
probable long-range effect of each provision should be
weighed, and particular care taken to detect and eliminate any
remaining inconsistencies or ambiguities. It is much better to
take a good deal of time in consideration of bylaws before their
adoption than to find an early need for extensive amendment.

56:15 Presentation of Report. After the proposed bylaws are

approved by the committee, the report of the committee is
presented to the assembly and is considered seriatim—article
by article and, whenever an article consists of more than one
section, section by section. The procedure is as described in
54:15–20 and in 28—except that:
a) especially in the case of a revision of bylaws, the motion to
adopt them may include provisos relating to transition, as
explained in 57:15–17; and
b) a revision of bylaws is adopted by the vote required to
amend the existing ones (56:50–56), rather than by a
majority vote as in the case of bylaws that bring a society
into being.
In presenting the report of the bylaws committee to the
assembly, the committee chairman should explain each section
and—in the case of a proposed revision of bylaws—make clear
what is new about each provision or how it differs from the
corresponding provision of the existing bylaws.
Content of Bylaw Articles
56:16 Basic Bylaw Articles. While the number of bylaw articles will
be determined by the size and activities of the organization
adopting them, and more than those listed below will be
needed in some cases, the average society will find it sufficient
to include articles on the following numbered headings. The
description of appropriate provisions in these articles, while in
no sense exhaustive, should prove of help in framing bylaws.
Articles are commonly designated with Roman numerals, and
sections with Arabic numerals (see also Sample Bylaws,
56:58–67). For ready reference, it may be helpful to precede
lengthy bylaws with a table of contents when they are printed
or copied for distribution.
56:17 Article I: Name. In unincorporated societies, the full, exact,
and properly punctuated name of the society should be given.
In incorporated societies or those with separate constitutions,
however, the bylaws can omit this article, since the official
name of the organization is then stated in the corporate
charter or constitution. If the name is in both locations,
conflicts may creep in, and it is the name as stated in the
superior document that is official.

56:18 Article II: Object. In unincorporated societies, the object of

the society should be concisely expressed in a single
sentence, the various aspects or phases being written in
sequence, set off by semicolons, or in lettered subparagraphs,
also set off by semicolons. The statement should be general in
its application, since it sets boundaries within which business
can be introduced at the society’s meetings—a two-thirds vote
being required to allow the introduction of a motion that falls
outside the society’s object. For the same reason stated above
 in reference to the society’s name, this article also can be
omitted from the bylaws in incorporated societies or in those
having a separate constitution. Some societies prefer to set
forth the object in a preamble to the bylaws rather than in an
article, in which case the preamble precedes Article I, and the
numbering of the remaining articles described below is
modified as necessary. This device is especially useful in
societies incorporated many years before, whose charter no
longer states its object in modern terms or with the specificity
now desired.

56:19 Article III: Members. Usually the article on members consists

of several sections, covering, for example: (1) classes of
members—as “active,” “associate,” and the like—with any
distinctions between them being set forth, and, as applicable,
the rights of each, and any limitation on their number; and (2)
qualifications or eligibility for membership, with application and
acceptance procedures, including the method of reviewing and
voting on applications. Unless the financial obligations of
members are especially complicated, a section of this article
should also state: (3) the required fees and dues, the date(s)
when payable (whether annually, semiannually, quarterly, etc.),
the time and prescribed procedure for notifying members if
they become delinquent in payment, and the date thereafter
on which a member will be dropped for nonpayment of dues.
Before a member in arrears has been finally dropped under
such a provision, his voting rights cannot be suspended unless
the bylaws so provide. (See also 1:13n3, 32:8, 45:1, 47:39,
56:61(3).) Members cannot be assessed any additional
payment aside from their dues unless it is provided for in the
bylaws. If the necessary provisions relating to the financial
obligations of members to the society are too complex to be
included in this article, such provisions can be set out in a
 separate article immediately following.
56:20 Some organizations require attendance at a certain
proportion of the meetings or a specified minimum
participation in the society’s activities as a requirement for
continued membership; this also can be done only by
provision in the bylaws.
56:21 Sometimes this article also contains provisions for: (4)
resignations; and (5) honorary members (see 47:42).
56:22 In a state or national body or a federation, local units or
constituent clubs, rather than individuals, may be the
“members” referred to in this article.

56:23 Article IV: Officers. As stated in 47, every society should

specify in this article of its bylaws the officers it requires,
including honorary ones, and how they shall be elected or
appointed. The officers rank in the order listed, so that the
president should be named first, the vice-president or first
vice-president next (unless there is to be a president-elect;
see 47:21–22), and so on. Directors should be classed as
officers.
56:24 Normally all that need be said about the duties of officers
(apart from occasional references in other articles, under the
topics to which specific duties relate) can be included in the
section designating the officers, to the effect that “These
officers shall perform the duties prescribed by these bylaws
and by the parliamentary authority adopted by the Society.” In
cases where the extraordinary duties of officers are numerous,
however, a separate article titled “Duties of Officers” may
sometimes follow this article, and treat the duties for each
office in a separate section. Such a procedure is
advantageous in collecting related information in one place,
but it results in repetition and may occasion problems of
interpretation. Great care must be taken in the writing of the
 article not to omit any duty, since an implication that the duty is
not required could be read into the omission. For this reason, if
such an article is to be included, it is well to conclude the
section on each office with a clause such as “… and such
other duties applicable to the office as prescribed by the
parliamentary authority adopted by the Society.”
56:25 A method of nominating officers (see 46) may be
prescribed in a section of this article; in the absence of such a
provision or any rule adopted by the society, nominations are
made in accordance with established custom (if any) or as
otherwise directed by vote of the society at the time of each
election (see also 31). If the bylaws provide for a nominating
committee and prescribe that the committee shall nominate
“candidates for each office,” the committee is not limited to one
candidate for each office. If it is desired to impose such a
limitation, the provision should state that the committee shall
nominate “a candidate for each office.”
56:26 Election by ballot should usually be prescribed in the
section pertaining to elections and terms of office—often with
additional details of election procedure as discussed in 46. A
provision can be included to dispense with the ballot when
there is only one candidate for an office, although this deprives
members of the privilege of voting for “write-in” candidates in
such a case. If it is desired to elect by mail, by plurality vote,
by preferential voting, or by cumulative voting, this must be
expressly stated, and necessary details of the procedure
should be prescribed (see 45).
56:27 The length of the terms of office should be prescribed; and
unless the terms are to begin at the instant the chair declares
each officer elected, the time when they are to begin must be
specified. When the bylaws specify the number of years in a
term of office, it is understood that the actual term may be
more or less than a whole number of calendar years, owing to
 permissible variation in the dates on which successive
elections are scheduled. For example, suppose that the
bylaws provide that the annual meeting for the election of
officers shall take place “in October or November,” that their
terms of office shall begin “at the close of the annual meeting,”
and that they shall serve for a term of “one year and until their
successors are elected” (or simply for a term of “one year,”
which is not recommended; see below). If the annual meeting
is held on October 20 of one year and on November 1 of the
next (or vice versa), the officers elected at the second meeting
take office immediately upon the adjournment of that meeting
—and the previous officers remain in office until that time—
even though this represents a term of office longer than (or
shorter than) one calendar year. (For procedures when an
election is not completed at the scheduled time, see 46:44–
45.)
56:28 To ensure the continued services of officers in the event,
for example, of public emergency or of difficulty in obtaining a
nominee for an office, the unqualified wording “for a term of…
year(s)” should be avoided, because at the end of that time
there would be no officers if new ones had not been elected.
The exact wording that instead ought to be used depends on a
further consideration, namely, the manner in which the
organization wants to make it possible to remove officers
before the expiration of their normal term.
56:29 Careful thought should be given to whether, given the
circumstances of the particular organization, it is preferable (1)
to permit removal of officers only for cause, through
disciplinary proceedings that may involve a formal trial, or (2)
instead to permit their removal at the pleasure of the
membership by a two-thirds vote, a majority vote when
previous notice has been given, or a vote of a majority of the
entire membership—any one of which will suffice (see 62:16).
56:30 To accomplish the first alternative, the bylaws may provide
that officers “shall hold office for a term of year(s) and
until their successors are elected.” To accomplish the second
alternative, the bylaws may provide that officers “shall hold
office for a term of year(s) or until their successors are
elected.” (Emphases added.) Because the significant
difference in effect between the use of “and” and “or” is
unlikely to be clear to most members, it may be desirable
(although it is not essential) to add an explanatory sentence,
such as:
• For the first alternative: “Officers may be removed from office
for cause by disciplinary proceedings as provided in the
parliamentary authority.”
• For the second alternative: “Officers may be removed from
office at the pleasure of the membership as provided in the
parliamentary authority.”

56:31 Since a reasonable rotation in office is desirable in almost

all organizations, a section of this article may well provide that
“No person shall be eligible to serve… consecutive terms
[specifying the number] in the same office.” For purposes of
determining eligibility to continue in office under such a
provision, an officer who has served more than half a term is
considered to have served a full term in that office.
56:32 The method of filling vacancies may also be provided (cf.
47:57–58). Unless the bylaws clearly provide otherwise, notice
of filling a vacancy in office must always be given to the
members of the body that will elect the person to fill it. If the
bylaws are silent as to the method of filling a vacancy in the
specific case of the presidency, the vice-president or first vice-
president automatically becomes president for the remainder
of the term, and the vacancy to be filled arises in the vice-
presidency or lowest-ranking vice-presidency; if another
 method of filling a vacancy in the presidency is desired, it must
be prescribed and specified as applying to the office of
president in particular.

56:33 Article V: Meetings. The first section of the article on

meetings should fix the day on which regular meetings of the
society are to be held—as by specifying, for example, “the first
Friday of each month.” If the words “unless otherwise ordered
by the Society [or “Executive Board”]” are added, the date can
be changed in an unusual circumstance, but only for that
single meeting on that particular occasion, and not for a period
of time including several meetings. To change the general rule
fixing the time for meetings would require amendment of the
bylaws. The hour and place at which meetings are to be held
should not be specified in the bylaws, but should be
established by a standing rule (2) adopted by the society or, if
it is empowered to do so, by the executive board.
56:34 Some organizations prefer to schedule meetings by
resolution. If so, the bylaws should provide for the number of
days’ notice required before regular meetings, since under
such a practice members cannot determine the meeting dates
by consulting the bylaws. Unless otherwise provided in the
bylaws, the number of days is computed by counting all
calendar days (including holidays and weekends), excluding
the day of the meeting but including the day the notice is sent.
56:35 In a separate section it should be provided that “The
regular meeting… [specifying which one, as “on the last
Tuesday in May”] shall be known as the annual meeting.” As
explained in 9, this meeting is conducted in the same way as
any regular meeting, except that officers are elected and
annual reports are received from officers and standing
committees.
56:36 A section authorizing the calling of special meetings should
 state by whom such meetings can be called—such as the
president, the board, or a specified number of members nearly
equal to a quorum—and the number of days’ notice required.
It may be well to provide that no business shall be transacted
except that mentioned in the call (that is, the notice) of the
special meeting, although this rule would apply even if not
expressly stated (see 9:15). If the bylaws do not authorize the
calling of special meetings, such meetings are not permitted—
except when authorized by the assembly itself, as part of
formal disciplinary procedures, for purposes of conducting a
trial and determining a punishment (see 63:21n9).
56:37 The quorum for all meetings should be established in a
section of this article (see 40).

56:38 In state or national bodies where one session—usually

called a convention—is held annually, biennially, or at less
frequent intervals, the article on meetings is titled
“Conventions.” While much that is stated above would be
generally applicable to such an article, considerable
adaptation is needed, as described in 58:6–10.
56:39 Article VI: Executive Board (or Board of Directors). As
explained in 49:3–7, all but the smallest societies usually find it
advisable to establish a board whose members are the officers
of the society, such a body being entrusted with administrative
authority and responsibility to a degree that varies with the
organization. If there is to be such a board, sections of this
article should:
• specify the board’s composition;
• delineate the powers of the board; and
• set forth any special rules by which the board is to conduct its
business, such as when and how often it is to meet, its
quorum, and the like.
56:40 In most societies this body is called the Executive Board
unless there is to be a smaller body within it to act for the
board between its meetings, in which case the full board is
usually designated the Board of Directors and the smaller
body is called the Executive Committee (see 49:13). The
Executive Committee is then established in a separate article
following the one on the complete board, with similar
provisions. The bylaws may provide for how the presiding
officer and the secretary of the board, and those of the
Executive Committee, are to be determined. In the absence of
such provisions in the bylaws, however, the president and the
secretary of the society also serve in the same capacities
within these bodies. Organizations may sometimes give varied
names to their full boards, such as Board of Managers, Board
of Trustees, Board of Governors, Administrative Council, etc.
In such cases, the nature of the particular body as one of the
types described above can be determined from the bylaw
article that establishes it.
56:41 A board may never alter a decision of the society’s
assembly (and an executive committee may never alter a
decision of either the assembly or the board), even by a
motion to Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted or
by adoption of a proposal which has been rejected, unless
expressly authorized by the superior body or by the bylaws
(see 49:7). Thus, for example, if it is desired that the assembly
adopt an annual budget but that the board be empowered to
alter it to deal with contingencies that may develop, the bylaws
(or the budget resolution) must specifically confer this power
on the board.
56:42 Article VI, Section 2 of the Sample Bylaws (56:64) shows
an appropriate wording for defining the board’s powers so that
the board’s authority will be limited to the power to supervise,
and to determine the details of, implementation of the
 decisions of the society’s assembly and, in a manner not
inconsistent with such decisions, to attend to any business of
the society that cannot wait until the next meeting.
56:43 If the organization desires to leave the entire administrative
authority of the society to the board between the society’s
meetings—as may occur, for example, in organizations that
meet infrequently or whose main purpose is other than to
transact business—the same section might read:
The Executive Board [or “Board of Directors,” etc.] shall have full power
and authority over the affairs of the Society except… [specifying
classes of business over which the assembly of the society is to
retain sole authority].

56:44 Article VII: Committees. The article on committees should

provide for the establishment of each of the standing
committees (50) that it is known will be required. A separate
section devoted to each of these committees should give its
name, composition, manner of selection, and duties. If this
article names certain standing committees, no other standing
committees can be appointed without amending the bylaws,
unless a provision is included—usually in a separate section of
the article as described below—permitting the establishment
of such other standing committees as are deemed necessary
to carry on the work of the society. In any event, if a standing
committee is to have standing authority to act for the society
without specific instructions, if business of a certain class is to
be automatically referred to it, or if some other rule of
parliamentary procedure is affected by the committee’s
assigned function, such procedure must be prescribed in a
provision of the bylaws or in a special rule of order,
establishing the committee by name.
56:45 The number and nature of the standing committees that
may be named in individual sections of this article will depend
 on the size and object of the organization. The standing
committees most frequently established by local societies are
few in number; they may include a committee on membership,
a program committee, and sometimes a finance committee. (A
section relating to the nominating committee, when included,
is usually located not in this article but in the article on officers,
where nomination and election procedures are usually
prescribed.) In national or state bodies more committees may
be needed, but local units should not try to establish a
committee to correspond to each one in the superior body, and
the superior body generally should not require them to do so.
56:46 Appointment of special committees is usually provided for
in a separate section that may also, as indicated above,
provide for the appointment of additional standing committees.
When this section empowers the president to appoint such
special committees or additional standing committees as the
society or the board shall direct, he is not thereby authorized
to appoint other committees on his own initiative. If the
president is to appoint committees and it is desired that he
have standing authority to appoint non–assembly members to
positions on the committees without submitting these persons’
names to the assembly for approval, this section should
contain a provision to that effect (see 13:15, 50:12, 50:13(d)).
56:47 This section may also provide that certain officers—for
example, the president—“shall be ex officio a member of all
committees except the Nominating Committee.” In that case,
the president has the right, but not the duty, of participating in
the work of the committees (see also 49:8, 50:16). Without
such a provision, he has no vote within the committees, nor
can he attend their meetings except as invited by a particular
committee. The nominating committee should always be
expressly excluded in a provision making the president an ex-
officio member of committees. It may also be advisable to
 exclude all disciplinary committees—such as trial and
investigating committees—both from a provision making the
president an ex-officio member of committees and from a
provision authorizing the president to appoint committees.
56:48 If no article on committees is included in the bylaws,
standing and special committees are established as directed
by the society (see 13, 50).
56:49 Article VIII: Parliamentary Authority. The parliamentary
authority—through the adoption of which a society establishes
its rules of order—should be prescribed in a one-sentence
article reading: “The rules contained in the current edition of…
[specifying a standard manual of parliamentary practice, such
as this book] shall govern the Society in all cases to which
they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with
these bylaws and any special rules of order the Society may
adopt.”1 Societies can adopt special rules of order as they are
needed to supplement their parliamentary authority, as
explained in 2. It should be noted that the bylaw language
recommended above does not authorize the adoption of a
special rule of order that would supersede a rule that the
parliamentary authority states can be altered only by a
provision in the bylaws. When a particular work is adopted as
the parliamentary authority, what any other book may say on
any point is of no authority if in conflict with the adopted work.
In other cases, it may be persuasive but is not binding upon
the society.
56:50 Article IX: Amendment of Bylaws. The bylaws should
always prescribe the procedure for their amendment, and such
provision should always require at least that advance notice
be given in a specified manner, and that the amendment be
approved by a two-thirds vote. If the bylaws contain no
provision for their amendment, they can be amended by a two-
 thirds vote if previous notice (in the sense defined in 10:44)
has been given, or they can be amended by the vote of a
majority of the entire membership. In making a requirement
that notice be given by submitting the amendment at a
meeting in advance of the one at which it is to be considered,
the provision should always specify submission at “the
previous meeting,” and not “a” previous meeting, since the
latter would permit indefinite delay and would defeat the object
of giving notice—namely, to alert the members to the proposed
amendment so that all those interested can arrange to be
present at its consideration. The requirement of notice restricts
amendment of the proposed bylaw amendment to changes
within the scope of the notice, as explained in 57:10–13 (see
also 35:2(6)).
56:51 The manner prescribed for giving notice should suit the
needs of the particular assembly. For some, oral notice is
sufficient; others may require written notice. Some may require
only a general statement of the purport of the amendment;
others may require that the exact wording of the amendment
be given. If the bylaws require only previous notice of an
amendment without limitation of the period within which it must
be acted upon, and a committee is appointed to revise the
bylaws and report at a specified meeting, the appointing action
is all the notice required, and the amendments can be
immediately acted upon at the time the committee reports. But
if it is required that the amendment itself, or “notice of such
amendment,” be submitted at the previous regular meeting,
the revision cannot be taken up until the meeting following the
meeting at which the committee submitted its report.
56:52 In societies having very frequent regular meetings primarily
for presentation of a program, and also monthly or quarterly
business meetings (9:1), it is well to permit action on
amendments to the bylaws only at a quarterly or annual
 meeting or their adjournments.
56:53 Where assemblies meet regularly only once a year, instead
of requiring amendments to be submitted at the previous
annual meeting, the bylaws should provide for both notice and
copies of the proposed amendment to be sent to the member
delegates or constituent societies a specified minimum
number of days in advance.
56:54 If there is a constitution separate from the bylaws, the
requirement for amendment of the constitution should be
made more difficult than that for amendment of the bylaws;
otherwise there would be no purpose in having separate
documents. In either case, however, the necessary vote
should be at least two thirds.
56:55 In prescribing the vote necessary for the adoption of an
amendment, the expression “a vote of two thirds of the
members” should never be used in ordinary societies,
especially in large organizations. In such societies two thirds
of the entire membership would rarely, if ever, be present at a
meeting. It is more reasonable to require “a two-thirds vote”
(see 44:3–6).
56:56 The wording of this article should avoid redundant
phraseology such as “amend, alter, add to, or repeal,” or “alter
or amend,” or “amend or in any way change.” The word
amend covers any change, whether a word or a paragraph is
to be added, struck out, or replaced, or whether a new set of
articles is to be substituted for the old one. Efforts to define the
meaning of such expressions as “two-thirds vote” should also
be avoided in the wording of this article, since these definitions
are found in the parliamentary authority.
56:57 Additional Bylaw Articles. Some societies may have cause
to include additional bylaw articles, such as those mentioned
above, bearing on the subjects of finance, duties of officers,
and an executive committee of the board of directors. In a
national organization, an article providing for constituent
societies or units at regional, state, or local levels and
establishing their relationships within the organizational
structure may be required. In associations divided into
departments, the article establishing them—titled
“Departments”—follows the article establishing committees. In
professional and some other societies there may be an article
on disciplinary procedure; and such an article can be simple or
very elaborate. Most such provisions, however, are generally
unnecessary in ordinary societies, at least at the local level
(see 61–63).
Sample Bylaws
56:58 Regarding the applicability of the following model, see 56:9.
Titles of sections are optional, but they may be felt to be
desirable, particularly if the bylaws become elaborate, as may
be the case, for example, in a complex national organization.
BYLAWS
OF THE SOCIETY
OF

56:59 ARTICLE I: NAME

The name of this Society shall be .

56:60 ARTICLE II: OBJECT

The object of this Society shall be to ; to ; and to
.
56:61 ARTICLE III: MEMBERS
Section 1. Maximum Membership. The membership of this
Society shall be limited to two hundred members.
Section 2. Membership Eligibility and Admission Procedure.
Any adult resident of shall be eligible for
membership, provided that such resident shall be proposed by
one member and seconded by another member of the Society.
A proposal for membership, signed by the two endorsers, shall
be sent to the Recording Secretary, who shall report it,
together with the names of the sponsors, at the next regular
meeting of the Society. Voting upon the admission shall take
place at the next regular meeting thereafter. A two-thirds vote
shall elect to membership. A person so elected shall be
declared a member of the Society upon payment of the
initiation fee and the annual dues for the first year.
Section 3. Initiation Fee and Dues. The initiation fee shall be
dollars. The annual dues shall be dollars,
 payable in advance on or before of each year. The
Treasurer shall notify members months in arrears,
and those whose dues are not paid within thereafter
shall be automatically dropped from membership in the
Society.
Section 4. Resignation from Membership. Any member
desiring to resign from the Society shall submit his resignation
in writing to the Recording Secretary, who shall present it to
the Executive Board for action. No member’s resignation shall
be accepted until his dues are paid.
Section 5. Honorary Life Membership. Upon the signed
recommendation of one member, seconded by another
member, and by a three-fourths vote by ballot at the annual
meeting, honorary life membership may be conferred upon an
adult resident of who shall have rendered notable
service to the Society. An honorary member shall have none of
the obligations of membership in the Society, but shall be
entitled to all of the privileges except those of making motions,
of voting, and of holding office.
56:62 ARTICLE IV: OFFICERS
Section 1. Officers and Duties. The officers of the Society
shall be a President, a First Vice-President, a Second Vice-
President, a Recording Secretary, a Corresponding Secretary,
a Treasurer, and four Directors. These officers shall perform
the duties prescribed by these bylaws and by the
parliamentary authority adopted by the Society.
Section 2. Nomination Procedure, Time of Elections. At the
regular meeting held on the second Tuesday in February, a
Nominating Committee of five members shall be elected by the
Society. It shall be the duty of this committee to nominate
candidates for the offices to be filled at the annual meeting in
April. The Nominating Committee shall report at the regular
meeting in March. Before the election at the annual meeting in
April, additional nominations from the floor shall be permitted.
Section 3. Ballot Election, Term of Office, Removal from
 Office. The officers shall be elected by ballot to serve for one
year or until their successors are elected, and their term of
office shall begin at the close of the annual meeting at which
they are elected. Officers may be removed from office at the
pleasure of the membership as provided in the parliamentary
authority.
Section 4. Office-Holding Limitations. No member shall hold
more than one office at a time, and no member shall be
eligible to serve three consecutive terms in the same office.
56:63 ARTICLE V: MEETINGS
Section 1. Regular Meetings. The regular meetings of the
Society shall be held on the second Tuesday of each month
from September to May inclusive unless otherwise ordered by
the Society.
Section 2. Annual Meetings. The regular meeting on the
second Tuesday in April shall be known as the annual meeting
and shall be for the purpose of electing officers, receiving
reports of officers and committees, and for any other business
that may arise.
Section 3. Special Meetings. Special meetings may be
called by the President or by the Executive Board and shall be
called upon the written request of ten members of the Society.
The purpose of the meeting shall be stated in the call, which
shall be sent to all members at least three days before the
meeting.
Section 4. Quorum. Fifteen members of the Society shall
constitute a quorum.
56:64 ARTICLE VI: THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
Section 1. Board Composition. The officers of the Society,
including the Directors, shall constitute the Executive Board.
Section 2. Board’s Duties and Powers. The Executive Board
shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Society
between its business meetings, fix the hour and place of
meetings, make recommendations to the Society, and perform
 such other duties as are specified in these bylaws.
Section 3. Board Meetings. Unless otherwise ordered by the
Board, regular meetings of the Executive Board shall be held
on the first Tuesday of each month from September to June,
inclusive. Special meetings of the Board may be called by the
President and shall be called upon the written request of three
members of the Board.
56:65 ARTICLE VII: COMMITTEES
Section 1. Finance Committee. A Finance Committee
composed of the Treasurer and four other members shall be
appointed by the President promptly after each annual
meeting. It shall be the duty of this committee to prepare a
budget for the fiscal year beginning the first day of April, and to
submit it to the Society at its regular meeting in March. The
Finance Committee may from time to time submit amendments
to the budget for the current fiscal year, which may be adopted
by a majority vote.
Section 2. Program Committee. A Program Committee of
five members shall be appointed by the President promptly
after the annual meeting, whose duty it shall be to plan the
annual program of the Society. This committee’s report shall
be submitted to the Society for its approval at its regular
meeting in September.
Section 3. Auditing Committee. An Auditing Committee of
three members shall be appointed by the President at the
Society’s March meeting, whose duty it shall be to audit the
Treasurer’s accounts at the close of the fiscal year and to
report at the annual meeting.
Section 4. Other Committees; President’s Ex-Officio
Committee Membership. Such other committees, standing or
special, may be established by the Society as it shall from time
to time deem necessary to carry on its work. Their members
shall be appointed by the President unless this rule is
suspended by a two-thirds vote before their appointment. The
President shall be ex officio a member of all committees
 except the Nominating Committee and any disciplinary
committees.
56:66 ARTICLE VIII: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules
of Order Newly Revised shall govern the Society in all cases to
which they are applicable and in which they are not
inconsistent with these bylaws and any special rules of order
the Society may adopt.
56:67 ARTICLE IX: AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS
These bylaws may be amended at any regular meeting of
the Society by a two-thirds vote, provided that the amendment
has been submitted in writing at the previous regular meeting.
Some Principles of Interpretation
56:68 In preparing bylaws and interpreting them, the following
principles of interpretation—which have equal application to
other rules and documents adopted by an organization—may
be of assistance.
1) Each society decides for itself the meaning of its bylaws.
When the meaning is clear, however, the society, even by a
unanimous vote, cannot change that meaning except by
amending its bylaws. An ambiguity must exist before there is
any occasion for interpretation. If a bylaw is ambiguous, it
must be interpreted, if possible, in harmony with the other
bylaws. The interpretation should be in accordance with the
intention of the society at the time the bylaw was adopted, as
far as this can be determined. Again, intent plays no role
unless the meaning is unclear or uncertain, but where an
ambiguity exists, a majority vote is all that is required to
decide the question. The ambiguous or doubtful expression
should be amended as soon as practicable.
2) When a provision of the bylaws is susceptible to two
meanings, one of which conflicts with or renders absurd
another bylaw provision, and the other meaning does not,
the latter must be taken as the true meaning. For example,
assume the bylaws define the officers as “a president, a
vice-president, a secretary, a treasurer, and five other
members, all of whom shall serve as members of the
Board…” Assume also that elsewhere the bylaws speak of
“Directors” being board members. A suggestion that the
“Directors” are not officers and are additional members of the
board would create a conflict within the bylaws and cannot
be taken as the true meaning. The “other members” are the
 same as the “Directors.”
3) A general statement or rule is always of less authority than a
specific statement or rule and yields to it. It is not practical to
state a rule in its full detail every time it is referred to.
General statements of rules are seldom strictly correct in
every possible application. The specific statement of the rule
that gives the details applying to the particular case must
always be examined. For instance: in the Sample Bylaws,
Article III, Section 2 (56:61), it is provided that any “adult
resident” shall, by a two-thirds vote, be elected to
membership. This is a general statement which yields to the
proviso stated in Section 1 of the same article that restricts
membership to two hundred. Thus, the Society is not
empowered to elect a two-hundred-and-first member by a
two-thirds vote. No one has a right to quote a general
statement as of authority against a specific statement.
4) If the bylaws authorize certain things specifically, other
things of the same class are thereby prohibited. There is a
presumption that nothing has been placed in the bylaws
without some reason for it. There can be no valid reason for
authorizing certain things to be done that can clearly be done
without the authorization of the bylaws, unless the intent is to
specify the things of the same class that may be done, all
others being prohibited. Thus, where Article IV, Section 1 of
the Sample Bylaws (56:62) lists certain officers, the election
of other officers not named, such as a sergeant-at-arms, is
prohibited.
5) A provision granting certain privileges carries with it a right to
a part of the privileges, but prohibits a greater privilege. The
Sample Bylaws, in Article VI, Section 2 (56:64) provide that
the executive board may “fix the hour and place of meetings”
of the society. The board may, therefore, change the time or
the place, or both, of a society’s meeting. But it may not
 change the day for which the meeting is scheduled.
6) A prohibition or limitation prohibits everything greater than
what is prohibited, or that goes beyond the limitation; but it
permits what is less than the limitation, and also permits
things of the same class that are not mentioned in the
prohibition or limitation and that are not evidently improper.
The Sample Bylaws, Article IV, Section 4 (56:62) limits a
member to holding one office at a time. This limitation carries
with it, of course, the prohibition of holding more than two or
three offices as well. The next clause in Article IV, Section 4
prohibits officers from serving three consecutive terms in the
same office. Hence, an officer cannot serve four consecutive
terms, but may serve two consecutive terms. Article IX of the
Sample Bylaws (56:67) limits amendments to the bylaws to
those of which notice has been given and which are adopted
by a two-thirds vote. Thus, the change of a single word is
prohibited unless these conditions are met, and a revision of
the entire bylaws requires that the same steps be taken.
7) The imposition of a definite penalty for a particular action
prohibits the increase or diminution of the penalty. If the
bylaws state that a member shall be dropped from
membership on a board if he misses three consecutive
regular meetings of the board, he cannot be retained by vote
of the board, nor can more severe penalties be imposed,
such as a fine in addition. If, for example, it is desired to
allow the board to diminish or waive the penalty, or increase
it, the bylaw must not make it definite or must specifically
provide for diminution, waiver, or enlargement.
8) In cases where the bylaws use a general term and also two
or more specific terms that are wholly included under the
general one, a rule in which only the general term is used
applies to all the specific terms. Where the bylaws provide in
the basic enumeration of the classes of membership that
“members may be active, associate, or honorary,” the
general term “member” is used to apply to all three classes
of members. But if, in the article on Members, it is stated that
members may be either active or associate members, or if
that article simply describes “members” without
classification, as in the Sample Bylaws, Article III (56:61), the
term “member” applies only to those classes or that class of
members, even if honorary members are provided for
elsewhere—in which case honorary membership is not real
membership. Similarly, if the bylaws provide for “elected
officers” and “appointed officers,” the word “officers” or the
expression “all officers,” used elsewhere in establishing the
term during which office shall be held, applies to both the
elected and the appointed officers.
§57. AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS
57:1 A motion to amend the bylaws is a particular case of the
motion to Amend Something Previously Adopted (35); it is
therefore a main motion, and it is subject to the same rules as
other main motions with the following exceptions:
1) Special requirements for this motion’s adoption should be
specified in the bylaws, and they should always include at
least notice and a two-thirds vote, which (with a vote of a
majority of the entire membership as an allowable
alternative) are the requirements for its adoption if such
specification in the bylaws is neglected (see 56:50–56).
2) Permissible primary and secondary amendment of the
motion to amend the bylaws is usually limited by the extent
of change for which notice was given, as explained below.
3) An affirmative vote on the motion to amend the bylaws
cannot be reconsidered (37).
4) The rule that, when a main motion is adopted, no other
conflicting main motion is thereafter in order is not applicable
to the motion to amend the bylaws, since several notices of
proposals representing different approaches to the same
problem may have been given, and all such bylaw
amendments are entitled to be considered (see 57:6–8).
Method of Handling Bylaw Amendments
57:2 The extensiveness of amendments to the bylaws will
determine the method of handling them, as follows:
57:3 Isolated Changes. If only an isolated change is to be made in
the bylaws, it can be treated as any motion to Amend
Something Previously Adopted (35), subject to the particular
rules indicated immediately above. When a series of isolated
changes to the bylaws are needed to achieve one end—such
as abolishing the office of “Historian” and eliminating all
references to it—the changes should be offered in a single
motion. If the changes are related in such a way that all of the
individual amendments must be made, if any one of them is
made, in order for the bylaws to be coherent, then the motion
cannot be divided (see 27:5).
57:4 Sometimes a more extensive change is proposed involving
the substitution of an entire section, group of sections, or
article. In such a case, often only a few separated passages
are actually involved in the changes, and they are offered in
the form of a single proposed substitute in order to avoid time-
consuming separate action on each change. The text of the
substitute should then be given with the notice of proposed
amendment, or the notice should delineate each of the actual
changes, and only changes within the scope of those
contained in the substitute can be considered. Portions of the
substitute which remain as in the existing version cannot be
amended, since they involve areas for which no notice of
proposed change was given.
57:5 General Revisions. Changes of the bylaws that are so
extensive and general that they are scattered throughout the
bylaws should be effected through the substitution of an
entirely new set of bylaws, called a revision. Notice of such a
 revision is notice that a new document will be submitted that
will be open to amendment as fully as if the society were
adopting bylaws for the first time. In other words, in the case of
a revision, the assembly is not confined to consideration of only
the points of change included in the proposed revision as
submitted by the committee that has drafted it. The revision
can be perfected by first-degree and second-degree
amendments, but as in the case of any other bylaw
amendment, the old document is not pending; and therefore,
while the revision can be rejected altogether, leaving the old
bylaws intact, the old document cannot be altered with a view
to retaining it in a changed form. Consideration of a revision of
the bylaws is in order only when prepared by a committee that
has been properly authorized to draft it either by the
membership or by an executive board that has the power to
refer such matters to a committee.2
57:6 Procedure of Consideration. A revision of bylaws or a
lengthy amendment involving more than one section should be
considered seriatim as described in 28. If notice is given of
several amendments which conflict so that all cannot be given
effect, the chair should arrange them in a logical order, much
as in the case of filling blanks (12), generally taking the least
inclusive amendment first and the most inclusive last so that
the last one adopted is given effect. That arrangement of the
amendments can be altered by the assembly; a motion to
rearrange the amendments requires a second, is not
debatable, is amendable, and requires a majority vote. An
affirmative vote adopting such an arrangement is not subject to
a motion to Reconsider, nor may a later, separate amendment
be offered as a substitute for a pending one.
57:7 However, as already stated in 57:1(4), all bylaw
amendments of which notice was given are entitled to be
 considered, as a matter of the rights of their proposers, and a
bylaw amendment is not dropped simply because it would
conflict with one previously adopted. This procedure does not
violate the normal parliamentary rule as might appear, because
when any bylaw amendment is adopted, that amendment
becomes a part of the bylaws immediately; and it is the bylaw
language as thus amended, rather than the previous language,
which any bylaw amendments subsequently considered would
now propose to modify.
57:8 If an amendment that has not been considered no longer
presents a rational proposition because it was applicable only
to language which has disappeared from the bylaws in this
process, such a bylaw amendment must, of course, be
dropped; but this situation should generally not arise if the
amendments are taken up in proper order as indicated above.
57:9 The final vote on a bylaw amendment should be counted
and recorded in the minutes unless it is nearly unanimous.
Amending a Proposed Amendment to the Bylaws
57:10 While amendments to a proposed bylaw amendment can
be made in both the first and the second degrees (as
applicable) and can be adopted by a majority vote without
notice, they are subject to restrictions on the extent of the
changes they propose.
57:11 If the bylaws require previous notice for their amendment
(as they should), or if they do not but notice has been given
and a majority of the entire membership is not present, no
amendment to a bylaw amendment is in order that increases
the modification of the article or provision to be amended (see
35:2(6)). This restriction prevents members from proposing a
slight change and then taking advantage of absent members
by moving a greater one as an amendment to the amendment.
Thus, if the bylaws place the annual dues of members at $10
and an amendment is pending to strike out 10 and insert 25,
an amendment to change the 25 to any number between 10
and 25 would be in order, but an amendment to change the
number to less than 10 or greater than 25 would not be in
order, even with unanimous consent. Had notice been given
that it was proposed to increase the dues to more than $25 or
to reduce them below $10, members who opposed such a
change might have attended the meeting to vote against the
amendment.
57:12 The same principle applies to an amendment in the nature
of a substitute for sections or articles (short of a revision), as
already indicated above; the proposed substitute is open to
amendments that diminish the amount of change, but not to
amendments that increase it or that introduce new changes.
Thus, if an amendment is pending to substitute a new rule for
one that prescribes the initiation fee and the annual dues, and
 the substitute proposes to alter the initiation fee but does not
propose any change in the annual dues, then an amendment
which recommends changing the annual dues would not be in
order.
57:13 Amendments to strike out a sentence, paragraph, or
section deserve special care. In such cases, the existing bylaw
is not itself open to consideration, but only the amendment. If
notice is given to strike out a provision of the bylaws and some
members feel it should be retained with certain changes
whose substance would be outside the scope of that notice,
those members should immediately give notice of the
amendments to the existing provisions which they think are
advisable. Otherwise, friends of the existing provision will be
cut off from opportunity to work out compromises for its partial
retention by perfecting the existing language.
Giving Notice of Amendments
57:14 Notice of a bylaw amendment should be formally worded in
a form such as “To amend Article IV, Section 2, by striking out
‘March’ and inserting ‘April’ after the words ‘second Tuesday
in.’” When the bylaws do not place a limitation on those who
can give notice of a bylaw amendment, any member is entitled
to do so. If notice is to be given at a meeting, this is usually
done under new business, although it can be done at any
time, even after it has been voted to adjourn if the chair has
not actually declared the meeting adjourned. A bylaws
committee can give notice in that part of the order of business
set aside for committee reports. If notice is to be sent with the
call of the meeting at which the amendment will be introduced,
the society is responsible for paying the cost of sending such
notice, not the member proposing the amendment. The notice
should fairly inform the members of the changes
contemplated. Showing the existing bylaw and the bylaw with
the proposed changes in parallel columns is a good device so
long as the exact amendment, stated in a formal manner, is
set out at the top across both columns. When notice of a
bylaw amendment is given in open meeting, it cannot be
considered at that time, except to be discussed informally and
briefly at the discretion of the presiding officer (see also 43:31–
34).
Time at Which a Bylaw Amendment Takes Effect
57:15 An amendment to the bylaws goes into effect immediately
upon its adoption unless the motion to adopt specifies another
time for its becoming effective, or the assembly has set such a
time by a previously adopted motion. While the amendment is
pending, a motion can be made to amend the enacting words
of the motion to amend by adding a clause such as this: “…
with the proviso that [or, “… provided, however, that”] this
amendment shall not go into effect until after the close of this
annual meeting.” Or, while the amendment is pending, an
incidental motion can be adopted that, in the event of the
amendment’s adoption, it shall not take effect until a specified
time. Either method requires only a majority vote. It is a
mistake to encumber the bylaws themselves with provisions
which have effect for only a limited time. If the mechanics of
transition to operation under a revised set of bylaws will be
complicated in ways for which the act of adoption must provide
temporarily, such provisions can be numbered and attached to
the revision draft on a separate sheet headed “Provisos
Relating to Transition.” The motion to adopt the revision can
then be made in this form: “I move the adoption of the revised
bylaws with the provisos attached thereto.”
57:16 Amendments to the article on officers may raise difficulties
in relation to the time at which adopted changes take effect,
unless special care is taken. A society can, for example,
amend its bylaws so as to affect the emoluments and duties of
the officers already elected, or even to abolish an office; and if
it is desired that the amendment should not affect officers
already elected, a motion so specifying should be adopted
before voting on the amendment, or the motion to amend can
have added to it the proviso that it shall not affect officers
 already elected. There is virtually a contract between a society
and its officers, and while to some extent action can be taken
by either party to modify or even terminate the contract, such
action must be taken with reasonable consideration for the
other party.
57:17 It is important to note that, although the time when a bylaw
amendment takes effect can be delayed by the assembly, the
amendment becomes part of the bylaws immediately upon
adoption. If the amended bylaws are printed, a footnote or
similar device should indicate that the amended language is
not yet in effect and, if language was removed by the
amendment, the text of that provision should be given if it is
still applicable in the organization.
Captions, Headings, and Article and Section
Numbers
57:18 It was formerly customary to permit the secretary to fill in
captions, headings, and article, section, or paragraph numbers
or letters, and the like, after the assembly had adopted by-
laws or other long documents. Such designations were treated
as mere marginal notations which could be clerically modified.
It is now the usual practice to include these subtitles or
identifying numbers or letters as an integral part of what is
adopted by action of the assembly.
57:19 In the process of amending previously adopted documents
of this kind, indisputably necessary changes in designation by
number or letter may be presumed to have been included in
the assembly’s action even if they were not mentioned. For
example, if an assembly adopts a motion “to insert after Article
III a new Article IV reading as follows:…,” the secretary or a
committee would, of course, raise the numerical designation of
each of the later articles by one, even if the enacting motion
made no reference to doing so. Only the assembly can amend
captions or headings under the rules applicable to bylaws or
other papers if such change could have any effect on
meaning, and this authority may not be delegated. Corrections
of article or section numbers or cross-references that cannot
result in a change of meaning can be delegated, however, to
the secretary or, in more involved cases, to a committee. An
assembly may delegate its authority in this connection in a
particular case, by adopting, for example, a resolution such as
the following:

Resolved, That the secretary [or, “the… committee”] be authorized to

correct article and section designations, punctuation, and cross-
references and to make such other technical and conforming
changes as may be necessary to reflect the intent of the Society in
connection with…
Footnotes to Chapter
XVIII
1. Where a particular type of organization is subject to local, state, or national law
containing provisions relating to its procedure—as for certain procedures in a labor
organization, in condominium associations, or in an incorporated association—it may be
desirable to add at this point a phrase such as, “and any statutes applicable to this
organization that do not authorize the provisions of these bylaws to take precedence.”
However, such statutes (those that do not authorize bylaws to take precedence)
supersede all rules of the organization which conflict with them, even if no mention is
made of it in the bylaws.
2. A proposal to substitute a new set of bylaws that is submitted by anyone other than such
an authorized committee is not improper, but it is not treated as a general revision. In
such a case, only changes within the scope of those contained in the substitute can be
considered, as described in the previous paragraph (57:4).
 CHAPTER
XIX

CONVENTIONS

§58. CONVENTIONS OF DELEGATES

58:1 As commonly understood in parliamentary law and as used
in this book, the word convention refers to an assembly of
delegates (other than a permanently constituted public
lawmaking body), who are usually chosen specially for each
session as representatives of the constituent units or
subdivisions within a larger group of people, to sit as a single
deliberative body acting in the name of the entire group. The
most common type of convention is that of an established state
or national society—in which the delegates are selected by,
and from among, the members of each local unit. Other terms
by which such a convention may be described in some
organizations include congress, conference, convocation,
general assembly, house of delegates, and house of
representatives.
58:2 The term house of delegates, or house of representatives,
is often applied particularly in the case of learned or
professional associations, to distinguish the voting body of
delegates from large numbers of other members of the
constituent units, who come to the convention to attend
 seminars, workshops, educational or social activities, or the
like. In some societies, also, house of delegates or house of
representatives may describe a body of delegates who, instead
of being elected only for a convention session, are elected for a
fixed term during which they hold sessions from time to time as
the bylaws may prescribe.
58:3 Conventions vary in size, duration, and complexity of
operation. A relatively small state society may hold a one-day
convention consisting of two or three meetings at which all
delegates are present. A week’s convention of a national
scientific or educational association, on the other hand, may be
divided into a number of specialized sections meeting
separately at the same time, with only a few meetings when
the entire body of delegates gathers in one hall.
58:4 In addition, a convention is sometimes called for the
purpose of forming an association or federation; or (like a mass
meeting, 53) it may be convened to draw interested parties or
representatives of interested organizations together in acting
upon a particular problem.
58:5 This chapter is limited to the features common to most
conventions and relates principally to the convention of an
established society. (For variations of procedure applying to
other types of conventions, see 60.)
Basic Provisions in Bylaws
58:6 In the case of an established state, regional, or national
society composed of constituent units, the bylaws (see 2:8–13;
56:33ff., especially 56:38) or other governing instrument of the
association or parent body should:
• authorize a periodic convention;
• define its powers and duties;
• fix its quorum;
• specify its voting members;
• prescribe the qualifications of its delegates and alternates,
the basis of determining their number, and the method of
electing them;
• specify when, how, and to whom the call (notice) of the
convention is to be sent; and
• make such provision as the particular convention may require
for its organization and operation.
58:7 Basic provision for the voting body of members may be
worded in the bylaws as appropriate to the particular
organization—for example, as follows:

The voting members of the State Convention shall be the state officers
(including members of the Executive Board of the State Association),
the president (or, in his absence, the vice-president) of each club
within the Association, and the elected delegates of each club.

58:8 In addition, the bylaws at the level on which the convention

is held should prescribe: (1) the conditions for a constituent unit
to be in good standing for purposes of the right to
representation—commonly including a minimum membership
requirement; and (2) the number of delegates to which a unit
shall be entitled depending on its size—usually by specifying,
for example, that each unit shall be represented by its
 president, plus one additional delegate if the unit has more
than a certain number of members, or two additional delegates
if the unit has more than twice that number of members, and so
on.
58:9 The bylaws at the level at which the convention is held
should also provide for the election of alternates as described
in 58:13–15.
58:10 To avoid a change of officers during the convention, the
bylaws should provide that newly elected officers shall take up
their duties at the close of the convention (see 56:27).
Convention Members and Alternates
58:11 Ways in Which Voting Membership Comes About. Voting
membership in a convention of an established society
generally comes about in one of the following ways:
1) through being an accredited delegate elected by a
constituent body especially to act as its authorized
representative (or one of several representatives) in a
particular convention;
2) through provision in the bylaws, as in many organizations,
that the president or chief officer (or, in his absence, the vice-
president) of each constituent local unit shall be the delegate
or one of the delegates;
3) through being an incumbent elective officer of the
organization on the level at which the convention is held—for
example, an officer of a state society in a state convention,
where the officers of the state society as listed in the bylaws
are ex officio the officers of the convention as well as
members of it, irrespective of the number of delegates that
the local unit to which an officer belongs is entitled to elect;
or
4) through being an accredited elected alternate and replacing,
at the time of the convention, a delegate who is unable to
attend or who withdraws from registered status.
58:12 Filling of Vacancies Arising in a Delegation. If the president
of a constituent unit is unable to be present at the convention
of an established society, his place there is taken by the vice-
president (or by the second, third, or ranking available vice-
president if necessary and if there are such officers), just as
for any other duty in which the vice-president acts in the
president’s place. If the vice-president is himself an elected
 delegate but takes the president’s place, the vice-president’s
original position as an elected delegate is filled by an elected
alternate in the manner explained below—just as when any
other elected delegate does not serve.
58:13 Provision for alternates. To ensure as complete
representation at the convention as possible, the bylaws at the
convention level should provide that each unit shall elect a
certain number of alternates—frequently equal to the number
of delegates. To maintain a uniform standard of
representation, the qualifications for election as an alternate—
which may include membership in good standing for a
prescribed number of years—are made the same as for a
delegate.
58:14 Alternates normally are elected with a designated order, in
which they will be called to serve, if available, as vacancies
arise in the delegation of their constituent unit. When a unit
has more than one delegate, an elected alternate (other than
the vice-president) is not associated with any particular
delegate. The vacancy that occurs first in point of time (except
one involving the president when the vice-president is able to
serve in his stead) is filled by the first elected alternate or the
ranking one available, and so on.
58:15 In cases where the individual delegates within a unit’s
delegation represent particular areas or groups, it may
sometimes be desirable to make exception to the foregoing
rule by providing, in the bylaws at the convention level, for the
pairing of each alternate with a specific delegate. The
disadvantage of such a system arises when both a particular
delegate and his only alternate are unable to attend the
convention—thus depriving a constituent unit of part of the
representation to which it is entitled.
58:16 Status and seating of alternates; replacement procedure.
 Alternates registered as such are usually provided with
badges of a different color or shape from those of delegates
and are seated in sections apart from them. (In large
conventions, assigned seats in the assembly hall ordinarily
can be guaranteed only to the voting body.) When an alternate
is officially registered by the Credentials Committee (59:14(5),
59:25) as taking the place of an elected delegate, however, he
is supplied with a delegate’s badge and becomes a voting
delegate with the same duties and privileges as if originally so
elected.
58:17 If an alternate is to replace a delegate who has registered,
proper evidence of that delegate’s withdrawal from such status
must be presented to the Credentials Committee, and the
alternate must be reregistered as the new delegate before he
can sit or vote as a member of the convention. It is the duty of
any registered delegate who ends his presence at the
convention to see that his departure is promptly reported to
the Credentials Committee, and to whatever authority is
concerned with locating the proper accredited alternate if one
is available. Unless the rules of the body provide otherwise, no
alternate or other person can “substitute” for a delegate who
remains registered. In other words, a delegate’s temporary
absence from the convention hall does not entitle an alternate
to make motions, speak in debate, or cast the delegate’s vote
—even with the delegate’s authorization—unless a rule of the
body permits this procedure.

58:18 Duties of Delegates. When a member of a constituent unit

has accepted election as a delegate, he has the obligation to
attend the convention, with such expense allowance as the
unit may provide; he should not leave it to an alternate to
serve in his place except for serious reason. At the
convention, the delegate has the duty to be present at the
business meetings, and to be prepared on returning from the
convention to present to his unit an information report of what
transpired. A delegate is free to vote as he sees fit on
questions at the convention, except as his constituent unit may
have instructed him in regard to particular matters scheduled
for consideration.
Caucuses
58:19 Prior to or during a convention, members of a delegation
may need or wish to meet as a group to decide how they will
act with reference to certain matters to come before the
convention; a meeting of this kind is usually called a caucus.
Unless instructed otherwise by its parent society or unit, such
a caucus is governed by the rules of procedure applicable to
committees (50), since the delegation is in effect a committee
to represent and act at the convention for the constituent
society or unit that chose it. If the president of a constituent
society (or in his absence the vice-president) is automatically a
delegate to a convention, he usually acts as chairman of his
delegation; otherwise the delegation chairman is selected as
outlined for the case of any other committee (13:17–18).
58:20 Sometimes caucuses are held of different groupings of
delegates, as, for example, all delegates from a certain district,
territory, or other geographic area as defined by the
organization; and they are similarly governed by the rules
generally applicable to committees.
58:21 As in the case of any committee, in the absence of a
superior rule to the contrary a constituent society or unit can
instruct its delegation, although this is not always a good
practice in ordinary societies. Such instructions are binding
upon the delegation to the extent that the convention’s
presiding officer and other officials have a duty to enforce
instructions of which they have been properly and officially
notified. Such instructions, for example, frequently require a
delegation to take a position for or against a measure
expected to come before the convention, or to vote for certain
candidates. As stated above, the delegates are free to vote as
they see fit except where an instruction has been given; but a
 society can, by instructing its delegation, bind it to vote as a
unit (that is, to cast all of its votes in accord with the decision
of the majority of the delegation) on all issues, on a particular
class of business, or on certain matters to be acted on by the
convention.
58:22 The term caucus is also sometimes applied to a similar
meeting of all the known or admitted partisans of a particular
position on an important issue—in a convention or any other
deliberative assembly—who meet to plan strategy toward a
desired result within the assembly. Such a meeting may be
held on the presumed informal understanding that those who
attend will follow the decisions of the caucus.
§59. ORGANIZATION OF A CONVENTION OF AN
ESTABLISHED SOCIETY
59:1 Most conventions must operate on a closely controlled
schedule and transact a large amount of business quickly—
often with rented facilities available only for a prearranged
length of time and with each added day of meetings entailing
considerable expense both to the association and to the
delegates personally. Maximum effort toward a well-organized
convention is therefore essential.
Advance Preparation
59:2 The work of organizing and preparing for a convention
normally begins weeks or months in advance and involves
many committees, under the general direction of the officers
and the board of the association.
59:3 The principal parliamentary functions most directly
connected with the formal organization of the convention itself
are performed by three committees, each of which has been
appointed by the president or the board as prescribed in the
bylaws. These three committees are: (1) the Credentials
Committee, which prepares and certifies to the convention the
list of officers, delegates, and alternates that it has registered
after finding them entitled to accreditation; (2) the Committee
on Standing Rules, which drafts rules of operating procedure
specially required for the particular convention; and (3) the
Program Committee, which works out a convention program
combining a suitable order of business (41) with special
features designed to promote and develop the association or
society as a whole. Because the duties of these committees
are exacting, a member should never be appointed to one of
them for any other reason than his ability in the field involved.
59:4 In addition, depending on the size of the convention, one or
more committees concerned with the necessary physical
arrangements, such as securing the hall, hotel
accommodations, and related services, should be appointed. If
a single committee is responsible for all of these matters, it
may be known as the Convention Arrangements Committee.
59:5 Another important committee that usually works before as
well as during the convention is the Resolutions Committee.
This committee screens and recommends appropriate action
on resolutions and original (as distinct from incidental) main
 motions to come before the convention.
59:6 The duties of the convention committees are more fully
explained in the succeeding portions of this chapter.
59:7 Each of the regular standing committees of the association
—in consultation with the presiding officer, the executive body
or board, and the Program Committee—should also carefully
plan the presentation and management of the convention
business that is the particular committee’s concern.
59:8 A preconvention meeting of the board of the association is
often held in the convention city a day or more in advance of
the convention opening. A number of decisions bearing on
business to come before the convention may be made at this
meeting.
Services of a Parliamentarian
59:9 A key consultant in the preparation for a convention should
be the parliamentarian, who should be engaged well in
advance. It is desirable that this person be a professional—the
more seasoned in actual operating experience within
organizations, the better. Although he has the duty of giving
parliamentary advice and opinions at convention meetings
(where he should be seated next to the presiding officer), the
parliamentarian’s most important work may well be performed
before the convention opens (see 47:46–54). During the period
of preparation and while the convention is in progress, he
should serve as the principal adviser to the president, the
officers, and the committee chairmen regarding management
of the convention as it relates to the actual transaction of
business. The chairmen of the Credentials Committee, the
Committee on Standing Rules, the Program Committee, the
Resolutions Committee, the Elections Committee if there is
one, and the standing committees who are to present business
to the convention should all consult with the parliamentarian
during this time; and it may be advisable that he should attend
certain meetings of these committees. The parliamentarian
should always be present at the preconvention board meetings
mentioned above.
Formal Organization Procedure at the Convention
59:10 Before a convention can transact any other business, it
must officially form itself into a single voting body—which is
done at the first business meeting. Preliminary ceremonies—
whether at the commencement of the convention or at the
beginning of each day—are not regarded as business. A
separate formal opening of inspirational nature can be held, if
desired, before the convention is officially organized. When the
assembly of delegates of an established society has been so
organized in accordance with the bylaws or other governing
rules as described below, it then acts as and in the name of
the whole society and may be referred to as “The Tenth
Annual Convention of the National Society of ” or, as
common formerly, “The National Society of in
convention assembled.”
59:11 The official organization of the convention is brought about
by the separate consideration and adoption of the reports of
three committees mentioned above—the Credentials
Committee, the Committee on Standing Rules, and the
Program Committee, in that order.
59:12 As each report comes up for consideration, it is presented
to the convention by a reporting member, normally the
respective committee chairman. This person concludes his
report with a statement that “by direction of the committee” he
moves its adoption—unless he is not a voting member of the
convention, in which case anyone who is such a voting
member can make this motion; a convenient practice is for the
recording secretary of the convention or a qualified member of
the committee to do so. No second is required if the motion is
made by a member of the committee. If no one offers the
motion promptly, the chair can call for it, or can assume it by
 stating, for example, “The question is on the adoption of the
report of the Program Committee.”
59:13 Each of these committee reports is debatable and
amendable. In an ordinary convention of a society, however,
debate or proposals for amendment of any of them seldom
occur, and the reports are likely to be adopted without
dissenting vote—if the committees have done their work well.
(The vote required for their adoption is a majority for the
reports of the Credentials Committee and the Program
Committee, and normally a two-thirds vote for that of the
Committee on Standing Rules, as explained in 59:34–35.)
With the adoption of these three separate reports, the
convention is officially organized for conducting business.
Credentials Committee
59:14 Responsibilities. The specific duties of the Credentials
Committee are listed below. Items (1) through (4) must of
necessity be spread over a considerable period of time in
advance of the convention. Items (5) and (6) must be
performed at the convention location during the period leading
up to the convention opening. Items (7) and (8) relate to the
committee’s duties during the convention.
1) Distribution well in advance, to each constituent body
entitled to representation, of (a) information, in accordance
with the bylaws, as to the authorized number of
representatives and alternates, eligibility requirements, and
the time and manner of their election;1 and (b) credentials
forms with instructions that they are to be returned by a
specified date after having been filled in with the names of
the representatives and alternates designated by the
constituent unit, and having been signed by the unit’s
secretary and sometimes also by its president. A single form
can be used for all representatives and alternates, or a
separate form in the form of a card can be used for each
delegate and each alternate, with different colors to
distinguish delegates from alternates. If alternates are paired
with specific delegates as described in 58:15, double cards
can be used.
2) (a) Examination of all forms returned, to verify the eligibility
of each member listed; and (b) notification to the proper
constituent unit whenever an elected delegate or alternate is
found ineligible (through nonpayment of dues, insufficient
duration of membership, etc.), advising the unit of its right to
designate one of the elected alternates named on its
 credentials form to take the place of any ineligible delegate
(unless replacement is automatic because of pairing of
alternates with individual delegates).
3) Compilation of the list of members entitled to register and
the basis of this right (officer who is a convention member ex
officio, unit president, elected delegate, alternate, etc.)
arranged for quick reference—as alphabetically by districts,
clubs, sections, or as may be suitable.
4) Arrangements for registration to take place at the convention
—beginning one or two days before the convention opens
(see 59:16).
5) Registration—which normally includes these steps:
a) Submission, by the member intending to register, of
evidence that he is entitled to do so;
b) Verification by the committee, or a subcommittee of it, that
the member’s credentials are correct;
c) Recording of the member as officially registered, upon his
paying the registration fee (which is sometimes sent in in
advance) and signing the list of registrations; and
d) Issuing of the particular badge to which the member is
entitled, the official program, and additional necessary
information, such as time and place of individual section or
committee meetings or workshops.
6) Preparation of the committee’s first report to the convention,
which can include registrations only to such an hour as will
enable the chairman of the Credentials Committee to present
this initial report as the first item of official business of the
convention.
7) Continuation of the committee until the convention ends—to
record changes in the registration rolls occasioned by: (a)
additional registrations (which the bylaws or the convention’s
standing rules (59:27ff.) may require to be closed at a
specified time slightly earlier than the final adjournment); or
 (b) the departure of delegates and the reregistration of
alternates who replace them.
8) Submission of a supplementary credentials report—at the
beginning of the first business meeting each day and at other
times when required—as resulting from changes in the
registration rolls.

59:15 In societies that maintain a permanent administrative

headquarters, most of the clerical duties required of the
Credentials Committee in advance of the convention usually
develop into a routine technique preserved from year to year
and performed largely by the regular paid staff; but the
authority and responsibility for general direction of this work
remain with the Credentials Committee.

59:16 Times and Place of Registration. The times and the place of
registration should be announced in the printed convention
program. In a convention of any size lasting for a number of
days, registration may begin one or two days before the
convention opens, and provision should be made to handle a
heavy volume of registrations during the afternoon and
evening before the opening business meeting, as well as on
the morning of that meeting. This registration normally takes
place in a separate room or hall whose size and equipment
depend on the probable total number of registrants.
Throughout the convention, a registration desk of the
Credentials Committee in a convenient location should be
manned a reasonable time before each business meeting
begins, and should always remain open during meetings. Near
the end of the convention, usually only one or two committee
members stay on duty.
59:17 Method of Registration. The method used by the Credentials
Committee to register the delegates and alternates will vary
 according to the size of the convention. A procedure in
common use is outlined as follows:
59:18 The entire association holding the convention is divided
into parts, such as states, districts, or counties, and a separate
section of the register—often prepared in triplicate, as noted
below—is set up for each subdivision. Each section of the
register contains—arranged in an appropriate logical order—
the typed names of the constituent societies or units located
within the corresponding geographical area; and under each
unit’s name are typed alphabetically the names of the
delegates and alternates that have been sent in on the unit’s
credentials blanks, provided that these persons have been
found eligible by the committee.
59:19 During the initial period when the bulk of registrations take
place, usually two committee members are assigned to a
separate and conspicuously marked table or station for each
section of the register. In a large convention, ushers may be
helpful in guiding delegates and alternates to the proper
section, where they present their credentials and sign the
register to the right of their typewritten names.
59:20 At least one, and frequently two, duplicate registers (or
photocopy-reproduced sets of the register pages) are
desirable in addition to the Credentials Committee’s master
copy—one duplicate list to be submitted as an attachment to
the committee’s report, the other for later use by election
tellers in verifying the eligibility of voters. By use of the latter
copy, counting procedure in an election can be expedited by
dividing the tellers into subcommittee groups for each section
of the register, according to the same pattern as in the case of
the Credentials Committee members during registration. The
delegates’ badges can also be correspondingly labeled or
numbered to facilitate identification with the correct section.
59:21 Cases of contested seats in a delegation will seldom arise
 except in political conventions. In the rare event of a contest
between two delegates or groups of delegates and serious
doubt as to which is entitled to be seated, the committee
should omit both from the list and report the fact of the contest
to the convention as explained below. If, on the other hand,
after hearing the facts, the committee thinks the contest is not
justified, it should enter on the list only the names of the
delegates whose claim it finds to be legitimate. The same
rules apply to the more common case of delegates chosen by
a local unit that is not entitled to representation or has chosen
delegates in excess of its entitlement.
59:22 Adoption of Report. Before the Credentials Committee report
is adopted, since the membership has not been established,
the only motions that are in order are those related to its
consideration or to the conduct of the meeting before its
adoption, as well as those that are in order in the absence of a
quorum (40:6–8).2 Even, for example, a motion relating to the
validity of the holding of the convention is not in order at such
a time. It is, therefore, essential that the committee establish
and hold itself to a deadline for registrations to be included in
its first report, which will leave it time to prepare that report.
The opening ceremonies will afford some opportunity for this
work, and, while it is in process, delegates can continue to
register—but not to be included in the committee’s initial
report. If the report is not ready in time, the convention may
continue with other nonbusiness matters, such as speakers, or
may stand at ease or take a recess.
59:23 The Credentials Committee report, which is read by the
committee’s chairman, states in substance that, “Attached is
the list of the names of the voting members of the convention
and their alternates who have been registered up until…
[indicating the hour to which the list is corrected].” This
 statement should be followed by whatever statistical summary
is customary in the particular organization (frequently including
a breakdown according to basis of voting membership as
indicated in 59:14(3)), and always gives the total number of
convention members entitled to vote and the number of
registered alternates. Normally the list of delegates and
alternates is not read unless a portion of it is read upon
request, for information. If there is an unresolved contest
between delegates, the particulars are stated, as well as the
fact that the names of the contesting or contested delegates
do not appear on the roll. The committee chairman concludes
the report by saying, “On behalf of the committee, I move that
the roll of delegates hereby submitted be the official roll of the
voting members of the convention.” The report with the
attached list of names is then handed to the chair or to the
secretary.
59:24 Unless there is debate or proposed amendment, the chair,
before taking the vote on the adoption of the report, asks, “Are
there any questions on the report?” If seat(s) are contested, an
amendment can be offered substantially in this form: “To
amend by adding ‘provided that the name of George J. Morse
be added to the roll of delegates as submitted, as a delegate
from the state of Missouri.’” The name of the rival delegate can
then be offered in a secondary amendment, for example, “to
strike out ‘George J. Morse’ and insert ‘Frank Norton.’”
Whether or not a contest is reported, it is in order to move
such amendments or even to move to substitute an entirely
different set of delegates for any delegation in the reported list,
but no such amendment is permitted to include more names
than those of a single challenged delegate or delegation all of
whom are challenged on the same grounds, together with any
claimants involved. On an amendment proposing changes in
the list of delegates, none of the delegates involved in the
 case can vote. Those seated by the committee, though
contested in a case not yet reached, can vote on all cases
except their own. On the question of adopting the Credentials
Committee’s report or on motions connected with its
consideration, only those persons whose names are on the list
of voting members reported by the committee (as this list
stands after any amendment already approved by the
convention) are entitled to vote.

59:25 Roll of Voting Members; Supplementary Reports. When

the report of the Credentials Committee is adopted, it is
thereby ratified as the official roll of voting members of the
convention—subject to changes through later reports. A voting
member who registers after the submission of the first report
assumes his full status as soon as he has done so, if his
status is not questioned; if it is, it must await a decision by the
committee or the convention itself. Although the Credentials
Committee normally makes a supplementary report only at the
beginning of each day, it may be called upon to do so at other
times, such as immediately before an important vote. If there
has been no change in the roll of registered delegates since
the last report, no motion or vote is required; but if there are
changes, the committee chairman concludes his report by
saying, “On behalf of the committee, I move that the revised
roll of delegates hereby submitted be the official roll of voting
members of the convention.” Although this motion might
appear to be one to amend something previously adopted
(35), it requires only a majority vote for its adoption, since it is
always understood that the roll will be altered as delegates
arrive late or leave early, and alternates may thereby be
shifted in status.
59:26 The Credentials Committee’s master roll of currently
registered voting members of the convention must be
maintained at all times in such a way that their exact number
can be promptly determined. Accuracy of the list of registrants
is essential, since it may affect the outcome of elections or
closely contested issues. If the bylaws or the convention’s
standing rules do not prescribe a quorum (40)—which they
should do—the quorum is a majority of the number of voting
members who have actually registered at the convention as in
attendance, irrespective of whether some may have departed.
Committee on Standing Rules
59:27 Responsibilities. The Committee on Standing Rules drafts
and submits for consideration a group of rules known as “The
Standing Rules of the Convention,” which, as adopted, will
apply to that one convention only. These rules must in no way
conflict with the bylaws of the society, but (in contrast to
ordinary standing rules in a local society) they can involve
modifications of rules contained in the parliamentary authority
prescribed by the bylaws. The standing rules of a convention
usually contain both “parliamentary” rules relating to the
conduct of business, and nonparliamentary rules, so that in
some ways they resemble a combination of special rules of
order and ordinary standing rules (2). Since their effect expires
at the close of the session that adopts them, however, they
differ from either of the latter types of rules in certain respects.
59:28 The standing rules of successive conventions held by a
society often become developed to a point where little change
in the rules adopted by the preceding convention is necessary.
On the other hand, the work of this committee may sometimes
require extensive research into past proceedings of the
organization. In any case, the parliamentarian should always
be consulted regarding the convention’s standing rules, and he
often prepares a first draft for submission to this committee.
59:29 A copy of the “Proposed Standing Rules of the Convention”
that the committee is to recommend—usually printed in the
official program—should be handed to each person when he
registers. Until the proposed standing rules are adopted, the
convention is governed by the rules in the organization’s
parliamentary authority, such as those concerning the seating
of delegates and alternates (see 58:16–17 and 59:2) and
assignment of the floor (see especially 42:16).
59:30 Presentation and Adoption of Convention Standing Rules.
The report of the Committee on Standing Rules is presented
to the convention immediately after the adoption of that of the
Credentials Committee. As part of this report, the proposed
rules are read in their entirety—unless the rules are not
substantially changed from those adopted in the last few
conventions and every delegate has been provided with a
copy when registering at the convention or previously, in which
case the committee chairman or other reporting member may
omit their reading. The report concludes by offering a motion
such as the following: “By direction of the Committee on
Standing Rules, I move the adoption of the Standing Rules of
the Convention as printed [or, “as just read”].” (For the
procedure when the person presenting the report is not a
voting member of the convention, see 59:12.)
59:31 The chair states the question by saying, “It is moved to
adopt the Standing Rules of the Convention as printed [or, “as
just read”],” but any voting member of the convention then has
the right to have the proposed rules read by the chair or
secretary if they were not read by the committee chairman or
other reporting member.
59:32 After debate or amendment (if any), a single vote normally
is taken on the complete body of rules. It should be
understood, however, that although the rules may be
organized to have the appearance of being a single document,
they are in fact a group of separate main motions being
offered by the committee under one enacting motion.
Therefore, by the demand of a voting member of the
convention, a separate vote can be required on any individual
rule (see 10:25, 27:10), and the procedure of seriatim
consideration can be applied only if there is no objection (see
28). If a demand is made for a separate vote—which is
advisable only if a serious matter appears to be at stake—the
 remainder of the rules are acted on first, and then those
separated out are acted on individually. If an additional rule is
proposed during the consideration of the committee’s
proposed rules (or later during the convention), it is similarly
acted on separately after the committee’s proposals have
been voted on.
59:33 In putting the question to a vote, the chair may initially omit
reading the proposed rules. However, if they have not been
read even once, any delegate then has the right to demand
that they be read before the vote. Even if previously read, any
delegate has the right at that time to demand the reading of
any rule that has been amended since being read.
59:34 A group of proposed standing rules requires a two-thirds
vote for its adoption whenever it includes any rule that would
require a two-thirds vote for its adoption if voted on individually
(see next paragraph below). Therefore, under the usual
procedure of voting on the standing rules as a “package,” a
two-thirds vote will normally be required for their adoption—
because, if they are to fill the needs of the convention, they
nearly always include provisions that can be imposed only by
a two-thirds vote.
59:35 Vote Required for Adoption of an Individual Rule. If a
standing rule of a convention is voted on individually, the vote
necessary for its adoption is in some cases two thirds and in
others a majority, depending on the nature of the rule:
1) Convention standing rules requiring a two-thirds vote for
adoption (even individually) are, in principle, distinguished by
the same characteristics as provisions which, in an ordinary
local society or assembly, would need a two-thirds vote to be
placed in effect for the duration of a meeting or session, or
would require adoption as a special rule of order to continue
in force from session to session (see 2). An example would
 be a rule limiting the time allowed for debate. Rules in this
class are described by the term parliamentary standing rules
in a convention as used in this book.
2) A standing rule is individually adoptable by a majority vote in
a convention if it does not fall in class (1) above, and
consequently could be adopted in a local assembly as an
ordinary standing rule (see 2). Examples of such convention
rules would be those relating to the wearing of badges or to
the format in which written reports or resolutions shall be
submitted.
59:36 Vote Required to Amend or Rescind a Convention
Standing Rule. To amend or rescind a standing rule of a
convention requires a two-thirds vote or the vote of a majority
of all the delegates or other “voting members” of the
convention who have been registered, except that a rule
individually adoptable by a majority vote can be amended or
rescinded by a majority vote after notice on at least the
preceding day.

59:37 Suspension of a Convention Standing Rule. Any standing

rule of a convention (except one prescribing the parliamentary
authority) can be suspended for a particular specified purpose
by a majority vote, even if the rule required a two-thirds vote
for its adoption. Under such a suspension, however, the
applicable rules in the parliamentary authority prescribed by
the bylaws (or by a rule of the convention) come into force—as
if the standing rule had not been adopted. To suspend a
convention standing rule and also the general parliamentary
rule normally applying to the same situation requires a two-
thirds vote, just as to suspend the general rule when no
standing rule is involved (25).3 No standing rule of a
convention can be suspended for the remainder of the
session, and no standing rule which has only a single
 application can be suspended, since this would be equivalent
to rescinding the rule, and the case would have to be treated
accordingly.

59:38 Sample Set of Convention Standing Rules. The standing

rules of a convention must vary with its size, type, and
responsibilities. While it is not possible to frame model rules
which are universally applicable, the following sample set
illustrates the nature of the standing rules adopted by many
conventions.

STANDING RULES OF THE

CONVENTION OF

59:39 Rule 1. (a) The Credentials Committee, directly after the opening
ceremonies of the first business meeting,4 shall report the number of
delegates and alternates registered as present with proper credentials, and
shall make a supplementary report after the opening exercises at the
beginning of each day that business continues.
(b) A member registered as an alternate may, upon proper clearance
by the Credentials Committee, be transferred from alternate to delegate
at any time during the continuance of business meetings.

59:40 Rule 2. For admission to the assembly hall, to facilitate identification

and seating, members, alternates, and others shall be required to wear the
badge issued by the Credentials Committee upon registration.
59:41 Rule 3. A resolution offered by an individual member shall be in writing,
signed by the maker and the seconder—each of whom shall be a voting
member of the convention—and shall be sent directly to the desk of the
Recording Secretary.
59:42 Rule 4.5 (a) All resolutions except those proposed by the Executive
Board [or “Board of Directors,” “Board of Managers,” etc.] or by
committees, and all recommendations made in reports of officers or
committees of the convention that are not in the form of resolutions, shall
 be referred without debate to the Resolutions Committee; resolutions
proposed by the Executive Board or by committees shall be presented by
the Board or proposing committee directly to the convention.
(b) Each member who offers a resolution shall be given an opportunity
to explain it to the Resolutions Committee if he so requests.
(c) The Resolutions Committee shall prepare suitable resolutions to
carry into effect recommendations referred to it, and shall submit to the
convention, with the Committee’s own recommendation as to appropriate
action, these and all other resolutions referred to the Committee, except
questions which the Committee by a vote of two thirds of its members
may decide not to report.6
(d) The convention by a majority vote may suspend this Rule 4 and
may immediately consider a question, or may order the Resolutions
Committee to report a question at a certain time, even if the Committee
has voted not to report it.
59:43 Rule 5. No member shall speak in debate more than once on the same
question on the same day, or longer than two minutes, without permission
of the convention granted by a two-thirds vote without debate.
59:44 Rule 6. All reports and other material for the permanent record or
printed proceedings shall be in typing and, immediately on presentation,
shall be sent to the Recording Secretary.
59:45 Rule 7. Nominations for each office to be filled by the convention shall
be limited to one nominating speech of three minutes and one seconding
speech of one minute for each nominee.
59:46 Rule 8. Notices for announcement to the convention shall be in writing,
signed by the person (or a proper representative of the persons) under
whose authority the announcement is issued, and shall be sent to the desk
of the Recording Secretary.
59:47 Rule 9.7 The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of
Order Newly Revised shall govern the convention in all cases to which they
are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with the bylaws of the
Society [or “Federation,” “Association,” etc.] and these standing rules.
Program Committee
59:48 The Program Committee plans and submits the proposed
schedule of meetings, proceedings, and special events of the
convention. When the program is adopted by the voting body,
with or without amendment, it becomes the order of business
of the entire convention session (41). The program also
commonly includes—interwoven throughout the convention
timetable—a series of addresses, forums, workshops, exhibits,
tours, and other activities designed for membership-training,
motivational, or entertainment value.
59:49 Responsibilities. The nature of a convention Program
Committee’s responsibilities is considerably more complex
than for a committee of the same name in a local society that
includes a “program” as a part of each meeting. The overall
program must cover all aspects of the society’s work and
commitments on the level at which the convention is held
(district, state, national, etc.)—reviewing the period since the
preceding convention and anticipating the course of the
society until the next convention. In addition to enabling the
convention to handle all business that it should consider within
the time available, the program should be of such nature as to
stimulate each delegate to an evaluation of the society’s
policies, accomplishments, and opportunities, inasmuch as
benefit from the convention to the general membership may
depend largely on the impression that each local president or
delegate transmits to the unit he represents.
59:50 The Program Committee usually begins work soon after the
preceding convention closes, and its duties continue
throughout the convention that it plans—so that it functions as
virtually a standing committee of the organization. The
 Program Committee should work in close contact with the
president and the parliamentarian.
59:51 Planning the Program. Although the program must come
before the convention for adoption and can be amended by it,
many details must be decided far ahead. Prior to the
convention, the Program Committee must have the authority
(sometimes with designated members of the executive
committee or board as advisers, and often acting in
cooperation with a Convention Arrangements Committee) to
engage outside speakers or entertainers, to work out an order
of business allotting appropriate amounts of time to each
subject, and to make all necessary advance arrangements.
59:52 Some societies send a tentative skeleton program to the
constituent units several weeks beforehand as part of a
printed “Call to Convention.” The complete program that the
committee expects to recommend should be printed at the
latest practical time for handing to each person as he registers
at the convention.
59:53 The order of business for the complete series of a
convention’s business meetings normally includes, in
expanded form, the elements of the one followed in ordinary
meetings of the society’s constituent units (41). In the case of
the convention, however, greater detail and precision are
necessary for two principal reasons: (1) Adherence to a
prearranged schedule is imperative if the convention is to
complete its work—timing being an especially important factor
if there are to be features carried by radio and television at
particular hours, addresses by government officials, or
appearances by professional artists. (2) Each member has the
right to know at which meeting and at what approximate time a
particular matter can be expected to come before the
convention, so that he may avoid absence from the hall during
 important debates or votes.
59:54 Some organizations divide the printed convention program
into two parts, the first of which gives the times and places of
special events and—for each business meeting—only the
hours of the call to order, adjournment, and any scheduled
recesses. The second part, listing the items or classes of
business set for each meeting, is then known as the agenda
(41).
59:55 While it is not possible to set out a model program that
would be suitable for all conventions, the following principles
are commonly applicable:
1) Notice of the times of registration should be given early
general distribution by mail or other means, and should also
be printed in the convention program. Handing out—with the
program—a schedule of preconvention meetings of the
board and of committees is often advisable, although the
persons directly concerned with these meetings may need to
be separately informed at an earlier time.
2) When the invocation is offered, the national anthem is
played or sung, and the Pledge of Allegiance is recited in
opening ceremonies, they should always be in that order—
that is, the invocation first and the pledge last.
3) If there is an address of welcome—often given by a local
public official at the opening of the convention—it should, as
a matter of courtesy, be followed by remarks of
acknowledgment and appreciation by the presiding officer or
his designee on behalf of the organization.
4) For each meeting, the program should specify the hour of
opening and closing, and the program or the agenda should
specify the order in which the subjects or classes of subjects
assigned to that meeting are to come up. The extent to
which such classes are subdivided should be guided by the
 particular conditions and probable timing problems of the
individual convention. Sufficient time should be allotted for
thorough consideration of each important policy question that
is expected to come before the convention. For such an item
of business, it is frequently advisable to set a particular hour
—which automatically makes the matter a special order
unless otherwise specified (see 41:58–59). Listed subjects
for which no hour is specified are general orders for the
meeting to which they are assigned.
5) Reports of officers are commonly presented in the order in
which the officers are listed in the bylaws, the president
reporting first, unless it is the desire or practice of the
organization to vary from such an order. Action on the report
of the auditors should immediately follow the treasurer’s
report. Often reports of officers that are for information only
and do not require action by the convention are printed and
distributed in advance. In such a case it may not be
necessary to have the report read; the chair can simply
pause for any questions by delegates to the reporting officer,
and the reporting officer can make additional comments on
his report at that time. The report of the board, if any, usually
should follow the reports of officers.
6) Reports of committees that are for information only and that
do not require action by the convention should, as far as
possible, be brought up in succession at the same point in
the order of business. Time can frequently be saved by
reproducing and distributing these reports in advance, in
which case it may be unnecessary to read them aloud to the
convention. The chair can then simply call the name of each
committee in sequence, pausing for any questions. The
chairman of any committee can be permitted to make
additional comments upon his committee’s report at that
time.
 7) The report of a committee having a resolution or other
motion to offer can be received at any appropriate time, but it
should usually be before the report of the Resolutions
Committee.
8) A time for announcements should immediately precede the
adjournment of each meeting of the convention.
9) Beginning with the second day of the convention (unless a
rule or resolution is adopted providing for the approval of the
minutes of the entire convention by the board or a
committee), the minutes of the preceding day’s meetings are
read immediately after any opening ceremonies at the first
meeting of each day. Authority to approve such minutes is
then usually delegated to the board or to a special
committee, by means of a standing rule of the convention or
an adopted resolution introduced by the Resolutions
Committee.
10) Business unfinished at the end of a day normally is taken up
after the reading of the minutes (or after the opening of the
meeting, if the minutes are not read) at the resumption of
business the next day—provided that the program makes no
special provision for unfinished business on that day and
there is no conflict with a special order. If unfinished
business is not listed as such in the program each day, the
planned timing should nevertheless allow for it; a listed
heading of “Unfinished Business” should then be provided
near the end of the last business meeting, and at any point
where it is advisable because special orders have been
scheduled early in the day (see also 41).
11) Nominations and the election of officers should take place
relatively early in the convention, if possible, so that there will
be time to complete balloting if more than one ballot must be
taken.
12) If there is to be a formal installation of officers, this ceremony
 is often made a part of a closing banquet meeting, at which
any presentations of gavels, pins, awards, or the like are
also made.
59:56 It is often advisable to schedule a meeting of the executive
body or board of the association a day after the close of the
convention, asking the board members and other necessary
personnel to remain in the convention city for this purpose. If
such a meeting is to be held, its time and place may be
announced in the printed convention program.
59:57 Adoption of the Convention Program. The program is the
president’s guide as to the order of business during the initial
proceedings, even before it has been formally adopted by the
convention. Directly after the adoption of the standing rules,
the report of the Program Committee is presented—normally
by the committee chairman—somewhat as follows: “Mr.
President, a printed copy of the program as proposed by the
Program Committee is in the hands of each registrant for the
convention. By direction of the committee I move the adoption
of the program as printed.” (If the chairman or other person
presenting the report is not a voting member of the
convention, he omits the motion for adoption. For procedure in
such a case, see 59:12.)
59:58 If last-minute changes in the program have become
necessary, the chairman can make his report by saying: “Mr.
President, because of… [briefly indicating reasons], the
Program Committee recommends the following modifications
in its proposed program which has been printed and placed in
the hands of each registrant for the convention:… [clearly
stating each change, with reference to page and line in the
printed program]. By direction of the Program Committee, I
move that, with these changes, the printed program be
adopted.” This motion is debatable and amendable. A majority
 vote adopts the program—even if it contains special orders.
While the making of a special order requires a two-thirds vote
under ordinary circumstances, the situation is different in the
case of a convention program, where the special order is part
of a complete order of business being adopted for the current
session.
59:59 To change the program after its adoption requires a two-
thirds vote or the vote of a majority of all the delegates or other
“voting members” of the convention who have been registered
—or unanimous consent, which can usually be obtained with
no difficulty in cases where a departure from the program is
justified. Thus, an affirmative vote to adopt the program cannot
be reconsidered. (See 4:58–63; see also Program (41:36) and
Taking Up Business out of Its Proper Order (41:37–39).)
Changing the program to add additional meetings within the
same session requires such a vote except that during the last
meeting scheduled by the program an additional meeting may
be set by majority vote through the use of the motion to Fix the
Time to Which to Adjourn (22). Any proposed changes except
those to which there is obviously no reasonable alternative are
best referred to the Program Committee. The committee can
recommend changes if and when needed while the convention
is in progress, but neither the presiding officer nor the Program
Committee is free to alter the program as adopted—which only
the convention can do.
59:60 (For parliamentary rules applying at the expiration of the
time allotted to a subject, and procedure at scheduled times of
adjournment, see 18:8, 21:10–12, 21:14, and 41:65–70.)
Convention Arrangements Committee
59:61 The complex arrangements necessary to a convention
generally require the coordination of many additional details
that are outside the province of any of the other committees
mentioned in this chapter. In the simplest case a Convention
Arrangements Committee is appointed—usually by the board
at the convention level. Most often the committee’s
membership is largely made up of members of the constituent
society or societies acting as convention hosts; it should,
however, include persons who have had experience in similar
work at prior conventions. In cases where there has been
competition between cities for the convention site, it is often
well to place on this committee local members who were
instrumental in obtaining the selection of their city.
59:62 The Convention Arrangements Committee may be
empowered to consult experts, who may include professional
convention managers. Assistance frequently is obtainable also
from staff members of hotels where conventions are held, and
from convention bureaus in many cities.
59:63 Depending on the size and duration of the convention,
duties ordinarily assigned to the Convention Arrangements
Committee are sometimes delegated to subcommittees or
even distributed among separate committees. At the outset,
the convention headquarters must be selected and advance
arrangements made concerning room accommodations in as
many hotels or motor inns as may be necessary. The
committee may work with the Credentials Committee in
coordinating room reservations for delegates with their
registration for the convention. While the Program Committee
may arrange for all speakers and entertainment, details
relating to the overnight and other accommodations for these
 guests are usually a responsibility of the Convention
Arrangements Committee. Ensuring that dignitaries and
honored guests are met at the airport or other point of arrival
may also be one of the latter committee’s functions.
59:64 Printed or reproduced material assembled in cooperation
with the Program Committee for distribution to the delegates in
advance of the convention should include directions for getting
to the convention by the various means of transportation
available, and information about the locality, points of interest,
restaurants, entertainment, tours arranged by the Program
Committee, and parking facilities for those driving to the
convention.
59:65 Careful attention should be given to seating arrangements
within the hall, voting members always being located in a
separate section if other persons are assigned seating space
on the convention floor. Pages, messengers, ushers, and
doorkeepers—who are essential to the good order of all but
the smallest conventions—should be trained to perform their
duties in a calm and courteous manner. During the convention,
liaison should be maintained with the Program Committee to
ensure, for example, proper seating on the platform, as the
needs may change from meeting to meeting.
59:66 The staffing of an information desk throughout the
convention may lie within the province of the Convention
Arrangements Committee, together with additional functions in
the areas of communications and public relations. If the
meetings are to be covered by the press, the representatives
of the various media must be kept informed of developments
and provided with an area on the floor near the platform, or in
some other point of vantage in the hall. It is often helpful to
have facilities for typing and copying close at hand, as well as
for the distribution of literature. In very large conventions it is
wise to investigate existing telephone and other
communication facilities and to provide for their augmentation
if necessary.
Resolutions Committee
59:67 The Resolutions Committee—also sometimes called the
Reference Committee or, in certain cases described below, the
Platform Committee—has as its basic purpose the screening
of all original main motions (10) that have not been screened
by another committee and that come—or are to come—before
the convention. It is usually not intended to require purely
formal or incidental main motions to be submitted to the
Resolutions Committee, or to refer to it resolutions reported to
the convention by other committees (see also 51).
59:68 Variations in Rules Relating to the Resolutions
Committee. The establishment of a Resolutions Committee in
a convention represents a limitation on the ordinary right of
members to propose any number of motions from the floor
without notice—such limitation arising from the need for
keeping within a schedule and disposing of a large amount of
business within a short time. The degree of limitation imposed
and the manner in which the committee functions vary
considerably, depending on the organization, in particulars
such as the following:
59:69 Variations in the time when a resolution can be
introduced. In the simplest situation a resolution is offered
from the floor of the convention in the way it would be in an
ordinary meeting. Such an arrangement is outlined in Standing
Rules 3 and 4(a) in 59:41–42. A place in the program or
agenda should then be provided at each meeting, under a
heading such as “New Business,” for the introduction of
resolutions. Under this system, the proposer of the resolution
says, “Mr. President, I move the adoption of [or “I offer”] the
resolution which I have sent to the Secretary’s desk.” The
 secretary reads the resolution, announcing the names of the
mover and the seconder, and the chair says, “Under the rules
the resolution is referred to the Resolutions Committee.”
59:70 To save even this time in a convention, an arrangement
can be made whereby resolutions are submitted to the
recording secretary without being formally moved and read in
open meeting, and the secretary then must promptly deliver
them to the chairman of the Resolutions Committee. The
convention can suspend such a rule at any time, however—by
a majority vote if it is a standing rule of the convention, or by a
two-thirds vote if it is a higher-ranking rule (2:21)—and can
thus take up a resolution without sending it to the Resolutions
Committee.
59:71 If many resolutions are customarily proposed by members,
a permanent rule or provision in the bylaws can be adopted by
the organization requiring all resolutions to be submitted to the
committee, or to the executive secretary for delivery to the
committee, a number of days, weeks, or even months in
advance of the convention. This system can be arranged to
allow time for sending copies of all resolutions considered by
the Resolutions Committee to the constituent societies and
their delegates in advance of the convention, thereby giving
time for consultation and, possibly, instruction of delegates. In
such cases it is advisable to provide that resolutions can also
be introduced at the convention if permitted by a two-thirds
vote in the individual case.
59:72 Variations in permitted origin of resolutions. In the ordinary
case only the members of the convention—that is, the
delegates—are allowed to introduce resolutions for
consideration by the assembly, and other members of
constituent societies (who are not convention members) are
allowed to speak for the purpose of suggesting motions only
 with the consent of the convention. Such consent can be
granted in an individual case, or a rule can be adopted
specifying persons who, in addition to the delegates, can
submit resolutions; the latter practice has particular value
when resolutions are required to be submitted in advance of
the convention meetings.
59:73 In some cases any member of a constituent society,
whether he is a delegate or not, is permitted to offer a
resolution. In other organizations a resolution is required to
have the sponsorship of a constituent society itself. A number
of organizations require even the resolutions offered by
standing and special committees of the organization to be
screened and reported by the Resolutions Committee. In
some types of organizations the Resolutions Committee
originates and drafts its own resolutions for submission to the
assembly. In any society, when an officer or committee simply
makes one or more recommendations, the Resolutions
Committee is customarily assigned the task of putting the
recommendation(s) in the form of resolution(s).

59:74 Variations in the power of the resolutions committee. In

the simplest arrangement, the Resolutions Committee has
only the power to put resolutions in proper form, eliminate
duplication where similar resolutions are offered, and ensure
that all resolutions relating to a specific subject will be offered
in a logical sequence. In other cases the committee is given
the authority to make substantive alterations in a resolution,
but only with the sponsor’s consent; while in still others, by
vote of the committee—sometimes a two-thirds vote—the
substance of the resolution can be altered and the resolution
can be reported to the assembly in the altered form as though
the committee had originated it.
59:75 Except as the rules may provide otherwise, the Resolutions
 Committee is required to report all resolutions referred to it;
but the committee can, if it wishes, report a resolution with “no
recommendation.” If the committee is given the power “not to
report” a resolution—thus withholding it from consideration by
the convention—a requirement of an unusually high vote
within the committee (such as a three-fourths vote or a vote of
two-thirds of the committee’s members) should always be
imposed; and the convention should always be given power to
override such a decision of the Resolutions Committee and
order the committee to report the resolution, by a majority vote
(see Rule 4(d) in the sample standing rules of a convention,
59:42). In this connection, it should be noted that voting “not to
report” a resolution, reporting it with “no recommendation,” and
reporting it with the recommendation that it be rejected by the
convention are each quite different.
59:76 Platforms or Policy Statements. In political and certain other
types of organizations, the Resolutions Committee is required
to prepare and report a platform for adoption by the
organization, setting forth its views, aims, and aspirations.
Other associations occasionally require the committee to draft
statements of policy or similar documents that take the form of
a platform rather than of a resolution. In such a platform or
statement, many of the principles applicable to drafting
resolutions are followed.
59:77 If there is a preamble, instead of beginning each paragraph
with the word “Whereas,” a participle is used; thus, “Believing
in the…, [etc.].” Each paragraph is terminated by a semicolon
and, in the case of the next-to-the-last paragraph, the word
“and.” The last paragraph of the preamble may be followed by
the word “therefore.” Each new paragraph of the preamble
begins with another participle. In the body of the paper, each
paragraph, instead of opening with the enacting words
 “Resolved, That,” begins with a verb denoting an attitude or
position—for example, “Affirms…,” “Assures…,”
“Condemns…,” “Calls upon…,” and the like. As in a resolution,
no paragraph should contain a period within its structure. The
paragraphs of the body of the document can be linked by a
semicolon and the word “and,” as in the preamble, or a
semicolon only can be used. The first paragraph of the body of
the statement is often somewhat general. The preamble and
the body of the statement may be connected by words such as
“Issues this statement of… ; and.…” The full name of the
organization can precede these words, or it can be placed
before the preamble; for example, thus:

Believing… ;
Recalling… ; and
Noting… ;
The Phoenix Improvement Association issues this statement of its
basic governing principles; and
Affirms… ;
Assures… ; and
Condemns…

Or:
The Phoenix Improvement Association,
Believing… ; and
Holding… ; therefore
Issues this statement of its basic governing principles; and
Affirms… ;
Assures… ; [and so on].

59:78 Courtesy Resolutions. In addition to its duties in regard to

the resolutions which are referred to it and which usually relate
to policy matters, the Resolutions Committee is often charged
with the duty of drafting and presenting to the assembly any
 courtesy resolutions that may seem appropriate. Ordinarily,
courtesy resolutions express the appreciation of the
convention to those who arranged accommodations for its
physical needs or rendered it service.
59:79 Meetings of the Committee. Ordinarily the Resolutions
Committee should make known, through the program or
announcements, the times and places it will meet. It is best to
allow any sponsor of a resolution to appear before the
committee to explain it and answer any questions about it; and
interested delegates also may be allowed to attend and even
participate in discussion. Many times such free discussion
reduces friction that may have developed concerning a
resolution, and the convention as a result goes more smoothly.
After any open “hearings” of this type, the committee meets in
executive session (9) to review each resolution and prepare its
report. The parliamentarian may be asked to attend the
committee’s meetings.
59:80 Report of the Resolutions Committee. In reporting, the
Resolutions Committee follows the procedure of any
committee reporting back a resolution referred to it, as
described in 51. Even when resolutions are submitted to the
committee before the opening of the convention, the report on
each resolution is treated as if it had been moved and
seconded in the assembly before being referred to the
committee. It is never necessary for the Resolutions
Committee chairman or reporting member to move the
adoption of a resolution being reported—unless the committee
itself originated it, as in the case of courtesy resolutions.
59:81 When the committee recommends amendments to a
resolution, in cases where it is not empowered to incorporate
them itself, its chairman reports as follows:
 RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Mr. President, the
Resolutions Committee recommends that the resolution relating to…
[or “Resolution No. 6,” etc.] be amended by striking out the words
“…” and inserting the words “…,” and that, as thus amended, the
resolution be adopted. By direction of the Resolutions Committee, I
move the adoption of the recommended amendment.

If the convention members do not have reproduced copies of

the resolution, the chair reads it before stating the question on
the amendment. He then proceeds:
CHAIR: The Resolutions Committee recommends the adoption of the
resolution with the following amendment… [rereading the
amendment]. The question is on the amendment.

59:82 In instances where it is advisable for a resolution of

overriding importance to be considered as a special order
rather than as a part of the main body of resolutions reported
by the Resolutions Committee, this is arranged through liaison
with the Program Committee. The chairman of the Resolutions
Committee then reports the resolution at the time prescribed
for it in the agenda. If desired, the committee’s report can
include a preliminary motion establishing special rules for the
consideration of the resolution, similar to the practice of the
U.S. House of Representatives. The following is an example of
such a rule:
Resolved, That at the time prescribed in the agenda the resolution
relating to be considered as a special order, the general
debate to be limited to two hours and equally divided between, and
controlled by, Mr. A, the leader for the affirmative, and Mr. B, the
leader for the negative; that at the expiration of general debate the
resolution shall be open to amendment, debate on said
amendment(s) to be limited to two minutes for each member.

59:83 Under such a rule, the leaders for the two sides are
recognized alternately by the presiding officer and can speak
themselves or yield the floor to other member(s) for a portion
of the time at their disposal. The leaders are usually the more
ardent or persuasive advocates of the two positions, and
frequently they speak first and save themselves enough time
so that at the end they can close debate for their side. An
alternative procedure is to assign a longer period of debate to
Mr. A and Mr. B, and require other members to adhere to a
shorter limit. Often it is helpful to require general debate to be
conducted first before amendments are allowed, but this
provision can be dispensed with.
§60. CONVENTIONS NOT OF A PERMANENT
SOCIETY
60:1 A convention called only for a specific purpose not involving
a permanent organization, or one called to form a state or a
national society or a federation, is similar to a mass meeting as
described in 53 in that when called to order it has no bylaws or
officers. Because it has no bylaws, added difficulty may be
encountered in determining who are the properly appointed
delegates.
60:2 The group sponsoring the convention should appoint a
Convention Arrangements Committee, as described above, to
secure the hall and accommodations for the delegates, make
the preliminary arrangements for the convention, and perform
the other coordinating and arranging duties assigned to it.
60:3 Someone designated by the sponsoring group—sometimes
the chairman of the Convention Arrangements Committee—
calls the meeting to order and presides during any opening
exercises and the election of a temporary chairman. The
sponsoring group’s choice for temporary chairman and the
person who is to nominate him should be agreed upon in
advance. After the elected temporary chairman has taken the
chair, a temporary secretary is elected. Next comes the
appointment of the Credentials, Rules, and Program
Committees, or the ratification of the prior selection of these
committees. In a convention of this type, if these committees
have not been appointed in advance, all committees should be
appointed by the chair. Until the report of the Credentials
Committee is adopted, no business other than its adoption or
the other preliminary actions described in this paragraph may
be considered, except that any motions related to the
 consideration of such business or to the conduct of the meeting
before the report is adopted, as well as those that are in order
in the absence of a quorum (40:6–8), are in order.
60:4 If the Credentials Committee and other organizing
committees were not appointed in advance and are not,
therefore, ready to report, the time they need to prepare their
reports is usually spent in listening to talks, perhaps on various
phases of the convention’s object. Otherwise the reports of the
organizing committees are received in the same manner as
that described for organizing a convention of an established
association. If a permanent organization is not contemplated, a
permanent chairman and secretary can, but need not, be
elected at this time, after which the convention proceeds with
the business for which it was called together. The principal
purpose in electing a temporary chairman first and a
permanent chairman later in a convention of this kind is to
enable the temporary chairman to preside over the convention
while it acts upon any matters relating to contested seats (see
59:21, 59:24), so that the permanent chairman can be elected
by the delegates on the permanent roll of the convention as it
is finally determined after all such contests have been
resolved.
60:5 If the convention is called to form a permanent organization,
permanent officers are not elected until later (after the adoption
of the bylaws), but a resolution should be adopted at this point
in the proceedings expressing an intention to form such a
permanent association, as in the case of forming a permanent
local society (see 54). A set of bylaws should have been
carefully drawn up before the meeting of the convention, either
by a Bylaws Committee appointed by the organizing group,
with the appointments being ratified by the convention, or by
members of the sponsoring group who thereafter hand them to
a Bylaws Committee appointed at the convention. In the latter
 case some of those who drafted the bylaws should be
appointed to the committee to avoid delay in reporting them.
60:6 After adoption of the bylaws, a Nominating Committee,
selected in a manner as close as possible to that prescribed in
the bylaws, nominates candidates for office, and those elected
to these permanent offices take up their duties immediately,
unless other provision is made.
Footnotes to Chapter
XIX
1. Some organizations include this information in a printed, general “Call to Convention.”
2. But see 60 for necessary variations in the case of conventions not of a permanent
organization.
3. The reason why a parliamentary standing rule of a convention can be suspended by a
majority vote even though it requires a two-thirds vote for its adoption is as follows: In a
convention, parliamentary standing rules—which are in the nature of suspensions of the
regular rules of order for the duration of the convention session—generally arise from a
need to give the majority more power to transact business with minimum delay, even
when the majority is not large enough to command a two-thirds vote. Since it is thus
likely to reduce the protection of a minority greater than one third, a parliamentary
standing rule of a convention requires a two-thirds vote for its adoption; but since the
same rule tends to protect a majority of less than two thirds, such a majority should have
the right to suspend the rules for a particular purpose and allow the regular rules of order
to come into force.
4. See 59:10–11.
5. Regarding variations in the rules and practices of societies relating to the handling of
resolutions at a convention, see 59:68–75.
6. See 59:74–75.
7. A rule on “Parliamentary Authority” is included in the standing rules of a convention only
if the bylaws of the organization do not prescribe the authority. If this rule is included, it
cannot be suspended as such, although a particular rule stated in the parliamentary
authority can be suspended by a two-thirds vote.
 CHAPTER
XX

DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES

§61. DISCIPLINE OF MEMBERS AND GUESTS

61:1 In most societies it is understood that members are required
to be of honorable character and reputation, and certain types
of associations may have particular codes of ethics to enforce.
Although ordinary societies seldom have occasion to discipline
members, an organization or assembly has the ultimate right to
make and enforce its own rules, and to require that its
members refrain from conduct injurious to the organization or
its purposes. No one should be allowed to remain a member if
his retention will do this kind of harm.
61:2 Punishments that a society can impose generally fall under
the headings of censure,1 fine (if authorized in the bylaws),
suspension, or expulsion. The extreme penalty that an
organization or society can impose on a member is expulsion.
61:3 If there is an article on discipline in the bylaws (56:57), it
may specify a number of offenses outside meetings for which
these penalties can be imposed on a member of the
organization. Frequently, such an article provides for their
imposition on any member found guilty of conduct described,
for example, as “tending to injure the good name of the
 organization, disturb its well-being, or hamper it in its work.” In
any society, behavior of this nature is a serious offense
properly subject to disciplinary action, whether the bylaws
make mention of it or not.
61:4 Formal disciplinary procedures should generally be
regarded as a drastic step reserved for serious situations or
those potentially so. When it appears that such measures may
become necessary, proper and tactful handling of the case is of
prime importance. It is usually in the best interests of the
organization first to make every effort to obtain a satisfactory
solution of the matter quietly and informally.
61:5 Cases of conduct subject to disciplinary action divide
themselves into: offenses occurring in a meeting; and offenses
by members outside a meeting.
Dealing with Offenses in a Meeting
61:6 Principles Governing Discipline at Meetings. A society has
the right to determine who may be present at its meetings and
to control its hall while meetings are in progress; but all
members have the right to attend except in cases where the
bylaws provide for the automatic suspension of members who
fall in arrears in payment of their dues, or where the society
has, by vote and as a penalty imposed for a specific offense,
forbidden attendance.
61:7 Nonmembers, on the other hand—or a particular
nonmember or group of nonmembers—can be excluded at any
time from part or all of a meeting of a society, or from all of its
meetings. Such exclusion can be effected by a ruling of the
chair in cases of disorder, or by the adoption of a rule on the
subject, or by an appropriate motion as the need arises—a
motion of the latter nature being a question of privilege (see
9:25; 9:28–29; and 19).
61:8 All persons present at a meeting have an obligation to obey
the legitimate orders of the presiding officer.2 Members,
however, can appeal from the decision of the chair (24), move
to suspend the rules (25), or move a reconsideration (37)—
depending on the circumstances of the chair’s ruling. A
member can make such an appeal or motion whether the order
involved applies to him or not.
61:9 In dealing with any case of disorder in a meeting, the
presiding officer should always maintain a calm, deliberate
tone—although he may become increasingly firm if a situation
demands it. Under no circumstances should the chair attempt
to drown out a disorderly member—either by his own voice or
the gavel—or permit himself to be drawn into a verbal duel. If
unavoidable, however, proper disciplinary proceedings to cope
 with immediate necessity can be conducted while a disorderly
member continues to speak.

61:10 Breaches of Order by Members in a Meeting. If a member

commits only a slight breach of order—such as addressing
another member instead of the chair in debate, or, in a single
instance, failing to confine his remarks to the merits of the
pending question—the chair simply raps lightly, points out the
fault, and advises the member to avoid it. The member can
then continue speaking if he commits no further breaches.
More formal procedures can be used in the case of serious
offenses, as follows:
61:11 Calling a member to order. If the offense is more serious
than in the case above—as when a member repeatedly
questions the motives of other members whom he mentions
by name, or persists in speaking on completely irrelevant
matters in debate—the chair normally should first warn the
member; but with or without such a warning, the chair or any
other member can “call the member to order.” If the chair does
this, he says, “The member is out of order and will be seated.”
Another member making the call rises and, without waiting to
be recognized, says, “Mr. President, I call the member to
order,” then resumes his seat. If the chair finds this point of
order (23) well taken, he declares the offender out of order and
directs him to be seated, just as above. If the offender had the
floor, then (irrespective of who originated the proceeding) the
chair clearly states the breach involved and puts the question
to the assembly: “Shall the member be allowed to continue
speaking?” This question is undebatable.
61:12 “Naming” an offender. In cases of obstinate or grave breach
of order by a member, the chair can, after repeated warnings,
“name” the offender, which amounts to preferring charges and
should be resorted to only in extreme circumstances. Before
 taking such action, when it begins to appear that it may
become necessary, the chair directs the secretary to take
down objectionable or disorderly words used by the member.
This direction by the chair, and the words taken down pursuant
to it, are entered in the minutes only if the chair finds it
necessary to name the offender.
61:13 Although the chair has no authority to impose a penalty or
to order the offending member removed from the hall, the
assembly has that power. It should be noted in this connection
that in any case of an offense against the assembly occurring
in a meeting, there is no need for a formal trial provided that
any penalty is imposed promptly after the breach (cf. 23:5),
since the witnesses are all present and make up the body that
is to determine the penalty.
61:14 The declaration made by the chair in naming a member is
addressed to the offender by name and in the second person,
and is entered in the minutes. An example of such a
declaration is as follows:
CHAIR: Mr. J! The chair has repeatedly directed you to refrain from
offensive personal references when speaking in this meeting. Three
times the chair has ordered you to be seated, and you have
nevertheless attempted to continue speaking.

61:15 If the member obeys at this point, the matter can be

dropped or not, as the assembly chooses. The case may be
sufficiently resolved by an apology or a withdrawal of
objectionable statements or remarks by the offender; but if not,
any member can move to order a penalty, or the chair can first
ask, “What penalty shall be imposed on the member?” A
motion offered in a case of this kind can propose, for example,
that the offender be required to make an apology, that he be
censured, that he be required to leave the hall during the
remainder of the meeting or until he is prepared to apologize,
 that his rights of membership be suspended for a time, or that
he be expelled from the organization.
61:16 The offending member can be required to leave the hall
during the consideration of his penalty, but he must be allowed
to present his defense briefly first. A motion to require the
member’s departure during consideration of the penalty—
which may be assumed by the chair if he thinks it appropriate
—is undebatable, is unamendable, and requires a majority
vote.
61:17 If the member denies having said anything improper, the
words recorded by the secretary can be read to him and, if
necessary, the assembly can decide by vote whether he was
heard to say them. On the demand of a single member—other
than the named offender, who is not considered to be a voting
member while his case is pending—the vote on imposing a
penalty must be taken by ballot, unless the penalty proposed
is only that the offender be required to leave the hall for all or
part of the remainder of the meeting. Expulsion from
membership requires a two-thirds vote.
61:18 If the assembly orders an offending member to leave the
hall during a meeting as described above and he refuses to do
so, the considerations stated below regarding the removal of
offenders apply; but such a member exposes himself to the
possibility of more severe disciplinary action by the society.

61:19 Protection from Annoyance by Nonmembers in a Meeting;

Removal of an Offender from the Hall. Any nonmembers
allowed in the hall during a meeting, as guests of the
organization, have no rights with reference to the proceedings
(61:6–8). An assembly has the right to protect itself from
annoyance by nonmembers, and its full authority in this regard
—as distinguished from cases involving disorderly members—
can be exercised by the chair acting alone. The chair has the
 power to require nonmembers to leave the hall, or to order
their removal, at any time during the meeting; and the
nonmembers have no right of appeal from such an order of the
presiding officer. However, such an order may be appealed by
a member. That appeal is undebatable (see 24:3(5)(a)). At a
mass meeting (53), any person who attempts to disrupt the
proceedings in a manner obviously hostile to the announced
purpose of the meeting can be treated as a nonmember under
the provisions of this paragraph.
61:20 If a person—whether a member of the assembly or not—
refuses to obey the order of proper authority to leave the hall
during a meeting, the chair should take necessary measures
to see that the order is enforced, but should be guided by a
judicious appraisal of the situation. The chair can appoint a
committee to escort the offender to the door, or the sergeant-
at-arms—if there is one—can be asked to do this. If those who
are assigned that task are unable to persuade the offender to
leave, it is usually preferable that he be removed by police—
who may, however, be reluctant to intervene unless
representatives of the organization are prepared to press
charges.
61:21 The sergeant-at-arms or the members of the appointed
committee themselves may attempt to remove the offender
from the hall, using the minimum force necessary. Such a step
should generally be taken only as a last resort, since there
may be adverse legal consequences; and a person who would
refuse to leave upon legitimate request may be the type most
likely to bring suit, even if with little justification. In cases
where possibly serious annoyance by hostile persons is
anticipated—in some mass meetings, for example—it may be
advisable to arrange in advance for the presence of police or
guards from a security service agency.
Offenses Elsewhere Than in a Meeting; Trials
61:22 If improper conduct by a member of a society occurs
elsewhere than at a meeting, the members generally have no
first-hand knowledge of the case. Therefore, if disciplinary
action is to be taken, charges must be preferred and a formal
trial held before the assembly of the society, or before a
committee—standing or special—which is then required to
report its findings and recommendations to the assembly for
action. In addition, even when improper conduct occurs at a
meeting, in order for disciplinary action to be taken other than
promptly after the breach occurs, charges must be preferred
and a formal trial held. However, the only way in which a
member may be disciplined for words spoken in debate is
through the procedure described in 61:10–18, which may be
employed only promptly after the breach occurs. In some
societies (depending on particular provisions of the bylaws, as
explained in 62), the same steps must also be employed if an
officer of the society is to be removed from office. The
procedures governing all such cases are described in detail in
63.
§62. REMOVAL FROM OFFICE AND OTHER
REMEDIES FOR DERELICTION OF DUTY IN
OFFICE OR MISCONDUCT
62:1 The presiding officer and other officers have the duties set
forth in this manual (see 47) and in the organization’s bylaws.
This section covers procedures available if they neglect those
duties, abuse their authority, or engage in other misconduct
that calls into question their fitness for office. This section also
covers removal from office at the pleasure of the assembly
when the bylaws permit such removal.
Remedies for Abuse of Authority by the Chair in a
Meeting
62:2 Making and Enforcing Points of Order and Appeals. In
attempting to remedy any incorrect or abusive act by the chair
at a meeting, the first step is for a member to raise a Point of
Order as soon as the breach of the rules occurs.
62:3 For example, some important rules of parliamentary
procedure are (a) that the chair must recognize any member
who seeks the floor while entitled to it (see 42); (b) that after a
member has properly made a motion that is not dilatory (see
39), the chair must either state the question on it, or else rule it
out of order for a specified valid reason, require that the
wording be clarified or be submitted in writing, or declare that it
is not before the assembly for lack of a required second (see
4); and (c) that the chair cannot hurry through the proceedings
so quickly as to deprive the members of their rights to debate
and to introduce secondary motions (see 43:7).
62:4 So, if the chair ignores a member seeking the floor while
entitled to it, ignores a properly made nondilatory motion,
“gavels through” a motion in an improper attempt to cut off
debate, or violates any other rule, any member may
immediately raise a Point of Order.
62:5 To raise a Point of Order, a member rises and, without
waiting to be recognized, immediately addresses the chair,
saying, “I rise to a point of order,” or simply, “Point of order!”
The chair must then ask the member to state the point; and
after the member does so, the chair is obligated either to rule
whether the point is “well taken”—briefly stating the reasons for
that ruling—or to submit the question to the assembly (see 23).
62:6 Immediately after the chair makes a ruling, any member
who disagrees with it may then move an Appeal (unless
 another Appeal is already pending or an appeal would be
dilatory because there cannot possibly be two reasonable
opinions on the question). The member does this by rising and,
without waiting to be recognized, addressing the chair, saying,
“I appeal from the decision of the chair.” If the Appeal is
seconded, the chair must state the question on it, clearly
explain the exact parliamentary question at issue, allow any
permissible debate, and put the question to a vote, as shown in
24.
62:7 These procedures enable the majority to ensure
enforcement of the rules unless the chair fails to respond to
and resolve the Point of Order, fails to respond appropriately to
any Appeal, or fails to act in accordance with the assembly’s
decision on the Appeal (or on a Point of Order submitted by the
chair to the assembly).
62:8 If the chair ignores a point of order that is not dilatory, the
member can repeat the point of order a second and third time
and if the chair still ignores it, the member, standing in his
place, can immediately put the point of order to a vote without
debate. The question may be put as, “Is the point of order
that… well taken?” If the point of order was that the chair
improperly ignored another motion, the member may, instead
of repeating the point of order, repeat the original motion, and if
it is seconded and the chair still ignores it, may, standing in his
place, put the ignored motion to a vote without debate.
62:9 Likewise, if the chair ignores an appeal appropriately made
and seconded,3 a member can repeat the appeal and if,
despite its being seconded, the chair ignores it again, the
member can repeat it a third time and if it is again seconded
but still ignored by the chair, the member can immediately,
standing in his place, put the appeal to a vote without debate.
The question may be put as: “Shall the decision of the chair be
sustained?”
62:10 Removal of Presiding Officer from Chair for All or Part of
a Session. If the chair fails to act in accordance with the
assembly’s decision on an appeal (or on a point of order
submitted to a vote of the assembly) or otherwise culpably
fails to perform the duties of the chair properly in a meeting,
the assembly may employ measures temporarily to replace
the chair with another presiding officer expected to act in
accordance with the will of the assembly.
62:11 If the offending occupant of the chair is an appointed or
elected chairman pro tem (see 47:11(2–3)), a motion can be
made to “declare the chair vacant and proceed to elect a new
chairman.” Such a motion is a question of privilege affecting
the assembly (19) and is an incidental main motion requiring a
majority vote for its adoption.4
62:12 If the chair is not an appointed or elected chairman pro
tem, a motion to declare the chair vacant is not in order.
However, a motion can be made to Suspend the Rules so as
to take away from him the authority to preside during all or part
of a given session.5 When such a motion is made and
seconded, after stating the motion he must turn the chair over
to another following the procedure described in 43:29, and the
remedy for refusal or failure to do so is that the motion may be
put to a vote by its maker.
62:13 Any one motion to Suspend the Rules that might limit the
authority or duties of the presiding officer during a meeting can
remain in effect, at most, for one session. (See 8:12, 8:16.)
Therefore, in order to prevent the regular presiding officer from
presiding during subsequent sessions, the motion to Suspend
the Rules would have to be renewed and separately adopted
at each of the sessions. Moreover, since Suspend the Rules
applies only when “an assembly wishes to do something
during a meeting that it cannot do without violating one or
more of its regular rules” (25:1, emphasis added), the motion
 cannot be used to remove from the presiding officer (even
temporarily) any administrative duties—those related to the
role of an executive officer that are distinct from the function of
presiding over the assembly at its meetings. (Cf. 47:20.)
62:14 If the motion to suspend the rules is adopted by a two-
thirds vote, then, unless the motion names a new occupant of
the chair, the ranking vice-president (or, in the absence of the
vice-president, an elected temporary presiding officer;
47:11(3), 47:13) has the duty of presiding through the end of
the session (or any shorter period specified by the motion to
suspend the rules).
62:15 A permanent removal of the presiding officer, and removal
of authority to exercise administrative duties conferred by the
bylaws, requires the procedure described below.
Removal from Office
62:16 Except as the bylaws may provide otherwise, any regularly
elected officer of a permanent society can be removed from
office by the society’s assembly as follows:
• If the bylaws provide that officers shall serve “for __ years or
until their successors are elected,” the officer in question can
be removed from office by adoption of a motion to do so. The
vote required for adoption of this incidental main motion is (a)
a two-thirds vote, (b) a majority vote when previous notice (as
defined in 10:44) has been given, or (c) a vote of a majority of
the entire membership—any one of which will suffice. A
motion to remove an officer from office is a question of
privilege (19) affecting the organization of the assembly, and
so also is the filling of any vacancy created by the adoption of
such a motion.6
• If, however, the bylaws provide that officers shall serve only a
fixed term, such as “for two years” (which is not a
recommended wording; see 56:28), or if they provide that
officers shall serve “for __ years and until their successors
are elected,” an officer can be removed from office only for
cause—that is, neglect of duty in office or misconduct—in
accordance with the procedures described in 63; that is, an
investigating committee must be appointed, charges must be
preferred, and a formal trial must be held.
§63. INVESTIGATION AND TRIAL
63:1 As explained in 61 and 62, the removal of an officer for
cause, or the discipline of a member for improper conduct, may
require that charges be preferred and that a formal trial be
held. The full procedure for such cases is described in this
section.7
Rights of the Society and the Accused
63:2 A society has the right to investigate the character of its
members and officers as may be necessary to the enforcement
of its own standards. But neither the society nor any member
has the right to make public any information obtained through
such investigation; if it becomes common knowledge within the
society, it may not be revealed to any persons outside the
society. Consequently, a trial must always be held in executive
session, as must the introduction and consideration of all
resolutions leading up to the trial.
63:3 If (after trial) a member is expelled or an officer is removed
from office, the society has the right to disclose that fact—
circulating it only to the extent required for the protection of the
society or, possibly, of other organizations. Neither the society
nor any of its members has the right to make public the charge
of which an officer or member has been found guilty, or to
reveal any other details connected with the case. To make any
of the facts public may constitute libel. A trial by the society
cannot legally establish the guilt of the accused, as understood
in a court of law; it can only establish his guilt as affecting the
society’s judgment of his fitness for membership or office.
63:4 Ordinarily it is impossible for the society to obtain legal
proof of facts in disciplinary cases. To get at the truth under the
conditions of such a trial, hearsay evidence has to be
admissible, and judgment as to the best interests of the society
may have to be based on it. Witnesses are not sworn. The
persons with first-hand knowledge may be nonmembers, who
probably will decline to testify, and may be willing only to reveal
the facts privately to a single member on condition that their
names in no way be connected with the case. Even members
may be reluctant to give formal testimony against the accused.
 A member can be required to testify at a trial on pain of
expulsion, but it is very seldom advisable to force such an
issue.
63:5 A member or officer has the right that allegations against his
good name shall not be made except by charges brought on
reasonable ground. If thus accused, he has the right to due
process—that is, to be informed of the charge and given time
to prepare his defense, to appear and defend himself, and to
be fairly treated.
63:6 If a member or officer is guilty of a serious offense and
knows that other members are in possession of the facts, he
may wish to submit his resignation. When the good of the
society appears to demand the departure of an offender, it is
usually best for all concerned to offer him the opportunity to
resign quietly before charges are preferred. The society has no
obligation to suggest or accept such a resignation at any stage
of the case, however, even if it is submitted on the offender’s
own initiative.
Steps in a Fair Disciplinary Process
63:7 Most ordinary societies should never have to hold a formal
trial, and their bylaws need not be encumbered with clauses on
discipline. For the protection both of the society and of its
members and officers, however, the basic steps which, in any
organization, make up the elements of fair disciplinary process
should be understood. Any special procedures established
should be built essentially around them, and the steps must be
followed in the absence of such provisions. As set forth below,
these are: (1) confidential investigation by a committee; (2)
report of the committee, and preferral of charges if warranted;
(3) formal notification of the accused; (4) trial; and (5) the
assembly’s review of a trial committee’s findings (if the trial has
been held in a committee instead of the assembly of the
society).
63:8 Confidential Investigation by Committee. A committee
whose members are selected for known integrity and good
judgment conducts a confidential investigation (including a
reasonable attempt to interview the accused) to determine
whether to recommend that further action, including the
preferring of charges if necessary, is warranted.
63:9 Accordingly, if the rules of the organization do not otherwise
provide for the method of charge and trial, a member may, at a
time when nonmembers are not present, offer a resolution to
appoint an investigating committee. This resolution is to be in a
form similar to the following:

Resolved, That a committee of… [perhaps “five”] be elected by ballot to

investigate allegations of neglect of duty in office by our treasurer,
J.M., which, if true, cast doubt on her fitness to continue in office, and
that the committee be instructed, if it concludes that the allegations
 are well-founded, to report resolutions covering its recommendations.

63:10 To initiate disciplinary proceedings involving a member, a

suitable resolution would be:
Resolved, That a committee of… [perhaps “five”] be appointed by the
chair [or “be elected by ballot”] to investigate rumors regarding the
conduct of our member Mr. N, which, if true, would tend to injure the
good name of this organization, and that the committee be
instructed, if it concludes the allegations are well-founded, to report
resolutions covering its recommendations.

63:11 For the protection of parties who may be innocent, the first
resolution should avoid details as much as possible. An
individual member may not prefer charges, even if that
member has proof of an officer’s or member’s wrongdoing. If a
member introduces a resolution preferring charges
unsupported by an investigating committee’s recommendation,
the chair must rule the resolution out of order, informing the
member that it would instead be in order to move the
appointment of such a committee (by a resolution, as in the
example above). A resolution is improper if it implies the truth
of specific rumors or contains insinuations unfavorable to an
officer or member, even one who is to be accused. It is out of
order, for example, for a resolution to begin, “Whereas, It
seems probable that the treasurer has engaged in graft,…” At
the first mention of the word “graft” in such a case, the chair
must instantly call to order the member attempting to move the
resolution.
63:12 An investigating committee appointed as described above
has no power to require the accused, or any other person, to
appear before it, but it should quietly conduct a complete
investigation, making an effort to learn all relevant facts.
Information obtained in strict confidence may help the
 committee to form an opinion, but it may not be reported to the
society or used in a trial—except as may be possible without
bringing out the confidential particulars. Before any action is
taken, fairness demands that the committee or some of its
members make a reasonable attempt to meet with the
accused for frank discussion and to hear his side of the story.
It may be possible at this stage to point out to the accused that
if he does not rectify the situation or resign, he probably will be
brought to trial.

63:13 Report of the Investigating Committee; Preferral of

Charges. If after investigation the committee’s opinion is
favorable to the accused, or if it finds that the matter can be
resolved satisfactorily without a trial, it reports that fact.8 But if
the committee from its investigations finds substance to the
allegations and cannot resolve the matter satisfactorily in any
other way, it makes a report in writing—which is signed by
every committee member who agrees—outlining the course of
its investigation and recommending in the report the adoption
of resolutions preferring charges, arranging for a trial, and, if
desired, suspending the rights of the accused, as in the
following example:

63:14 Resolved, That when this meeting adjourns, it adjourn to meet at 8 P.M.
on Wednesday, November 15, 20__. [For variations depending on
conditions, see the first paragraph following these resolutions, below.]
63:15 Resolved, That J.M. is hereby cited to appear at said adjourned
meeting for trial, to show cause why she should not be removed from the
office of treasurer on the following charge and specifications:
Charge. Neglect of duty in office.
Specification 1. In that J.M. has failed to account for at least $10,000 of
the Society’s funds known to have been given into her custody.
Specification 2. In that J.M. has repeatedly failed to provide the
financial records of her treasurership for review by the auditing
 committee.

63:16 Resolved, That from the time official notification of this resolution is
delivered to J.M.’s address until disposition of the case, all of J.M.’s
authority, rights, and duties pertaining to the office of treasurer are
suspended.

63:17 Resolved, That members S and T act as managers for the Society at
the trial. [See below.]

63:18 In a disciplinary proceeding against a member, an example

of the second and third resolutions is:
63:19 Resolved, That Mr. N is hereby cited to appear at said adjourned
meeting for trial, to show cause why he should not be expelled from the
Society on the following charge and specifications:
Charge. Conduct tending to injure the good name of this organization.
Specification 1. In that Mr. N has so conducted himself as to establish
among a number of his acquaintances a reputation for willfully originating
false reports against innocent persons.
Specification 2. In that on or about the evening of August 12, 20__, in
the Matterhorn Restaurant, Mr. N was seen by patrons to be the apparent
provoker of a needless and violent disturbance, causing damage to the
furnishings.

63:20 Resolved, That from the time official notification of this resolution is
delivered to Mr. N’s address until disposition of the case, all of Mr. N’s
rights as a member (except as relate to the trial) are suspended pending
disposition of the case.

63:21 With reference to an appropriate date for which to set the

trial, thirty days is a reasonable time to allow the accused to
prepare his defense. When a trial is to be before the assembly
of the society, it is generally a good policy to hold it at a
meeting devoted exclusively to the matter, such as an
adjourned meeting as in the example above. To devote a
 meeting to the trial when there is to be another regular
meeting between the date of adoption of these resolutions and
the date desired for the trial, the first resolution would establish
a special meeting instead of an adjourned meeting (see 9).9 If
believed advisable—and particularly when the trial is likely to
be delicate, involve potential scandal, or be long and
troublesome, or when the assembly of the organization is
large—the resolutions reported by the investigating committee,
instead of providing for trial before the entire assembly, can be
worded so as to establish a committee to hear the trial and
report its findings and recommendations to the assembly for
action. In such a case, the first two of the resolutions above
would be worded as follows:

63:22 Resolved, That a trial committee consisting of Mr. H as chairman and

members A, B, C, D, E, and F be appointed to try the case of J.M. and
report its findings and recommendations. [A special committee appointed to
hear a trial must be composed of persons different from those on the
preliminary investigating committee. This resolution can either be offered
with the names of the members of the proposed trial committee specified
as in the example, or it can contain a blank so as to leave the manner of
their selection to the assembly.]

63:23 Resolved, That J.M. is hereby cited to appear before the said trial
committee at the Society hall at 8 P.M. on Wednesday, November 15, 20__,
to show cause why she should not be removed from the office of treasurer
on the following charge and specifications:… [setting them forth, as above].

The remaining resolutions would be the same whether the trial

is to be before the assembly or before a special committee
(see above).

63:24 A charge sets forth an offense—that is, a particular kind of

act or conduct that entails liability to penalty under the
 governing rules—of which the accused is alleged to be guilty.
A specification states what the accused is alleged to have
done which, if true, constitutes an instance of the offense
indicated in the charge. An accused officer or member must be
found guilty of a charge before a penalty can be imposed. If
the bylaws of the society provide for the imposition of penalties
for offenses defined in the bylaws or an adopted code of
conduct or similar set of rules, a charge may consist of such a
defined offense. If such particular offenses are not defined or
are not applicable, a member may be charged with “conduct
tending to injure the good name of the organization, disturb its
well-being, or hamper it in its work,” or the like, and an officer
may be charged with misconduct of the type just mentioned or
with “misconduct in office,” “neglect of duty in office,” or
“conduct that renders him [or “her”] unfit for office.”
63:25 Each separate charge contained in the resolutions must be
accompanied by at least one specification, unless the
investigating committee and the accused agree in preferring
that this information not be disclosed outside the trial. It is best
if each specification is carefully worded so as to make no
broader allegation than is believed sufficient to establish the
validity of the charge if the specification is found to be true.
63:26 A resolution preferring charges may (although it need not)
be accompanied by one suspending all or some specified
portion of the accused’s authority, rights, and duties as an
officer or rights as a member (except those rights that relate to
the trial) pending disposition of the case, effective from the
time official notification of the resolution is delivered to the
accused’s address.
63:27 The “managers” at the trial—referred to in the fourth
resolution of the complete set shown above—have the task of
presenting the evidence against the accused, and must be
members of the society. Their duty, however, is not to act as
 prosecutors—in the sense of making every effort to secure
conviction—but rather to strive that the trial will get at the truth
and that, in the light of all facts brought out, the outcome will
be just.
63:28 Formal Notification of the Officer or Member. If the society
adopts resolutions ordering trial before the assembly or a
committee, the secretary immediately sends to the accused,
by a method providing confirmation of delivery to his address
(such as registered mail with delivery confirmation), a letter
notifying him of the date, hour, and place of the trial,
containing an exact copy of the charge(s) and specifications
with the date of their adoption, and directing him to appear as
cited—even if the accused officer or member was present
when the resolutions were adopted. The secretary’s letter of
notification can reproduce the resolutions in full and can be
worded as follows:

Dear Mr. N:
Your attention is called to the fact that the… Society, at its meeting
on October 14, 20__, adopted the following resolutions:
… [Text of resolutions].
Kindly be present at the Society hall at the time indicated above.
Sincerely,
John Clark, Secretary

63:29 It is the duty of the secretary to have at hand at the trial a

photocopy, printout, or other direct reproduction of the letter of
notification with the delivery confirmation attached, as proof
that it was delivered to the accused’s address.
63:30 Trial Procedure. The trial is a formal hearing on the validity of
the charges. At the trial, the evidence against the accused
officer or member is presented by the managers for the
society, and the officer or member has the right to be
 represented by counsel and to speak and produce witnesses
in his own defense. If the charges are found to be true, a
penalty may be imposed or recommended; but if the charges
are not substantiated, the officer or member is exonerated and
any authority, rights, duties, and privileges of office or
membership that had been suspended are automatically
restored. The managers, as previously stated, must be
members of the society. Defense counsel can be attorney(s) or
not, but must be member(s) of the society unless the trial body
(that is, the assembly or the trial committee as the case may
be) by vote agrees to permit attorney(s) who are not
member(s) to act in this capacity. Nonmembers who consent
to testify can be brought in as witnesses at the trial, but such a
witness is allowed in the room only while testifying.
63:31 If the accused fails to appear for trial at the appointed time
as directed, the trial proceeds without him.
63:32 At any time before the commencement of the trial with the
first of the “preliminary steps” described below, the assembly
may, by majority vote, adopt a resolution to govern the trial
specifying details not inconsistent with the procedures
described here.10 The resolution may include an agenda that
establishes times for portions of the trial, such as time limits
for opening and closing statements. If time limits are imposed,
they must allow the defense at least equal time for each
element of the trial as that allowed the managers, and this rule
may not be suspended without the consent of the defense.
63:33 At the trial, in calling the meeting to order, the chair should
call attention to the fact that the meeting is in executive
session (9), and to the attendant obligation of secrecy.
Preliminary steps then include the secretary’s reading from the
minutes the resolutions adopted by the society relating to the
trial, the chair’s verification—by inquiring of the secretary—that
the accused was furnished with a copy of the charges, the
chair’s announcement of the names of the managers for the
society, and the chair’s inquiry of the accused as to whether
he has counsel. The trial then proceeds as follows:
a) The chair directs the secretary to read the charge and
specifications.
b) The chair asks the accused how he pleads—guilty or not
guilty—first to each of the specifications in order, and then to
the charge.
c) If a plea of guilty is entered to the charge, there need be no
trial, and the meeting can proceed directly to the
determination of the penalty after hearing a brief statement
of the facts.
d) If the plea to the charge is not guilty, the trial proceeds in the
following order, the chair first explaining all the steps, then
calling for each of them in sequence: (1) opening statements
by both sides—the managers first; (2) testimony of witnesses
produced by the managers for the society; (3) testimony of
defense witnesses; (4) rebuttal witnesses on behalf of the
society, and then on behalf of the defense, if any; and (5)
closing arguments by both sides. Up until the completion of
the closing arguments, no one is entitled to the floor except
the managers and the defense; and they must address the
chair except when questioning witnesses. Cross-
examination, re-direct-examination, and re-cross-
examination of witnesses is permitted, and witnesses can be
recalled for further testimony as the occasion may dictate.
From the first of the “preliminary steps” described above
up until the completion of the closing arguments:
i) Subject to the relevant rules and the provisions in any
resolution governing the trial, the presiding officer, similarly
to a judge at a trial, directs the proceedings and rules on
all questions of evidence and any objections or requests
 by the managers or the defense, the merits of which may
first be argued by the managers and the defense. From
any such direction or ruling, a member of the assembly
may take an undebatable appeal, or the presiding officer
may in the first instance submit any such question to a
vote, without debate, by the assembly. Any motion to alter
a resolution previously adopted to govern the trial, which
may be proposed only by the managers or defense, or a
proposal by the chair to do the same, is submitted without
debate to a vote by the assembly; its adoption requires the
vote necessary to Amend Something Previously Adopted.
ii) If a member of the assembly who is not a manager or with
the defense wishes a question to be put to a witness, a
manager, or the defense, the question must be delivered
in writing to the presiding officer, who at an appropriate
point puts it, unless he rules it not in order of his own
accord or upon an objection by the managers or the
defense, which ruling, like any other in the trial, is subject
to an undebatable appeal.
iii) The only motions in order are the five privileged motions
and those motions that relate to the conduct of the
meeting or to the trial itself. Any member who is not a
manager or with the defense may offer such a motion,
subject to the limitation in (i) above, only in writing
delivered to the presiding officer,11 who at an appropriate
point reads the motion aloud, inquires whether there is a
second (if required), and either rules upon it or puts the
motion to a vote without debate.
e) When the closing arguments have been completed, the
accused must leave the room. If the trial is before the
assembly rather than a trial committee, the managers,
defense counsel (if members of the society), and member
witnesses for both sides remain, take part in discussion, and
vote as any other members. The chair then states the
question on the finding as to the guilt of the accused, as
follows: “The question before the assembly [or “the
committee”] is: Is Mr. N guilty of the charge and
specifications preferred against him?” Each of the
specifications, and then the charge, is read, opened to
debate, and voted on separately—although the several votes
can be delayed to be taken on a single ballot.
The specifications or the charge can be amended to
conform to facts brought out in the trial—but not in such a
way as to find the accused guilty of a charge not wholly
included within charge(s) for which he has been tried.
If the accused is found guilty of none of the specifications
relating to a charge, he is automatically found not guilty of
the charge, and no vote is taken on it (or, if the vote on the
charge was already taken on the same ballot as the vote on
the specifications, the vote on the charge is ignored). If the
accused is found guilty of one or more of the specifications
but not of the charge, and if a lower degree or level of the
offense charged is defined in the organization’s bylaws,
adopted code of conduct, or similar set of rules, then such a
lesser charge may be moved and voted on.
If the accused is found guilty, the chair announces that the
next item of business is the determination of the penalty.
One of the managers for the society usually makes a motion
for a penalty the managers feel appropriate, although any
member may move that a specific penalty be imposed; this
motion is debatable and amendable. On the demand of a
single member both the question of guilt and the question of
the penalty must be voted on by ballot.
The usual possible penalties for an officer are censure or
removal from office, although in special circumstances
others may be appropriate (for example, to repay into the
 society’s treasury funds that the officer has been found guilty
of misappropriating, perhaps with an added fine). For all of
these, including removal from office, a majority vote is
required. Penalties appropriate in disciplinary proceedings
against members are discussed in 61:2. For expulsion, a
two-thirds vote is required.
f) After voting is completed, the accused is called back into the
hall and advised of the result.
63:34 A member who votes for a finding of guilt at a trial should
be morally convinced, on the basis of the evidence he has
heard, that the accused is guilty.
63:35 Assembly’s Review of a Trial Committee’s Findings. If the
trial has been held before a trial committee instead of the
assembly of the society, this committee reports to the
assembly in executive session (9) the results of its trial of the
case, with resolutions—in cases where its finding is one of
guilty—covering the penalty it recommends that the society
impose. The report is prepared in writing and includes, to the
extent possible without disclosing confidential information
which should be kept within the committee, a summary of the
basis for the committee’s finding.
63:36 Unless the report exonerates the accused, he is then
permitted—personally, through counsel, or both, as he prefers
—to make a statement of the case, after which the committee
is given the opportunity to present a statement in rebuttal. The
accused—and defense counsel if not member(s)—then leave
the room, and the assembly acts upon the resolutions
submitted by the committee. The members of the committee
remain and vote on the case the same as other members of
the society.
63:37 Under this procedure, the assembly can decline to impose
any penalty, notwithstanding the trial committee’s
recommendation; or it can reduce the recommended penalty;
but it cannot increase the penalty. The assembly cannot
impose a penalty if the trial committee has found the accused
not guilty.
Committee on Discipline
63:38 In some professional societies and other organizations
where particular aspects of discipline are of special
importance, the handling of such matters is simplified by
providing in the bylaws for a standing Committee on Discipline
(see 50, 56). Its prescribed duties are normally to be alert to
disciplinary problems, to investigate them, to introduce all
necessary resolutions, and—in event of a trial—to manage the
case for the society.
63:39 This committee may also have the duty of hearing the
actual trial, in which case it should be large enough that a
subcommittee can perform the confidential investigation as
described in 63:8–12. Under the latter practice, the full
Committee on Discipline adopts the charge and specifications,
and the chairman of the committee sends the citation to the
accused and presides at the trial, which is conducted just as it
would be if held before the assembly. It is generally best not to
empower the committee to impose a penalty, however, but to
require it to report its recommended disciplinary measures to
the society for action, just as in the case of a special
committee to hear a trial.
63:40 In organizations where disciplinary matters may arise with
some frequency, the system of having a Committee on
Discipline has the advantages of not unduly inconveniencing
the society, and of promoting the avoidance of scandal and the
settlement of disciplinary problems without an actual trial.
Footnotes to Chapter
XX
1. It is also possible to adopt a motion of censure without formal disciplinary procedures.
2. See, however, Remedies for Abuse of Authority by the Chair in a Meeting, 62:2ff.
3. An appeal is not allowed from the chair’s ruling on a question about which there cannot
possibly be two reasonable opinions (24:3(2)(b)) and is not in order in certain other
circumstances (24:3(2)(a), 24:5–8), but in such cases the chair must announce that the
appeal is not in order for the relevant reason, not simply ignore the appeal (unless the
appeal is dilatory as explained in 39:1–4).
4. Once such a motion is made and seconded, the chair must state it, and then, since it
refers to the presiding officer in a capacity not shared in common with other members,
the chair must be turned over to the secretary or secretary pro tem. The new occupant of
the chair then presides during consideration of the motion to declare the chair vacant and
proceed to elect a new chairman. The new occupant continues to preside until the result
of the vote on that motion is announced and, if it is adopted, until the election of the new
chairman is completed.If the presiding officer refuses or fails to turn the chair over as
required, and ignores a point of order on the issue (or ignores, or does not abide by the
decision on, an appeal of a ruling on the point of order) the motion to declare the chair
vacant may be put to a vote by its maker as explained in 62:8–9. In such a case, the
motion is undebatable.
5. This is true even if the bylaws contain a provision to the effect that the president shall
preside at all meetings, since such a provision is clearly in the nature of a rule of order,
which may be suspended even if in the bylaws. See 2:21.
6. The assembly normally cannot proceed to fill the vacancy created by removal of an
officer immediately, since notice is a requirement (see 32:7). If the president is removed
from office, the vice-president thereby succeeds to the presidency, creating a vacancy in
the vice-presidency which requires notice to fill. If it is desired to fill a vacancy that may
be created by removal, previous notice may be given in advance of the meeting at which
removal is contemplated that, should removal of the officer occur, the resulting vacancy
may be filled at that meeting.
 7. It is possible for a disciplinary proceeding to affect an individual’s status both as an
officer and as a member, and a resolution preferring charges (see 63:13–63:20) may
combine notice to show cause both why the accused should not be removed from office
and why he should not be expelled from membership. If the bylaws make membership a
required qualification for office (see 47:2), then expulsion from membership necessarily
results in removal from office.
8. If the investigating committee submits a report that does not recommend preferral of
charges, it is within the power of the assembly nevertheless to adopt a resolution that
does prefer charges. It is also possible for the assembly to adopt instructions to the
committee specifying when it is to report, or even to adopt a motion to Discharge a
Committee (36) and thereafter to consider a resolution preferring charges; but in order to
provide due process to the accused, any such instructions must allow the investigating
committee a reasonable and adequate time to investigate and prepare a report, and the
committee may be discharged only if it has had such time yet has failed to complete its
report.
9. The assembly of a society may call a special meeting for purposes of conducting a trial
and determining a punishment, even if the bylaws fail to provide for special meetings or
the designation in the bylaws of those who can call special meetings does not include the
assembly.
10. The assembly may vary the procedures described here through adoption of special
rules of order for disciplinary proceedings either by previous notice and a two-thirds vote
or by a vote of a majority of the entire membership.
11. However, any member may address the chair to appeal a ruling.
 CHARTS, TABLES, AND LISTS

I. Chart for Determining When Each Subsidiary or Privileged

Motion Is in Order
II. Table of Rules Relating to Motions
III. Sample Forms Used in Making Motions
IV. Motions and Parliamentary Steps
• Which Are in Order When Another Has the Floor and Do Not
Require a Second
• Which Are in Order When Another Has the Floor but Must Be
Seconded
• Which Are out of Order When Another Has the Floor but Do
Not Require a Second
V. Motions and Parliamentary Steps
• Which Are Not Debatable and Not Amendable
• Which Are Not Debatable but Are Amendable
• Which Are Not Amendable but Are Debatable
• On Which Debate Can Go into the Merits of the Main
Question or the Question Which Is the Subject of the
Proposed Action
VI. Motions Which Require a Two-Thirds Vote
VII. Motions Whose Reconsideration Is Prohibited or Limited
• Cannot Be Reconsidered At All
• A Negative Vote Cannot Be Reconsidered
• An Affirmative Vote Cannot Be Reconsidered
VIII. Table of Rules for Counting Election Ballots
I. CHART FOR DETERMINING WHEN EACH SUBSIDIARY OR
PRIVILEGED MOTION IS IN ORDER

In the chart on the two following pages, the privileged, subsidiary,

and main motions are listed in order of rank, the motion at the top
taking precedence over all the others, and each of the remaining
ones taking precedence over all those below it. A main motion is in
order only when no other motion is pending.
When a given one of the motions listed is immediately pending,
then: (a) any other motion appearing above it in the list is in order,
unless a condition stated opposite the other motion causes that
motion to be out of order; and (b) motions listed below the given
motion which are not already pending are out of order (except for the
application of Amend or the Previous Question to certain motions
ranking above them as noted in the next paragraph; see also
Standard Characteristic 2, 12:7(2) and 16:5(2)).
With respect to arrowed lines in the chart, ( ) indicates
applicability of all of the subsidiary motions to the main motion; (
), applicability of Amend to certain other motions in the order of
precedence; ( ), applicability of Limit or Extend Limits of Debate
to debatable motions in the order of precedence; and ( ),
applicability of the Previous Question to the motions that are
debatable or amendable.
See text version of this chart
See text version of this table
See text version of this table
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See text version of this table
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See text version of this table
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See text version of this table
See text version of this table
III. SAMPLE FORMS USED IN MAKING MOTIONS

1. Main motion or question (original)

[For forms see 4:4–5, 10:9–25.]
2. Adjourn, ordinary case in societies
• I move to adjourn.
3. Adjourn at or to a future time, or in advance of a time already set,
or when the assembly will thereby be dissolved
• I move to adjourn at 4 P.M.
• I move that the meeting adjourn to meet at 8 P.M. Tuesday.
• I move to adjourn.
• I move to adjourn sine die.
4. Adopt, accept, or agree to a report
• I move that the report be adopted.
5. Adopt bylaws or constitution, initially in forming a society
• On behalf of the committee appointed to draw up bylaws, I
move the adoption of the bylaws submitted by the committee.
6. Adopt revised bylaws or constitution
• On behalf of the committee on revision of the bylaws, I move
that, as a substitute for the present bylaws, the bylaws
submitted by the committee be adopted with the following
provisos:…
7. Adopt special rules of order
• In accordance with notice given at the last meeting, I move
that the following resolution be adopted as a special rule of
order: “Resolved, That…”
8. Adopt ordinary standing rules
• I move that the following resolution be adopted as a standing
 rule: “Resolved, That…”
9. Adopt parliamentary standing rules in a convention
• By direction of the Committee on Standing Rules, I move the
adoption of the Standing Rules of the Convention as just read.
10. Adopt convention agenda or program
• By direction of the Program Committee, I move the adoption
of the Convention Program as printed.
11. Amend a pending motion
• I move to amend by adding…
• I move to amend by inserting the word… before the word…
• I move to amend by striking out the second paragraph.
• I move to amend by striking out “concrete” and inserting
“blacktop.”
• I move to substitute for the pending resolution the following
resolution: “Resolved, That…”
[For manner in which above forms are varied in the particular
case, see 12:32, 12:53, 12:67, 12:82–83.]
12. Amend an amendment of a pending motion
• I move to insert in the pending amendment the word… before
the word…
• I move to amend the pending amendment by… [varying form
to fit particular case, as under Amend a pending motion, No.
11].
13. Amend Something Previously Adopted, general case, including
ordinary standing rules
• I move to amend the resolution relating to…, adopted at the
September meeting, by…
14. Amend parliamentary standing rules in a convention, when they
are not pending
• I move to amend Standing Rule No. 6 by…
15. Amend adopted convention agenda or program with reference to
items not yet reached
• I move to amend the agenda [or “program”] by…
16. Amend bylaws or constitution, when not pending
• In accordance with notice given, I move the adoption of the
following amendment to the bylaws…
17. Amend special rules of order, when not pending
• In accordance with notice given, I move to amend Special
Rule of Order No. 3 by…
18. Appeal, general case
• I appeal from the decision of the chair.
19. Appeal, relating to indecorum or transgression of rules of
speaking, or to the priority of business, or if made when an
undebatable question is immediately pending or involved in the
appeal
[Same form as No. 18]
20. Ballot, to order the vote on a pending question to be taken by
• I move that the vote on the pending question be taken by
ballot.
21. Blank, to create by striking out
• I move to create a blank by striking out “$10,000.”
22. Blanks, proposals for filling
• I suggest $20,000.
23. Bylaw amendments, to rearrange order of consideration
• I move that the amendments be considered in the following
order…
24. Chair, to declare vacant
• I move to declare the chair vacant and proceed to elect a new
chairman.
25. Change or depart from adopted convention agenda or program,
immediately to take up a matter out of its proper order
• I move to suspend the rules and take up…
26. Commit, Refer, or Recommit a pending question
• I move to refer the motion to the Program Committee.
• I move that the motion be referred to a committee of three to
be appointed by the chair.
[For additional variations see 13:25.]
27. Committee, to refer a matter that is not pending to
• I move that a committee [stating number and manner of
selection] be appointed to conduct a survey relating to…
28. Consider informally
• I move that the question be considered informally.
29. Consider by Paragraph or Seriatim
• I move that the resolution be considered by paragraph.
30. Continue speaking after indecorum, to grant permission to
• [Chair usually puts question without a motion. When done by
a motion:] I move that the member be permitted [or “allowed”]
to continue speaking.
31. Debate and amendment, to obtain immediate closing of
[See Previous Question, No. 70.]
32. Debate, to Limit or Extend Limits of, on a pending question
• I move that debate be limited to one speech of three minutes
for each member.
[For variations in particular cases see 15:19.]
33. Debate, to Limit or Extend Limits of, for the duration of a meeting
• I move that during this meeting debate be limited to five
minutes for each member.
34. Discharge a Committee
 • [For a standing committee:] I move that the Finance
Committee be discharged from further consideration of the
resolution relating to…
• [For a special committee:] I move that the committee to which
was referred… be discharged.
35. Discharge a Committee, when it has failed to report at prescribed
time, or while assembly is considering partial report of committee
[Same forms as No. 34]
36. Division of the Assembly (call for verification of a voting result by
an uncounted rising vote)
• Division!
• I call for a division.
37. Count of vote on Division, to order, if chair does not do so
• I move that the vote be counted.
• I move for [or “demand”] tellers.
• I move that the vote on this motion be by counted division.
38. Division of a Question
• I move to divide the resolution so as to consider separately…
39. Call for a separate vote on a resolution which is one of a series
on different subjects offered by a single motion
• I call for a separate vote on the third resolution.
40. Duty, to be excused from
• I move [or “ask”] that I be excused from…
• I move that the resignation be accepted.
41. Effect, fix time for taking
• I move that the amendment to the… take effect as of…
42. Extend time for consideration of pending question, or time until
scheduled adjournment or recess
• I move that the time for consideration of the pending
resolution be extended for twenty minutes.
 • I move to suspend the rules which interfere with continuing
the consideration of the motion.
• I move that the time until the recess be extended ten minutes.
43. Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn, if moved while a question is
pending
• I move that when this [or, “the”] meeting adjourns, it adjourn to
meet next Tuesday at 8 P.M.
44. Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn, if moved while no question is
pending
[Same form as No. 43]
45. Information, Request for
• I have a request for information.
• A point of information, please.
• Will the member yield for a question?
46. Lay on the Table
• I move that the motion be laid on the table.
47. Minutes, to approve
• [Normally done by unanimous consent. When proposed by a
motion:] I move that the minutes be approved as read [or “as
corrected”].
48. Minutes, to correct before adoption
• [Usually suggested informally and done by unanimous
consent except in cases of disagreement. When done by a
motion:] I move to amend the minutes by…
49. Minutes, to correct after approval
[See Amend Something Previously Adopted, No. 13.]
50. Minutes, to dispense with reading of
• I move that the reading of the minutes be dispensed with.
51. Minutes, to take up after their reading has been dispensed with
 • I move to take up the reading of the minutes.
52. Minutes, to order the reading of a subordinate board’s
• I move that the minutes of the Executive Board’s last meeting
be produced and read.
53. Nominations, to make
• I nominate George Beall.
54. Nominations, to close
• I move that nominations be closed.
55. Nominations, to reopen
• I move that nominations for… be reopened.
56. Nominations, motions relating to (except to close or reopen
nominations) made while election is pending
• I move that candidates for service on the committee be
nominated from the floor.
57. Nominations, motions relating to, made while election is not
pending
[Same form as No. 56]
58. Object, to authorize motion outside society’s
• I move to authorize the introduction of the following motion:…
• I move that the motion just made by Member A be considered
by the assembly.
59. Objection to Consideration of a Question
• I object to the consideration of the question.
60. Order, to make a special, when question is not pending
• I move that the following resolution be made a special order
for 3 P.M.: “Resolved, That…”
61. Orders of the Day, to Call for
• I call for the orders of the day.
62. Orders of the day, to proceed to
 [Chair at his discretion puts this question when orders of the
day are due to be taken up or are called for.]
63. Order of the day, when pending
[Will have been introduced earlier as a main motion.]
64. Order, Point of, Question of, or Calling a Member to
• Point of order!
• I rise to a point of order.
• I call the member to order. [Applying to indecorum]
65. Parliamentary Inquiry
• I rise to a parliamentary inquiry.
• Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. President!
66. Postpone Indefinitely
• I move that the resolution be postponed indefinitely.
67. Postpone to a Certain Time, or Definitely, applied to a pending
question
• I move to postpone the question to the next meeting.
68. Postpone a pending question to a certain time and make it a
special order
• I move that the resolution be postponed until 3 P.M. and made
a special order.
69. Postpone an event or action previously scheduled
• I move that the dinner previously scheduled for September 15
be postponed until October 17.
70. Previous Question (immediately to close debate and the making
of subsidiary motions except the motion to Lay on the Table)
• I move the previous question.
• I move the previous question on the motion to commit and the
amendment.
71. Proviso
 • I move to add the following to the motion: provided that this
shall not take effect until….
72. Question of Privilege, to Raise while regular introduction as main
motion is not in order
• I rise to a question of privilege.
73. Question of privilege, to offer as a main motion when an ordinary
main motion is in order or after being raised as in No. 72 above
[Is moved as a main motion.]
74. Quorum, to take measures to obtain, if moved while a question is
pending
• I move that a committee of three be appointed by the chair
and directed to contact absent members during the recess.
75. Quorum, to take measures to obtain, if moved while no question
is pending
[Same form as No. 74]
76. Ratify, or Confirm
• I move that the action of the Executive Board on… be ratified.
77. Read Papers, to grant permission to
• [Usually done by unanimous consent. When done by a
motion:] I move that the member [or “I”] be permitted [or
“allowed”] to read…
78. Recapitulation of roll call, to order
• I move for a recapitulation of the vote.
79. Recess, to take a, if moved while business is pending
• I move to recess for five minutes.
80. Recess, to take a, if moved while no question is pending
[Same form as No. 79]
81. Reconsider
• I move to reconsider the vote on the motion relating to…
 • I move to reconsider the vote on the amendment striking
out… and inserting…
82. Reconsider, in a committee
[Form similar to No. 81]
83. Reconsider, call up motion to
• I call up the motion to reconsider the vote…
84. Recount, to order
• I move that the ballots be recounted.
85. Report, to receive when no time has been established for its
reception
• I move that the assembly receive the report of the Finance
Committee.
86. Rescind and expunge from the minutes
• I move that the entry relating to… be rescinded and expunged
from the minutes.
87. Rescind, Repeal, or Annul
• I move that the resolution relating to… adopted on [date] be
rescinded.
88. Refer
[See Commit, Committee, Nos. 26 and 27.]
89. Rise, or Rise and Report (in a special committee)
• I move that the committee rise.
90. Rise, or Rise and Report (in a committee of the whole)
• I move that the committee rise and report.
91. Substitute
• I move to substitute for the pending resolution the following
resolution: “Resolved, That…”
92. Suspend the Rules (as applied to rules of order)
• I move to suspend the rules which interfere with…
93. Suspend ordinary standing rules, or standing rules in a
convention
[Form similar to No. 92]
94. Take from the Table
• I move to take from the table the motion relating to…
95. Take up a question out of its proper order
• I move to suspend the rules and take up…
96. Voting, motions relating to, if made while subject is pending
• I move that the vote on this question be taken by rising and
be counted.
97. Voting, motions relating to, if made while no question is pending
[Form similar to No. 96]
98. Withdraw or Modify a Motion, to grant maker permission to, after
motion has been stated by the chair
• [Usually done by unanimous consent. When done by a
motion, for the case of withdrawal:] I move that the member
[or “I”] be permitted [or “allowed”] to withdraw the motion.
[For the case of modification by a motion, see Amend a
pending motion, No. 11.]
IV. MOTIONS AND PARLIAMENTARY STEPS

• Which Are in Order When Another Has the Floor and Do Not
Require a Second
Can interrupt a person speaking Call for a Division of the
in debate if urgency requires it. Assembly (29)
Call for separate vote(s) on one
or more of a series of
unrelated resolutions that
have been offered by a single
motion (10:25, 27:10), or on
one or more of a series of
amendments on which the
chair has stated the question
in gross (12:14, 27:11,
51:48(b), 52:13, 52:23)
Call for the Orders of the Day
(18)
Calling a member to order
(61:11)
Parliamentary Inquiry (33:3–5)
Point of Order (23)
Raise a Question of Privilege
(19)
Request for Information (33:6–
10)
Request to Be Excused from a
Duty (32)
Requests, or motions to grant
the request of another
member, as follows:
For Permission to Withdraw or
Modify a Motion (33:11–19)
For Permission to Read
 Papers (33:20–21)
For Any Other Privilege
(33:22)
In order when another has been Notice of intent to introduce a
assigned the floor but has not motion requiring such notice
begun to speak. (See (10:44–51)
particular rules under Objection to the Consideration of
references given.) a Question (26)
• Which Are in Order When Another Has the Floor but Must Be
Seconded
Can interrupt a person speaking Appeal (24)
in debate if urgency requires it. Formal motion to grant maker’s
own request, if it is not granted
by unanimous consent (32;
33:11–22)
In order when another has been Reconsider (to make the motion,
assigned the floor but has not but not to have it considered
begun to speak. (See at that time; 37)
particular rules under Reconsider and Enter on the
references given.) Minutes (to make the motion;
37:46–52)
• Which Are out of Order When Another Has the Floor but Do
Not Require a Second
Call up a motion to Reconsider
or a motion to Reconsider and
Enter on the Minutes (37)
Nominations* (46)
Proposals for filling blanks*
(12:92–113)
* When chair calls for them, can
be offered without obtaining
the floor.
V. MOTIONS AND PARLIAMENTARY STEPS

• Which Are Not Debatable and Not Amendable

Adjourn (when privileged; 21)
Amend an amendment to an undebatable motion (12)
Appeal, if it: (a) relates to indecorum or a transgression of the rules
of speaking; (b) relates to the priority of business; or (c) is made
when an undebatable question is immediately pending or
involved in the appeal (24)
Authorize a motion outside society’s object (10:26(2))
Blank in an undebatable motion, proposals for filling (12:92–113)
Call for a Division of the Assembly (29)
Call for separate vote(s) on one or more of a series of unrelated
resolutions which have been offered by a single motion (10:25,
27:10), or on one or more of a series of amendments on which
the chair has stated the question in gross (12:14, 27:11,
51:48(b), 52:13, 52:23)
Call for the Orders of the Day (18)
Call up a motion to Reconsider, or a motion to Reconsider and
Enter on the Minutes (37)
Calling a member to order (61:11)
Dispense with reading of the minutes (48:11)
Grant permission to continue speaking after indecorum (61:11)
Lay on the Table (17)
Objection to the Consideration of a Question (26)
Parliamentary Inquiry (33:3–5)
Point of Order (except one referred to assembly by chair on which
appeal would be debatable, or one where debate is permitted at
chair’s discretion by way of explanation; 23)
Previous Question (16)
Raise a Question of Privilege (19)
Receive a report (51:28)
 Reconsider an undebatable motion (37)
Request for Information (33:6–10)
Request for Permission to Modify a Motion (33:11–13, 33:19)
Requests or motions to grant requests, in these cases:
For Permission to Withdraw a Motion (33:11–18)
For Permission to Read Papers (33:20–21)
For Any Other Privilege (33:22)
Rise, or Rise and Report, in a committee of the whole (52:4ff.)
Suspend the Rules (25)
Take from the Table (34)
Take up a question out of its proper order (14:11; 25; 41:37–39)
Take up minutes after their reading has been dispensed with
(48:11)
• Which Are Not Debatable but Are Amendable
Amend an undebatable motion (12)
Arrange order of consideration of bylaw amendments (57:6)
Consider by Paragraph or Seriatim (28)
Division of a Question (27)
Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn (when privileged; 22)
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate (15)
Motions relating to methods of voting and the polls (30)
Motions relating to nominations (31)
Recess (when privileged; 20)
Take measures to obtain a quorum (when privileged; 40)
• Which Are Not Amendable but Are Debatable
Amend an amendment to a debatable motion (12)
Appeal, in all cases except those listed at the top of the facing
page as undebatable (24)
Blank in a debatable motion, proposals for filling (12:92–113)
Nominations, to make (46)
Postpone Indefinitely (11)
Question of Order, when it has been referred to the assembly by
the chair and an appeal on the same point would be debatable
(see above, and 23)
 Reconsider a debatable motion (37)
• On Which Debate Can Go into Merits of the Main Question or
the Question Which Is the Subject of the Proposed Action
Amend Something Previously Adopted (35)
Discharge a Committee (36)
Fix the time at which a motion shall take effect (10; 12; 57:15–17)
Postpone Indefinitely (11)
Ratify (10:54–57)
Reconsider a debatable motion (37)
Rescind (35)
VI. MOTIONS WHICH REQUIRE A TWO-THIRDS VOTE

Motions marked † may also be adopted by a vote of a majority of the

entire membership, even if previous notice has not been given.

Adopt agenda or program at a session already having an order of

business, if it contains special orders or conflicts with the
existing order of business (10, 41)
† Adopt parliamentary authority in an organized society if the
bylaws do not designate one, previous notice also being
required (2:14–22; 10)
Adopt parliamentary standing rules in a convention (10; 59:27ff.)
† Adopt special rules of order, previous notice also being required
(2:14–22; 10)
† Amend an adopted agenda or program (35; 41; 59:59)
† Amend or Rescind adopted constitution or bylaws containing no
provision for own amendment, previous notice also being
required (35, 57)
† Amend or Rescind adopted nonparliamentary standing rule in a
convention, if notice has not been given on at least the
preceding day (35; 59:27ff.)
† Amend or Rescind adopted parliamentary standing rule in a
convention (35; 59:27ff.)
† Amend or Rescind adopted special rules of order (2:22; 35),
previous notice also being required
† Amend or Rescind Something Previously Adopted (general case,
including ordinary standing rules), when previous notice has not
been given (35)
Amend or Rescind Something Previously Adopted, in a committee
when someone who voted for the motion to be rescinded or
amended is absent and has not been notified of the motion to
Amend or Rescind (35)
Authorize a motion outside society’s object (10:26(2))
Close nominations (31)
Close the polls (30)
† Discharge a Committee, if previous notice, or a partial report, has
not been given (36)
Expel from membership, notice and a trial being also required
unless the offense is committed in a meeting of the assembly
(61)
Extend time for consideration of pending question (18), or time
until scheduled adjournment or recess (20, 21)
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate (15)
Make a special order (14, 41)
Objection to the Consideration of a Question (26) (two-thirds
against consideration sustains the objection)
† Order the reading of a subordinate board’s minutes, when
previous notice has not been given (49:17–19)
Previous Question (16)
Reconsider in committee, when someone who voted with the
prevailing side is absent and has not been notified that the
reconsideration will be moved (37:35)
Refuse to proceed to the orders of the day (18)
† Remove from office where trial is not required (see 62:16), and
previous notice has not been given
Suspend the Rules (25)
Take up a question out of its proper order, or take up an order of
the day before the time for which it has been set (14:11; 25; 41)
VII. MOTIONS WHOSE RECONSIDERATION IS PROHIBITED OR
LIMITED

• Cannot be reconsidered at all:

Adjourn (21)
Close nominations (31)
Close the polls immediately (30)
Consider by Paragraph or Seriatim (28)
Create a blank (12:95)
Dispense with the reading of the minutes (48:11)
Division of a Question (27)
Division of the Assembly, or ordering a rising vote counted (29)
Extend time for consideration of pending question (18), or time
until scheduled adjournment or recess (20, 21)
Parliamentary Inquiry (33:3–5)
Point of Order (23)
Proceed to the orders of the day (18)
Raise a Question of Privilege (19)
Recess (20)
Reconsider (37)
Request for Information (33:6–10)
Rise, or Rise and Report (50:23, 52:4ff.)
Suspend the Rules (25)
Take from the Table (34)
Take up a question out of its proper order (14; 25; 41:37–39)
Take up minutes after their reading has been dispensed with
(48:11)
• A negative vote cannot be reconsidered (although an
affirmative vote can be):
Postpone Indefinitely (11)
• An affirmative vote cannot be reconsidered (although a
negative vote can be):
Accept resignation or grant Request to Be Excused from a Duty, if
person was present or has been notified (32)
Adopt or amend agenda or program (41; 59:48ff.)
Adopt or amend bylaws or constitution, rules of order, or any other
rules that require previous notice for their amendment (2, 54, 57,
59)
Amend Something Previously Adopted (35, 57)
Arrange order of consideration of bylaw amendments (57:6)
Authorize a motion outside society’s object (10:26(2))
Commit, if committee has begun work on referred matter (13)
Consider informally (13, 52)
Declare the chair vacant (62:10–12)
Discharge a Committee (36)
Election, if person elected was present and did not decline, or was
absent but had consented to candidacy, or had not consented to
candidacy but has been notified and has not declined (46)
Expulsion from membership or office, if person was present or has
been officially notified (35:6(c))
Grant Permission to Withdraw or Modify a Motion (33:11–19)
Lay on the Table (17)
Objection to the Consideration of a Question (26)
Order a recount, after recount has begun (30; 45:41)
Previous Question, after any vote has been taken under it (16)
Receive a report, after report has begun (51:28)
Reopen nominations (31)
Reopen the polls immediately (30)
Rescind (35)
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 APPENDIX

SAMPLE RULES FOR ELECTRONIC MEETINGS

INTRODUCTION
As noted in the main text of this book, there is an increasing
preference among some organizations to transact business at
“electronic meetings,” in which some or all of the members
communicate through electronic means such as the Internet or
by telephone. Regarding the proper authorization of such
meetings, and their limitations, see Electronic Meetings, 9:30–
36, wherein it is stated that when electronic meetings are
authorized—which, in the case of a board or other assembly,
always requires a bylaw provision—additional rules should be
adopted to govern their conduct. Depending on the nature of the
rules and the specific provisions of the bylaws, such additional
rules may be placed in the bylaws, adopted as special rules of
order or standing rules, or contained in instructions from a
superior body.
The additional rules appropriate to a particular organization’s
electronic meetings may depend on many factors, such as the
number of members in the organization, the nature and
complexity of the business to be transacted, the organization’s
need for confidentiality in its proceedings, and the funds
available. Four sets of sample rules for electronic meetings
designed to meet various needs are provided here, along with
bylaw provisions sufficient to authorize such meetings. These
rules should, of course, be adapted as necessary for the
particular circumstances of each group and the technology the
organization finds most useful. It is therefore advisable to review
all four sets of rules, as some particular rules from one set may
prove appropriate for adaptation together with some or all of the
rules from another. It is also worth noting that although the rules
below are written on the assumption they would be used by a
board, electronic meetings could be authorized for another type
of assembly or for a committee, and the sample rules could be
adapted accordingly.
Consider an organization governed by bylaws whose
relevant provisions are patterned directly on the Sample Bylaws
in this book (56:58–67). Each of the four sets of sample rules
below shows how the organization might amend Article VI of the
bylaws to authorize the executive board to conduct business by
a particular type of electronic meeting. In each case, the sample
bylaw provisions are followed by a number of additional rules
that may be helpful in governing the conduct of that type of
meeting.
The sample rules in Scenarios A, B, C, and D below are
designed for allowing the board to make use of the following
types of electronic communication to conduct meetings,
respectively:

A. Full-featured Internet, or combination Internet/telephone,

meeting services that integrate audio (and optionally video),
text, and voting capabilities.
B. Telephone meetings, with Internet services for conducting
secret votes and sharing documents.
C. A speakerphone in the meeting room to allow members who
are not physically present to participate by telephone.
D. Telephone meetings without Internet support (and without
any central meeting room).

For Scenarios A and B, it is assumed that electronic

meetings will be the usual method for conducting business, with
in-person meetings held only when ordered by the board or all
of its members. In Scenario C, it is assumed that a physical
meeting space is designated for every meeting, but individual
board members may participate by telephone. In Scenario D, in-
person meetings are assumed as the norm, but telephone
meetings may be ordered as needed.
SCENARIO A: USE OF FULL-FEATURED
INTERNET MEETING SERVICES
In this scenario, the board makes use of Internet meeting
services with integrated audio (and optionally video), text, and
voting capabilities as the usual meeting method, with in-person
meetings when ordered by the board or all of its members.
Internet meeting services adapted to the needs of
deliberative assemblies vary somewhat in the names given to
their features and in how they are set up and arranged.
Typically, a full-featured Internet meeting is set up as follows:
Each participant, using his or her own computer or other
device, can view the current list of all participants—with an
indication of which member has the floor or which members are
seeking recognition by the chair—and can seek recognition,
submit motions in writing, view the text of pending motions, vote,
and view the results of a vote. The sample rules given below
require that anonymous voting be supported (in other words,
that a member who is properly logged in to a meeting can cast
an “electronic ballot” that does not identify that member’s vote
as belonging to him or her), and they also assume that non-
anonymous votes can be taken, as well.
Audio transmissions can be integrated directly via the
Internet, so that participants listen and speak through
microphones and speakers or headsets at their computers or
other devices. Alternatively, there might be a conference call,
with access codes for the participants, that is dialed into by
ordinary telephone but is also linked to the Internet meeting
interface, so that participants speak and listen by telephone, but
use the Internet service (which remains aware of the identity of
each caller) for all other features. If the participants have
webcams for transmitting live video, a portion of the screen
might show their faces, or else (perhaps depending on the total
number of participants) just those of the chair and/or the person
speaking in debate or presenting a report.
The organizers of the meeting also have access to a control
panel for use by the chair, the Recording Secretary, and their
assistants, which enables them to perform their duties during
the meeting, such as ensuring that the text of the pending
question is properly displayed, assigning the floor to a member,
opening and closing the polls for taking a vote, controlling the
camera view, etc.
Assuming an organization’s bylaws are patterned directly on
the Sample Bylaws in this book, the organization can authorize
the board to meet by use of an Internet meeting service with
features like those described above by adding the following
sections to Article VI (56:64):
Sample Bylaw Provisions for Scenario A
Section 4. Meetings Held Electronically. Except as otherwise provided
in these bylaws, meetings of the Board shall be conducted through use
of Internet meeting services designated by the President that support
anonymous voting and support visible displays identifying those
participating, identifying those seeking recognition to speak, showing (or
permitting the retrieval of) the text of pending motions, and showing the
results of votes. These electronic meetings of the Board shall be subject
to all rules adopted by the Board, or by the Society, to govern them,
which may include any reasonable limitations on, and requirements for,
Board members’ participation. Any such rules adopted by the Board
shall supersede any conflicting rules in the parliamentary authority, but
may not otherwise conflict with or alter any rule or decision of the
Society. An anonymous vote conducted through the designated Internet
meeting service shall be deemed a ballot vote, fulfilling any requirement
in the bylaws or rules that a vote be conducted by ballot.
Section 5. Meetings Held in Person. Some particular meeting or
meetings of the Board shall be held in person either (a) when the
President or First Vice-President has obtained written consent for this
from every Board member, or (b) when ordered by the Board, by a two-
thirds vote with previous notice of a motion to do so having been given.1

The board may then find it helpful to adopt rules such as the
following:
Sample Rules for Electronic Meetings for Scenario A
1. Login information. The Corresponding Secretary shall send
by e-mail to every member of the Board, at least [time]
before each meeting, the time of the meeting, the URL and
codes necessary to connect to the Internet meeting service,
and, as an alternative and backup to the audio connection
included within the Internet service, the phone number and
access code(s) the member needs to participate aurally by
telephone. The Corresponding Secretary shall also include a
copy of, or a link to, these rules.
2. Login time. The Recording Secretary shall schedule
Internet meeting service availability to begin at least 15
minutes before the start of each meeting.
3. Signing in and out. Members shall identify themselves as
required to sign in to the Internet meeting service, and shall
maintain Internet and audio access throughout the meeting
whenever present, but shall sign out upon any departure
before adjournment.
4. Quorum calls. The presence of a quorum shall be
established by audible roll call at the beginning of the
meeting. Thereafter, the continued presence of a quorum
shall be determined by the online list of participating
members, unless any member demands a quorum count by
audible roll call. Such a demand may be made following any
vote for which the announced totals add to less than a
quorum.
5. Technical requirements and malfunctions. Each member
is responsible for his or her audio and Internet connections;
no action shall be invalidated on the grounds that the loss of,
or poor quality of, a member’s individual connection
 prevented participation in the meeting.
6. Forced disconnections. The chair may cause or direct the
disconnection or muting of a member’s connection if it is
causing undue interference with the meeting. The chair’s
decision to do so, which is subject to an undebatable appeal
that can be made by any member, shall be announced
during the meeting and recorded in the minutes.
7. Assignment of the floor. To seek recognition by the chair, a
member shall… [specifying the exact method appropriate to
the Internet meeting service being used]. Upon assigning the
floor to a member, the chair shall clear the online queue of
members who had been seeking recognition. To claim
preference in recognition, another member who had been
seeking recognition may promptly seek recognition again,
and the chair shall recognize the member for the limited
purpose of determining whether that member is entitled to
preference in recognition.
8. Interrupting a member. A member who intends to make a
motion or request that under the rules may interrupt a
speaker shall use [the designated feature] for so indicating,
and shall thereafter wait a reasonable time for the chair’s
instructions before attempting to interrupt the speaker by
voice.
9. Motions submitted in writing. A member intending to make
a main motion, to offer an amendment, or to propose
instructions to a committee, shall, before or after being
recognized, post the motion in writing to the online area
designated by the Recording Secretary for this purpose,
preceded by the member’s name and a number
corresponding to how many written motions the member has
so far posted during the meeting (e.g., “SMITH 3:”;
“FRANCES JONES 2:”). Use of the online area designated
 by the Recording Secretary for this purpose shall be
restricted to posting the text of intended motions.
10. Display of motions. The Recording Secretary shall
designate an online area exclusively for the display of the
immediately pending question and other relevant pending
questions (such as the main motion, or the pertinent part of
the main motion, when an amendment to it is immediately
pending); and, to the extent feasible, the Recording
Secretary, or any assistants appointed by him or her for this
purpose, shall cause such questions, or any other
documents that are currently before the meeting for action or
information, to be displayed therein until disposed of.
11. Voting. Votes shall be taken by the anonymous voting
feature of the Internet meeting service, unless a different
method is ordered by the Board or required by the rules.
When required or ordered, other permissible methods of
voting are by electronic roll call or by audible roll call. The
chair’s announcement of the voting result shall include the
number of members voting on each side of the question and
the number, if any, who explicitly respond to acknowledge
their presence without casting a vote. Business may also be
conducted by unanimous consent.
12. Video display. [For groups using video, but in which the
number of participants is too large for all to be displayed
simultaneously:] The chair, the Recording Secretary, or their
assistants shall cause a video of the chair to be displayed
throughout the meeting, and shall also cause display of the
video of the member currently recognized to speak or report.
SCENARIO B: TELECONFERENCE WITH
INTERNET VOTING AND DOCUMENT SHARING
Assuming an organization’s bylaws are patterned directly on
the Sample Bylaws in this book, the organization can authorize
the board to meet by teleconference, using Internet services for
conducting secret votes and sharing documents, by adding the
following section to Article VI (56:64):
Sample Bylaw Provisions for Scenario B
Section 4. Meetings Held Electronically. Meetings of the Board shall
be conducted by telephone, except that some particular meeting or
meetings shall be held in person either (a) when the President or First
Vice-President has obtained written consent for this from every Board
member, or (b) when ordered by the Board, by a two-thirds vote with
previous notice of a motion to do so having been given.2 Telephone
meetings of the Board shall be subject to all rules adopted by the Board,
or by the Society, to govern such meetings, which may include any
reasonable limitations on, and requirements for, Board members’
participation, and which shall specify how motions may be submitted in
writing via the Internet. Any such rules adopted by the Board shall
supersede any conflicting rules in the parliamentary authority, but may
not otherwise conflict with or alter any rule or decision of the Society. At
telephone meetings, any ballot votes required under the rules or ordered
by the Board shall be conducted electronically, using an Internet service
that supports anonymous voting.

The board may then find it helpful to adopt rules such as the
following to govern the conduct of telephone meetings. Note that
the requirement in Rules 1 and 2 of a unique access code for
each member provides greater assurance that only members
and others specifically invited can participate than do the
sample rules given for Scenarios C and D. (Cf. 9:36.)
Sample Rules for Electronic Meetings for Scenario B
1. Login information. The Corresponding Secretary shall send
by e-mail to every member of the Board, at least [time]
before each meeting, the time of the meeting, the phone
number and unique access code that that member needs to
connect to the telephone conference call, and the URLs and
login information for the online survey tool and file-hosting
service. The Corresponding Secretary shall also include a
copy of, or a link to, these rules.
2. Call-in time. The Recording Secretary shall schedule a
telephone conference call, using a free service that provides
each user a unique access code, to begin 15 minutes before
the start of each meeting. The Recording Secretary shall
also establish accounts with a free online survey tool that
supports anonymous surveys, and with a free file-hosting
service.
3. Technical requirements. For the purposes of electronic
ballot voting and file sharing, members shall maintain
Internet access during the meeting.
4. Arrival announcements. Members shall announce
themselves at the first opportunity after joining the telephone
conference call, but may not interrupt a speaker to do so.
5. Departure announcements. Members who leave the
telephone conference call before adjournment shall
announce their departure, but may not interrupt a speaker to
do so.
6. Quorum calls. The presence of a quorum shall be
established by roll call at the beginning of the meeting and
on the demand of any member. Such a demand may be
made following the departure of any member, or following
 the taking of any vote for which the announced totals add to
less than a quorum.
7. Obtaining the floor. To seek recognition by the chair, a
member shall address the chair and state his or her own
name.
8. Motions submitted in writing. Members may submit
motions to the chair in writing by uploading them to the file-
hosting service and notifying the chair of the URL or
download link needed to access the file.
9. Voting. All votes shall be taken by roll call, unless required
under the rules or ordered by the Board to be taken by ballot.
When a vote is taken by roll call, only the number of votes on
each side and the number of members present but not voting
shall be entered in the minutes, unless the Board orders a
fully recorded roll-call vote. Ballot votes shall be taken
electronically, as follows: The Recording Secretary shall post
the question using the online survey tool, and the chair shall
then alert the members that the polls are open, providing any
additional information that members need to cast their votes
online. The polls shall be closed not less than two minutes
after they have been opened by the chair. Business may also
be conducted by unanimous consent.
10. Technical malfunctions. Each member is responsible for
his or her connection to the telephone conference call and to
the Internet; no action shall be invalidated on the grounds
that the loss of, or poor quality of, a member’s individual
connection prevented participation in the meeting.
11. Forced disconnections. The chair may order the
Recording Secretary to disconnect or mute a member’s
connection if it is causing undue interference with the
telephone conference call. The chair’s decision to do so,
which is subject to an undebatable appeal that can be made
by any member, shall be announced during the meeting and
recorded in the minutes.
SCENARIO C: SOME MEMBERS PARTICIPATE BY
SPEAKERPHONE IN OTHERWISE FACE-TO-FACE
MEETING
An organization may wish to permit its board to hold
meetings in which some members are physically present while
others participate by telephone.
Assume an organization’s bylaws are patterned directly on
the Sample Bylaws in this book, and assume that no rule of the
organization requires votes of the executive board to be taken
by ballot. By adding the following provision to Section 3 of
Article VI of the bylaws (56:64), the organization can grant board
members the right to participate in meetings by telephone,
subject to rules adopted by the board:
Sample Bylaw Provisions for Scenario C
Board meetings shall be held at a central location, but Board members
who are not present in person shall have the right to participate by
telephone, subject to any limitations established in rules adopted by the
Board to govern such participation.

The board may then find it helpful to adopt rules such as the
following:
Sample Rules for Electronic Meetings for Scenario C
1. Login information. The Corresponding Secretary shall send
by e-mail to every member of the Board, at least [time]
before each meeting, the time and location of the meeting
and the phone number and any access code needed to
connect to the telephone conference call. The
Corresponding Secretary shall also include a copy of, or a
link to, these rules.
2. Call-in time. The Recording Secretary shall schedule a
telephone conference call, using equipment provided by the
Society or a free service, to begin 15 minutes before the start
of each meeting.
3. Meeting-room equipment. The society shall provide a
speakerphone at each meeting, which the Recording
Secretary shall connect to the telephone conference call at
least 5 minutes before the start of the meeting.
4. Location of chairman. The chair of the meeting must be
present in the meeting room.
5. Arrival announcements. Members who participate in the
meeting by phone shall announce themselves at the first
opportunity after joining the telephone conference call, but
may not interrupt a speaker to do so.
6. Departure announcements. Members who leave the
telephone conference call or the meeting room before
adjournment shall announce their departure, but may not
interrupt a speaker to do so.
7. Quorum calls. The presence of a quorum shall be
established by roll call at the beginning of the meeting and
on the demand of any member. Such a demand may be
made following the departure of any member or following the
 taking of any vote for which the announced totals add to less
than a quorum.
8. Obtaining the floor. To seek recognition by the chair, a
member shall address the chair and state his or her own
name.
9. Motions submitted in writing. Members who participate in
the meeting by phone may not submit motions in writing
during the meeting, but are entitled to make motions orally.
Members may, however, submit motions in writing by
sending them at least [time] before the meeting to the
Corresponding Secretary, who shall send any such
presubmitted motions by e-mail to all members in advance of
the meeting and shall provide copies to the members
present in person at the meeting.
10. Voting methods. All votes shall be taken by roll call. Unless
the Board orders a fully recorded roll-call vote, only the
number of votes on each side and the number of members
present but not voting (including members participating by
phone) shall be entered in the minutes. Business may also
be conducted by unanimous consent.
11. Loss of meeting-room connection. Any business
transacted while the meeting-room speakerphone is
disconnected from the telephone conference call is null and
void, except that the members present in the meeting room
at such a time may take those actions that are in order in the
absence of a quorum.
12. Other technical malfunctions and requirements. Each
member is responsible for his or her connection to the
telephone conference call; no action shall be invalidated on
the grounds that the loss of, or poor quality of, a member’s
individual connection prevented participation in the meeting.
13. Forced disconnections. The chair may order the
Recording Secretary to disconnect or mute a member’s
connection if it is causing undue interference with the
telephone conference call. The chair’s decision to do so,
which is subject to an undebatable appeal that can be made
by any member, shall be announced during the meeting and
recorded in the minutes.
SCENARIO D: TELEPHONE MEETING WITHOUT
INTERNET SUPPORT
Assume an organization’s bylaws are patterned directly on
the Sample Bylaws in this book, and assume that no rule of the
organization requires votes of the board to be taken by ballot.
By adding the following section to Article VI of the bylaws
(56:64), the organization can authorize the board to meet by
telephone conference call when desired, without using Internet
services.
Sample Bylaw Provisions for Scenario D
Section 4. Meetings Held Electronically. Meetings of the Board may be
conducted by telephone (a) when the President or First Vice-President
has obtained written consent for this from a majority of the Board
members; (b) when so directed by the Board; or (c) in the case of special
meetings, when so directed by those calling the special meeting.3
Telephone meetings of the Board shall be subject to all rules adopted by
the Board, or by the Society, to govern such meetings, which may
include any reasonable limitations on, and requirements for, Board
members’ participation. Any such rules adopted by the Board shall
supersede any conflicting rules in the parliamentary authority, but may
not otherwise conflict with or alter any rule or decision of the Society.

The board may then find it helpful to adopt rules such as the
following to govern the conduct of telephone meetings:
Sample Rules for Electronic Meetings for Scenario D
1. Connection information. The Corresponding Secretary
shall send by e-mail to every member of the Board, at least
[time] before each meeting, the time of the meeting and the
phone number and access code needed to connect to the
telephone conference call.
2. Call-in time. The Recording Secretary shall schedule a
telephone conference call, using a free service, to begin 15
minutes before the start of each telephone meeting.
3. Arrival announcements. Members shall announce
themselves at the first opportunity after joining the telephone
conference call, but may not interrupt a speaker to do so.
4. Departure announcements. Members who leave the
telephone conference call before adjournment shall
announce their departure, but may not interrupt a speaker to
do so.
5. Quorum calls. The presence of a quorum shall be
established by roll call at the beginning of the meeting and
on the demand of any member. Such a demand may be
made following the departure of any member, or following
the taking of any vote for which the announced totals add to
less than a quorum.
6. Obtaining the floor. To seek recognition by the chair, a
member shall address the chair and state his or her own
name.
7. Motions submitted in writing. Members may not submit
motions in writing during the meeting, but are entitled to
make motions orally. Members may, however, submit
motions in writing by sending them at least [time] before the
meeting to the Corresponding Secretary, who shall send any
 such pre-submitted motions by e-mail to all members in
advance of the meeting.
8. Voting methods. All votes shall be taken by roll call. Unless
the Board orders a fully recorded roll-call vote, only the
number of votes on each side and the number of members
present but not voting shall be entered in the minutes.
Business may also be conducted by unanimous consent.
9. Technical malfunctions and requirements. Each member
is responsible for his or her connection to the telephone
conference call; no action shall be invalidated on the
grounds that the loss of, or poor quality of, a member’s
individual connection prevented participation in the meeting.
10. Forced disconnections. The chair may order the
Recording Secretary to disconnect or mute a member’s
connection if it is causing undue interference with the
telephone conference call. The chair’s decision to do so,
which is subject to an undebatable appeal that can be made
by any member, shall be announced during the meeting and
recorded in the minutes.
Footnotes to the
Appendix
1. Compare this with Sample Bylaw Provisions for Scenario D, which assume in-person
meetings as the norm, but authorize electronic meetings when directed by the board or
with the written consent of a majority of board members (or, in the case of a special
meeting, when directed by those calling the meeting).
2. Compare this with Sample Bylaw Provisions for Scenario D, which assume in-person
meetings as the norm, but authorize electronic meetings when directed by the board or
with the written consent of a majority of board members (or, in the case of a special
meeting, when directed by those calling the meeting).
3. Compare this with Sample Bylaw Provisions for Scenarios A and B, which assume
electronic meetings and require a supermajority to order an in-person meeting.
*
 THE EDITIONS OF THIS MANUAL
POCKET MANUAL OF RULES OF ORDER FOR DELIBERATIVE
ASSEMBLIES (Cover short title: ROBERT’S RULES OF ORDER)

First Edition: February 1876

Second Edition: July 1876
Third Edition: 1893

ROBERT’S RULES OF ORDER REVISED

Fourth Edition (Completely reworked and 75 percent enlarged by

original author): 1915
Fifth Edition (“Seventy-Fifth Anniversary”): 1943
Sixth Edition (“Seventy-Fifth Anniversary”): 1951

ROBERT’S RULES OF ORDER NEWLY REVISED

Seventh Edition (Enlarged more than twofold and totally recast to be

made self-explanatory): 1970
Eighth Edition: 1981
Ninth Edition: 1990
Tenth Edition (“Millennium”): 2000
Eleventh Edition: 2011
TWELFTH EDITION: 2020

Inclusive of Robert’s Rules of Order and Robert’s Rules of

Order Revised More Than Six Million Copies in Print
*

Order of Precedence of Motions; Other Conditions Affecting

Admissibility

PRIVILEGED, UNDEBATABLE: Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn

(when privileged as explained in 22:4)

PRIVILEGED, UNDEBATABLE: Adjourn (when privileged as

explained in 21:1–4)

PRIVILEGED, UNDEBATABLE: Recess (when moved while a

question is pending)

PRIVILEGED, UNDEBATABLE: Raise a Question of Privilege

PRIVILEGED, UNDEBATABLE: Call for the Orders of the Day IS

OUT OF ORDER WHEN: a motion to Suspend the Rules relating to
priority of business is pending

SUBSIDIARY, UNDEBATABLE: Lay on the Table IS OUT OF

ORDER WHEN: a Point of Order, undebatable Appeal, or one of the
five Requests and Inquiries—not adhering to main question—is
pending

SUBSIDIARY, UNDEBATABLE: Previous Question (immediately

to close debate and making of subsidiary motions except Lay on the
Table) IS OUT OF ORDER WHEN: a motion which cannot be
debated or amended is immediately pending

SUBSIDIARY, UNDEBATABLE: Limit or Extend Limits of Debate

IS OUT OF ORDER WHEN: any undebatable question is
immediately pending; also when motion(s) under an order for the
Previous Question remain to be voted on

SUBSIDIARY, DEBATABLE: Postpone to a Certain Time (or

Postpone Definitely) IS OUT OF ORDER WHEN: any undebatable
question except Division of a Question or Consider by Paragraph or
Seriatim is immediately pending; also when motion(s) under an order
for the Previous Question remain to be voted on

SUBSIDIARY, DEBATABLE: Commit (or Refer) IS OUT OF

ORDER WHEN: a motion to Reconsider is pending, or any
undebatable question except Division of a Question or Consider by
Paragraph or Seriatim is immediately pending; also when motion(s)
under an order for the Previous Question remain to be voted on

SUBSIDIARY, DEBATABLE: Amend IS OUT OF ORDER WHEN:

the application would be to the main question, and any motion
except Postpone Indefinitely is pending; also, in any application,
when motion(s) under an order for the Previous Question remain to
be voted on

SUBSIDIARY, DEBATABLE: Postpone Indefinitely IS OUT OF

ORDER WHEN: any motion except the main question is pending;
also when the Previous Question has been ordered

DEBATABLE: MAIN MOTION IS OUT OF ORDER WHEN: any

motion is pending
*
II. TABLE OF RULES RELATING TO MOTIONS
(For forms used in making motions, see Table III.)

MOTION: 1. Main motion or question (10)

CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority, except as explained
in 10:8(7)
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 2. Adjourn, ordinary case in societies (21)

CLASS1: P
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 3. Adjourn at or to a future time, or in advance of a time

already set, or when the assembly will thereby be dissolved (8, 10,
21)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 4. Adopt, accept, or agree to a report (10, 51)

CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 5. Adopt bylaws or constitution, initially in forming a

society (10, 54, 56)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes3
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 6. Adopt revised bylaws or constitution (35, 56, 57)

CLASS1: M/B
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes3
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: As provided in existing bylaws.
(In absence of such provision, same as in next line)
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 7. Adopt special rules of order (2:14ff.; 10)

CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: (a) Previous notice and two-
thirds; or (b) majority of entire membership
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 8. Adopt ordinary standing rules (2:23; 10)

CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 9. Adopt parliamentary standing rules in a convention (10;

59:27ff.)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes3
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only
*

MOTION: 10. Adopt agenda or program (10; 41; 59:48ff.)

CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes3
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority; but in session with
existing order of business, two-thirds if in conflict with it or sets
special order
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 11. Amend a pending motion (12)

CLASS1: S
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: If motion to be amended is debatable4
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 12. Amend an amendment of a pending motion (12)

CLASS1: S
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: If motion to be amended is debatable4
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 13. Amend Something Previously Adopted, general case,

including ordinary standing rules (35)
CLASS1: M/B
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: (a) Majority with notice; or (b)
two-thirds; or (c) majority of entire membership
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 14. Amend parliamentary standing rules in a convention,

when they are not pending (35; 59:27ff.)
CLASS1: M/B
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds; or majority of all
having convention voting rights who have been registered
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 15. Amend adopted agenda or program with reference to

items not yet reached (35; 41; 59:59)
CLASS1: M/B
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes3
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: As immediately above, though
often by unanimous consent after Program Committee’s
recommendation
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 16. Amend bylaws or constitution, when not pending (35,

57)
CLASS1: M/B
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: As provided in bylaws or
constitution. (In absence of such provision, same as in No. 17,
following)
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only
*

MOTION: 17. Amend special rules of order, when not pending (2:22;
35)
CLASS1: M/B
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: (a) Previous notice and two-
thirds; or (b) majority of entire membership
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 18. Appeal, general case (24)

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Yes, at time of
appealed ruling
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes,4 under rules stated in 24:3(5)
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority in negative required to
reverse chair’s decision
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 19. Appeal, relating to indecorum or transgression of rules

of speaking, or to the priority of business, or if made when an
undebatable question is immediately pending or involved in the
appeal (24)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Yes, at time of
appealed ruling
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority in negative required to
reverse chair’s decision
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 20. Ballot, to order the vote on pending question to be

taken by (30, 45)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 21. Blank, to create by striking out (12:95)

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 22. Blanks, proposals for filling (12:92ff.)

CLASS1:—
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Can be called out
when chair asks for them
MUST BE SECONDED2: No
DEBATABLE: If filling a blank in a debatable motion4
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 23. Bylaw amendments, to rearrange order of

consideration (57:6)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only
*

MOTION: 24. Chair, to declare vacant (10; 62:10–12)

CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes, unless put to a vote by its maker (see 62:11n4)
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 25. Change or depart from adopted convention agenda or

program, immediately to take up a matter out of its proper order (25,
35)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds; or majority of all
having convention voting rights who have been registered
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 26. Commit, Refer, or Recommit a pending question (13)

CLASS1: S
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes4
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: If committee has not begun
consideration of the question5

MOTION: 27. Committee, to refer a matter that is not pending to (10,

13)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: If committee has not begun work on the
matter

MOTION: 28. Consider informally (13, 52)

CLASS1: S
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes4
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 29. Consider by Paragraph or Seriatim (28)

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 30. Continue speaking after indecorum, to grant

permission to (23; 61:10ff.)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes, if in form of a motion
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 31. Debate and amendment, to obtain immediate closing

of
(See Previous Question, No. 70)
*

MOTION: 32. Debate, to Limit or Extend Limits of, on a pending

question (15)
CLASS1: S
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes; but if vote was affirmative, only
unexecuted part of order5

MOTION: 33. Debate, to Limit or Extend Limits of, for the duration of
a meeting (10, 15)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 34. Discharge a Committee (36)

CLASS1: B or M/B6
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes; debate can go into question in hands of the
committee
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: (a) Majority with notice; or (b)
two-thirds; or (c) majority of entire membership
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 35. Discharge a Committee, when it has failed to report at

prescribed time, or while assembly is considering partial report of
committee (36)
CLASS1: B or M/B6
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes; debate can go into question in hands of the
committee
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 36. Division of the Assembly (call for verification of a

voting result by an uncounted rising vote) (29)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Yes
MUST BE SECONDED2: No
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Demand of single member
compels Division
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 37. Count of vote on Division, to order, if chair does not do

so (4, 29, 30, 45)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Yes
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 38. Division of a Question (27)

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No
*

MOTION: 39. Call for a separate vote on a resolution which is one of

a series on different subjects offered by a single motion (10:25,
27:10)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Yes
MUST BE SECONDED2: No
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Demand of single member
compels specified separate vote
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 40. Duty, to be excused from (32)

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Yes
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes, if motion is made by member to be
excused; no, if made by another member
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 41. Effect, fix time for taking (10; 12; 57:15ff.)
CLASS1: M, S, or I7
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes8

MOTION: 42. Extend time for consideration of pending question, or

time until announced or scheduled adjournment or recess (18)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Yes, when orders
of the day are announced or called for
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 43. Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn, if moved while a

question is pending (22)
CLASS1: P
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 44. Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn, if moved while no

question is pending (10, 22)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes
*

MOTION: 45. Information, Request for (33)

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Yes
MUST BE SECONDED2: No
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Is not voted on
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 46. Lay on the Table (17)

CLASS1: S
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only9

MOTION: 47. Minutes, to approve (when proposed by a motion) (10,

41, 48)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Is not voted on (see 41:10–11)
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 48. Minutes, to correct before adoption (when done by a

motion) (12, 41, 48)
CLASS1: S
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 49. Minutes, to correct after approval (48:15)

(See Amend Something Previously Adopted, No. 13.)

MOTION: 50. Minutes, to dispense with reading of (48:11)

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only9

MOTION: 51. Minutes, to take up after their reading has been

dispensed with (48:11)
CLASS1: B
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 52. Minutes, to order the reading of a subordinate board’s

(49:17–19)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: (a) Majority with notice; or (b)
two-thirds; or (c) majority of entire membership
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 53. Nominations, to make (46)

CLASS1:—
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: No
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority for election unless
bylaws provide otherwise
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Election cannot be reconsidered after
person elected learns of it, and has not declined
*

MOTION: 54. Nominations, to close (31)

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 55. Nominations, to reopen (31)

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 56. Nominations, motions relating to (except to close or

reopen nominations) made while election is pending (31)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 57. Nominations, motions relating to, made while election

is not pending (10, 46)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 58. Object, to authorize motion outside society’s (10:26(2))

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 59. Objection to Consideration of a Question (26)

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Yes, until debate
has begun or a subsidiary motion other than Lay on the Table has
been stated by the chair
MUST BE SECONDED2: No
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds against
consideration sustains objection
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote (sustaining objection)
only

MOTION: 60. Order, to make a special, when question is not

pending (cf. No. 68) (10, 41)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes4
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes
*

MOTION: 61. Orders of the Day, to Call for (18)

CLASS1: P
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Yes
MUST BE SECONDED2: No
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Must be enforced on demand
of one member unless set aside by a two-thirds vote (see 18:8)
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 62. Orders of the day, to proceed to (18)

CLASS1:—
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Chair at his
discretion puts this question when orders of the day are due to be
taken up or are called for
MUST BE SECONDED2:—
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds in negative required
to refuse to proceed to orders of the day
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 63. Orders of the day, when pending (10, 18, 41)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR:—
MUST BE SECONDED2:—
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority, except as explained
in 10:8(7)
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 64. Order, Point of, Question of, or Calling a Member to

(23)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Yes
MUST BE SECONDED2: No
DEBATABLE: No (but chair can permit full explanation and can
submit question to assembly, in which case rule is as for Appeal; see
No. 18)
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Is ruled upon by chair (unless
he submits question to judgment of majority in assembly)
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 65. Parliamentary Inquiry (33)

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Yes
MUST BE SECONDED2: No
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Is not voted on, but is
responded to by chair
CAN BE RECONSIDERED:—

MOTION: 66. Postpone Indefinitely (11)

CLASS1: S
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes; debate can go into main question
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Affirmative vote only

MOTION: 67. Postpone to a Certain Time, or Definitely, applied to a

pending question (14)
CLASS1: S
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes4
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority, unless it makes
question a special order
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes5
*

MOTION: 68. Postpone a pending question to a certain time and

make it a special order (cf. No. 60) (14)
CLASS1: S
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes4
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes5

MOTION: 69. Postpone an event or action previously scheduled (35)

CLASS1: M/B
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: (a) Majority with notice; or (b)
two-thirds; or (c) majority of entire membership
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 70. Previous Question (immediately to close debate and

the making of subsidiary motions except the motion to Lay on the
Table) (16)
CLASS1: S
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes; but if vote was affirmative, only
before any vote has been taken under it5

MOTION: 71. Proviso (10; 12; 57:15ff.)

CLASS1: M, S, or I7
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 72. Question of Privilege, to Raise while regular

introduction as main motion is not in order (19)
CLASS1: P
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Yes, but should
not interrupt a person who has begun to speak, unless unavoidable
MUST BE SECONDED2: No; but if the question of privilege thereby
raised is in the form of a motion, the motion must be seconded
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Admissibility of question is
ruled upon by chair
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 73. Question of privilege in the form of a main motion,

whether introduced when an ordinary main motion is in order or
admitted by raising a question of privilege (10, 19)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Floor should be
obtained in usual manner if question is brought up while main motion
is in order
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority, except as explained
in 10:8(7)
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes
*

MOTION: 74. Quorum, to take measures to obtain, if moved while a

question is pending (40)
CLASS1: P
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 75. Quorum, to take measures to obtain, if moved while no

question is pending (40)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 76. Ratify, or Confirm (10)

CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority, except as explained
in 10:8(7)
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 77. Read Papers, to grant permission to (33)

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: If not granted by
unanimous consent, can be moved by person requesting permission
or by another while the former has the floor
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes, if motion is made by person
requesting permission; no, if made by another member
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 78. Recapitulation of roll call, to order (30; 45:51)

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes

MOTION: 79. Recess, to take a, if moved while business is pending

(20)
CLASS1: P
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 80. Recess, to take a, if moved while no question is

pending (10, 20)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No
*

MOTION: 81. Reconsider (37)

CLASS1: B
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: When another has
been assigned the floor, but not after he has begun to speak
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: If motion to be reconsidered is debatable, in which
case debate can go into that question
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 82. Reconsider, in a committee (37:35)

CLASS1: B
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: Cannot interrupt a
person speaking
MUST BE SECONDED2: No
DEBATABLE: As in No. 81, preceding
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds; but majority if
every committee member who voted with prevailing side is present
or was notified
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 83. Reconsider, call up motion to (37)

CLASS1:—
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: No
DEBATABLE:—
AMENDABLE:—
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION:—
CAN BE RECONSIDERED:—

MOTION: 84. Recount, to order (30; 45:41)

CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: If recount has not begun

MOTION: 85. Report, to receive when no time has been established

for its reception (51:28)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: If report has not begun5

MOTION: 86. Rescind and expunge from minutes (35:13)

CLASS1: M/B
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority of entire membership
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 87. Rescind, Repeal, or Annul (35)

CLASS1: M/B
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: (a) Majority with notice; or (b)
two-thirds; or (c) majority of entire membership
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Negative vote only

MOTION: 88. Refer

(See Commit, Committee, Nos. 26 and 27.)

MOTION: 89. Rise, or Rise and Report (in a special committee)

(50:23)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: No
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No
*

MOTION: 90. Rise, or Rise and Report (in a committee of the whole)
(52:4ff.)
CLASS1: P
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 91. Substitute

(See Amend a pending motion, No. 11.)

MOTION: 92. Suspend the Rules (as applied to rules of order) (25)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Two-thirds—except where rule
protects a minority of less than one third (see 25:2(7))
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 93. Suspend ordinary standing rules, or standing rules in a

convention (25; 59:37)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 94. Take from the Table (34)

CLASS1: B
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: No

MOTION: 95. Take up a question out of its proper order

(See Suspend the Rules (as applied to rules of order), No. 92; cf.
also No. 25)

MOTION: 96. Voting, motions relating to, if made while subject is

pending (30, 45, 46)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority, except two-thirds for
motion to close polls
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: To close polls, no; to reopen polls,
negative vote only;10 all others, yes

MOTION: 97. Voting, motions relating to, if made while no question

is pending (10, 30, 45, 46)
CLASS1: M
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: No
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes
DEBATABLE: Yes
AMENDABLE: Yes
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: Yes
*

MOTION: 98. Withdraw or Modify a Motion, to grant maker

permission to, after motion has been stated by the chair (33)
CLASS1: I
IN ORDER WHEN ANOTHER HAS THE FLOOR: If not granted by
unanimous consent, can be moved by person requesting permission,
or by another while the former has the floor
MUST BE SECONDED2: Yes, if motion is made by person
requesting permission; no, if made by another member
DEBATABLE: No
AMENDABLE: No
VOTE REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION: Majority
CAN BE RECONSIDERED: As to withdrawal, negative vote only; as
to modification, yes
Footnotes to Table II
1. Key to classification symbols: M—main motions; S—subsidiary motions; P—privileged
motions; I—incidental motions; B—motions that bring a question again before the
assembly; M/B—incidental main motions classed with motions that bring a question
again before the assembly (see 6:25ff.).
2. Motions listed as requiring a second do not need to be seconded when made by
direction of a board or committee.
3. In practice, motion is usually made by the reporting member of a committee, in which
case it does not require a second.
4. Debate on motion must be confined to its merits only, and cannot go into the main
question except as necessary for debate of the immediately pending question.
5. A negative vote on this motion can be reconsidered only until such time as progress in
business or debate has made it essentially a new question.
6. B if committee is discharged from consideration of question that was pending at time of
referral and was referred by subsidiary motion to Commit; M/B if subject was referred by
a main motion (see 36:10–11).
7. See 57:15. This motion can be made as a main motion, as an amendment to enacting
words, or as an incidental motion, and the same rules apply.
8. See, however, 37:9(2) and 37:30ff.
9. A negative vote on this motion can be reconsidered only until such time as either (a)
progress in business or debate has made it essentially a new question, or (b) something
urgent has arisen that was not known when the assembly rejected the motion.
10. The vote on a motion ordering that the polls be closed or reopened at a specified time
can be reconsidered at any time before the order has been carried out.
*
VIII. TABLE OF RULES FOR COUNTING ELECTION BALLOTS
(See 45:31–36 and 46:33–34)

TYPE OF BALLOT: Ballots That Indicate Preference, Cast by

Member

—if meaning of ballot is clear, and ballot indicates eligible candidate

CREDITED TO CANDIDATE(S): Yes
COUNTED TOWARD NUMBER OF VOTES CAST: Yes

—if ballot indicates ineligible candidate

CREDITED TO CANDIDATE(S): No
COUNTED TOWARD NUMBER OF VOTES CAST: Yes

—if meaning of ballot is unclear, but can’t affect result

CREDITED TO CANDIDATE(S): No
COUNTED TOWARD NUMBER OF VOTES CAST: Yes

—if meaning of ballot is unclear, and may affect result

CREDITED TO CANDIDATE(S): Submit to assembly for decision
COUNTED TOWARD NUMBER OF VOTES CAST: Yes

—two or more filled-out ballots, folded together

CREDITED TO CANDIDATE(S): No
COUNTED TOWARD NUMBER OF VOTES CAST: Yes, but counted
as one vote

—one filled-out ballot, folded together with one or more blank ballots
CREDITED TO CANDIDATE(S): Yes
COUNTED TOWARD NUMBER OF VOTES CAST: Yes

TYPE OF BALLOT: Blank Ballots, Ballots That Indicate No

Preference
CREDITED TO CANDIDATE(S): No
COUNTED TOWARD NUMBER OF VOTES CAST: No

TYPE OF BALLOT: Ballots Cast by Nonmember

CREDITED TO CANDIDATE(S): No
COUNTED TOWARD NUMBER OF VOTES CAST: No1

TYPE OF BALLOT: Ballots for Multiple Positions on a Board or

Committee

—with votes for full number of positions to fill

COUNTED TOWARD NUMBER OF VOTES CAST: Yes
CREDITED TO CANDIDATE(S): Yes (one vote)2

—with votes for less than full number

CREDITED TO CANDIDATE(S): Yes
COUNTED TOWARD NUMBER OF VOTES CAST: Yes (one vote)2

—with votes for too many candidates

CREDITED TO CANDIDATE(S): No
COUNTED TOWARD NUMBER OF VOTES CAST: Yes (one vote)2
Footnotes to Table VIII
1 If there is evidence that any ballots were cast by persons not entitled to vote but those
ballots cannot be identified, and if there is any possibility that such ballots might affect
the result, the entire ballot vote is null and void and a new ballot vote must be taken.
2 When votes are cast in one section of the ballot for multiple positions on a board or
committee, every ballot with a vote in that section for one or more candidates is counted
as one vote cast.
GENERAL HENRY M. ROBERT, who gave his name to the book that has
brought order to millions of meetings, was a sparely built but
gregarious and determined U.S. Army engineer officer of Huguenot
descent born May 2, 1837. Led to the study of parliamentary law
over a number of years by experiences in civic and church
organizations, he published the first edition of Robert’s Rules of
Order on February 19, 1876. After his retirement from the army in
1901, he practiced consulting engineering and devoted the last
decade of his life to writing on parliamentary procedure. He died on
May 11, 1923.

SARAH CORBIN ROBERT (1886–1972) was the daughter-in-law of the

original author and the trustee of Robert’s Rules of Order Revised,
and she headed the authorship team that produced the most
extensive general revision of the work, the 1970 edition of Robert’s
Rules of Order Newly Revised.

HENRY M. ROBERT III (1920–2019), a grandson of General Robert,

began his association with Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised
when he assisted his mother, Sarah Corbin Robert, in writing the
1970 edition and participated in writing six editions, culminating in
this 12th edition. He held degrees in the Great Books Program of St.
John’s College in Annapolis and in physics (Laval University,
Quebec). He served as parliamentarian of the National Association
of Parliamentarians and multiple other national and international
organizations.

WILLIAM J. EVANS(1928–2007), who earned degrees from the Johns

Hopkins University and the University of Maryland School of Law,
was a partner in the Baltimore law firm of Miles & Stockbridge. He
served as president of the National Association of Parliamentarians
from 1979 to 1981 and also served as its parliamentarian. He
participated in writing four editions of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly
Revised, the 7th (1970) through the 10th (2000).

DANIEL H. HONEMANN, a Maryland attorney, now retired, was a partner

in the law firm of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, LLP. He is a graduate
of McDaniel College and received his law degree from the University
of Maryland School of Law. Mr. Honemann also participated in
writing the 9th, 10th, and 11th editions.

THOMAS J. BALCHis a practicing parliamentarian who formerly acted as

a Washington, D.C.–based lobbyist and legislative analyst. He has
served as parliamentarian of the National Association of
Parliamentarians and as president of the American College of
Parliamentary Lawyers. An attorney licensed to practice in Illinois, he
is a graduate of Williams College and the New York University
School of Law. He also participated in writing the 10th and 11th
editions.

DANIEL E. SEABOLD is a mathematics professor at Hofstra University

specializing in logic and set theory. He is a graduate of McDaniel
College and received his doctorate in mathematics from the
University of California at Berkeley. He also participated in writing the
11th edition.

SHMUEL GERBER, a professional parliamentarian and copyeditor,

received his bachelor’s degree in computer science from the College
of Staten Island (City University of New York). He also participated in
writing the 11th edition.
 INDEX

Most entries in this index refer to the sections and paragraphs as

numbered in the text. Some entries refer to the page numbers in the
printed version of this book. For these, the link provided will take you
to the beginning of that print page. You may need to scroll forward
from that location to find the corresponding reference on your e-
reader.

Guide to the Index

1:3 boldface number = definition
10:8, 37:9 italic number = Standard Descriptive
Characteristics of motions (explained in §7)
§1, §63 § = entire section
17:13n16 n = footnote (followed by note number)
xxiii, xlix–l roman numeral = page number at front of book
t1–t52 t = page number within the “Charts, Tables, and
Lists,” whose pages are tinted gray on the outer
edges, between pages 634 and 635
Recess italic (or boldface italic) words = names of specific
motions or publications

Specific content within the Standard Descriptive Characteristics

(SDCs) of motions—referenced in the index by italic paragraph
numbers at each motion name—is generally not indexed. Key
facts with regard to SDCs of motions are summarized in Chart I
(pages t3–t5) and Table II (pages t6–t33).

The content of Tables II–VII (pages t6–t51), in which motions

can be located alphabetically by category, is not indexed.
A
“a” vs. “the” in previous-meeting notice requirement, 56:50,
59:32
absentees, 1:1, 2:13, 56:2
Call of the House to compel attendance, 40:13–16;
explanations and excuses, 40:15
candidates, 46:46
delegates, 58:16–17
election result affected by, 46:49(c)
president, 47:11
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes to protect, 37:46, 37:49
rights of, 1:6, 2:13, 56:2
rules protecting, 23:6(e), 25:10, 41:39, 56:68
secretary, 47:33
voting by, 23:8, 25:9, 45:56
abstention (from voting), 4:35, 44:1, 44:3
blank ballots as, 45:31
calling for, 4:35
chair’s, 4:56, 44:12
effect on vote based on members present, 44:9
partial, 45:3, 46:33, t52
questions affecting oneself, 45:4–5
right of, 44:9, 45:3
in roll call, 45:48, 45:50
absurd motions, 13:9, 39:3
abuse
of authority by chair, xxvii, 62:2–15
of privileges by member (see dilatory motions or tactics)
Accept. See Adopt report or recommendations.
acclamation (election by unanimous consent), 46:40
acclamation (voice vote), xxx
accused, rights of. See also disciplinary procedures.
due process in disciplinary procedures, 63:5
in investigation, 63:12
investigation resolution without details, 63:11
notice, 63:28–29
 in review of trial committee findings, 63:36
in trial, 63:33
ad hoc committee. See special committees.
add a paragraph. See insert (or add) a paragraph.
add words. See insert (or add) words.
address, forms of
chair, 3:10–12, 3:31, 10:37
member, 3:13
vice-president, 3:10, 47:24
adhering motions, 6:26(1), 10:35
Amend Something Previously Adopted does not adhere to
adopted question, 17:5
Commit’s effect on, 13:19
Lay on the Table’s effect on, 17:5
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate applied to, 43:17
Postpone’s effect on, 14:18
Previous Question applied to, 43:17
Reconsider applied to, 37:9(2), 37:25–34
Take from the Table’s effect on, 34:6
withdrawal of motion adhered to, 33:16
Adjourn, adjournment (motion or procedure to end the meeting),
6:12(4), 8:2(5–6), §21, 21:1, 21:6. See also adjourn sine die
(without day); adjourned meeting; call of the chair; Fix the
Time to Which to Adjourn.
“adjournment of” as term for adjourned meeting, 9:17
in agenda, program, or schedule, 18:8, 21:14, 41:56, 41:59,
41:66–68, 47:7(11)
announcement of vote on, 21:12, 21:18, 53:31
Call of the House and, 40:14, 40:16
calling meeting back to order after, 21:12
calling out the motion, 42:22
in committee, 50:22
in committee of the whole, 52:10, 52:16–17
dilatory, 21:13, 39:3
early, 21:14
at emergency, fire, or riot, 8:10, 47:7(11)
 Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn and, 22:10–11
form and example, 21:16–20
gavel rap to signal, 21:20
Lay on the Table renewal after vote on, 17:11
main motion vs. privileged motion, 6:13n5, 21:1–4
in mass meeting, 53:28–31
motion not always required, 8:10, 21:14–15
order of business and, 8:7, 25:12
organizing a society, at meetings for, 54:10, 54:25
parliamentary steps before and after vote on, 21:10
pending business affected by, 8:7
postponing the time for, 41:56
precedence of, t4
previous notice of motion, to give after voting to, 10:48
privileged motion vs. main motion, 6:13n5, 21:1–4
quorum, in absence of, 40:6–7, 40:11
vs. recess, 8:7
Reconsider called up before, 37:17
renewal of the motion, 21:13, 38:7(4)
within session, 8:7
special orders and, 41:41, 41:53, 41:56
Adjourn, Fix the Time to Which to. See Fix the Time to Which
to Adjourn.
adjourn sine die (without day), 8:2(6), 8:6, 21:8, 21:16
adjourned meeting, 9:17–19, 22:4, 22:9, 54:24. See also call of
the chair; Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn.
of annual meeting, 9:23, 14:12
of board, 49:16
business taken up at, 9:19, 21:7(a)
of committee, 50:22
completing an election at, 46:44
minutes approval and, 9:19, 48:9
notice of, 22:9, 49:16n2
postponing a question to, 14:7
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes countered by, 37:51
regular meeting cannot intervene, 22:7
 session, as continuation of, 8:2(5)
vs. special meeting, 22:9
Take from the Table at, 34:3
trial at, 63:21
administrative duties of president, 47:20
Adopt report or recommendations, 4:3, 10:5, 10:52, 51:13, 51:17
“adopted” (motion agreed to), 4:3, 4:43, 4:49
agenda, 41:1–36, 41:58–70. See also order of business.
Adjourn at session with, 21:3(2), 21:14
adjournment provided in, 18:8, 21:14, 41:66–68, 41:70
adoption of, 41:60–62
advance distribution, 41:62
Call for the Orders of the Day to conform to, 18:1, 18:5
chair’s duty to follow, 18:3, 47:7(2)
changing, 41:63, 59:58–59
conflicts with constitution or bylaws, 10:26(1)n1
convention, 3:19, 59:54
customary, when, 41:60, 41:62
general orders in, 41:3, 41:42, 41:58
as guide pending adoption, 41:61
items, taking up at assigned time, 41:65
items, taking up out of order, 41:37–39
preparation of, 41:7, 41:62, 47:8, 47:33(10)
program, relation to, 3:19, 41:2n2, 41:64, 59:54
recess provided in, 18:8, 20:6, 41:66–68
session as devoted to one, 8:2(6), 8:5
special orders in, 41:3, 41:42, 41:58
for trial, 63:32
unfinished business in, 41:69
Agree to report or recommendations. See Adopt report or
recommendations.
“agreed to” (motion adopted), 4:3, 4:43, 4:49
alternates (convention), 58:11–17, 59:39–40
bylaw provisions on, 58:6, 58:9, 58:13–15
Credentials Committee duties on, 59:3, 59:14, 59:17–19, 59:23,
59:25
 number and qualifications of, 58:13
order and ranking of, 58:14
paired with delegates, 58:15
reliance on by delegates, 58:18
replacement procedure, 58:16–17
sample rules, 59:39–40
seating of, 58:11, 58:16–17, 59:17–19
temporary substitution, 58:17
vice-president as president’s alternate, 47:25, 58:12
alternation between opposite sides in debate, xxxiii, 3:33(3),
42:9(3)
alumni associations, 3:4, 45:57
ambiguity in rules or documents, 3:2, 56:68
Amend, amendment (subsidiary motion to change wording of
pending motion), 6:5(2), 10:30(3), 10:53, §12, 12:1, 12:7, t3–
t5. See also bylaw amendments; filling blanks; Rescind or
Amend Something Previously Adopted; Withdraw or Modify a
Motion; and the particular forms of amendment: insert (or
add) a paragraph; insert (or add) words; strike out a
paragraph; strike out and insert (transfer) a paragraph; strike
out and insert words; strike out words; substitute.
acceptance by maker, 12:91, 33:19
vs. Amend Something Previously Adopted, 12:2
of amendment (see secondary amendment)
announcement of vote on, 12:37–38
of charter before adoption (see also charter), 54:15
Commit’s effect on, 13:19–20
in committee of the whole, 52:8–9, 52:12
committee or board reports, of motions arising from, 51:17,
51:19, 51:70
committee recommendation of, 51:17, 51:42–43, 51:45–51;
Resolutions Committee, 59:81
conforming, 12:15, 27:5, 27:11
in consideration by paragraph, 28:3, 28:6
of Credentials Committee report, 59:24
debate, not counted as speech in, 43:12
 debate on, 6:8, 43:37
degrees of, 12:11–13
divisible series of, 27:11
of Division of a Question, 27:4
effect of adoption or rejection, 12:4
form of, changing to another, 12:22(4)
“friendly,” 12:91
germaneness of (see also germaneness of amendments), 12:6,
12:16–21
in gross, 51:48, 52:13, 52:23
improper types of, 12:22
Lay on the Table renewal after vote on, 17:11
in mass meeting, 53:16
Modify a Motion, procedure when objected to, 33:19
to negate a motion, 12:22(2)
out of order, when, t4–t5
of preamble, 10:19, 12:23
precedence of, 6:7, 6:11, t4
previous notice, beyond scope of, 35:4
primary (see also primary amendment), 12:11–13
putting the question on, 12:36, 12:40
Reconsider’s effect on, 37:19n6
vs. Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted, 12:2
same question presented by, xxvi, 12:25, 13:20
secondary (see also secondary amendment), 12:11–13
as Standard Descriptive Characteristic 6 of all motions, 7:2
stating the question on, 12:33–35, 12:40, 47:17
stopping (see Previous Question)
to strike enacting words, 12:22(6)
subsidiary motions, applied to, 6:7
of suggestions for filling blanks, 12:100
Take from the Table, after adoption of, 34:6n2
third degree, 12:12
by unanimous consent, 12:45
Amend Something Previously Adopted. See Rescind or
Amend Something Previously Adopted.
amendment of bylaws. See bylaw amendments.
amendment of charter, 2:6, 54:15
amendment of constitution, 2:10–11, 56:54
amounts, filling blanks with, 12:108–112
“and” vs. “or” in term of office, 50:14, 56:28–30, 62:16
Anglo-Saxon influence, xxxi
announcement of voting result, 4:41–49, 47:7(4), 47:17–18
on Amend, 12:37–38
Appeal from, 24:7
disregarded if member seeking floor, 43:7
motion to retake vote after, 24:7, 42:8
Point of Order concerning, 24:7n4
announcements, 21:10, 41:35, 53:31, 59:55
annual meeting, 9:20–23, 56:35, 56:63
adjourned meeting of, 9:23, 14:12
bylaw amendments at, 56:52
committees and, 50:29
elections at, 9:22, 56:35, 56:62–63
minutes of, 9:22
postponement beyond, limits on, 14:6
reports (see annual reports)
subjects set by bylaws for, 9:23, 14:12, 41:20
annual reports, 9:22, 41:13
boards, 51:3, 51:20
officers, 48:18, 48:27
standing committees, 50:29, 51:3
treasurer, 48:21
Annul. See Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted.
apologies, 61:15
Appeal (from the decision of the chair), 6:17(2), §24, 24:1, 24:3,
62:6–7
announcement of vote on, 24:7
of assignment of the floor, 42:15
chair’s duties and, 47:7(8)
chair’s failure to comply with decision, xxvii, 62:7, 62:11n4
Commit’s effect on, 13:19
 in committee of the whole, 52:9(1), 52:9(2)n13, 52:10(2)
debate on, 16:18, 43:12, 43:39, 49:21; by chair, 42:10, 43:30
dilatory, 39:3
in disciplinary procedures, 63:33
form and example, 24:9–13
ignored by chair, 62:7, 62:9, 62:11n4
interrupts speaker, 42:18
in minutes, 23:10, 48:4
of motion’s being ruled not in order, 4:17
of Parliamentary Inquiry response, 24:6, 33:5
precedence of, 6:21
precedent set by, 23:10
Previous Question’s effect on, 16:18
of quorum ruling affecting prior business, 40:12
Raise a Question of Privilege, of chair’s ruling on, 19:9
of removal by chair of nonmembers, 61:8, 61:19
renewal of Appeal or Point of Order after vote on, 38:5(6)
tie vote on, 24:3(7), 44:13
timeliness requirement for, 24:8
applicability of motions, 6:6
incidental motions, 6:16–22
motions that bring a question again before the assembly, 6:27
secondary motions, 5:5
as Standard Descriptive Characteristic 2 of all motions, 7:2
subsidiary motions, 6:6–8
appointment. See also committees.
by chair or president, 13:15, 47:20, 47:26, 50:13, 56:46, 56:65
of chairman pro tem, 47:11
deciding method of, 50:11
by motion, 50:13
notification by secretary, 47:33
of officers or consultants, 47:43–56
approval of minutes. See minutes, reading and approval of.
Approve. See Ratify.
“Are there any amendments?” 4:15(a)n8
“Are you ready for the question?” 4:15(a), 4:34, 10:41, 16:21,
 43:4
Arrangements Committee. See convention.
arrears of dues
effect on good standing, 1:13n3
resignation prevented by, 32:8
suspension of rights and, 47:39, 56:19, 61:6
voting rights and, 45:1
article and section numbers, correcting, 57:19
Articles of Association, 2:5
Articles of Incorporation, 2:5
as if in committee of the whole. See quasi committee of the
whole.
assembly, 1:3. See also deliberative assembly.
authority and powers of, 2:13, 56:2
vs. committee, 50:1
vs. committee of the whole, 52:4
dissolution of, 21:3(3), 48:12
executive-board minutes subject to examination by, 49:19
executive board must obey decisions of, 49:7
large, 42:16
local, 1:13
vs. meeting, 1:3
privileges of the, 19:7
rights of individual vs., 44:4
small-board rules in, 2:16
assessments (financial), 56:19. See also dues; fines.
assignment of the floor (recognition to speak), 3:13, 3:30–35,
42:2–17. See also preference in recognition.
Appeal of, 42:15
Call of the House, fee payment before, 40:15
chair’s duty in, 42:2, 47:7, 62:3–4
in committees, 42:2(1), 50:25
debate, as prerequisite to, 3:30, 4:28
denial of, in response to dilatory tactics, 39:4
at electronic meetings, 9:36
in example format, 10:37
 in large assemblies, 42:16, 47:18
limited recognition, 17:23, 42:3, 43:12n5
at mass meeting, 53:18
motions, as prerequisite to, 3:30, 42:2, 42:4
motions and steps not requiring, 4:20, 4:23, 4:52, 18:9, 19:8,
41:25, 46:6, t44–t45
for nominations, 46:6
vs. privileges of floor, 3:31n5
reports, maintained during reading of, 42:21
in small boards, 42:2(1), 49:21
for suggestions to fill a blank, 12:96
by vote, 42:14
association, organizing. See organizing a society.
assumed motions, 4:59
for accused to leave while penalty considered, 61:16
in elections, 46:1, 46:30
for recommendations in a report, 51:12, 51:44, 51:51, 59:12
resignation, to accept, 32:5
at ease, to stand, 8:2(4), 23:3, 47:51
“at pleasure” appointments. See pleasure, removal at.
Athens, xxx
attachments to minutes, 48:5(5)
attendance at meetings
duty of, 56:20
nonmembers, 61:7, 61:19
right to, 1:4, 3:31n5, 23:7, 61:6
attorneys
at disciplinary procedures, 63:30
for dissolution, 55:5
for incorporation, 2:6, 54:8, 54:12, 56:5
for merger or consolidation, 55:2
audioconferences, 9:33. See also electronic meetings.
auditing committee, 48:22–26, 56:65, 59:55
authentication. See signatures.
“aye” (in voice vote)
example, 10:41
 form for announcing result, 4:49(a), 4:50
form for taking vote, 4:37
“aye” or “yes” or “yea” (in roll-call vote), 45:47

B
balance sheets, 48:23
Balch, Thomas J., xlvi
ballots, 45:18–42. See also mail; preferential voting; tellers.
adjournment during counting, 21:6(1)n5
announcement of result, 45:39
assembly judges result, 45:10, 45:33, 46:50
black and white balls, 30:1, 45:18n3
blank, 44:1, 44:3, 45:31, 45:34, 45:36, t52
box or receptacles for collecting, 45:29
business conducted during voting, 45:6
bylaw requirement for, 10:55, 23:6(e), 25:7, 45:19–21, 45:42,
56:26, 56:62
chair’s vote by, 4:56, 44:12, 45:28
in committee of the whole, 52:10
for committee or board member selection, 13:13, 45:36, 46:33–
34, t52
counting rules for, xxiv, 45:31–36, t52
for disciplinary procedures, 45:19, 61:17, 63:33
disposal or retention of, 45:41
doubtful, 45:33, t52
election by (see elections: by ballot)
electronic devices for, 45:18, 45:23, 45:42
filling blanks by, 12:103
“for” or “against,” 45:25, 46:1
form of, 45:24–25
illegal votes, 45:32–36, t52
Lay on the Table immediately before vote by, 16:2(2)n11
member admission by, 45:18n3
in minutes, 48:5
motion to take vote by, 6:17(8), 30:1, 30:5, 30:7, 45:19
 nominating, 46:22–24
paper, 45:18, 45:23
parliamentarian’s vote by, 47:55
polls, closing or reopening, 30:8
on Postpone Indefinitely if ordered on main motion, 30:5
procedure, 45:26–30
recess during counting, 8:2(3), 21:6(1)n5
Reconsider method of, 45:20
Reconsider moved by member voting by, 37:10(a)
on reconsidered motion if ordered originally, 30:7
recounting, 45:41
repeated, 45:69
requirement of, ratifying violation, 10:55
requirement of, suspending, 45:20, 46:35
secrecy of, 45:18, 45:20–21, 45:42
secretary’s casting of, 45:22
secretary’s custody of, 45:41
sections treated separately, 45:36
signed, 30:1, 45:46, 46:25
technical errors on, 45:33
unanimous, making, 45:21
unintelligible, 45:32, t52
by voters not entitled to vote, 45:35, t52
write-in, 45:18, 45:24–25, 46:2, 56:26
balls, ballot vote by, 30:1, 45:18n3
Barclay’s Digest of Rules and Practice of the House, xl
basic rights of individual member, 1:4, 23:6(e), 25:11. See also
members’ rights.
benediction, 41:30, 47:40, 59:55
biennial convention. See convention.
bills (legislative), 10:30(4), 17:13n16
“blackball,” 45:18n3
blanks, creating, 12:95
blanks, filling. See filling blanks.
board of directors, governors, managers, or trustees. See
boards; directors.
board reports, 51:20–22. See also reports.
annual, 51:3, 51:20, 51:22
content agreed at meeting, 51:2
at convention, 59:55
filed with secretary, 47:35
form of, 51:7
for information, 51:3, 51:53, 59:55
in minutes, 51:22
motions arising out of, 3:25, 41:14
in order of business, 3:16, 41:13–14, 51:22
presentation of, 51:8–9
recommendations in, 51:4–6
reporting member, 51:22
signatures, 51:21
boards, xlv, 1:9, 1:22, 1:22–23, §49, 56:39–43. See also board
reports; directors; small-board rules.
action without meeting, 10:54, 49:16
actions of, when invalid, 10:54–57, 23:9
Adjourn in, 21:9
adjourned meetings of, 49:16
assembly, as type of, 1:22
assembly of society is superior to, 1:23, 10:11, 23:9, 49:7,
56:41
authority, variations in, 49:3, 49:6, 56:42–43, 56:64
ballot to elect, 45:36
board of directors (managers, trustees, governors),
administrative council, etc., as title of executive board, 49:3,
56:40
bylaw provisions on, 49:3–7, 49:14, 56:39–43; sample, 56:64
vs. committees, 1:24, 50:1
committees of (see also executive committee), 49:14, 50:30
convention of society, authority to plan, 59:2, 59:7, 59:61
cumulative voting to elect, 46:43
delegation of authority, 49:12
disciplinary procedure in, 49:15
discipline or censure of, 10:56, 23:9
 electronic meetings of, 9:31
ex-officio members, 47:3, 49:8
executive board (see also directors; executive committee),
1:23, 49:3–7, 56:39–43, 56:64; vs. board of directors, 49:3,
56:40; executive committee is subordinate to, 49:13, 56:41;
executive committee reports to, 49:20; executive secretary
employed by, 47:43
executive committee (see executive committee)
executive session in, 9:25
functions and types, 1:23
independent, 49:7, 49:11, 49:15
majority of entire membership in, 44:9
meetings of, 49:2, 56:64, 59:8, 59:56
members, periodic partial change, 21:7(c), 34:3n1, 49:22
members as officers of the society (see also directors), 47:58,
49:4, 56:23
minutes of, xxvii, 49:17–19
notice (of meetings), 49:16
officers of, 49:11, 49:22, 56:40
procedure in, 49:15–21
quorum in, 40:5, 49:16, 51:2
Ratify actions taken by, 10:54–57
recount of membership vote cannot be ordered by subordinate,
46:50
Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted in assembly
applied to actions of, 35:2(7)
rules in (see also small-board rules), 49:15, 56:39
seconds in, 4:9n7, 49:21(2)
special meetings (of the society) called by, 9:14(1)
standing committees functioning as, 50:4, 50:9
subordinate, 1:23, 10:54–55, 49:3–7, 51:1
bonding of treasurer, 47:38
breaches of order, §23, 61:10–21. See also call member to
order; disciplinary procedures.
in boards, 49:15
in committees, 50:28
 continuing, 23:6
breakout groups, 52:28
bringing a question again before the assembly. See motions
that bring a question again before the assembly; renewal of
motions.
budgets, 56:41, 56:65
bullet voting (partial abstention), 45:3, 46:33, t52
burgesses, xxxii
Burke, Edmund, xxix
business
classes of (see order of business)
introduction of (see also main motions; motions), 3:16, 3:21–29,
4:1–24, 5:4, 6:1, 6:25, 10:1
new (see New Business)
“old,” 41:21n5
order of (see order of business)
outside of society’s object, 10:26(2)
business corporations, 1:23, 45:70, 49:7
business meeting, §9. See also meeting; session.
convention ceremonies preceding, 59:10
convention delegates’ duty to attend, 58:18
vs. convention nonbusiness events, 18:3n1, 41:2n2
vs. social or cultural meeting of society, 9:6, 14:7, 56:52
bylaw amendments, §57
vs. adoption of bylaws, 54:20
amendment of, within scope of notice, 35:2(6), 35:4, 56:50,
57:1(2), 57:4–5, 57:10–13
at annual meeting, 56:52
arrangement of multiple, 57:6
bylaw provisions on, 2:9, 56:50–56, 57:1; sample, 56:67
conflicting, 57:6
conforming amendments, 57:3
conforming corrections to lettering and numbering, 57:19
Consideration by Paragraph, 57:6
counted vote on, 57:9
dissolution or merger requires same vote as, 55:3, 55:6
 effective time of, 57:15–17
majority of entire membership and, 56:50, 57:1
in minutes, 57:9
officers, effect on incumbent, 57:16
previous notice: method of giving, 10:46–51, 56:51, 57:14;
requirement of, 2:8(4), 8:14, 10:45, 56:53, 57:1(1);
requirement of can’t be suspended, 25:10; scope of (see
“amendment of, within scope of notice” subheading, above)
provisos relating to, 56:15, 57:15–17
quorum changed by, 40:4
Reconsider applied to, 57:1(3)
revision of bylaws (general revision), xxvii, 47:47, 56:3, 56:6,
56:15, 57:5
substitutes for existing sections or articles, 57:4, 57:5n2
vote required, 35:2(7), 56:50, 57:1
bylaw provisions on
alternates (convention), 58:6, 58:9, 58:13–15
annual meeting, 9:22, 41:20
ballots (see ballots: bylaw requirement for)
boards (see “executive board” subheading, below)
bylaw amendments (see bylaw amendments)
committees, 56:44–48; appointment of, 50:13; of boards, 49:14;
sample, 56:65
constituent or subordinate units, 56:6–7, 56:57
conventions, 56:38, 58:6–10
delegates (convention), 58:6–9
disciplinary procedures (see disciplinary procedures)
dues (see dues)
elections (see ballots: bylaw requirement for; elections)
electronic meetings, 9:30, 9:35–36
executive board, 49:3–7, 49:14,
56:39–43; sample, 56:64
executive committee, 49:13, 56:40, 56:57
executive secretary, 47:44
finance, 56:57
fiscal year, 48:21
 honorary members and officers, 47:42; sample, 56:61
meetings, 9:1, 56:33–38; sample, 56:63
members, 32:1, 56:19; sample, 56:61
name of society, 2:9, 56:17; sample, 56:59
nominating committee, 46:10, 47:20, 50:13(d); sample, 56:62
nominations, 41:20, 46:11, 46:13, 46:26, 56:25; sample, 56:62
nominees, dropping one with fewest votes, 46:32n1
notice (of meetings), 9:4, 9:14(2), 56:34; sample, 56:63
object of society, 56:18; sample, 56:60
officers, 47:1, 56:23–32; duties, 56:57; sample, 56:62
parliamentary authority, 56:49; sample, 56:66
previous notice for certain subjects, 10:45
Program Committee, 56:45; sample, 56:65
quorum, 3:3, 40:2, 40:4, 56:37; sample, 56:63
resignation, 32:7, 56:21; sample, 56:61
standing committees, 50:8
vice-president (see vice-president)
voting: absentee, 45:56; by ballot (see ballots: bylaw
requirement for); by ballot (sample), 56:62; basis of, 44:10;
cumulative, 56:26; by plurality, 44:11; preferential, 56:26; by
proxy, 45:70–71
bylaws, 2:8–13, §56, 56:1. See also bylaw amendments; bylaw
provisions on; bylaws committee.
adoption of, 54:15–20, 56:15
article and section numbers, correcting, 57:19
ballot requirements in (see ballots: bylaw requirement for)
conflicts and violations (see also Point of Order), xxvi, 10:26(1–
2), 10:55, 23:6(a), 39:5
Consideration by Paragraph when adopting or revising, 28:4–5,
43:18, 56:15, 57:6
constitution, relation to, 2:8, 2:10–12, 56:1
copies of: chair’s, 47:8; members’, 2:13; in organizing a society,
54:13; secretary’s, 47:33(8)
drafting, 54:11–13, 56:3–14
interpretation by society, 56:68
mass-meeting call functions as, 53:9
 preamble, 56:18
precedent, superseding by amendment to, 23:11
rescinding, dissolution equivalent to, 55:6
revision (see bylaw amendments: revision of bylaws)
rules of order in, 2:20–21, 25:2(2)n5, 25:7
sample, 56:58–67
session, as restriction on freedom of majority at, 8:12, 8:14
subject set for particular session by, 14:12, 41:20
Suspend the Rules applied to, 2:8(4), 2:21, 8:14, 25:1, 25:2(2),
25:7, 45:20
table of contents, 56:16
transition provisions, 56:12
writing style, 56:11
bylaws committee, 54:8, 56:3–15, 56:51, 57:14

C
calendar, consent, 41:32
Call for the Orders of the Day (to demand to take up the proper
business in order), 6:12(1), §18, 18:1, 18:4, t3–t5
in committee of the whole, 18:6
convention program, 18:3n1
debate on, 43:38
form and example, 18:9–11
interrupts speaker, 42:18
main motion, to bring up, 10:36, 18:7
out of order, when, t4–t5
postponed question, to bring up, 14:17
precedence of, t4
quorum, in absence of, 40:7
recess, to take as scheduled, 20:6
renewal of, 38:7(3)
“call for the question,” 16:6–7. See also Previous Question.
call meeting to order. See call to order (of assembly).
call member to order, 4:17, 23:13–16, 23:21, 43:21, 61:11,
63:11. See also disciplinary procedures.
call of meeting. See notice (of meetings).
call of the chair
adjourning to meet at, 8:2(5), 8:8, 8:10, 22:8, 22:12
committee or board meetings held at, 21:9, 49:16n2, 50:21
meeting to organize a society held at, 54:8–10
recessing until, 20:8
series of mass meetings held at, 53:32
Call of the House (to compel attendance of absent members),
40:8, 40:13–16, 47:40
call of the roll. See roll call.
“call the question,” 16:6–7. See also Previous Question.
Call to Convention, 9:3, 58:6, 59:14(1)n1, 59:52. See also
convention.
call to order (of assembly), 3:15, 3:16(1)n3, 41:8, 41:29. See
also call member to order.
at adjourned meeting, 3:16(1)n3
after adjournment in error, 21:12
in agenda, 41:59
chair stands during, 47:9
in convention program, 59:54
at mass meeting, 53:5, 53:11
at organizational meeting or convention, 54:2–3, 60:3
president-elect’s duty, 47:22
president’s absence, 47:11, 47:22–23, 47:33(11)
president’s duty, 47:7(1)
quorum determination before, 40:11
after recess, 3:16(1)n3, 8:7, 20:10
secretary’s duty, 47:11(3), 47:33(11)
at trial, 63:33
vice-president’s duty, 47:11(1), 47:23
call up motion to Reconsider. See Reconsider.
called meeting, 9:13. See also special meeting.
candidates
chair included among, 47:10
compromise, 46:24
ineligible, 45:32, 46:49, t52
 limiting to two, 46:24
statement with mail ballot, 45:58
in uncontested election, 46:40, 50:13(b)
captions, 57:18
“carried” (motion adopted), 4:3, 4:43, 4:49
casting vote. See voting: chair’s vote to affect results.
caucuses, 58:19–22
cause (grounds for removal from office), 62:16
censure, 10:56–57, 12:20, 39:7, 47:10
penalty in disciplinary procedures, 61:2, 61:15
without disciplinary procedures, 61:2n1
Certificate of Incorporation, 2:5
chair (person presiding at a meeting, or station from which to
preside), 3:7, 47:5–20. See also chairman; committee
chairman; president (regular presiding officer of an
assembly).
abstention, 4:56
abuse of authority, xxvii, 62:2–15
address, forms of, 3:10–12, 3:31, 10:37
adjournment declared by (see also Adjourn, adjournment: in
agenda, program, or schedule), 8:10, 21:12, 21:14–15,
47:7(11)
agenda (order of business) preparation, 41:7, 47:8
agenda, handling, 41:65
amendments, handling, 12:33–45
announcement of voting result, 4:41–49
assumption of motions (see assumed motions)
business, announcing or calling for items in sequence, 10:41–
42, 18:3, 18:8, 47:7
call of the chair, meeting or reconvening at (see call of the
chair)
“the chair,” 3:7, 3:11, 3:13, 47:5
“chair” as variation of “chairman,” 3:10
committee appointments, 13:15, 47:20, 50:13, 56:65
committee chairman as temporary, 47:12
counted vote directed by (see counted vote)
debate, forcing to end, 4:32, 39:4, 43:7, 62:3–4
debate, taking part in, 4:31, 43:29–30, 47:19; in committees
and small boards, 49:21(7), 50:25
disciplinary-procedure duties, 63:33
documents at meeting, 47:8
duties, 18:3, 47:7–12, 62:11n4
as essential officer, 3:6, 47:1
expediting business, 39:4, 41:27, 43:7, 47:7, 62:3–4
impartiality, 3:9
“in the chair,” 3:7
inexperienced, suggestions for, xlvi, 47:14–19
mass meeting, 53:5–6, 53:11–13, 53:32
motions, assisting members in wording, 4:7
motions, assuming (see assumed motions)
motions, making or suggesting in committees and small boards,
49:21(7), 50:25
nonmember as, 47:2
nonmember guests, authority over, 61:19
obeying orders of, 61:8
order-of-business memorandum, 41:7, 47:8
orders of the day, setting aside, 18:8
parliamentarian as adviser to, 47:46
Parliamentary Inquiry directed to, 33:3
polls closed by, 30:8
pro tempore (see chairman pro tem)
putting the question, 4:34–40
questions of privilege, rulings on, 19:2, 19:9
quorum, duty to determine, 40:11–12, 47:7
recess declared by (see also Recess: in agenda, program, or
schedule), 20:6
Reconsider, duty to inform assembly, 37:17
relinquishing the chair, 43:29, 47:10, 52:2, 52:7, 62:11n4
removal during one session (see also removal from office),
47:11(2–3), 62:10–14
RONR Official Interpretations consulted by, xxv
rulings on parliamentary procedure, 4:16–17, §23–§24, 47:7,
 47:54
sits and stands, when, 4:24, 4:31, 4:34, 4:41, 24:3(5), 47:9
stating the question, 4:15–24
strike out and insert words, handling, 12:62
substitute (form of Amend), handling, 12:71
taking the chair, 3:15
temporary (see chairman pro tem)
vacant, to declare, 47:11, 62:11
votes, duty to verify, 4:41, 29:6
voting by: to affect result, 4:43, 4:56, 44:12, 45:48; in ballot
vote, 45:28; in committees and small boards, 49:21(7), 50:25
chairman (presiding officer with no specific other title), 3:10,
47:5. See also chair (person presiding at a meeting);
chairman pro tem; committee chairman; president (regular
presiding officer of an assembly).
“chair” or “chairperson” as variation of “chairman,” 3:10
“Madam Chairman” or “Mr. Chairman” as form of address, 3:10,
3:31, 10:37
temporary (see chairman pro tem)
chairman pro tem (temporary presiding officer), 43:29, 47:11
also called chairman pro tempore,
47:11
in absence of president and vice-president, 47:11, 47:33(11)
convention of temporary society, 60:3
in disciplinary procedures to remove chair, 62:10–14
invited nonmember, 47:13
mass meeting, 53:32
organizational meeting, 54:3, 54:22–23
president’s appointment, 47:11
president’s relinquishment of the chair, 43:29–30, 47:11, 62:11–
12
previous notice to elect beyond current session, 8:16, 47:11
professional presiding officer, 47:13
removal of, 62:11
temporary society, 53:32
chairperson, 3:10. See also chair; chairman; committee
 chairman; president.
challenges. See also Appeal; Division of the Assembly; Point of
Order.
credentials of delegates or delegation, 59:24
election results, 46:48–50
changing a vote, 4:42, 45:8, 45:50
chaplain, 47:40
charge (assigned functions of a committee), 10:30(4), 49:14,
50:8–10, 51:7. See also Discharge a Committee;
instructions: committee.
charges and specifications in disciplinary procedures, 63:1,
63:24
Committee on Discipline adoption of, 63:39
disclosure to public, 63:3
investigating committee required before bringing, 63:11
members’ right to due process, 63:5
notice of, to accused, 63:28
read and pleaded to at trial, 63:33
resolution to prefer, 63:15, 63:19
specifications supporting charges, 63:15, 63:19, 63:24–25,
63:28, 63:33, 63:39
voting on, 63:33
charter, 2:5–7
amendment after adoption, 2:6
amendment while pending, 54:15
attorney’s services for drafting and processing, 2:6, 54:12,
54:15, 56:5
bylaws conformance to, 2:8(2), 2:12
conflicts and violations (see also Point of Order), 10:26(1–2),
23:6(a), 39:5
copies for members, 2:13
corporation, 2:5–7
name of society in, 56:17
national or state organization, issued by, 2:7n4
object of society in, 56:18
Suspend the Rules applied to, 2:7, 25:2(2)n5, 25:7
charter members, 54:21
chat rooms, 9:34
chief executive, 47:20, 47:43–45
choice voting. See preferential voting.
churches, quorum in, 3:4, 40:2(2)
city councils, 1:21, 1:23, 50:30
claiming the floor. See assignment of the floor; preference in
recognition.
classes of business. See order of business.
classes of members, 1:4, 56:19
clauses. See resolutions; rules.
Cleary, James W., xlv
clerk, 3:6, 40:15, 45:47, 47:1, 47:32. See also reading clerk;
secretary.
close debate. See Limit or Extend Limits of Debate; Previous
Question.
Close Nominations, 31:1–2, 31:4–7, 46:19–20, 46:40
election at later session not affected by, 31:6
renewal of the motion, 38:7(5)
two-thirds vote required, 31:2(7), 44:4
close polls. See polls, to close or reopen.
close suggestions to fill a blank, 12:101, 12:105
closed session (without secrecy), 9:25, 9:28. See also executive
session.
cloture, 16:5(7)n14
co-chairman, 13:17
code of conduct or ethics, 61:1, 63:24, 63:33(e)
colloquy, 4:24, 33:9, 43:32
colonies (American), xxxiv–xxxv
Columbia University, xliv
Commit or Refer, 6:5(3), 10:30(4), §13, 13:7, 52:28, t3–t5. See
also committee of the whole; committees; Consider
Informally; quasi committee of the whole.
adhering motions affected by, 13:19
adhering to postponed main motion, 14:18
agenda topic, before taking up, 41:65
amendments affected by, 13:19–20
Appeal affected by, 13:19
automatic referral of certain subjects, 10:30(4)
completing incomplete motion, 13:10–14
consider in committee of the whole, in quasi committee of the
whole, or informally, as variations of, 13:2–3, 13:5, 13:8(a),
13:12, 13:21, 13:25, 52:1
consideration by paragraph, during, 28:8
debate, motion not counted as speech in, 43:12
debate closure, limitation, or extension exhausted by adoption
of, 13:21, 15:18, 16:11–12
debate closure’s effect on ability to move, xxv, 13:7(2), 15:11–
13, 16:2(2)
debate on, 43:37
dilatory, 13:9
election challenges, applied to, 46:50
form and example, 13:25–26
Lay on the Table renewal after vote on, 17:11
and Limit or Extend Limits of Debate (see “debate”
subheadings, above)
meeting, referral beyond next regular, 9:8, 9:10
minutes approval, applied to, 41:11n3
out of order, when, t4–t5
Point of Order affected by, 13:19
Postpone Indefinitely ignored upon adoption of, 11:4, 13:19
precedence of, t4
and Previous Question (see also “debate” subheadings,
above): execution interrupted by vote on, 16:9–10
quarterly time interval, referral beyond, 9:8, 21:7(c)
recommit, motion to, 13:4–5, 13:12, 13:25, 54:19
Reconsider affected by, 13:19, 37:34
Reconsider applied to, 36:6, t3–t5
recount, applied to, 46:50
renewal of committed motion, 38:8(5)
renewal of motion to Commit, 38:7(1)
“same question” rules affected by, 13:20–21
 during seriatim consideration, 28:8
session, going over to later by, 9:8–10
temporarily but not finally disposed of, 9:9–11
committee chairman. See also chair (person presiding at a
meeting); chairman.
appointment, 13:17–18, 50:11–14
chairing assembly, 47:12
duties and role, 50:21, 50:24–25
report, presenting to assembly, 51:8–9
report, signing, 51:27
committee of the whole, 52:1–2, 52:4–18. See also quasi
committee of the whole.
amendments by, 52:8–9, 52:12–13
Call for the Orders of the Day in, 18:6
debate in assembly after, 13:21
disorder in, 52:10(5)
minutes and, 48:5, 52:7
motion to go into, 13:2–3, 13:5, 13:8(a), 13:12, 13:21, 13:25,
52:6
motions in order in, 52:9
vs. ordinary committee, 50:2, 52:5
quorum in, 40:5, 52:18; action when lacking, 40:10
Reconsider in, 37:35
rising and reporting, procedures for, 52:11–17
rising to request adoption of undebatable motion, 52:14
secretary of, 52:7
speech length and number in, 43:18, 52:1
straw polls, as alternative to, 45:72
subcommittees of, 50:15
vice-president as chair, 47:23
voting in, 52:10
committee of the whole, as if in. See quasi committee of the
whole.
Committee on Discipline, 63:38–40. See also disciplinary
committees.
committee reports, 51:23–71. See also reports.
action without meeting, 51:2
amendments recommended in, 10:30, 50:20, 51:45–51;
multiple, 51:47–48, 52:23
annual, 9:22, 51:3
of board committee to board, 49:12, 49:14
chairman presiding during report, 47:12
of committee of the whole, 52:11–13
content agreed at meeting, 51:2
convention, 59:55
date of, 51:24
filed with secretary, 47:33, 47:35
final report automatically discharges committee, 36:8–9, 46:17,
50:30, 53:27
floor retained when secretary reads, 42:21
form of, 51:7, 51:23–27
for information, 51:3, 51:53, 59:55
investigating committee, 63:13–27
membership committee, 51:54
minority reports, 51:64–71
in minutes, 48:4(8), 48:5(3), 48:5(5), 51:44, 51:60
on motion referred, with committee’s recommendations, 51:36–
52; for adoption or rejection (or with no recommendation),
51:37–43; to Amend, 51:45–48; to Amend by substitution,
51:49–51; on amendments pending at time of referral,
51:42–44; to Postpone to a Certain Time or Postpone
Indefinitely, 51:44
motions arising out of, 3:25, 41:14, 42:9, 51:10–19
oral, 48:4, 51:23, 51:44, 51:54, 51:60–62
in order of business, 3:16, 41:13–14, 51:28, 59:55
partial, 51:63
partial agreement with, 51:71
postponement (definite or indefinite) recommended in, 51:44
presentation of, 51:8–9; not counted as debate, 43:11
in published proceedings, 48:16
of quasi committee of the whole, 52:23
receiving, 51:28, 51:69
 recommendations, adopting all by unanimous consent, 51:48
recommendations, general content of, 51:4–6
recommendations without resolutions, 51:33
reporting member, 51:5, 51:8, 51:33
signatures, 51:27, 51:71
of standing committee to assembly, 50:9
on subject referred without pending motion, 51:34
substitutes recommended in, 12:77–78, 51:49–51
third-person wording in, 51:25
written, 51:23, 51:31, 51:54, 51:60–62
committees, 1:24, 6:5(3), §50, 50:1. See also Commit or Refer;
committee of the whole; committee reports; quasi committee
of the whole; special committees; standing committees.
action without meeting, 50:21n6
Adjourn in, 21:9
amendments recommended by, 10:30(4), 50:20, 51:45–51
appointment, deciding method, 50:11
appointment by chair or president, 13:15, 47:20, 47:26, 50:13,
56:46, 56:65
appointment by motion, 50:13
auditing committee, 48:25–26, 56:65, 59:55
automatic referral of certain subjects, 10:30(4)
ballot, election by, 45:36, 50:13
of a board, 49:14
vs. boards, 1:24, 50:1
bylaw provisions on, 56:44–48, 56:65
caucuses as, 58:19, 58:21
chair votes in, 4:56, 50:25
chairman (see committee chairman)
committee of the whole vs. ordinary, 50:2
composition and size, 50:18
convention, 59:3
cumulative voting to elect, 46:43
dilatory debate in, 50:25n7
discharging (see Discharge a Committee)
discipline when disorder in, 50:28
election by ballot, 45:36, 50:13
electronic meetings, 9:35
ex-officio members, 47:20, 50:16, 56:47
executive session, 9:24
finance committee, 56:65
“with full power,” 13:8(d), 50:5
hearings, 50:27, 59:79
instructions to (see instructions: committee)
investigating committee (see investigating committee)
joint committees, 55:3
large, instructions on rules, 50:26
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate not allowed in, 15:1,
49:21(3)n3
mass meeting, 53:19–27
meetings of, 50:4, 50:21–23, 59:55
members of, announced, 13:15, 50:13
minutes of, 50:24
nominating committee (see nominating committee)
nominations by chair, 46:5, 50:13
nominations from the floor, 50:13
nonmembers appointed to, 13:15, 50:12–13
ordinary, 50:2–3, 52:5
papers, 36:9, 47:33, 50:19
“with power,” 13:8(d), 50:5
Previous Question not allowed in, 15:1, 16:4, 49:21(3)n3
procedure in, 50:24–28
Program Committee (see Program Committee)
quorum in, 40:5, 50:21
Ratify unauthorized action of, 10:54
Reconsider in, 37:10(a–b), 37:35
records of, 47:36
removing or replacing members, 13:23, 50:14
reports of (see committee reports)
Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted in, 35:2(7)
resignation from, 13:23
Resolutions Committee (see Resolutions Committee)
 rules in, 13:8(d), 50:25–26
seconds in, 4:9n7
secretary of, 50:24
show of hands in, 4:40
size and composition, 50:18
small-board rules, 1:24, 50:25–26
speaking seated in, 3:12
substitute recommend by, 12:77–78
term of some assembly members ends, effect on, 21:7(c)
terms of members, 13:23, 50:29–30
trial (see also disciplinary procedures), 63:21–23, 63:35–37
vacancies in, 13:23, 50:11
vice-chairman, 13:17
common parliamentary law, xxix, xxxviii, 1:5, 2:15, 53:8
communications to assembly, 3:26–28, 47:33–34
complaints. See Appeal (from the decision of the chair); call
member to order; censure; charges and specifications in
disciplinary procedures; contested election results; counted
vote; demands; Division of the Assembly (member’s demand
for a rising vote); objection to unanimous consent; Point of
Order; recounts.
computer software, electronic meeting, 9:36
conduct, code of, 61:1, 63:24, 63:33(e)
conference. See convention.
conference table, 42:3
Confirm. See Ratify.
conflict of interest, 45:4
conflicting motions, 2:2, 10:26–27, 39:5
board with assembly, 10:11, 49:7, 56:41
bylaw amendments exception, 57:1, 57:7
bylaws, 2:12, 10:26(1–2), 23:6(a), 39:5
charter, 2:7, 2:12, 10:26(1–2), 39:5
constitution, 10:26(1–2), 39:5
Discharge a Committee to consider, 10:26(5)(a)
executive committee with board or assembly, 49:13, 56:41
fundamental principle of parliamentary law, 23:6(d)
 law, 10:26(1), 39:5
motion previously adopted, 10:26(4), 23:6(b), 37:13, 39:5
order limiting or extending limits of debate, 15:17
parliamentary authority, 2:16
previous notice to consider, 10:27
Suspend the Rules to consider, 10:26(5)(b)
temporarily but not finally disposed of, 6:25(b), 10:26(5), 12:17
two-thirds vote to consider, 10:26(1)n1, 10:26(2)
conforming amendments, 12:15, 27:5, 27:11, 51:48(b)n11
bylaw amendments, 57:3
Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted, 35:5
confusion, 4:34, 47:17, 56:68(1)
congress. See convention.
Congress (U.S.), 8:5–6
Congressional Manual, xl
consensus, xlvii–xlviii
consent
candidates’, 46:13, 46:46
unanimous (or general) (see unanimous consent)
consent calendar, 41:32
Consider as a Whole, 28:4–5
Consider Informally (to allow an unlimited number of speeches
in debate), 52:1–2, 52:24–27. See also small-board rules.
debate in assembly after, 13:21
minutes and, 48:5
motion to, 13:2–3, 13:5, 13:8(a), 13:12, 13:25, 52:25
speech length and number, 43:18, 52:1
Consideration by Paragraph or Seriatim, 6:17(6), §28, 28:1,
28:2
adhering to postponed main motion, 14:18
of bylaws, 54:17, 56:15, 57:6
Commit during, 28:8, t3–t5
form and example, 28:10–11
Lay on the Table during, 28:8
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate during, 28:8
number of speeches, 43:18
 Postpone during, 28:8, t3–t5
Postpone Indefinitely during, 28:8
Previous Question during, 28:8
after referral, 13:19
substitute, when in order during, 12:76
consideration of a motion, basic steps, 4:25–57
Consideration of a Question, Objection to. See Objection to
the Consideration of a Question.
consolidation, 55:1–3
constituent units or societies, 2:7n4, 56:7, 56:57
constitution, xxxv–xxxvi, 2:8–13, 54:8(1)n1, 56:1
amendment after adoption, 2:10–11, 56:54
bylaws, relation to, 2:8, 2:10–12, 56:1
conflicting motion, 10:26(1–2), 39:5
object of society in, 56:18
Suspend the Rules, 25:1
constitutional convention, 1:15
Constitutional Convention (U.S.), xxxv
contested delegates, 59:24
contested election results, 46:48–50
Continental Congress (U.S.), xxxv
continued meeting. See adjourned meeting.
continuing breaches, 23:6, 46:49
contracts, 2:5
between officers and society, 57:16
Reconsider applied to, 37:9(2)
convention, 1:9, 1:14–18, §58–§60, 58:1. See also alternates;
convention standing rules; Credentials Committee; delegates
and delegations.
Adjourn in, 21:8, 21:11
Adjourn vs. Recess, 8:7
agenda, 3:19, 41:60, 59:54
announcements, 59:55
Arrangements Committee, 59:4, 59:51, 59:61–66, 60:2
assembly, each convention as new, 1:17, 8:5, 21:3(3)n4
assignment of the floor, 42:16
auditors’ report, 59:55
badges, 58:16, 59:14, 59:40
board, authority in planning, 59:2, 59:61
board report, 59:55(5)
bylaw provisions on, 56:38, 58:6–10
Call for the Orders of the Day, 18:2, 18:3n1
Call to Convention, 9:3, 58:6, 59:14(1)n1, 59:52
caucuses, 58:19
ceremonies, preliminary or opening, 59:10
Committee on Standing Rules (see Rules, Committee on
Standing)
committee reports, 59:55
committees appointed by, expiration of, 50:30
Credentials Committee (see also Credentials Committee), 59:3
debate, sample rule, 59:43
delegates (see delegates and delegations)
elections at, 59:55(11)
Elections Committee, 59:9
events outside of business meetings, 18:3n1
executive secretary elected at, 47:43
Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn in, 59:59
fractional voting, 44:1
general orders, 59:55
installation of officers, 59:55
majority of entire membership, 44:9
members (see also delegates and delegations), 58:7–8
minutes, 48:12–13, 59:55
motions in order before credentials report adopted, 59:22
name of, 59:10
nominating speeches, 46:27
nominations, 59:55
notice (of meetings), 9:3, 58:6, 59:52
officers’ authority in planning, 59:2
one person, one vote, 45:2
opening ceremonies, 59:55
order of business, 3:19, 21:7(a)
 orders of the day, 41:47
organization of, 59:10–13
parliamentarian, 47:47, 59:9
Postpone Indefinitely’s effect during, 11:3
postponement beyond, limits on, 14:6
program, 3:19, 41:2n2, 59:51–60
Program Committee (see also Program Committee), 59:3
published proceedings of, 48:16
purpose not involving permanent organization, 60:4
quorum in, 3:4, 40:2(3), 58:6, 59:26
Recess vs. Adjourn, 8:6
Reconsider, 37:10(b)
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes, 37:46–48
registration (see also Credentials Committee), 59:14, 59:16–21,
59:29, 59:52, 59:55
reporting member, 59:12
reports, 59:55
Resolutions Committee (see Resolutions Committee)
roll call, 45:53
rules (see convention standing rules)
Rules, Committee on Standing, 59:3, 59:27–47, 60:3
seating, 58:16–17, 59:65
second for committee reports, 59:12
seconding speeches, 46:27
secretary, 59:12
session, 8:5
special, 21:8
special orders, 59:55
treasurer’s report, 59:55
unfinished business, 41:70, 59:55
voting members (see also delegates and delegations), 58:7,
59:24, 59:26
convention standing rules, 2:24, 45:42, 59:27–47. See also
Rules, Committee on Standing.
adding a rule, 59:32, 59:35
adoption, xxvii, 59:30–35; vote required, 59:34–35
 amendment after adoption, 59:36
amendment before adoption, 59:32; rereading of amended rule,
59:33
for assignment of the floor, 42:15n3
for debate limits, 43:16
mass-meeting standing rules similar to, 53:8
vs. ordinary standing rules, 59:27
reading, 59:30–31, 59:33
rescission, 59:36
rules applied before adoption of, 59:29
sample, 59:38–47
separate vote on individual rule, 59:32
Suspend the Rules applied to, 59:37
convocation. See convention.
Corporate Charter. See charter.
corporations, 1:23
attorneys’ services for (see attorneys)
business corporations, 1:23, 45:70, 49:7
bylaws, 56:17–18
charter, 2:5–7
constitution, 2:8(2)
proxy voting, 45:70
correspondence, 3:26, 47:33–34
corresponding secretary, 47:37. See also secretary (recording
secretary).
correspondence not read by, 47:34
executive secretary functioning as, 47:44
vs. recording secretary, 47:32
sample bylaws, 56:62
Corsey, Mark, xxvii
council, city, 1:21, 1:23, 50:30
counted vote. See also ballots; rising vote; roll call; show of
hands.
on bylaw amendments, 57:9
on bylaws adoption, 54:20
chair may direct, 29:5, 30:6, 44:5–6, 54:20
 chair’s vote to affect results, 4:56
form for announcing result, 4:43, 4:49
form for taking, 4:39
Lay on the Table due to time consumed by, 16:2(2)n11
method of counting, 45:15
in minutes, 48:5
motion for, 4:53, 6:17(8), 29:5, 30:1, 54:20
recount of, 45:15
to verify show of hands or voice vote, 4:51, 45:14
voting cards, when taken by, 45:16
counting rules for ballots, 45:31–36, t52
courteous language, 4:30, 39:7
courtesy resolutions, 59:78
creating blanks, 12:95. See also filling blanks.
Credentials Committee, 1:16, 59:3, 59:14–26, 59:63
Amend the report of, 59:24
contested seats, 59:21, 59:24
delegate replacement by alternates, 58:16–17
motions in order before report adopted, 59:22
organization of convention, 59:11–13
organizing a society, 60:3–4
parliamentarian as adviser to, 59:9
registration, 59:14, 59:16–21, 59:25, 59:52, 59:55
reports of, 59:22–26; sample rules, 59:39
roll of registered voting members, 59:25–26
Crestwood (Ernest Dunn), 27:7, 27:12–15
cross-references, correcting, 57:19
crystallization of opinion, aids to, 52:28
cultural or social meetings, 14:7
cumulative voting, 46:43, 56:26
curator, 47:40
Cushing, Luther S., xxxvii–xxxviii, xl, xli
custom and customary practices
announcements, 41:35
elections, voting method, 45:18n3, 46:30
executive session, 9:24
 formality, 3:9–14
nominations, time for, 46:6, 46:14, 46:18, 56:25
parliamentary authority, 2:19
voting method, 46:30
vs. written rules, xxix–xxx, xlvi, 1:5, 2:25

D
dais. See platform (stage).
“dark horse” candidate, 46:32
dates, filling a blank with, 12:111–112
day of meeting, 9:1, 56:33
De Repvblica Anglorvm, xxxiii
debatability of motions, 43:35–40, t3–t5, t6–t33, t46–t47
as Standard Descriptive Characteristic 5 of all motions, 7:2
debate, 3:30, 4:27–33, §43, 43:1. See also debatability of
motions; discussion without a pending motion; sit and stand,
when to.
alternation between opposite sides in, xxxiii, 3:33(3), 42:9(3)
blank, on motion to create, 12:95(b)
chair, addressed to or through, 3:12, 4:30, 33:9, 43:22, 61:10
chair enforces rules of, 47:7
chair’s taking part in, 4:31, 43:29
closing (see also Previous Question), 4:32, 43:7
Commit’s effect on, 13:21
committee report presentation and, 43:11
Consideration by Paragraph’s effect on, 28:1, 28:3, 28:6–7,
43:18
decorum in, 4:30, 43:19–28
discipline for words spoken in, 61:22
exhaustion of right to (see exhaustion: right to debate)
explaining a vote, 45:7
extension of time, 4:61, 6:5(5)
germaneness of, xxxiv, 4:8n6, 4:30, 43:20, 61:10
interrupting (see interruption of member assigned the floor;
interruption of pending business; preference in recognition)
leaders, time controlled by, 15:19(f), 59:82–83
length of speeches, 4:29, 6:5(5), 43:8
limits of, modifying (see also Limit or Extend Limits of Debate),
43:14–18
maker of motion speaking against it, 43:25
making motion not counted as, 43:12
in mass meeting, 53:18
motions, explaining undebatable, 43:31
motions, making at conclusion of speech, 10:31, 42:5, 43:5
motions, when not pending, 4:7, 4:8n6, 43:4
names, use in, 43:23
on nominations, xxvii, 46:27–29
by nonmembers, 25:9n7
number of speeches, 2:16, 4:28, 6:5(5), 43:12–13
personal attacks, 46:28
personalities to be avoided, xxxiv, 4:30, 43:21
on Point of Order submitted to assembly, 12:21, 23:19
postponement’s effect on, 14:19
on prior action of society, 43:24
questions during (see also Parliamentary Inquiry; Request for
Information), 43:10, 43:12, 43:22, 43:31–32
quorum, when absent, 40:12
Read Papers, Request to, 33:20
recognition to speak (see assignment of the floor; preference in
recognition)
on Reconsider and during reconsideration, 16:17, 37:9(5),
37:18–23, 37:29–32
reports and recommendations, on motions arising from, 51:17
reserving time in, 43:10
right to, 1:4
roll call, after begun, 45:48
small-board rules, 49:21
special rules of order for, 43:15
before stating of the question, 4:24
on suggestions for filling blanks, 12:96, 12:98–101
vote disregarded if member seeking floor to, 43:7
 yielding time in, 43:10
deceased honorary officers, 47:42
deciding vote. See voting: chair’s vote to affect results.
decision of the chair. See Appeal; rulings.
declare the chair vacant, 47:11, 62:11
decorum, xxxiii, 4:17, 33:9, 43:19–28, 47:7
“defer.” See Postpone to a Certain Time.
definite postponement. See Postpone to a Certain Time.
degrees of amendment, 12:11–13
delegates and delegations (convention), 1:14–16, 8:2(6), 47:25,
58:1, 59:39–40
alternates (see alternates)
bylaw provisions on, 58:6–9
caucuses, 58:19–22
contested seats, 59:21, 59:24
credentials, 47:33, 59:19
cumulative voting to elect, 46:43
duties of, 58:18
ineligible, 59:14
instructions to, 58:18, 58:21
one person, one vote, 45:2
quorum at convention, 40:2(3)
Ratify unauthorized action of, 10:54
registration, 59:14, 59:16–21, 59:29
roll of, 59:25–26
vacancies among, 58:12
voting freedom, 58:18
delegation of authority, 49:12
“delete,” 12:8(2)n3. See also Amend, amendment; Rescind or
Amend Something Previously Adopted; strike out a
paragraph; strike out words.
deliberative assembly, xxix, §1, 1:1, 43:1. See also assembly.
electronic meetings and, 9:31
nature of, 1:1–8
types, 1:9–24
demand the regular order. See Call for the Orders of the Day.
demands (by one member), t44, t45. See also counted vote;
objection to unanimous consent; Previous Question;
Withdraw or Modify a Motion.
for ballot vote on disciplinary procedures, 45:19, 61:17,
63:33(e)
to be excused from a duty, 32:1
to change a vote, 4:42, 45:8
to poll delegation on roll-call vote, 45:53
for reading of minutes, 41:9
for reading of motion, 4:6, 4:15(e–f), 4:37, 33:21, 59:33
to withdraw a second, 4:21
different question, 38:1. See also same question.
dilatory motions or tactics, 39:1–4, 47:7, 62:3–4
Adjourn as, 21:13
Appeal as, 24:3(2)(b)
Commit as, 13:9
committee debate, unlimited speeches in, 50:25n7
Division of the Assembly as, 4:52, 29:7
Reconsider characteristics to prevent, 37:8, 37:10
roll call, ordering in society with large membership, 45:46
straw polls, 45:72
directors, 47:40–41. See also boards.
election of, 47:41, 49:4
as officers, 56:23
standing-committee chairs, 49:4
disbursements, 47:38, 48:23
Discharge a Committee, 6:26(3), 6:27, §36, 36:1, 36:4
alternate procedures, 36:6–7
in classification of motions, 6:25–27
conflicting motion, to consider, 10:26(5)(a)
debate on, 43:40
final report, automatic discharge at time of, 36:8–9, 46:17,
50:30, 53:27
form and example, 36:12–15
as incidental main motion to Rescind or Amend Something
Previously Adopted, 6:27(1–2), 36:11
 instruction to report as substitute for, 36:7
partial report, at time of, 36:4(7), 51:63
previous notice of the motion, 8:12, 10:45
renewal of motions and, 38:8(5)
session’s freedom and, 8:12
subcommittee, to remove a matter from, 36:1n3
disciplinary committees. See also investigating committee.
president’s involvement in, 47:20, 50:13(d), 56:47; sample
bylaws, 56:65
standing committee on discipline, 63:38–40
trial committee, 56:47, 56:65, 63:21–23, 63:33, 63:35–37, 63:39
disciplinary procedures, §61–§63. See also disciplinary
committees; expulsion from membership; removal from
office.
adjourned meeting for, 63:21
agenda for trial, 63:32
Appeal during trial, 63:33
ballots, 45:19, 61:17, 63:33
in boards, 49:15
bylaw provisions on, 56:57, 61:2–3, 63:7, 63:24, 63:33, 63:38
call member to order, 4:17, 23:13–16, 23:21, 43:21, 61:11,
63:11
chair’s role at trial, 63:33
charges and specifications (see charges and specifications in
disciplinary procedures)
closing arguments at trial, 63:33
code of conduct or ethics, 61:1, 63:24, 63:33(e)
in committee of the whole, 52:10
in committees, 50:28
confidentiality in (see also “ballots” subheading, above), 9:24–
27, 63:2–3, 63:12, 63:33, 63:35
counsel, 63:30, 63:33, 63:36
defense, 61:16, 63:21, 63:32
due process, 63:5
executive session for (see “confidentiality in” subheading,
above)
in Good of the Order, 41:34
hearsay, 63:4
investigating committee (see investigating committee)
managers, 63:27, 63:33
at mass meeting, 53:10, 61:19
at meeting, 61:6–21
member rights, 1:4, 63:5
motion related to, language, 39:7, 63:11
motions in order during trial, 63:33
“naming” offending member, 48:4, 61:12–18
nonmembers, 61:19–21
notification of accused, 63:28–29
objections during trial, 63:33
offenses outside meeting, 61:22
opening statements at trial, 63:33
penalty, 61:2, 63:33
plea, 63:33
proof, standard of, 63:4, 63:34
public disclosure of result, 9:26, 63:3
questions during trial, 63:33
resignation and, 32:8, 63:6
resolutions, 63:11, 63:13–27, 63:32–33, 63:35
secretary’s duties in, 63:28–29, 63:33
special meeting for, 9:14, 56:36, 63:21
special rules of order for, 63:32n10
specifications supporting charges, 63:15, 63:19, 63:24–25,
63:28, 63:33(a), 63:33(b), 63:33(e), 63:39
suspending authority, rights, and duties pending, 63:26
time limits in trial, 63:32
timeliness requirement, 61:22
trial, 32:8, 61:13, 63:21, 63:30–34, 63:39
trial committee (see disciplinary committees)
trial resolutions, 63:32–33
warnings before, 61:12
witnesses, 63:4, 63:30, 63:33
words taken down, 61:12, 61:14, 61:17
Discipline, Committee on, 63:38–40. See also disciplinary
committees; investigating committee.
discourteous language, 4:30, 39:7
discussion (of a motion). See debate.
discussion without a pending motion, 4:7–8, 43:31–34
of bylaw amendment for which notice is being given, 57:14
explaining a vote, 45:7
Good of the Order, General Good and Welfare, or Open Forum,
41:34
at mass meeting, 53:19
organizing a society, 54:5–7, 54:9
Reconsider, to urge moving, 37:10(a)
Request for Any Other Privilege to permit, 33:22
small-board rules, 49:21
disorderly members and guests. See breaches of order; call
member to order; disciplinary procedures; nonmembers.
dispense with a ballot vote, 56:26
dispense with the reading of the minutes, 48:11
dispense with the regular order of business, 25:12
disposed of. See temporarily but not finally disposed of.
disruption of meeting, 61:19
dissolution of assembly, 8:2(6). See also adjourn sine die.
dissolution of organizations, 21:3(3), 21:8, 55:4–7
disturbing the assembly, 43:28
Division of a Question, xxxiv, 6:17(5), §27, 27:1, 27:3
Commit’s effect on, 13:19
consideration by paragraph prevents, 28:9
demand for: on multiple amendments, 12:14, 27:11, 51:48(b),
52:13, 52:23; on multiple unrelated main motions or
resolutions, 10:25, 27:10; on proposed convention standing
rules, 59:32
form and example, 27:12–15
motions that cannot be divided, 27:5–9
Postpone’s effect on, 14:18
precedence of, 6:19
renewal of, 38:5(5)
 strike out and insert words, not applicable to, 12:56
strike out as alternative, 27:9
substitute, application to, 27:9
Division of the Assembly (member’s demand for a rising vote),
xxx, 4:50, 4:52, 6:17(7), 24:7, §29, 29:1, 29:4. See also
rising vote.
Adjourn, applied to, 21:12
on bylaws adoption, 54:20
in committee of the whole, 52:9
dilatory demand for, 39:3
form and example, 29:8
interrupts speaker, 42:18
precedence of, 6:19
show of hands instead of, 4:55
time limits on, 4:52, 29:4(1), 45:9
division of the house. See Division of the Assembly; rising vote.
docket. See consent calendar.
doorkeeper, 47:40, 59:65
doubting a vote result. See Division of the Assembly.
dropping motions. See ignoring or dropping motions or
business.
due process in disciplinary procedures, 63:5
dues
assessment in addition to, 56:19
bylaw provisions on, 47:39, 56:19, 56:61
collection of, 47:39
honorary members’ exemption, 47:42n2
quorum in organizations without, 40:2(2)
unpaid (see arrears of dues)
duties of members, 32:1, 32:3–7
duty, neglect of. See neglect of duty.
Duty, Request to Be Excused from, 6:17(10), §32, 32:1, 43:39,
50:18

E
Eclipse Publishing Services, xxvii
Edward I, xxxii
effect of motion, termination of, 10:26(4)n3
elections, 9:22, 46:30–50. See also candidates; nominations;
tellers.
“acclamation,” 46:40
annual meeting, 9:22, 56:35, 56:62–63
by ballot (see also ballots), 45:18–42, 46:30–36; announcement
of result, 45:39, 46:31; assembly judges result, 45:10, 45:33,
46:50; board member selection, 45:36, 46:33–34; bylaw
provisions on, 25:7, 45:19, 46:35, 56:26; committee member
selection, 13:13, 13:25, 45:36, 46:33–34, 50:13(a);
completing at later session, 30:7; “for” or “against” form,
45:25, 46:1; nominating ballot in lieu of, 46:23; organizing a
society, 54:23; recounts, 45:41, 46:50; tellers’ report form,
45:37; voice vote in lieu of, 10:55, 25:7, 46:35, 46:37, 46:40–
41
bylaw provisions on, 9:22, 14:12, 32:1, 56:26; sample, 56:62
chair presiding when candidate, 47:10
completing when incomplete, xxvii, 30:7, 32:7, 46:44–46
contesting results, 46:48–50
at convention, 59:9, 59:55(11)
cumulative voting, 46:43
declining office or duty, 32:3, 32:7, 46:46
directors, 47:41, 49:4
effective time of, 46:46–47, 54:23
ineligible candidates, 45:32
mail, 44:11, 45:56–61, 46:36, 56:26
at mass meeting, 53:11–13
to membership, 56:19, 56:61
method, determining, 46:30; for committee selection, 50:11–13
notification by secretary, 47:33
organizing a society, 54:3, 54:23
plurality vote, 44:11
postponement of, 14:12
preferential voting, 44:11, 45:62–69, 56:26
 Rescind’s applicability to, 35:6(c)
roll call, 46:42
special order, regarded as, 41:20
temporary officers (see also chairman pro tem; secretary pro
tem): mass meetings or organizing a society, 53:32, 54:3,
54:23
timing within session, 46:31(1), 59:55(11)
unanimous consent when uncontested, 46:40
viva-voce (voice), 10:55, 50:13
write-in votes (see write-in votes)
Elections Committee, parliamentarian as adviser to, 59:9
electronic communication to members, 9:5
electronic mail. See e-mail.
electronic meetings, 8:2(1), 9:30–36, 9:31, 10:54, 49:13
bylaw provisions on, 9:30, 9:35–36
in committees, 9:35
notice of, 9:36
rules for conducting, 9:36
sample rules, pages 635–649
simultaneous-communication requirement, 1:1n1, 9:31, 9:33–
34
electronic voting, 45:18, 45:23, 45:42
roll call, 45:55
eligibility
as convention delegate, 59:14
for membership, 56:19, 56:61
for office, 41:1–4, 45:32, 46:49, 56:23, 56:31, t52
to vote by mail, 45:58
e-mail, 1:1n1, 9:5, 9:34, 45:59, 45:61
embarrassing main motion, 6:5(1)
emergency basis for adjournment, 8:10, 47:7(11)
employees, instructions to, 10:24
en bloc. See in gross.
enacting clause, 2:17, 12:22(6)
entire membership
majority of (see majority of entire membership)
 two-thirds of, 56:55
ephors, xxx
ethics, code of, 61:1, 63:24, 63:33(e)
Evans, William J., xlv–xlvi
evidence, 63:33
ex-officio members
of boards, 47:3, 49:8–9
of committees, 50:16
president as member of committees, 47:20, 50:16, 56:47, 56:65
example format, 10:37
Excused from a Duty, Request to Be, 6:17(10), §32, 32:1,
43:39, 50:18
excuses for absence, under a Call of the House, 40:15
executive board. See boards.
executive committee, 49:13. See also boards.
assembly and board are superior to, 56:41
board reports reviewed by, 51:21
bylaw provisions on, 49:11, 56:40, 56:57
executive secretary and, 47:44–45, 49:13
reports to board, 49:20
executive secretary (executive director), 47:34, 47:43–45,
49:13, 59:71
executive session, xxvi, 9:24–27, 19:16, 49:17–19
action that may be divulged, 9:26
attendance, 9:25
disciplinary procedures in, 9:24, 63:2, 63:33, 63:35
electronic meetings, 9:36
ending, 9:24
minutes, 47:36, 48:13, 49:17–19
question of privilege to go into, 19:7
Resolutions Committee meeting in, 59:79
secrecy, 9:26–27
exhaustion. See also expiration; ignoring or dropping motions or
business.
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, 13:21, 14:19, 15:3, 15:18,
34:6–7, 37:23
 order prescribing voting method, 30:7
Previous Question, 13:21, 14:19, 16:11–12, 34:6–7, 37:23
right to debate, 4:28, 34:6–7, 37:18, 37:21, 43:8–13, 43:18
expel a member. See expulsion from membership.
expiration. See also exhaustion; ignoring or dropping motions or
business; term of office.
chair’s authority to call adjourned meeting, 22:8
nominating committee, 46:17
recount period, 45:41
special committee, 36:8–9, 50:30, 53:27
term of some members, 9:9, 34:3n1, 48:12, 49:22
explaining a vote (by a member), 45:7
explanation for absence, under a Call of the House, 40:15
explanation of pending business, chair’s duty of, 4:34, 47:17.
See also debate.
explanation outside debate, 4:7–8, 43:31–34
expulsion from membership. See also committees: removing or
replacing members; disciplinary procedures; removal from
office.
disclosure by society, rights of members regarding, 9:26, 63:3
dues non-payment, 32:8
at meeting, after “named” as offender, 61:15–17
by minority, 45:5
penalty for refusing to testify, 63:4
penalty in disciplinary procedures, 61:2, 61:15–17, 63:33(e)
reconsideration, rescission, or reversal of, 35:6(c), t51
removal from office, combined, 63:1n7
resignation to escape charges, 32:8
resolution preferring charges, 63:19
after trial, 63:33(e)
two-thirds vote required for, 61:17, 63:33(e), t48
Expunge from the Minutes, Rescind and, 35:13, 44:9(b)
extend debate. See Limit or Extend Limits of Debate.
extension of time
for considering pending question, or of scheduled recess or
adjournment (see set aside orders of the day)
 in debate (see Limit or Extend Limits of Debate)
extraordinary meeting or session. See special meeting.

F
face-to-face meeting, 9:31
“fall to the ground.” See also ignoring or dropping motions or
business.
upon adjournment, 6:12(4), 21:7(c), 37:11(c), 49:22
customs conflicting with rules, 2:25
partial change in board membership, 49:22
Reconsider, 37:11(c)
“false,” word not permitted in debate, 43:21
fax (facsimile transmission), 1:1n1, 9:5, 9:34
filibusters, 50:25n7
filing reports, 47:35
filling blanks, 12:92–113
in Commit, 13:12
creating blanks, 12:95
in Division of a Question, 27:4
examples, 12:95–96, 12:109–110, 13:7(6), 13:8, 13:12–13,
13:26, 27:4, 31:3
in Nominations, Motions Relating to, 31:3, 46:30
Previous Question, multiple versions similar to, 16:5(6)
procedural overview, 12:94
suggestions, procedure for consideration (see filling blanks,
suggestions for)
trial committee members, 63:22
in Voting, Motions Relating to, 30:4, 46:30
filling blanks, suggestions for, 12:96–112
Amend not applicable, 12:100
amounts, 12:108–112
ballot vote on, 12:103
chair calls for, 12:96
dates, 12:111–112
debate on, 12:96, 12:98–101
 Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, 12:101
making, 12:96–97
money, 12:108–110
names, 12:107
number of suggestions per member, 12:97
numbers, 12:111–112
places, 12:111–112
Previous Question, 12:101, 12:105
recognition to make or debate, 12:96
roll-call vote on, 12:103
rule changes in RONR, xxvi
seconding, 12:96
unanimous consent, 12:106
unfilled, 12:105
voice vote on, 12:103
voting on, 12:102–105
finally disposed of. See temporarily but not finally disposed of.
finance committee, 56:45, 56:65
financial reports, 47:38, 48:22–26, 59:55
financial secretary, 47:32, 47:34, 47:39
fines, 56:68(7), 61:2, 63:33(e). See also assessments; dues.
fire, basis for adjournment, 8:10
first-degree amendment. See primary amendment.
fiscal year, 48:21
Five Towns Jewish Times, xlvi
fix the time at which to adjourn, 22:11. See also Adjourn,
adjournment: in agenda, program, or schedule.
Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn (to provide for an additional
meeting of the same session), 6:12(5), §22, 22:1, 22:6, t3–t5.
See also Adjourn, adjournment; call of the chair.
vs. Adjourn, 22:11
Adjourn pending or voted for, moving when, 21:10
adjourned meeting established by, 9:17, 14:7, 14:12
convention, 59:59
form and example, 22:12–20
as main motion, 22:4
 mass meeting, 53:28, 53:30
organizing a society, 54:8
Postpone and, 14:7, 22:10
precedence of, t4
as privileged motion, 22:3
quorum, in absence of, 40:7
Reconsider, to enable calling up, 37:17
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes, as counter to, 37:52
Reconsider takes precedence of, 6:27(5)
renewal of the motion, 38:6(2)
session continuation, alternate methods, 8:8
fixed membership, majority of, 44:9(b)n1
floor
assigning or obtaining (see assignment of the floor; preference
in recognition)
on the floor, 4:3
have the floor (see also assignment of the floor), 3:31
nominations (see nominations: floor)
privileges of, 3:31n5
Folk-moot, xxxi
“for” or “against” ballots, 45:25, 46:1
Form and Example format, 10:37
formality, 3:9–14, 49:21
forums. See hearings; Open Forum.
fraction or proportion (of votes or members), 1:6–8, 3:3–5,
4:35–57, §44. See also fractional voting; majority vote;
minority; plurality vote; quorum; tie votes; voting.
board members elected periodically, 49:22
majority of entire membership (see majority of entire
membership)
majority of fixed membership, 44:9(b)n1
of members present, 4:35, 44:7–9
of members present and voting, 1:6–7, 44:7
one third, one fifth (see minority)
as quorum requirement, 40:1–5
three fourths, 44:7, 56:61, 59:75
 two thirds (see two thirds of entire membership; two-thirds vote)
fractional voting, 44:1, 44:3
fraud, by treasurer, 48:25
“fraud,” word not permitted in debate, 43:21
“friendly amendments,” 12:91
frivolous motions, 39:3. See also dilatory motions or tactics.
full power, committee with, 13:8(d)
fundamental principles of parliamentary law, 25:9
one person, one vote, 23:8, 25:9, 45:2, 46:43
one question at a time, xxxiii, 5:4, 25:9
Point of Order regarding violations, 23:6(d), 23:8
Suspend the Rules involving, 25:1, 25:9
two-thirds vote needed to suppress question without debate,
17:15
vote limited to members present, 23:8, 25:9, 45:56, 46:49

G
gavel, use of. See also “gaveling through.”
adjournment, 21:20
disorderly behavior, 61:9–10
installation ceremonies, 59:55(12)
recess, 20:9
“gaveling through,” 39:4, 43:7, 62:3–4
general assembly. See convention.
general consent. See unanimous consent.
General Good and Welfare, 41:34
general orders, 41:3, 41:22–24, 41:41–52. See also orders of
the day; special orders.
in agenda, 41:58
Call for the Orders of the Day to take up, 18:1
committee of the whole, time for sitting, 52:16
conflicting, 41:49–52
convention, 59:55
discharged question, 36:10
making, 41:42–43, 41:45
 in order of business, 3:16, 21:7(b), 41:5, 41:21–26, 41:46
vs. orders limiting or extending limits of debate, 15:3
Postpone to create, 14:2, 14:14–15, 41:43
priority of, 41:49–52
renewal of motions set as, 38:8(1)
session, going over to later, 9:9
vs. special orders, 41:41
taking up, 3:29, 10:26(5)(b), 41:49–52, 41:50n6
vs. unfinished business, 41:23
general parliamentary law, xxix, 1:5
general revision. See revision of bylaws.
general statement of purport (in previous notice), 10:47, 56:51
general statements yielding to specific statements, 3:2,
56:68(3)
“gentleman,” 42:3
“gentlewoman,” 42:3
Gerber, Shmuel, xlvi
germaneness in debate, xxxiv, 4:8n6, 4:30, 43:20, 61:10
germaneness of amendments, 12:6, 12:16–21
chair may seek assembly’s judgment, 12:21, 23:18–21
secondary to primary, 12:16
at special meeting, 9:16
strike out and insert, each part to the other, 12:59
Good of the Order, 41:34
good standing, 1:13n3, 32:8, 58:8
governing documents. See rules.
governors, 1:23, 56:40. See also boards; directors.
Governor’s Council, xxxiv
Great Council, xxxi–xxxii
grievances. See complaints.
Griggs, S.C., xliii
gross, amendments in, 51:48, 52:13, 52:23
ground, falling to. See “fall to the ground.”
guard, 47:40
guest registers, 2:23
guests. See nonmembers.
guilty plea, 63:33

H
hands, vote by show of. See show of hands.
harsh language in debate, 39:7
Hatsell, John, xxxvi
have the floor, 3:31. See also assignment of the floor.
headings in documents, correction of, 57:18
headings in the order of business. See order of business.
hearings
committee, 50:27, 59:79
public bodies, 9:29
hearsay, 63:4
Henry III, xxxii
historian, 47:40, 48:27
history, legislative, 48:5
History of the Peloponnesian War (Thucydides), xxx
Hofstra University, xlvi
holdover in office. See term of office.
Honemann, Daniel H., xlv–xlvi
honorary members, 47:42, 56:21
sample bylaws, 56:61
honorary officers, 47:42, 56:23
hostile amendments, 12:16
hour of meeting, 2:23
House of Burgesses, xxxiv
House of Commons (U.K.), xxxii–xxxiii, xxxiv, xxxvi
Journal of, xxxiii
house of delegates, 58:2. See also convention.
House of Lords, U.K., xxxii, 4:8n6
house of representatives, 58:1–2. See also convention.
House of Representatives, U.S., xxxvii, xl, xli
debate rules, 43:10n4, 59:82
Lay on the Table, 17:13n16
Previous Question, 16:5(7)n14
Hundred-moot, xxxi
hypothetical questions, 33:3

I
“I call for the question,” 16:6. See also Previous Question.
“I move we vote now,” 16:6. See also Previous Question.
“I so move,” 10:9
ignoring or dropping motions or business. See also conflicting
motions; exhaustion; Reconsider; Withdraw or Modify a
Motion.
Amend, when blank created, 12:95(b)
bylaw amendments, conflicting, 57:6–8
chair: justly, 39:1–4; unjustly, 62:7–9, 62:11n4
disciplinary charge, upon acquittal on specifications, 63:33(e)
main motion or subject (see also Objection to the Consideration
of a Question; Postpone Indefinitely; Rescind or Amend
Something Previously Adopted): by adjournment, 6:12(4),
21:7(c); communications without motion, 3:28; by Discharge
a Committee, 6:26(3), 36:5, 36:10–11; by Lay on the Table
and alternatives, 17:2, 17:8, 17:13–19, 34:3; by Previous
Question, 16:5(7); by Reconsider, 37:7, 37:9(1)(b), 37:11–
12, 37:17; by substitution, 12:80
minutes, motion to approve, 41:10–11
Objection to the Consideration of a Question, when
reconsidered, 26:6, 37:19n6
Postpone, when time has passed, 34:6
Postpone Indefinitely, upon committal, 10:8(2), 11:4, 13:19,
51:44
Previous Question: multiple, 16:5(6), 16:27; when
reconsidered, 16:16, 37:19n6
Reconsider: upon committal, 13:7(2), 13:19, 37:34; upon
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes, 37:47(2); when not
adopted, 21:7(c), 37:11
renewal of motions and, 38:2
second, for lack of, 4:10, 4:12–13, 23:5, 38:2
 session, at close of, 21:7(c)
suggestions or names to fill blank or position, when excess,
12:107(c), 13:12–13, 13:26, 27:4, 31:3, 46:37–39, 50:13(b)
illegal votes, 45:32–36, t52
immediately pending question, 5:7–9
impartiality of chair, 3:9, 4:56, 43:29
improper language, 10:9–12, 39:7, 43:21. See also decorum.
improper motions, 39:5–7
in camera. See executive session.
“in favor” (form in taking vote), 4:37–40, 10:41
in gross, 51:48, 52:13, 52:23
in order, 5:5(2)
incidental main motions, 6:2, 10:4–7. See also main motions.
Adopt, 10:5, 10:52
chair, to declare vacant, 62:11
in classification of motions, 5:2
Commit as, 13:6, 51:33n9
conflict with rule of order in constitution or bylaws, 10:26(1)n1
convention Resolutions Committee and, 10:6, 59:5, 59:67
vs. incidental motions, 6:2
incidental motions, corresponding, 6:23, 10:7
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate as, 15:4, 43:16
vs. original main motions, 10:2–7
Postpone as, 14:3
privileged motions, corresponding, 6:13, 10:7
procedural, 10:4–5
Ratify (or Approve or Confirm), 10:5, 10:54–57
Recess as, 20:3
reports and recommendations on referred matter, 51:18
subsidiary motions, corresponding, 6:9, 10:7
Voting, Motions Relating to as, 30:2, 46:30
incidental motions, 6:15–24, §23–§33
characteristics as a class, 6:15–16
in classification of motions, 5:2
debate on, 43:39
vs. incidental main motions, 6:2
 incidental main motions corresponding to, 6:23, 10:7
list of, 6:17
main motion, during consideration of, 10:31–35, 43:5
precedence of, 5:12
Previous Question doesn’t prevent, 16:2
quorum, when absent, 40:7
Reconsider applied to, 6:27(5), 37:24–34
renewal of, 38:3(1)
at special meeting, 9:15
income statements, 48:23
incomplete elections, 30:7, 46:44–46
incorporation. See corporations.
incumbents. See term of office; vacancies.
indecorum, 23:21, 24:3(5), 61:9. See also decorum; disciplinary
procedures.
indefinite postponement. See Postpone Indefinitely.
independent boards, 49:7, 49:11, 49:15
independent resolutions in a single motion, 10:25, 27:10
indirect rejection. See Postpone Indefinitely.
indivisible questions, 27:5–9
informal consideration. See Consider Informally.
Information, Request for (or Point of). See Request for
Information.
inquiries. See questions, asking; Requests and Inquiries.
insert (or add) a paragraph (form of Amend), 12:8, 12:31
form and example, 12:31–44
insert (or add) words (form of Amend), 12:8, 12:26–30
after adoption of motion to substitute, 12:74
form and example, 12:31–44
after rejection of strike out and insert words, 12:64
words struck out previously, 12:48, 12:63
inspection of records, 47:33, 47:36
installation of officers, 46:47, 59:55
instructions
board, 49:7
committee, 9:35, 13:8(d), 13:14, 13:22, 27:5, 36:7, 50:19, 52:6,
 63:13n8
committee of the whole, 52:15
delegates, 58:21
employees, 10:24
Internet, 9:31. See also electronic meetings; e-mail.
interpretation, principles of, xlvi, 3:2, 56:68
interruption before motion stated
by Objection to the Consideration of the Question, 26:2
by Reconsider, to call up, 37:9(3)
by Take from the Table, 34:2, 34:10
interruption of member assigned the floor, 3:32, 42:18–22,
t44–t45. See also preference in recognition.
by chair, 4:31, 43:27
preference in recognition for same purpose, 42:7
previous notice, to give, 10:48, 10:50
by Privilege, Request for Any Other, 33:22
by Raise a Question of Privilege, 19:9–10
by Request for Information, 33:8–10, 43:10, 43:22
separate vote on resolution, by demand for, 10:25, 27:10–11
before speech begins, 42:19–22; by Objection to the
Consideration of the Question, 26:8; previous notice, to give,
10:48, 10:50; by Reconsider, 37:9(3)
as Standard Descriptive Characteristic 3 of all motions, 7:2
subsidiary motions cannot cause, 6:6
by Take from the Table, 34:2(3), 34:4, 34:9
interruption of pending business
by adjournment, 21:2, 41:66–68
by Call for the Orders of the Day, 18:5
previous notice, to give, 10:48, 10:50
by Raise a Question of Privilege, 19:2, 19:9–10
by recess, 20:2, 41:66–68
by special orders, 41:41, 41:53
by Take from the Table, 41:25
interruption of votes, 45:6
investigating committee, 63:7–13
Committee on Discipline subcommittee, 63:39
 discharging, after failure to report, 63:13n8
nondisclosure agreement with accused, 63:25
president not ex-officio member, 56:47, 56:65
trial by committee recommended by, 63:21–23
invocation, 41:30, 47:40, 59:55
“Is there any (further) debate?” 4:15(a), 4:34, 10:41, 43:4
items or classes of business. See agenda; order of business.

J
Jefferson, Thomas, xxx, xxxii–xxxiii, xxxvi–xxxvii, xxxviii, xl, xli
joint committees, 55:3
journal, 45:52, 48:1. See also minutes.
Journal of the House of Commons, xxxiii

K
keypad voting, xxvii, 45:42. See also electronic voting.
killing business. See ignoring or dropping motions or business.
knights, xxxii

L
“lady,” 42:3
law, 1:5, 2:2, 2:18, 56:49n1
conflicting motion, 10:26(1), 39:5
constitution, when required by, 2:10
proxy voting, 45:70–71
Suspend the Rules applied to, 25:1, 25:8
violation can’t be ratified, 10:55
lawyers. See attorneys.
Lay on the Table (to interrupt the pending business so as to
permit doing something else immediately), xxv, xlv, 6:5(7),
§17, 17:3, t3–t5. See also Take from the Table.
agenda topic, before taking up, 41:65
calling out the motion, 42:22
class of business, application to entire, 41:38
consideration by paragraph, during, 28:8
 debate closure, moved after, 15:12, 15:15
debate closure, when exhausted after, 15:18
debate on, 43:37
dilatory, 39:3
form and example, 17:20–24
killing business by, and alternatives, 17:2, 17:8, 17:13–19, 34:3
Objection to the Consideration of a Question not prevented by,
6:17(4), 26:2(1), 43:17
order of the day, applied to when pending, 18:7
out of order, when, t4–t5
precedence of, 6:19, t4
preference in recognition after,
42:13(2)(a)
Previous Question, after ordered, 16:2(2)n11, 16:10
Reconsider affected by, 37:34
renewal of, 17:11, 38:7(1)
renewal of motion lying on table, 38:8(3)
session, going over to later by, 9:9
subsidiary motions applied to each other, 6:7
“table” (as a verb), 17:1, 17:20n17
to take up a general order, 41:50n6
to take up business out of order, 10:26(5), 41:38
time limits on taking from the table, 17:6, 17:8, 34:3
leave (permission). See also Request for Any Other Privilege;
Request to Be Excused from a Duty; Request to Read
Papers; Requests and Inquiries; Withdraw or Modify a
Motion.
committee of the whole, to continue sitting, 52:14
leaving a meeting as discipline. See meeting.
lectern, 3:7, 47:5. See also platform (stage).
legal advice. See attorneys.
legislative body, xxix, xxxvii, 1:9, 1:19–21
Call of the House, 40:13
chair as nonmember, 47:2
committee of the whole, 52:4
committees of, automatic referral of bills, 10:30(4)
 consent calendar, 41:32
members, term of some ends, 21:7(c), 34:3n1
order of business, 3:20
sergeant-at-arms, 47:40
legislative history, 48:5
length of speeches, 4:29, 43:8
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, 15:2, 43:8, 43:17
mass meeting, 53:8, 53:32
lesser offense (in disciplinary procedures), 63:33(e)
letters, 3:26
Lex Parliamentaria (George P.), xxxiii–xxxiv
liability, 2:5
“liar, lie,” words not permitted in debate, 43:21
libel, 63:3
librarian, 47:40
life members, 47:42n2
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, 6:5(5), 6:8, §15, 15:5, 43:8–9,
43:17, t3–t5
Amend applied to, 15:6
amendments, to allow at close of debate, 15:19(e), 59:82–83
in boards, 49:21(3)n3
chair cannot impose, 43:8
closing debate at particular hour vs. after specified length of
time, 15:16
Commit’s effect on order to, 13:21
in committee of the whole, 52:10,
52:14
in committees, 15:1, 50:25
conflicting motions to, 15:12
consideration by paragraph, during, 28:8
debate on, 43:37
exhaustion of order, 13:21, 14:19, 15:18
extension of member’s time, 4:61–62, 15:19(a), 43:8
form and example, 15:19
incidental main motion, corresponding, 10:7
informal consideration, during, 52:26
 Lay on the Table after debate closed under, 17:12
leaders, debate time controlled by, 15:19(f), 59:82–83
as main motion, 15:4
motions subsequently made, effect on, xxv, 15:8
out of order, when, t4–t5
Postpone’s effect on order to, 14:19
precedence of, t4
vs. Previous Question, 15:2
reconsideration under an order to, 37:23
renewal of, 38:7(1)
rule changes in RONR, xxv, xlv
on series of debatable motions, 15:7
subsidiary motions applied to each other, 6:7
on suggestions for filling blanks, 12:101
two-thirds vote principle, 44:4
by unanimous consent, 4:61, 15:19(a), 15:21(a), 43:8–9
line numbers, 12:26, 12:32, 12:53, 59:58
lines drawn through expunged words, 35:13
lining up to speak. See assignment of the floor; microphones;
preference in recognition.
local assembly, 1:13, 10:54, 56:22
lodge system, 9:24
“lost” (motion defeated), 4:3, 4:43, 4:49

M
machine voting, 45:42. See also electronic voting.
mail
ballots by, 44:11, 45:56–61, 56:26
electronic (see e-mail)
nominations by, 46:25
postal, 1:1n1, 9:5, 9:34, 59:55
registered, 63:28
main motions, 3:23, 6:1, §10, 10:1, 10:8, t3–t5
alternative, defeating to offer, 10:30(5), 42:13
ballot-vote order applies to Postpone Indefinitely, 30:5
Call for the Orders of the Day brings up, 18:7
changing before adoption, procedures for, 10:29–30
in classification of motions, 5:1–2
conflicting motions (see conflicting motions)
continuation in force, 10:26(4)n3
debatability, 43:36
Discharge a Committee from subject referred by, 36:11
form and example, 10:38–43
general orders, making by, 41:42(2), 41:45
improper, 39:5–7
improper language, 10:9–12, 39:7
incidental (see incidental main motions)
language not allowed in debate, 39:7
in minutes, 48:4(6)
modification before question stated, 4:20–22, 10:30(1)
not in order, 10:26
oral, 4:18, 10:3
orders of the day as, 10:36
original (see original main motions)
prearranged, 42:13, 47:18
precedence of, 5:8, 6:1, t4–t5
previous notice for certain subjects, 10:45
Privilege, Raise a Question of, brings up, 10:36
privilege, when treated as question of, 19:3
to reaffirm, 10:10
to refrain from doing something, 10:11
renewal of, 10:26(3), 38:5, 38:8
resolutions (see resolutions)
secondary motions during consideration of, 4:64, 10:31–35,
43:5
special orders, making by, 41:42(2), 41:45
subsidiary motions during consideration of, 43:5
Take from the Table’s right of way over new, 34:4
test opinions on by Postpone Indefinitely, 11:5
wording of, 10:9–12
in writing (see also resolutions), 4:18, 9:36, 10:3, 10:13
majority, 44:1. See also fraction or proportion; majority vote;
minority; plurality vote; tie votes.
of term in office, 47:4, 56:31
majority of entire membership, 1:7, 44:7–10, t48–t49
agenda, to change, 41:63
board minutes, to provide access, 49:18–19
in boards, 44:9, 49:18
bylaw amendments, to adopt, 2:22, 8:14, 10:45, 35:2(7), 56:50,
57:1, 57:11
at convention, 1:16
to Discharge a Committee, 36:4(7)
minutes, to correct after adoption, 48:15
previous notice, as alternative, 44:9(b)
for quorum, 3:3, 40:2(4)
for removal from office, 56:29–30, 62:16
to Rescind and Expunge from the Minutes, 35:13
to Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted, 35:2(7),
35:4, 35:8
special rules of order, to adopt or amend, 8:14, 10:45, 43:15
standing committee, when required to create, 50:8
majority of fixed membership, 44:9(b)n1
“majority report,” 51:64
majority vote, 1:6, 4:41, 44:1, 49:19, 56:2. See also fraction or
proportion; minority; plurality vote; tie votes; voting.
as basic principle of decision, 1:6, 44:1
chair’s vote to affect results, 4:56, 44:12
Suspend the Rules, when adopted by, 25:15, 59:36
maker of a motion
minutes, name recorded in, 48:5(1)
preference in recognition, 4:6, 4:27, 42:9, 43:4
putting the question, when ignored by chair, 62:8–9, 62:11n4
Reconsider called up by, 37:15–16
speaking against own motion, 43:25
Withdraw or Modify a Motion, 33:11–19
making a motion, 4:4–8, 5:6, 42:4
members’ rights of, 1:4
 not counted as debate, 43:12
managers (at disciplinary trial). See disciplinary procedures.
managers (convention), 59:62
managers (directors). See boards; directors.
managers (professional). See executive secretary.
Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of
the United States (Jefferson’s Manual), xxxii(n2), xxxvi–
xxxvii, xxxviii, xl
Manual of Parliamentary Practice: Rules of Proceedings and
Debate in Deliberative Assemblies (Cushing’s Manual),
xxxvii–xxxviii, xl
Martyn, Henry, xxxix(n7)
mass meeting, 1:10–12, §53, 53:1
adjournment, 21:8, 53:28–31
adjournment sine die (without day), 8:2(6)
Amend resolutions to accomplish purpose, 53:17
announcements, 53:31
assignment of the floor at, 42:15n3, 53:18
call (notice or announcement) of meeting, 53:3, 53:7, 53:9,
53:14
chairman, 47:5, 53:5–6, 53:11–13, 53:32
chairman pro tem, 53:32
committees, 53:19–27, 53:32
convention similar to, 58:4
convention standing rules, similarity, 53:8
debate, 53:18
as deliberative assembly, 1:9
disciplinary procedures, 53:10, 61:19
discussion without pending motion, 53:19
disruption, 53:10, 61:19
election of officers, 53:5–6, 53:11–13, 53:32
Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn, 53:28, 53:30
length of speeches, 53:32
membership at, 1:10, 53:7
motions outside purpose, 53:17
nominations, 46:5, 53:11–13
 nonmembers, 61:19
number of speeches, 53:32
object or purpose, 26:3, 53:2, 53:15, 53:17
order of business, 3:18
organizing a society, §54
parliamentary authority, 2:15, 53:8
quorum, 3:4, 40:2(1)
recess, 53:22
resolutions at, 53:15–27; committees to draft, 53:19–27, 53:32;
wording, 10:15
roll-call voting inappropriate, 45:45
rules for, 2:15, 53:8, 53:32
secretary, 53:5, 53:11, 53:13, 53:32
secretary pro tem, 53:32
series of, 53:32
sessions of, 8:2(6), 53:32
sponsors, 53:2
standing rules, 53:8
temporary society, 53:32
viva-voce (voice) election, 53:11–13
meeting, 1:3, 8:2(1). See also adjourned meeting; annual
meeting; regular meeting; session; special meeting.
vs. assembly, 1:3
attendance: duty of, 56:20; right to, 1:4, 3:31n5, 23:7, 61:6
bylaw provisions on, 9:1, 56:33–38; sample, 56:63
called meeting (see special meeting)
day of regular, 56:33
disruption (see breaches of order)
electronic (see electronic meetings)
face-to-face, 9:31
hour and place, 56:33
leaving, as discipline, 61:13, 61:15–21; in boards, 49:15; in
committees, 50:28
renewal of motions at, within session, 38:6–7
resolution scheduling, 9:2, 56:34
session, relation to, 1:3, 8:1, 8:3–7, 9:18
 session, within, 8:3, 22:2
stated meeting (see regular meeting)
members, 1:4. See also members’ rights; sit and stand, when to.
absentee (see absentees)
active, 56:19
address, forms of, 3:12
admission as, 10:8(7)(a), 45:18n3, 56:19, 56:61
associate, 56:19
of board vs. of society, 9:25, 44:9(b), 47:3, 47:36, 49:8, 49:15,
49:17–19
bylaw provisions on, 32:1, 56:19; sample, 56:61
call member to order, 61:11
character, conduct, and reputation, 39:7
charter provisions on, 54:21
classes, 1:4, 56:19
of committee vs. of society, 9:25, 47:36, 50:27–28, 59:79
convention (see also delegates and delegations), 58:11–18
disorderly (see breaches of order; call member to order;
disciplinary procedures)
dues (see dues)
duties and obligations, §32, 56:19–20
eligibility to become, 56:19, 56:61
enrollment, when organizing a society, 54:21
ex officio (see ex-officio members)
exclusion of, remedy for improper, 23:7
expelling (see expulsion from membership)
in good standing, 1:13n3, 32:8
honorary, 47:42, 56:21, 56:61
mass meeting, 1:10, 53:7
motives of, 4:30, 43:21, 61:11
as parliamentarian, 47:55
putting the question, when ignored by chair, 62:8–9, 62:11n4
reinstatement, 35:6(c)
resignation (see also Request to Be Excused from a Duty),
32:8, 56:21, 56:61, 63:6
roll of (see roll call; roll of members)
 suspending rights of, 63:20, 63:26
units as, 56:22
members present
action on behalf of society, 1:1; without quorum, 40:9
as committee of the whole, 50:2
quorum is based on, 40:1
Reconsider unanimous consent, eligibility of, 37:10(a)
small-board rules, as criterion for, 49:21
voting requirements, as basis of, 4:35, 44:7–9
members present and voting, as basis of voting requirements,
1:6–7, 44:7
members’ rights. See also absentees.
to attend meetings, 1:4, 3:31n5, 23:7, 61:6
basic rights of individual member, 1:4, 23:6(e), 25:11
bylaws’ effect on, 2:13
due process in disciplinary procedures, 63:5
Point of Order about, 23:6(e)
Suspend the Rules protecting, 25:11
two-thirds vote compromise, 44:4
to vote, 23:7, 45:1, 46:50
membership. See also members; members’ rights.
majority of entire (see majority of entire membership)
majority of fixed, 44:9(b)n1
periodic partial change in, 48:12
two-thirds of entire, 56:55
membership committee, 51:54, 56:45
merger, 55:1–3
messengers, 4:5, 59:65
microphones, 3:31–32, 42:16–17, 47:18. See also assignment of
the floor; preference in recognition.
Milwaukee, xlii
minority, xlvii, xlix, 1:6, 4:58. See also fraction or proportion;
majority vote; minority reports or views; plurality vote; tie
votes; two-thirds vote.
Call of the House ordered by, 40:14
counted voted ordered by, 44:6
 cumulative-voting coordination, 46:43
dilatory motions or tactics, 39:3
expulsion or suspension attempts by, 45:5
Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn and, 22:18
Lay on the Table and, 17:2, 17:16
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate and, 15:5(7)
one fifth of the members, 40:14
one fifth of the members present, 4:35, 45:46
one third, greater than (see also two-thirds vote), xlix, 42:16
one third of the members, 40:14
one third or less, 25:2(7), 44:6
and Reconsider, 37:10(a), 37:50–52
roll-call vote ordered by, 45:46
Suspend the Rules and, 25:2(7), 59:37n3
minority reports or views, 46:16, 51:64–71
minutes, 3:6, 47:33, 48:1–16. See also minutes, content of;
minutes, reading and approval of.
also called journal, 48:1
access to, 47:36, 49:17–19
advance distribution, 41:12
annual meeting, 9:22
approval (see minutes, reading and approval of)
attachment of committee reports, xxvi, 48:5(5)
availability, 47:36
of boards, xxvii, 47:36, 49:17–19
of committees, 47:36, 50:24
convention, 59:55(9–10)
correction (amendment) after approval, 48:12, 48:15
correction (amendment) before approval (see minutes, reading
and approval of)
draft, status of, 41:12
executive session, 9:26–27, 47:36, 48:13, 49:17–19
expunging from, 35:13, 44:9(b)
form and example, 48:8
inspection of, 47:33(4), 47:36
order-of-business memorandum based on, 41:7, 41:24
 publication of proceedings, 48:16
minutes, content of, 48:2–6
Appeal, 23:10, 48:4(10)
board reports, 51:22
bylaw amendments, vote on, 57:9
committee-of-the-whole proceedings, 52:7
committee reports, 48:5(5), 51:19
correction and approval of previous minutes, 48:4(5), 48:14
executive-session proceedings, 9:26–27, 47:36, 48:13, 49:17–
19
form and example, 48:8
informal-consideration proceedings, 52:26
main motions, 48:4(6)
modification of standard content, xxvi, 48:3
motions worded as put by the chair, 4:34
“naming” an offender, 48:4(11), 61:12–14
Point of Order, 23:10, 48:4(10)
as precedent, 23:10
presence of chairman and secretary, 48:4(4)
presence of quorum, 45:52, 48:5(2)(c)
previous notice of motions, 10:50, 48:4(9)
quasi-committee-of-the-whole proceedings, 52:21
Reconsider, 37:10(c), 37:27, 37:40, 37:46
rulings of the chair, 23:10, 48:4(10)
secretary’s comments, 48:2
tellers’ reports, 45:40
votes, xxvi, 45:52, 48:5, 57:9
words taken down, 61:12, 61:14
minutes, reading and approval of, xxvi, 41:9–12, 48:9–15
absent members and, 41:11
adjourned meeting, 9:19, 21:7(a), 48:9
annual meeting, 9:22
approval by subordinate board or committee, 48:12
Commit applied to, 41:11n3
convention, 8:7, 21:7(a), 48:12, 59:55
correction (amendment) after approval, 48:12, 48:15
 correction by unanimous consent, 4:61, 41:10
“dispense with,” motion to, 48:11
executive session, 9:27, 48:13
official record made by, 41:12
in order of business, 3:16
at organizational meetings of new society, 54:14
Postpone applied to, 41:11n3
recording in the minute book, 48:4(5), 48:14
regular meeting, 48:9
special meeting, 48:9
Minutes, Rescind and Expunge from, 35:13, 44:9(b)
misconduct, 4:17, 61:22, 62:1, 62:16, 63:24. See also breaches
of order; decorum; disciplinary procedures; indecorum.
moderator, 3:10. See also chair; chairman; president.
breakout groups, 52:28
Modify a Motion. See Withdraw or Modify a Motion.
money, filling a blank with amounts, 12:108–110
monitors (for ballot vote), 45:26, 45:29–30, 45:60. See also
tellers.
Morehouse College, xxxix
motions, 3:21–29, 3:22, §4–§7, 5:1, §10–§39. See also specific
motion names and classes as listed in 5:2, 6:5, 6:12, 6:17,
6:26.
alternative suggested by chair, 4:17
assumed (see assumed motions)
brought before the assembly, steps, 4:2–24
chair’s assistance in wording, 4:7
changing before adoption, procedures for, 10:29–30
classification of, 5:1–2
conflicting (see conflicting motions)
consideration, order of (see precedence of motions)
consideration, steps, 4:25–57
dilatory (see dilatory motions or tactics)
ignored by chair (see also ignoring or dropping motions or
business): justly, 39:1–4; unjustly, 62:7–9, 62:11n4
maker of (see maker of a motion)
 making (see making a motion)
modifying (see Withdraw or Modify a Motion)
multiple at same time, 25:4
parliamentary, §5–§7, §11–§37, 4:17, 4:64–65, 10:27, 12:22,
37:9(2)(h)
reading (see reading of motion, resolution, or paper)
right to make, 1:4
same question previously decided, 39:6
same time, two at, 25:4
series connected with one question, 34:5, 42:13
small-board rules, 49:21
withdrawing (see Withdraw or Modify a Motion)
wording of (see also main motions; resolutions), 4:16–24, 10:9–
12; in minutes, 4:34, 48:4(6)
in writing (see also resolutions), 4:18, 9:36, 10:3, 10:13
Motions Relating to Methods of Voting and the Polls. See
polls, to close or reopen; Voting, Motions Relating to.
Motions Relating to Nominations. See Nominations, Motions
Relating to.
motions that bring a question again before the assembly,
6:25–28, §34–§37. See also renewal of motions.
in classification of motions, 4:64, 5:2
list of, 6:26
in minutes, 48:4(6)
renewal of motions and, 8:15, 38:1
motives of members, 4:30, 43:21, 61:11
“move” (when making a motion), 4:2, 10:9. See also making a
motion.
mover of a motion. See maker of a motion.

N
name of society, 2:5, 2:9, 56:17, 56:59
names
in assignment of the floor, 3:31
avoiding mention of, 3:12, 4:30, 43:23
 filling a blank with, 12:107
“naming” an offending member, 48:4, 61:12–18
national anthem, 41:30, 59:55
Naval Academy, U.S., xliv
“nay” or “no” (in roll-call vote), 45:45, 45:47. See also “no” (in
voice vote).
nays, yeas and. See roll call.
negative statement in motion, 10:12
negative vote, when not taken, xxxiii, 4:35, 44:9(a)
Reconsider eligibility, 37:10(a)
neglect of duty, §62–§63. See also removal from office.
as cause for removal from office, 62:16, 63:24
in resolution appointing investigating committee, 63:9
in resolution preferring charges, 63:15
New Bedford, Massachusetts, xxxix
New Business, 3:16, 41:27
next item, calling for, 10:41–42
quorum, when absent, 40:12n1
Take from the Table during, 17:6
new organization or society, organizing. See organizing a
society.
“no” (in voice vote)
example, 10:41
form for announcing result, 4:49(a), 4:50
form for taking vote, 4:37
“no” or “nay” (in roll-call vote), 45:47
nominating committee, 46:9–21, 46:26, 56:47, 56:62
appointment, 50:13
bylaw provisions on, 46:10, 47:20, 50:13(d), 56:25, 56:62;
sample, 56:62
discharged upon report, 46:17
election of, 46:9–10
floor nominations, relation, 46:6
members as candidates, 46:12
minority report, 46:16
office, multiple nominees, 46:11, 56:25
 president should not appoint or serve on, 46:10, 56:47, 56:65
report of, 46:14–17, 51:54; failure to make, 46:18
revival if nominee withdraws, 46:17
nominations, 46:1–29. See also candidates; elections;
nominating committee; Nominations, Motions Relating to.
acceptance by candidate, 46:13
by ballot, 46:22–24
bylaw provisions (see bylaw provisions on: nominations)
by chair, 13:13, 46:5
closing, §31
of committee members, 50:13
convention, 59:55
debate on, xxvii, 46:27–29
at election session, call for, 46:6, 46:18
filling blanks, similarity, 12:107
floor, 13:13, 13:25, 46:3, 46:6, 46:18–22, 50:13(b)
by mail, 46:25
mass meeting, 53:11–13
method, determining, 31:3, 46:3
nominating speeches, 46:27–28; personal attacks, 46:28
number of, limitation per member, 46:6
number of offices for same nominee, 46:7
by petition, 46:26
reopening, 31:4
right to make, 1:4, 46:6
seconding speeches, 46:27–28
special orders, regarded as, 41:20
time for, 46:6, 46:14, 46:18
Nominations, Motions Relating to, 6:17(9), §31, 31:2
as incidental main motion, 31:1n14
nominees. See candidates.
nonmembers
Appeal from chair’s removal of, 61:19
breaches of order, 49:15, 50:28, 61:19–21
chair’s authority over guest, 61:19
closed session (without secrecy), 9:25
 committee service, 13:15, 50:12–13, 56:46
debate, 25:9n7
disciplinary procedures, evidence from, 63:4, 63:30
disorderly, 61:7, 61:19
election, 46:49
electronic meeting, 9:36
executive session, 9:25
as honorary members or officers, 47:42
improper voting, remedy, 23:8
mass meeting, 61:19
meeting attendance, 3:31n5, 61:7, 61:19
officers, 47:2
presiding officer, invited temporary, 47:13
professional presiding officer, 47:13
vote, 25:9
Norman Conquest, xxxi
not finally disposed of. See temporarily but not finally disposed
of.
notice (of meetings), 1:7, 9:2–5
board, 49:16
bylaw provisions on, 9:4, 9:14, 56:34; sample, 56:63
committee, 50:21–22
computation of days, 9:4, 9:14(2), 56:34
convention, 9:3, 58:6, 59:52
electronic meeting, 9:36
mass meeting, 53:3, 53:9, 53:14
notice of motions included in, 1:7, 10:44, 10:51, 44:10, 57:14
regular meeting, 56:34
regular meeting beyond quarterly time interval, 9:3
secretary sends, xxvi, 9:14, 47:33
special meeting, 9:13, 9:15–16, 56:63
trial, 63:28–29
notice (of motions). See previous notice.
null and void, xlvi, 1:5, 23:6, 23:9, 39:5, 40:6, 45:35, 49:7, t52
number of speeches, 4:28, 43:12–13
committee, unlimited, 49:21, 50:25, 52:1, 52:9
 Consider Informally, 52:24
during consideration by paragraph, 43:18
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, 15:2, 43:17
mass meeting, 53:8, 53:32
motion, making not counted in, 43:12
quasi committee of the whole, 52:22
question, asking not counted in, 43:12
Reconsider, 37:18
small-board rules, 49:21
numbers, filling a blank with, 12:111–112

O
object of society, 2:5, 2:9, 54:6
bylaw provisions on, 56:18; sample, 56:60
mass meeting, 53:2, 53:15, 53:17
motion outside scope, 10:26(2), 26:3, 39:7, 56:18
opening ceremonies recalling, 41:30
when business within in order, 3:16, 9:12
Objection to the Consideration of a Question, 6:17(4), §26,
26:1, 26:2, 43:17
form and example, 26:8–9
interrupt speaker, 42:18
vs. Lay on the Table, 17:19
vs. objection to unanimous consent, 26:4
to original, not incidental, main motions, 10:6
precedence, 6:20
reconsideration, application to, 37:19n6
renewal, 38:9
reported matter previously referred, 51:18
reports and recommendations on referred matter, 51:17
same question out of order, 8:4, 10:26(3)
two-thirds vote, 44:4
objection to unanimous consent, 4:59–60, 26:4
obstructive purposes. See dilatory motions or tactics.
obtaining the floor. See assignment of the floor; preference in
 recognition.
offender, offenses. See disciplinary procedures.
officers, §47. See also individual officers by title.
administrative duties, 48:17
appointed officers, 47:43–56
board, 49:4, 49:22
bylaw amendments, effect on incumbent, 57:16
bylaw provisions on, 47:1, 56:23–32; duties, 56:57; sample,
56:62
convention, as voting members of, 58:11
directors classed as, 56:23
duties, 2:14, 47:3, 56:24
elected officers, 47:5–42
election (see elections)
essential officers, 3:6
honorary, 47:42, 56:23
installation, 46:47, 59:55
multiple offices, one person, 46:7, 56:62
nominations (see nominations)
nonmembers (see also nonmembers), 47:2
rank, 56:23
ratify unauthorized action by, 10:54
removal (see removal from office)
reports, 3:16, 3:25, 9:22, 41:13–14, 48:17–27
resignation (see resignation)
suspend, 63:13, 63:16, 63:26
temporary (see chairman pro tem; temporary officers)
term of office (see term of office)
titles, refer to by, 43:23
vacancies (see vacancies)
Official Interpretations, RONR, xxv
“old business,” 41:21n5
on the floor, 4:3
one person, one vote, 45:2
Open Forum, 41:34
open microphone. See hearings; Open Forum.
“open nominations.” See nominations: floor.
opening ceremonies, 41:30
convention, 59:10, 59:55
meeting, at each within session, 8:7, 21:7(a)
in order of business, 3:15, 41:8
opponents and proponents, alternation in debate, xxxiii,
3:33(3), 42:9(3)
“opposed” (form in taking vote), 4:37–40, 10:41
“or” vs. “and” in term of office, 50:14, 56:28–30, 62:16
oral motions, 4:3, 10:3, 10:6
oral notice of motions, 10:47
oral reports, 51:23, 51:60–62
order. See also “orders” headings, below.
breaches of, 49:15, 50:28, 61:10–18
calling a meeting to (see call to order (of assembly))
calling a member to (see call member to order; disciplinary
procedures)
“in” vs. “not in” (or “out of”), 5:5(2)
point of (or question of) (see Point of Order)
order of business, 3:15–20, 41:1–36, 41:2
agenda, 41:1–4, 41:7, 41:58–70
board reports in, 51:22
Call for the Orders of the Day, 6:12(1), 18:1, 18:5
classes of business, sequence, 41:2
convention, 3:19, 41:2, 41:60, 59:48
debate on, 43:39
dispense with, 25:12
guide pending adoption, 59:57
legislative body, 3:20
mass meeting, 3:18
memorandum of, 41:7, 47:8, 47:33
optional headings, 41:28
orders of the day in, 14:15
parliamentary authority, given in, 3:16
program, 41:1–4, 41:58–70
session, 8:2(2)
 special, 2:16, 3:16, 41:6, 41:60
standard, 41:5, 41:60
take up business out of order, 10:26(5)(b), 17:1, 17:10, 25:3,
41:37–39
uncompleted, 21:7
when none, 3:16
order of precedence of motions, 5:10–13, t3–t5. See also
precedence of motions.
“Ordered,” 10:24, 27:6
orders (instructions to employees), 10:24
orders, general. See general orders.
orders, special. See special orders.
orders limiting, extending, or closing debate. See Limit or
Extend Limits of Debate; Previous Question.
orders of the day, 41:1–57, 41:3, 41:40. See also Call for the
Orders of the Day; general orders; special orders.
Lay on the Table, 18:7
make, 41:42–45
vs. order limiting or extending limits of debate, 15:3
order of business, relation to, 14:16, 41:46
Postpone, 14:13, 18:7
set aside, 6:12(1), 18:8, 21:14
ordinances. See law.
ordinary committee, 50:2–3, 52:5
ordinary standing rule, 2:23–24, 25:15, 59:27, 59:35(2). See
also standing rules.
organizing a society, 1:11, §54
Adjourn, while, 54:10, 54:25
attorney’s role, 54:12
bylaws, adopt, 54:15–20
bylaws, committee on, 54:8, 56:3–15
chairman pro tem, 54:3
committees, 54:24
expenses, 54:8
Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn, 54:8
incorporation, 54:12
 mass meeting, 54:1
members, enrolling, 54:21
officers, election, 54:3, 54:23
parliamentarian’s advice in, 54:11
resolution declaring intention, 54:5–7
roll of members, reading, 54:21
secretary pro tem, 54:3
original main motions, 6:2, 10:2–3, 51:17. See also main
motions.
in classification of motions, 5:2
Commit as, 13:6
vs. incidental main motion, 10:2–7
Objection to the Consideration of the Question applies to,
6:17(4), 6:20, 26:1
renewal, 38:9
out of order, 4:17. See also Point of Order.

P
pages and messengers, 4:5, 59:65
paper ballots. See ballots.
Papers, Request to Read. See Read Papers, Request to.
papers given to committee, 36:9
paragraph, consideration by. See Consideration by Paragraph
or Seriatim.
paragraph numbers, 12:26
paragraphs, forms of Amend relating to. See insert (or add) a
paragraph; strike out a paragraph; strike out and insert
(transfer) a paragraph; substitute.
Parliament (U.K.), xxix, xxx, xxxii–xxxiv, xxxvi
parliamentarian, 47:6, 47:46–56
bylaws drafting, 54:11, 56:4
convention, consultant in preparing, 59:9
convention standing rules drafting, 59:28
Interpretations, consult RONR Official, xxv
Point of Order, chair consult on, 23:3, 23:17
 Program Committee (convention), advise, 59:50
Resolutions Committee (convention), advise, 59:79
parliamentary authority, xxix, 2:15, 2:18–19
adopt, 2:15
binding, 2:18
bylaw provisions on, 56:49; sample, 56:66
convention, 59:47
copy at meetings, 47:8
custom, 2:19, 2:25
mass meeting, 53:8
order of business in, standard, 41:6
persuasive, 2:18–19
Suspend the Rules, 2:21, 25:3
Parliamentary Guide (Henry M. Robert), xliii
Parliamentary Inquiry (to ask a relevant procedural question),
6:17(11), 33:1, 33:3–5. See also Request for Information.
Appeal answer, 24:6
chair’s duty, 47:7
form and example, 33:4
Point of Order, when uncertain of grounds for, 23:4
parliamentary law, xxix–xxx, 1:1, 2:1–3
common, xxix, xxxviii, 1:5, 2:14, 53:8
general, xxix, 1:5
history, xxx–xlviii
in Parliament, xxix–xxx
parliamentary procedure, relation to, xxx
Parliamentary Law (Henry M. Robert), xliv
parliamentary manual. See parliamentary authority.
parliamentary motions. See under motions.
Parliamentary Practice (Henry M. Robert), xliv
parliamentary procedure, xxx
“pass”
item or class of business, 14:11, 25:12
in roll-call vote, 45:48
pass a motion. See “adopted.”
patriotic exercises, 3:15
penalty. See disciplinary procedures.
pending motion(s) or question(s), 4:3, 5:3–9
immediately pending motion (or question), 5:7
order of consideration (see precedence of motions)
perfecting amendments. See Amend, amendment.
permission. See Request for Any Other Privilege; Request to Be
Excused from a Duty; Request to Read Papers; Requests
and Inquiries; Withdraw or Modify a Motion.
personal attacks, 4:30
personal privilege, 19:7. See also questions of privilege; Raise a
Question of Privilege.
personalities avoided in debate, 43:21
personnel policies, 47:44
persuasiveness
of parliamentary authority not adopted, 2:18–19, 53:8
of precedents, 23:10
petitions, nominating, 46:26
Petyt, George, xxxiii
Philips, George, xxxiii
Pigeon, Robert, xxvii
place of meeting, 9:1
places, filling a blank with, 12:111–112
platform (policy statement), 28:4, 59:76–77
platform (stage)
chair’s position, 3:7, 3:10, 47:24
committee chairman’s position, 47:5
at convention, 59:65–66
honorary presidents and vice-presidents on, 47:42
Platform Committee. See Resolutions Committee.
pleading (at trial), 63:33
pleasure, removal at
committee members, 13:23, 50:14
officers, 56:29–30, 56:62, 62:16
Pledge of Allegiance, 41:30, 59:55
plurality vote, 44:11, 56:26
Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies
 (Henry M. Robert). See Robert’s Rules of Order.
podium. See lectern; platform (stage).
Point of Information. See Request for Information.
Point of Order (to demand a ruling from the chair regarding a
breach of the rules), xxvi, 6:17(1), §23, 23:1, 23:2. See also
Parliamentary Inquiry.
adhering to postponed main motion, 14:18
Appeal pending, while, 24:3(2)(a)
assembly, submitted to, 12:21, 23:18, 43:30, 47:7
assignment of the floor, about, 3:34, 42:15
call member to order, 61:11
chair decides, 47:7
chair’s abuse of authority in meeting, 62:4–5, 62:7
chair’s improper act, xxvii, 62:2, 62:11n4
in committee of the whole, 52:9
custom conflicts with rule, 2:25
debate without pending motion, 4:8
dilatory, 39:3
election, 46:49
form and example, 23:12–21
grounds, 23:3
ignore, 62:7–8
interrupt speaker, 42:18
minor technical irregularities, 23:4
minutes, 48:4
Objection to the Consideration of the Question, similarities,
26:3
precedence of, 6:19–21
quorum, regarding absence of, 40:12
after referral, 13:19
renewal, 38:5(6)
reserve, 23:5
second lacking, that, 4:13
timeliness, xlvi, 23:5
vote, conduct of, 23:5, 45:9
police, 61:20–21
 Call of the House enforcement by, 40:15
policies. See bylaws; platform (policy statement); standing rules.
polling place, 46:31(1)
polls, straw, 45:72
polls, to close or reopen, 6:17(8), 30:1, 30:3, 30:8–11, 45:30
renewal of the motion, 38:7(5)
two-thirds vote to close, 44:4
Portland (Oregon), xli
postal mail. See mail.
Postpone. See Postpone to a Certain Time.
Postpone Definitely. See Postpone to a Certain Time.
Postpone Indefinitely (to drop the main motion without a direct
vote), 6:5(1), §11, 11:1, 11:2, 45:21, t3–t5
alternative, to offer, 10:30(5)
ballot-vote order applies to, if ordered on main motion, 30:5
committee recommends, 51:44
consideration by paragraph, during, 28:8
debate on, 43:37
discharged question, 36:10
form and example, 11:6–8
vs. Lay on the Table, 17:1, 17:18
minority report, 51:70
out of order, when, t4–t5
vs. Postpone to a Certain Time, 14:1, 14:9
precedence of, 6:7, t4
Previous Question interrupted by vote on, 16:9–10
referral to committee, ignored after, 10:35, 11:2(8)n1, 13:19,
51:44
renewal, 38:5(2)
reports and recommendations, 51:17
same question, 8:4, 10:26(3)
seriatim consideration, application to, 28:8
postpone temporarily. See Lay on the Table.
Postpone to a Certain Time (or Postpone Definitely, or
Postpone), 6:5(4), §14, 14:4, t3–t5. See also postponing an
event; set aside orders of the day.
adhering motions affected by, xxv, 14:18
adjourned meeting, to, 14:7
adjournment, 41:56
agenda topic, before taking up, 41:65
Appeal affected by, 14:18
bylaws consideration, when organizing a society, 54:19
Call for the Orders of the Day to take up postponed motion,
18:5
class of business, 14:11, 41:38
closing debate, order; effect on, 15:11, 15:13, 15:18
committee recommends, 51:44
consideration by paragraph, during, 28:8
debate, motion not counted as speech in, 43:12
debate closure, limitation, or extension exhausted by adoption
of, 14:19, 15:18, 16:11–12
debate closure’s effect on ability to move, xxv, 14:4(2), 15:11–
13, 16:2(2)
debate on, 43:37
discharged question, 36:10
Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn, in conjunction with, 22:10
form and example, 14:20–22
general order, 14:2
general orders, creating, 14:14, 41:42
kill measure, improper use to, 14:9
vs. Lay on the Table, 17:1, 17:19
and Limit or Extend Limits of Debate (see “debate”
subheadings, above)
as main motion, 14:3
minutes approval, applied to, 41:11n3
order of the day, creating, 18:7, 41:42
out of order, when, t4–t5
Point of Order affected by, 14:18
vs. Postpone Indefinitely, 14:1, 14:9
precedence of, 6:7, t4
and Previous Question (see also “debate” subheadings,
above): execution interrupted by vote on, 16:9–10
 quarterly time interval, to meeting beyond, 25:13
recess, 41:56
Reconsider affected by, 37:34
renewal, 38:7(1)
reports and recommendations, 51:17
seriatim consideration, application to, 28:8
session, beyond next, 8:12, 25:13
session, within quarterly time interval, 9:9
special order, 14:2
special orders, 41:42
special orders, creating, 14:14
subject bylaws set for a session, 14:12
Take from the Table, when ignored, 34:6
to take up business out of order, 41:38
temporarily but not finally disposed of, 9:9–11
unfinished business, 41:69
postpone to a time certain. See Postpone to a Certain Time.
postponed items, 3:29, 14:17
postponing an event, 10:8(7)(c), 10:45, 14:3
postponing the time for adjournment or recess. See set aside
orders of the day.
power, full (or with), committee, 13:8(d)
prayer, 41:30, 47:40, 59:55
preamble, 10:16–19
Amend, 10:19, 12:23
bylaws, 56:18
Consideration by Paragraph, 28:7
platforms or policy statements, 59:77
Previous Question, application to, 16:8, 28:7
precedence of motions, 5:3–13, 5:8, 10:31–35, t3–t5
incidental motions, 6:18–22
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, 15:6
motions that bring a question again before the assembly, 6:26
privileged motions, 6:12
pronunciation, 5:8n2
question recurs, after disposal of motion taking precedence,
 10:32–34
as Standard Descriptive Characteristic 1 of all motions, 7:2
subsidiary motions, 6:4
precedent, xxxiii, 23:10–11
Precedents of Proceedings in the House of Commons
(Hatsell), xxxvi
preference in recognition, 3:32–35, 42:6–17, 42:7. See also
assignment of the floor.
alternate proponents and opponents, xxxiii, 3:33(3), 42:9(3)
alternative, member suggested defeat to offer, 10:30(5), 42:13
Appeal, 24:3(5), 42:15, 47:9
interrupt before speech begins, when entitled to, 42:7
large assemblies, 42:16
maker of motion, 4:6, 4:27
prearranged main motion, to move, 42:13
previous notice, to give, 10:48, 42:7
Reconsider, make motion to, 42:7
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes, make motion to, 42:7
special meeting, to move motion called to consider, 42:13
spoken, member who has not, 42:9, 43:13, 52:1
Suspend the Rules, 25:2(1)
Take from the Table, 34:4
preferential voting, 44:11, 45:62–69, 56:26
presence at electronic meetings, 9:31
“present,” in roll-call vote, 45:48, 45:51
present, voting based on members, 4:35, 44:7–9, 45:56
present and voting, voting based on members, 1:6–7, 44:7
president (regular presiding officer of an assembly), 47:5–20,
56:62. See also chair (person presiding at a meeting);
chairman (presiding officer with no specific other title);
chairman pro tem; committee chairman.
absence, 47:11, 47:22–23, 47:33(11)
administrative duties, 47:20, 62:15
board, same capacity, 49:11, 56:40
board reports drafted and signed by, 51:21
chairman of delegation caucus, 58:19
 committee appointments by, 47:20, 50:13, 56:46, 56:65
committee members, remove or replace, 13:23
committees, ex-officio member, 47:20, 50:16, 56:47, 56:65
executive secretary or director, relation, 47:45
minutes, sign, 48:7
nominating committee, 46:10
parliamentarian, appointment of, 47:48
presiding duties and procedures (see chair: duties)
Program Committee (convention), advise, 59:50
reports, 48:19
signature of, 47:7(10), 51:21
special meeting, call, 9:14
vacancy, 56:32
vice-president as nominee for, 47:31
president-elect, 47:11, 47:20, 56:23
presiding officer. See chair (person presiding at a meeting);
chairman (presiding officer with no specific other title);
chairman pro tem (temporary presiding officer); committee
chairman; president (regular presiding officer of an
assembly).
presiding officer, professional, 47:13
presiding officer, temporary. See chairman pro tem.
prevailing side, 6:26(4), 37:35(2)
Reconsider, 37:8(a), 37:10(a)
reconsideration of secondary motion, 37:30
previous notice (of motions), 1:7, 10:44–51, 44:9, 44:10. See
also notice (of meetings).
bylaw amendments, 2:8(4), 8:14, 10:45, 25:10, 56:50–51, 57:1,
57:14
bylaw provisions on, 10:45
conflicting motion, to consider, 10:27
Discharge a Committee, 8:12
interrupt speaker, 10:48, 42:19
majority of entire membership instead of, 44:9(b)
minutes, 10:50, 48:4
with notice (call) of meeting, 1:7, 10:44, 10:51, 44:10
 preference in recognition, 42:7, 42:13
quorum, when absent, 40:9
of Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted, 6:27(3),
8:12, 35:2–4, 35:7–9
right to give, 1:4
scope of, 10:47; amendments, 35:4; bylaw amendments, 56:50,
57:1, 57:10–13; special meeting, 9:15–16, 10:54
special meeting, of motions for, 9:16
special rule of order requiring, 10:45
special rules of order, to amend, 2:22, 8:14
vacancy in office, filling, 56:32
when Adjourn pending or adopted, 21:10
withdraw, 33:17
Previous Question (immediately close debate and the making of
certain subsidiary motions), xlv, 6:5(6), §16, 16:1, 16:5,
43:17, t3–t5
adjournment delayed to carry out order for, 41:66
Appeal affected by, 16:18
board, 49:21(3)n3
call the question, 16:6–7, 42:22
Commit, 13:10, t3–t5
in committee of the whole, 52:10
in committees, 16:4, 50:25
consideration by paragraph, during, 28:8
debate, conclude speech by moving, 42:5
debate on, 43:37
execution, 16:5(8)n15, 16:10
exhaustion of, 13:21, 16:11–12
form and example, 16:20–28
large assemblies, 42:16
Lay on the Table after debate closed under, 17:12
Lay on the Table, in lieu of, 17:18
vs. Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, 15:2
Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, t3–t5
order limiting or extending limits of debate doesn’t prevent,
15:17
 out of order, when, t4–t5
preamble, 10:19, 16:8, 28:7
precedence of, 6:11, t4
recess delayed to carry out order for, 41:66
reconsideration of, 16:13–16
reconsideration under an order for, 16:17, 37:23
renewal, 38:7(1)
seriatim consideration, application to, 28:8
series of debatable motions, 16:1
special order interrupting, 16:2, 16:10
subsequent motions affected by, 16:19
subsidiary motions applied to each other, 6:7
subsidiary motions, which applied to, 6:8
substitute, to clear way for, 12:79
suggestions for filling blanks, 12:101, 12:105
two-thirds vote, 44:4
unanimous consent, 16:7
Priddle, Clive, xxvii
primary amendment, 12:11–13
committee recommends, 51:48
number pending at one time, 12:13–15, 12:92–93
Reconsider, 37:28, 37:31
principles of interpretation. See interpretation, principles of.
prior action of society, 43:24
priority of business. See also precedence of motions.
Appeal relating to, 24:3(5)
Call for the Orders of the Day and, 18:4(1)
Point of Order relating to, 23:19
Suspend the Rules relating to, 18:4(1), 25:2(1)
Privilege, Request for Any Other, 6:17(11), 33:1, 33:22,
37:10(a)
privileged motions, 4:64, 6:11–14, §18–§22, t3–t5
also called privileged questions, 5:4, 6:11
in classification of motions, 5:2
debate on, 43:38
disciplinary procedures, 63:33
 incidental main motions, corresponding, 10:7
list of, 6:12
main motion, during consideration of, 10:31–35, 43:5
precedence of, 5:10–11
Previous Question doesn’t prevent, 16:2
vs. questions of privilege, 19:4
Reconsider applied to, 6:27(5), 37:24–34
special meeting, 9:15
privileged questions, 5:4, 6:11. See also privileged motions.
vs. questions of privilege, 19:4
privileges of the assembly, 19:7. See also questions of
privilege; Raise a Question of Privilege.
privileges of the floor, 3:31n5
pro tempore. See chairman pro tem; secretary pro tem;
temporary officers.
procedural motions. See incidental main motions; motions:
parliamentary.
proceedings, publication of, 48:16
professional presiding officer, 47:13
program, 41:1–36, 41:2, 41:2n2, 41:58–70, 41:64
adjournment, 21:14
agenda, relation to, 3:19, 41:2n2, 41:64, 59:54
Call for the Orders of the Day, 6:12(1), 18:1, 18:3n1, 18:5
change after adoption, 59:59
convention, 3:19, 8:5, 59:51–60
events outside of business meetings, 18:3n1
general orders, 41:3
guide pending adoption, 59:57
meeting, schedule, 8:8
order of business, 41:36
recess, 20:6
session, 8:2(2)
at social or cultural meetings, 9:6, 56:52
special orders, 41:3
Program Committee, 59:3, 59:7, 59:48–60
bylaw provisions on, 56:45; sample, 56:65
 Convention Arrangements Committee, relation, 59:63, 59:65
organization of convention, 59:11–13
organizing a society, 60:3
parliamentarian as adviser to, 59:9
Resolutions Committee, liaison with, 59:82
pronunciation
precedence, 5:8n2
sine die, 8:2(6)n1
viva voce, 4:35n10
proponents and opponents, alternation in debate, xxxiii,
3:33(3), 42:9(3)
proportion. See fraction or proportion.
proposals. See motions.
Proviso, to Create, 43:39, 54:23, 56:15
proxy voting, 45:2, 45:55–56, 45:70–71
public session, 9:28–29
published proceedings or transactions, 48:16
purport (in previous notice), 10:47, 56:51
purpose of society. See object of society.
putting the question, 4:2, 4:34–40, 43:6, 47:7
disregarded if member seeking floor, 43:7
by member when chair ignores, 62:8–9, 62:11n4
motion unamendable & undebatable, 4:15(a)n8
on resolution without reading, 4:37
unanimous consent avoids, 4:58

Q
qualifications. See eligibility.
quarterly time interval, 9:7–9, 21:7(b–c), 38:8
adjournment effect, 21:7(b–c), 41:21
board, effect on authority, 49:6
election postponement, 46:44
minutes approval, effect on, 48:9
minutes approval; effect on, 48:12
notice of motions, 10:44
 order of the day, effect on, 41:40
postponement not possible beyond, 14:7
Reconsider, 37:11(d)
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes, 37:47(5)
standard order of business, 41:6
table, effect on items laid on, 6:26(1), 17:8, 17:16, 34:3, 41:15
unfinished business at meeting within, 41:21
quasi committee of the whole, 52:1–2, 52:19–23
debate in assembly after, 13:21
minutes, 48:5
motion to go into, 13:2–3, 13:5, 13:8(d), 13:12, 13:21, 13:25,
52:20
quorum, 40:5, 40:10
speech length and number, 43:18, 52:1
straw polls, alternative to, 45:72
“Question!” 16:20, 42:22. See also Previous Question.
question. See also motions; motions that bring a question again
before the assembly; and “questions” headings.
“Are you ready for the question?” 4:15(a)
call for the question (see also Previous Question), 16:6–7
different question, 38:1
immediately pending question, 5:7–9
of order (see Point of Order)
putting the question (see putting the question)
question recurs, after disposal of motion taking precedence,
10:35
same question (see same question)
series of motions connected with one question, 34:5, 42:7
stating the question (see stating the question)
Question, Division of. See Division of a Question.
Question, Objection to the Consideration of. See Objection to
the Consideration of a Question.
Question, Previous. See Previous Question.
Question and Answer Forum, xxiv
questions, asking. See also Parliamentary Inquiry; Request for
Information.
 addressed through chair, 43:22
hypothetical, 33:3
not counted as debate, 43:12, 43:31–32
time charged to speaker, 43:10, 43:22
questions, privileged, 5:4, 6:11. See also privileged motions.
vs. questions of privilege, 19:4
questions of order. See Point of Order.
questions of privilege, 6:12(2), 19:1n2, 19:2. See also Raise a
Question of Privilege.
of the assembly, 19:7
Call of the House, 40:14
chair, declare vacant, 62:11
debate on, 43:38
executive session, go into, 9:24
form and example, 19:11–17
interrupt speaker, 42:18
office, remove from, 62:16
personal privilege, 19:7
Previous Question, interrupts, 16:10, 16:19
vs. privileged motions (or privileged questions), 19:4
privileges of the assembly, 19:7
quorum, when absent, 40:7
renewal, 38:5(6)
Request to Be Excused from a Duty, 32:7
special orders, 41:41, 41:53
vacancies, filling, 32:7
queue of members seeking the floor. See assignment of the
floor; microphones; preference in recognition.
queue or stack of motions. See precedence of motions.
quorum, 1:8, 3:3–5, §40, 40:1
absence, motions in order, 40:6–10
absentees, protect, 25:10
board, 49:16, 51:2, 56:39
bylaw provisions on, 3:3, 40:2, 56:37; sample, 56:63
Call of the House to obtain, 40:8, 40:13–16, 47:40
chair’s duty to determine, 40:11–12, 47:7
 changing, 40:4
committee, 40:5, 50:21, 51:2
committee of the whole, 40:5, 40:10, 52:18
convention, 3:4, 40:2(3), 58:6, 59:26
dues not required, group in which, 40:2(2)
election, absence during, 46:49
electronic meeting, 9:36
enforcing, 40:11–12
ex-officio member, 49:8, 50:16
mass meeting, 40:2(1)
notice of motion in absence of, 40:9
obtain, measures to, 40:7–8
quasi committee of the whole, 40:5, 40:10
ratify action taken without, 10:54–55
roll call, 45:52
setting, considerations, 40:3
Suspend the Rules, 25:10
unanimous consent, 4:63, 40:9
voting, during, 44:2

R
railroading. See “gaveling through.”
Raise a Question of Privilege, 6:12(2), 10:36, §19, 19:1, 19:6,
t3–t5
debate on, 43:38
form and example, 19:11–17
precedence of, t4
renewal of, 38:5(6)
rank of motions. See precedence of motions.
Ratify, 10:5, 10:54–57
board, unauthorized action, 10:54–57, 23:9
quorum, action in absence, 40:9
special meeting, action outside scope of notice, 9:15
Raymond, Melissa, xxvii
Read Papers, Request to, 6:17(11), 33:1, 33:20–21
reading and approval of minutes. See minutes, reading and
approval of.
reading clerk, 42:21, 51:9, 51:11
reading of motion, resolution, or paper
bylaws, proposed, 54:17
correspondence, 3:26, 47:34
making motion, 4:5, 4:10
mass meeting call, 53:14
putting question, 4:37, 4:37n11
Request to Read Papers, 6:17(11), 33:1, 33:20
right to read or require, 33:21, 43:26
secretary reading doesn’t take away floor, 42:21
stating question, 4:15(b–f)
reaffirm, motion to, 10:10
real estate, purchase or sale of, 10:8(7)(a)
rebuttal (in Appeal), 24:3(5)
recapitulation (in roll-call vote), 30:1, 45:9, 45:51, 45:55
receipts (financial), 47:39, 48:23, 54:21
Recess (motion or procedure to take a short break in the
meeting), 6:12(3), 8:2(3), §20, 20:1, 20:5, t3–t5. See also
standing at ease.
vs. adjournment, 8:7
in agenda, program, or schedule, 20:6–7, 41:56, 41:59, 41:66–
68
ballots, to count, 20:1
until called to order by chair, 20:8
committee of the whole, 52:10
form and example, 20:8–10
as incidental main motion, 10:5, 20:3
Lay on the Table renewal after vote on, 17:11
mass meeting, 53:22
members, enroll, 54:21
opinion, crystallize, 52:28
postpone, 20:7, 41:56
precedence of, 6:21, t4
Previous Question, after ordered, 16:10
 quorum, measures to obtain, precedence, 40:8
quorum, when absent, 40:7
renewal, 38:7(4)
within session, 8:7
special orders, 41:41, 41:53, 41:56
vs. standing at ease, 8:2
recognition to speak. See assignment of the floor; preference in
recognition.
recognized, 3:30
recommendations. See board reports; committee reports;
reports.
Recommit, 13:4–5, 13:12, 13:25, 54:19. See also Commit or
Refer.
Reconsider (motion to bring back a question from the same
session as if it had not been voted on), xxvi, 6:26(4), §37,
37:1, 37:9. See also motions that bring a question again
before the assembly; Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes;
renewal of motions.
Adjourn, 21:10
adoption, effect, 37:19
agenda, 41:63, 59:59
ballot, motion previously voted on by, 45:21
ballot, motion to vote by, 45:20
bylaw amendments, 57:1(3), 57:6
bylaws adoption, 54:20
call up, 37:10(c), 37:15–16
in classification of motions, 6:25–27
Commit, 36:6, t3–t5
committee, 37:8(a–b), 37:35
committee of the whole, 37:35
debate, 37:20–22, 43:40
election, 46:46
Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn yields to, 6:27(5)
form and example, 37:36–45
general orders, 41:45, 41:49
inapplicable to certain motions, 37:9(2)
 interrupt speaker, 42:19
Lay on the Table, when pending, 17:23
maker on prevailing side, 37:8(a)
making, effect, 37:11
members excluded, remedy, 23:7
Objection to the Consideration of the Question, 26:5–6
order limiting or extending limits of debate, 15:11, 15:18
order of presiding officer, 61:8
order of the day, 14:13
Postpone Indefinitely and main motion, 10:26(3)n2, 11:2(8)n1
precedence of, 6:27(5), 37:10(c)
preference in recognition, 42:7, 42:9, 42:11, 42:13
Previous Question, 16:13–16
Previous Question in effect, 16:17
program, convention, 59:59
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes, differences, 37:46
referral to committee, ignored after, 13:19
rejection finalizes disposal of motion, 10:26(5)(d)n4
renewal, 37:9(2)(a), 38:5(3)
Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted after, 35:6(a)
same question during session, decide, 10:26(5)(d), 38:1
secondary motions, applied to, 6:27(5), 37:24–34
session, impact on definition of, 8:4
special orders, 41:55
as Standard Descriptive Characteristic 8 of all motions, 7:2
suspension of action, 37:11, 37:33
take up business out of order, 10:26(5)(b), 41:40
take up when made, 37:14
temporarily but not finally disposed of, 9:9–11, 10:26(5)(d),
21:7(c)n6, 38:8
time limits, 37:10(b)
time limits in committees, 37:35(1)
withdraw, 33:17
Withdraw or Modify a Motion, 37:10(b)
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes (special form of
Reconsider), 8:7n2, 21:10, 37:46–52
 abuse, remedy, 37:51–52
call up, 37:46
interrupt speaker, 42:19
preference in recognition, 42:7, 42:13
Reconsider, differences, 37:46
suspension of action, 37:49
time limits, 37:46–47
wait, when decision cannot, 37:47(5), 37:51
record of meeting. See minutes.
recorder, 47:32. See also secretary.
recording devices, 25:15, 48:6
recording secretary, 47:32, 47:34, 47:37, 56:62. See also
corresponding secretary; secretary (recording secretary).
records of a society, 47:33, 47:35–36
recounts, 45:15, 46:48
ballot, 45:41
counted vote, 45:15
incidental main motion, 45:41
incidental motion, 45:41
roll call, 45:54
time limits, 45:41
recusal, 45:4–5, 47:10, 62:11n4
Redgrave, John Robert, xlv
Refer. See Commit or Refer.
Reference Committee. See Resolutions Committee.
refrain, motion to, 10:11
register of members, quorum when unreliable, 40:2(2)
registered mail, 63:28
registration of delegates, 59:14, 59:16–21, 59:29, 59:52, 59:55
regular meeting, 9:1–12
also called stated meeting, 9:1
Adjourn, 8:9, 21:4
adjourned meeting, 9:17
annual meeting, relation to, 9:22
board, 49:2, 56:64
bylaw provisions on, 1:13; sample, 56:63
 election, complete, 46:44
minutes, 48:9
notice of meeting beyond quarterly time interval, 9:3
social or cultural, 9:6, 14:7, 56:52
Take from the Table at, 34:3
regular order, to demand. See Call for the Orders of the Day.
regular session. See regular meeting.
reinstatement of membership, 35:6(c)
“rejected” (motion defeated), 4:3, 4:43, 4:49
religious exercises, 3:15
relinquishing the chair, 43:29, 47:10, 52:2, 52:7, 62:11n4
removal from office, 61:22, 62:16, §63. See also expulsion from
membership.
bylaw provisions on, 56:29–30, 56:62
cause, 62:16, 63:15
expulsion from membership, combined with, 63:1n7
incidental main motion, 62:16
presiding officer, during all or part of session, 62:10–14
Rescind’s applicability to, 35:6(c)
removal of appointees, 13:23, 50:14
removal of offender from meeting, 61:7, 61:19–21
renewal of motions (to introduce again after not being adopted),
8:15, §38, 38:1. See also motions that bring a question again
before the assembly; Reconsider.
Adjourn, 21:13
Call of the House, 40:14
dilatory, 39:4
incidental motions, 38:3(1)
Lay on the Table, 17:11
members excluded, remedy, 23:7
Objection to the Consideration of the Question, 26:5
second, died for lack of, 38:2
session, same vs. later, 8:15, 38:3
subsidiary motions, 38:3(1)
Suspend the Rules, 25:6
Take from the Table, 17:8
 withdrawn motion, 38:2
reopening nominations, 31:6
reopening the polls. See polls, to close or reopen.
Repeal. See Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted.
reports, 3:16
accept, 51:14, 51:16
adopt, 10:52, 51:13
agree to, 51:14
Amend, 51:19
annual, 9:22, 41:13, 48:18, 48:21, 48:27, 51:3, 51:20
auditors’, 48:24–-25
board (see board reports)
committee (see committee reports)
Consideration by Paragraph, 28:1
convention, 59:55
historian, 48:27
information, 51:53, 59:55
motions arising out of, 3:25, 41:14, 48:19, 48:27, 51:10–19
officers, 3:16, 3:25, 9:22, 41:13–14, 47:27, 48:17–27, 59:55
oral, 51:23, 51:60–62
order of business, 41:13–17
organization of, 51:7
presentation, 51:9
president, 47:27, 48:19
receive, 51:9, 51:15–16
recommendations, 51:4–6
reporting member, 51:5, 51:11
second, 51:12
special committee (see committee reports)
standing committee (see committee reports)
tellers, 45:37–40
treasurer, 48:20–26
vice-president, 47:27, 48:19
Request for Any Other Privilege. See Privilege, Request for
Any Other.
Request for Information (to ask a relevant nonprocedural
 question), 6:17(11), 33:1, 33:6–10. See also Parliamentary
Inquiry.
addressed through chair, 43:22
chair’s duty to respond, 47:7
form and example, 33:7–8
time charged to speaker, 43:10
Request for Permission (or Leave) to Withdraw or Modify a
Motion. See Withdraw or Modify a Motion.
Request to Be Excused from a Duty, 6:17(10), §32, 32:1,
43:39, 50:18
Request to Read Papers, 6:17(11), 33:1, 33:20–21
Requests and Inquiries, 6:17(10–11), 6:21, §33
in committee of the whole, 52:9
interrupt speaker, 42:18
privilege, question of, 19:3
Rescind and Expunge from the Minutes, 35:13, 44:9(b)
Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted, 6:26–27,
10:26(4), §35, 35:1, 35:2
actions that cannot be, 35:6
agenda, to change, 41:63
Amend, difference from, 12:2
amendments, multiple, 51:48(a)n10
board, 56:41
bylaw amendments (see also bylaw amendments), 57:1
in classification of motions, 6:25–27
conforming amendments, 35:5
convention standing rules, 59:36
debate on, 43:40
Discharge a Committee, similarity, 36:3
disciplinary procedures, 63:33
form and example, 35:7–12
as incidental main motion, 6:27(1–2)
main motion, 10:8(7)(c), 23:6(b)
meeting, schedule between others in session, 22:2
members excluded, remedy, 23:7
minutes, to correct after adoption, 48:15
 postpone event, 14:3
previous notice of, 10:45, 35:4; when too late for Reconsider
and Enter on the Minutes, 37:50
reaffirm, motion to, 10:10
removal or replacement of committee members, 13:23
remove committee members, 50:14
renewal, 38:5(4)
same question during session, decide, 38:1
session, something adopted at earlier, 8:12
reserving a Point of Order, 23:5
reserving objection to unanimous consent, 4:60
reserving time, 43:10
resignation, 32:8, 47:54. See also Request to Be Excused from
a Duty.
board, authority to accept, 47:57
bylaw provisions on, 32:7, 56:21, 56:61
committee, 13:23, 50:17
debate, 43:39
disciplinary procedures, 63:6
membership, 32:8, 56:21, 56:61, 63:6
Rescind’s applicability to, 35:6(c)
resolutions, 4:4–5, 10:13–23. See also main motions;
Resolutions Committee.
advance preparation and distribution, 4:5, 4:10
Consideration by Paragraph, 6:17(6)
consolidation, 55:3
convention, 59:55
courtesy, 59:78
disciplinary procedures, 63:11, 63:13–27, 63:32–33, 63:35
dissolution, 55:6
form, 10:13–15, 10:20–25, 59:77
mass meeting, 53:15–17
meetings, scheduling by, 9:2, 56:34
merger, 55:3
moved and seconded, when treated as, 59:80
organizing a society, 54:5–7
 platform, 59:77
preamble, 10:16–19, 59:77
putting the question on, 4:37
reading (see reading of motion, resolution, or paper)
series in single motion, 10:25
special orders, 59:82
stating the question on, 4:15(b–f)
in writing, 4:5, 10:13
Resolutions Committee, 59:5, 59:42, 59:55, 59:67–83
Amend, recommend, 59:81
courtesy resolutions, 59:78
executive session, 59:79
form of motion, 10:14
hearing, 59:79
incidental main motions not referred, 10:6
mass meeting, 53:19–27
meetings, 59:79
moved and seconded, reported r. treated as, 59:80
parliamentarian as adviser to, 59:9
platform, 59:76–77
power, variations in, 59:74–75
referral of resolutions, automatic, 10:30(4), 59:69–71
report, 59:80–83
report resolution, authority not to, 59:75
special orders, 59:82
submission of resolutions, 59:72–73
“Resolved,” use in resolutions, 2:17, 10:13–15, 10:22, 12:22(6)
“Respectfully submitted,” 48:7
restorative motions. See motions that bring a question again
before the assembly; renewal of motions.
revision of bylaws, 47:47, 56:3, 56:6, 56:15, 57:5. See also
bylaw amendments.
authorization required, 57:5
committee to prepare, 57:5
riot, basis for adjournment, 8:10
rise, or rise and report, 50:23, 52:5, 52:9(1)n12, 52:10–11
 committee of the whole, 52:9
special committee, 21:9, 50:23
rising vote, 4:35, 4:38–39
on bylaws adoption, 54:20
counted, 4:51, 4:53, 30:1, 44:5–6, 45:15
Division of the Assembly, 4:52, 6:17(7), 29:1–8
form, 4:38
result, announcing, 4:43
two-thirds vote, 4:38, 4:43, 44:5, 45:11
verify doubtful voice or show of hands, 29:6, 30:6, 45:11, 45:14
Robert, Helen Thresher, xliii
Robert, Henry M., xxiii, xxv, xxxviii–xlviii
Robert, Henry M., Jr., xliv
Robert, Henry M. III, xlv–xlvi
Robert, Isabel Hoagland, xliii
Robert, Joseph Thomas, xxxix
Robert, Sarah Corbin, xliv
Robert’s Rules Association, xlv
website, xxiv
Robert’s Rules of Order, xxiii, xlii–xlvii
first edition, xxv
Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief, xxiv, 47:15
Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR), xlv–xlvi
e-book, xxiv
electronic version, xxiv
reference manual, xxiv
revision process, xxv
Twelfth Edition, xxiii, xxiv, xxv–xxvii, xlvi
Robert’s Rules of Order Revised, xxv, xliii–xliv
roll call, 6:17(8), 45:45–55
change vote, 45:50
committee of the whole, 52:10
convention, 45:53
delegation, 45:53
election, 46:42
electronic, 45:55
 Lay on the Table after debate closed, 16:2(2)n11
mass meeting, 45:45
minutes, 45:52, 48:5
motion to take, 30:1
opening ceremonies, 41:31
quorum, 45:52
recapitulation, 45:9
signed ballot, alternative, 45:46
suggestions for filling blanks, 12:103
roll of members, 47:33, 47:35, 54:22, 59:23, 59:26
quorum when unreliable, 40:2(2)
RONR (abbreviation), vii, xxiii. See also Robert’s Rules of Order
Newly Revised.
RONR Official Interpretations, xxv
rostrum. See platform (stage).
rotation in office, 47:4, 56:31, 56:62
rule out of order, decision of the chair to, 4:16–17
rules, xxix–xxx, 1:5, §2. See also bylaws; charter; constitution;
convention standing rules; custom and customary practices;
parliamentary authority; parliamentary law; rules of order;
special rules of order; standing rules; Suspend the Rules.
Amend, 44:4
board (see also small-board rules), 49:15, 56:39
chair’s duty to enforce, 47:7, 47:19
committee, 50:25–26
conflict in, 3:2
copy at meetings, 47:8
executive session, requiring, 9:24
interpretation (see interpretation, principles of)
mass meeting, 53:8, 53:32
nominations, 31:3
small board (see small-board rules)
types of, 2:1–4
Rules, Committee on Standing, 59:3, 59:27–47
organization of convention, 59:11–13
organizing a society, 60:3
 parliamentarian as adviser to, 59:9
rules of order, xxix–xxx, xxxviii, xli, 2:14–22
instructions to committee may supersede, 13:8(d)
rulings, 24:5–7
criticize, 24:2
minutes, 23:10
precedent, 23:10–11

S
same question, 38:1
Amend, amendment, 12:25
as motion finally or temporarily disposed of, 10:26(5), 12:17,
39:6
as question in committee, 36:2
as question laid on the table, 17:9
after referral, 13:20
San Francisco, xxxix
schedule. See agenda; order of business; program.
within a session, 8:8
scientific societies, 45:57
scope of notice. See previous notice (of motions): scope of.
Scott, Foresman and Company, xlv
scribe, 47:32. See also secretary.
scripts for handling motions, 10:37
SDCs (standard descriptive characteristics) of motions, 7:1–
3, 10:32
Seabold, Daniel E., xlvi
second (to a motion), 4:2, 4:9–14, 62:3, 62:6, 62:8–9
blanks, creating, 12:95(b)
board, 51:12
chair’s duty, 47:17
committee, 51:12
convention, 59:12
example format, 10:37
lack of, procedure, 4:10, 4:12–13, 23:5
 lack of, renewal of motion, 38:2
minutes, 48:5
Modify a Motion, 33:19
nominations, 46:6
Previous Question, 16:7
Reconsider, 37:15
secondary motions, 5:6
sit and stand, when to, 4:9
small-board rules, 49:21
as Standard Descriptive Characteristic 4 of all motions, 7:2
suggestions for filling blanks, 12:96
withdraw, 4:21, 33:15
second-degree amendment. See secondary amendment.
secondary amendment, xxiv, 12:11–13
committee recommends, 51:46
involving a primary amendment to: insert (or add) a paragraph,
12:31; insert (or add) words, 12:27, 12:30; strike out a
paragraph, 12:51; strike out and insert words, 12:61–62;
strike out words, 12:49–50; substitute, 12:70–71, 12:81–87
pending at one time, 12:12–15, 12:92–93
Reconsider, 37:31
vs. secondary motion, 5:2n1
secondary motions, 4:45, 5:2–7, 6:27(5)
in classification of motions, 5:2
debate, conclude by offering, 10:31
incidental main motions, corresponding, 10:7
main motion, during consideration of, 43:5
minutes, 48:4
precedence of, 5:8–13
vs. secondary amendment, 12:7(2)n2
secret ballot. See ballots.
secret proceedings (or secret session). See executive session.
secret vote. See ballots.
secretary (recording secretary), 47:32–37. See also
corresponding secretary.
also called clerk, 3:6, 47:1, 47:32
also called recorder, recording secretary, or scribe, 47:32
absence, 47:34
absence of chair, call meeting to order, 47:11, 47:33
ballot, cast, 45:22
ballots and tally sheets, custody, 45:41
board, 49:17
board, same capacity, 49:11, 56:40
board reports, 51:21
bylaw amendments, conforming corrections, 57:19
committee, 36:9, 50:24
committee of the whole, 52:7
convention, 59:12
correspondence, reads, 47:34
counted vote, 4:51, 45:15
desk, 3:7
disciplinary procedures, duties, 63:28–29, 63:33
duties, 47:33
essential officer, 3:6, 47:1
executive (see executive secretary (executive director))
list of eligible voters, 45:58
mass meeting, 53:5, 53:11, 53:13, 53:32
minutes (see minutes)
motion paraphrase, 4:18
notice (of meetings), 9:14
notify those appointed or elected, 47:33, 50:19
opinion in minutes, 48:2
order of business memorandum, 41:7
preside over motion to declare chair vacant, 62:11n4
previous notice in call, 10:51
quasi committee of the whole, 52:21
reading doesn’t take away floor, 42:21
Reconsider, 37:10(c)
recording secretary and other secretaries compared, 47:32,
47:34, 47:37, 56:62
records, maintain, 36:9, 47:33, 47:35
reports, 41:13
 Rescind and Expunge from the Minutes, 35:13
roll call, 45:47–51, 46:42
sign acts of society, 47:33
sign minutes, 48:7
temporary (see secretary pro tem)
writing, request motions in, 4:18
secretary, executive, 47:34, 47:43–45
secretary, financial, 47:32, 47:34, 47:39
secretary pro tem, 47:33
organizing a society, 53:32, 54:3, 54:21–22, 60:3
preside over motion to declare chair vacant, 62:11n4
section and article numbers, correcting, 57:19
“seem to have it,” 4:50, 4:52
select committee. See special committees.
Senate, U.S., xl, 9:24, 16:5(7)n14
separate vote, to demand
on amendment, 12:14
on resolution, 10:25, 27:2, 27:10, 42:18, 51:48
sergeant-at-arms, 42:16, 47:40, 61:20–21
Call of the House, enforce, 40:15
seriatim. See Consideration by Paragraph or Seriatim.
series of amendments, 51:48
offered by single motion, 12:14
series of motions connected with one question
preference in recognition, 42:7
Take from the Table, 34:5
series of resolutions in single motion, 10:25, 34:5, 51:31
Consideration by Paragraph, 28:1
different question, 38:5(1)
division on demand, 27:10, 42:18
form, 10:22
serpentine vote, 45:15
session, 1:3, 8:2(2). See also meeting.
Adjourn, 8:2(5), 21:7
Adjourn vs. Recess during, 8:7
adjourned meeting, 22:8
 convention, 1:14
Lay on the Table, 17:8
local assembly, 1:13
mass meeting, 1:10, 53:32
meeting, relation to, 1:3, 8:1, 8:3–7, 9:18
number of meetings in, 8:3
order limiting or extending limits of debate, 16:12, 43:16
Postpone, limits, 14:7
Postpone Indefinitely applies to full, 11:1
Reconsider at same, 6:26(4)
reconsideration, 37:19n6
renewal of motion, same vs. later, 38:3, 38:6
rules applying outside of, 25:13
same question during, 6:25(a)
significance, 8:11–16
special-committee meetings constitute one, 50:23
special meeting, 9:13
set aside orders of the day, 6:12(1), 18:8. See also Call for the
Orders of the Day.
adjournment scheduled, 18:8, 21:14, 41:56, 41:67
agenda topic, 41:65
recess scheduled, 18:8, 20:7, 41:56, 41:67
shire, xxxii
Shire court, xxxi
Shire-moot, xxxi
show of hands, 4:35, 4:40, 30:6, 45:11
count vote, whether to, 4:53
Division of the Assembly, 4:55, 29:1
inconclusive, 4:55
result, announcing, 4:43
small-board rules, 49:21
verify vote, 4:55
signatures
board reports, 51:21
committee reports, 51:27, 51:71, 63:13
members (see also signed ballot), 45:59–60, 54:7, 54:21,
 59:14(5)(c), 59:19
minutes, 35:13, 48:7, 48:14
president, 47:7(10), 48:7, 51:21, 59:14(1)
secretary, 35:13, 47:33(7), 48:7, 48:14, 51:21, 59:14(1)
sergeant-at-arms, 40:15
signed ballot, 30:1, 45:46, 46:25
simultaneous communication, requirement, 1:1
sine die, to adjourn, 8:2(6), 8:6, 21:8, 21:16
pronunciation, 8:2(6)n1
sit and stand, when to
chair, 4:24, 4:31, 4:34, 4:41, 24:3(2), 47:9
committee, 42:2n1
member, 3:12, 3:31, 4:6, 4:9, 23:12, 42:2, 43:27, 46:6
secretary, 41:9
small-board rules, 42:2n1, 49:21
small-board rules, 1:24, 49:21
assembly, 2:16
chair votes, 4:56
committee, 50:25–26
second, 4:9n7
show of hands, 4:40
speaking seated, 3:12, 3:31n4
Smyth, Sir Thomas, xxxiii
“so moved,” 10:9
social or cultural meetings, 9:6, 14:7, 56:52
Sparta, xxx
Speaker (presiding officer), 3:10
speaker, guest, 48:5
speaking, rules of. See debate.
speaking seated, 3:31n4
committee, 3:12, 42:2n1
small board, 3:12, 42:2n1
unable to stand, 3:12n2
special committees, 13:8(c), 13:12–13, 50:3, 50:10. See also
committees.
act after members announced, 13:15
 Adjourn, 21:9
amendments, recommend, 10:30(4)
composition and size, 50:18
convention, 50:30
to deliberate, 50:18
disagreement, decline appointment, 50:18
discharge (see also Discharge a Committee), 36:9, 50:30
expires, when, 50:10, 50:30
implement assembly order, 50:18
to investigate, 50:18
large, instructions on rules, 50:26
list of at meetings, 47:8
members, naming (see also committees), 13:15–16, 50:13,
56:46
Reconsider, 37:8(a–b), 37:10(a–b), 37:35
reports (see also committee reports), 3:16, 41:17, 50:30
rise, motion to, 50:23
rise or rise and report, 21:9
termination, 50:30
special meeting, 1:13, 9:13–16
also called called meeting, 9:13
absentees, scope of notice protects, 25:10
vs. adjourned meeting, 22:9
adjourned meeting of, 9:17
board, 49:2, 56:64
bylaw provisions on, 1:13, 9:14, 56:36; sample, 56:63
call, 9:13–16, 56:36, 56:63
convention, 21:8
disciplinary procedures, 63:21, 63:21n9
Lay on the Table, when dilatory at, 17:14, 39:3
minutes, 48:9
motion called to consider, preference in recognition to move,
42:13
notice, 9:13–14, 56:36, 56:63
ratify action outside scope of notice, 10:54
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes, 37:51
 special between regular meetings, effect, 9:13n4
Suspend the Rules, 25:10
Take from the Table at, 34:3
trial in disciplinary procedures, 56:36
special order of business. See order of business.
special orders, 14:14–15, 41:3, 41:41, 41:53–57
Adjourn, 21:7(b)
agenda, 41:58
Call for the Orders of the Day, 18:1, 18:5
committee of the whole, 52:16
conflicting, 41:54–55
convention, 59:55
discharged question, 36:10
election, 41:20
make, 14:14, 41:41, 41:45
motion to bring up, 41:19
nominations, 41:20
vs. order limiting or extending limits of debate, 15:3
order of business, 3:16, 3:29, 10:42, 41:18(b)
in order of business, 41:18–20
order of business, 41:46
Postpone to create, 14:2
Previous Question, interrupts execution, 16:10, 16:19
priority of, 41:53–57
renewal of motions, 38:8(1)
resolution considered as, 59:82
session, set for later, 9:9
the special order, 14:14, 41:18n4, 41:53, 41:57
subject bylaws set for particular session, 41:20
unfinished, 9:9–11
special rules of order, 2:15–18, 2:20–21, 45:42, 56:49, 56:66
adopt, 2:17, 2:22
Amend, 2:22
assignment of the floor, 42:15n3, 42:16
board, 49:15
bylaws, in, 2:20
 consent calendar, 41:32
convention standing rules, comparison, 59:27
copy for members, 2:13, 2:20
custom, incorporate, 2:25
debate, changing limits, 43:15
disciplinary procedures, 63:32n10
drop nominee with fewest votes, 46:32n1
electronic meeting, 9:36
minutes content, 48:3
plurality vote, 44:11
precedent, change, 23:11
previous notice, 10:45
roll call vote, require, 45:46
session, place beyond reach of majority at later, 8:14
standing committees created by, 50:8
Suspend the Rules, 2:21, 25:3
vote, require count, 45:14
voting basis, 44:10
special session. See special meeting.
specific statements taking precedence of general statements,
3:2, 56:68(3)
specifications in disciplinary procedures, 63:15, 63:19, 63:24–
25, 63:28, 63:33(a), 63:33(b), 63:33(e), 63:39
speeches. See debate.
stage. See platform.
stand and sit, when to. See sit and stand, when to.
standard descriptive characteristics (SDCs) of motions, 7:1–
3, 10:32
standard order of business. See order of business.
standing at ease (brief pause without declaration of recess),
8:2(4), 23:3, 47:51. See also Recess.
standing committees, 13:8(b), 13:12, 50:7–9. See also
committees.
amendments, recommend, 10:30(4)
board, when functions as, 50:4, 50:9
bylaws, 50:8, 56:44, 56:65
 composition, 50:18
continuing existence, 50:3
convention business, 59:7
discharge (see also Discharge a Committee), 36:9
disciplinary procedures, 50:28
initiative of committee, 51:31
large, instructions on rules, 50:26
list of at meetings, 47:8
Program Committee, 59:50
Reconsider, 37:8(a–b), 37:10(a–b), 37:35
referral of certain subjects, automatic, 10:30(4), 50:8
reports (see also committee reports), 3:16, 41:13, 50:4, 50:9,
50:29, 51:3
special rules of order, 50:8
standing rules, 50:9
term of office, 50:7
standing rules, 2:23–24, 25:15. See also convention standing
rules.
adopt, 2:23
board, 49:15
convention standing rules vs. ordinary, 59:27, 59:35(2)
copy for members, 2:13
electronic meeting, 9:35
mass meeting, 53:8
meetings, hour and place of, 9:1, 56:33
precedent, change, 23:11
Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted, 2:23
standing committees created by, 50:9
Suspend the Rules, 2:23, 6:23, 8:13, 25:3, 25:15
suspension for session, 6:23, 8:13, 25:15
standing vote. See rising vote.
stated meeting, 9:1. See also regular meeting.
stating the question, 4:2, 4:15–24, 5:6, 47:7, 47:17
chair’s duty, 47:17, 62:3, 62:11n4
modification of motion before, 10:30(1), 33:11–12
quorum, when absent, 40:12
 Take from the Table before, 34:4
unanimous consent avoids, 4:58
withdrawal of motion before, 33:11–12
statutes. See law.
Sthenelaïdas, xxx
stock corporations, 1:23, 45:70, 49:7
stool, 3:7
straw polls, 45:72
“strike,” 12:8(2)n3
strike enacting words, 12:22(6)
strike from the minutes. See Rescind and Expunge from the
Minutes.
strike out a paragraph (form of Amend), 12:8, 12:51–52, 27:9
after adoption of insert (or add) words, 12:28(1)
form and example, 12:53–55
strike out and insert (transfer) a paragraph (form of Amend),
12:8(3)(b)n4. See also substitute.
strike out and insert words (form of Amend), 12:8, 12:56–68,
12:72
after adoption of insert (or add) words, 12:28
as alternative to pending motion to strike out, 12:50
form and example, 12:67–68
germaneness of each part to the other, 12:59
strike out words (form of Amend), 12:8, 12:46–50
after adoption of insert (or add) words, 12:28, 12:63
form and example, 12:53–55
indivisible question, 27:9
after rejection of strike out and insert words, 12:64
secondary amendment of, 12:51
subcommittees, 50:15, 56:10
committee of the whole, 52:10
Convention Arrangements Committee, 59:63
subordinate units, 2:7n4, 56:7, 56:57
subsidiary motions, 6:3–10, §11–§17, t3–t5
characteristics as a class, 6:6
in classification of motions, 5:2
 debatability, 6:8, 43:37
incidental main motions, corresponding, 10:7
incidental motions, resemblance, 6:15
list of, 6:5
main motion, during consideration of, 10:31–35, 43:5
precedence of, 5:10–11
quorum, when absent, 40:7
Reconsider applied to, 6:27(5), 37:24–34
renewal of, 38:3(1)
reports and recommendations, 51:17
special meeting, 9:15
substantive motions. See main motions; original main motions.
substitute (form of Amend), 10:30(4), 12:8, 12:69–90, 36:7
after adoption of insert (or add) words, 12:28(3)
bylaw amendments, 57:4, 57:5n2
committee recommendation of, 12:77, 51:49–51
form and example, 12:82–90
minority report, 51:70
vs. strike out and insert words, 12:57
for a substitute, 12:69n6
suggestions for inexperienced presiding officers, 47:14–19
sunshine laws, 9:28
supermajority, 1:6–8, 10:8(7). See also fraction or proportion;
majority of entire membership; minority; previous notice (of
motions); two-thirds vote.
for amendment of bylaws or constitution, 2:8(4), 2:10–11,
35:2(7), 56:50–56; sample bylaws, 56:67
majority of fixed membership, 44:9(b)n1
previous decision, principle for changing, xlix–l, 6:25(c)
session, relation to, 8:12–14
three fourths, 44:7, 56:61, 59:75
two-thirds of entire membership, 56:55, 59:75
support. See second.
Suspend the Rules, xlvi, 2:2, 6:17(3), §25, 25:1, 25:2
ballot required by bylaws, 45:20
bylaws, 2:8(4), 2:21, 8:15
 chair’s authority to preside, suspend, 62:12–14
chair’s duty to preside in bylaws, 62:12n5
charter, 2:7
conflict with constitution or bylaws rule of order, 10:26(1)n1
conflicting motion, to consider, 10:26(5)(b)
convention standing rules, 59:37
drop nominee with fewest votes, 46:32n1
form and example, 25:17–20
Lay on the Table, 17:10
meeting, schedule, 22:2
Modify a Motion, 33:19
not suspendible, 25:7–13
order of presiding officer, 61:8
orders of the day, set aside, 18:8(a), 41:49
orders of the day, take up early, 14:13
precedence of, 6:19, 6:21
preference in recognition, 42:13
presiding officer, invited temporary, 47:13
program, to proceed to, 41:36
renewal, 8:7n2, 25:6, 38:6(1)
rules applying outside of session, 25:13
rules of order, 2:21, 8:14
special orders, 41:55
standing rules, 25:15
take up business out of order, 10:26(5)(b), 14:11, 41:37
two-thirds vote, 44:4
unanimous consent, 25:16
vote required, 25:14–16
suspension of action
Reconsider, 37:5, 37:7, 37:11, 37:33
Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes, 37:49
suspension of members, 61:2, 61:15
sustaining the decision of the chair. See Appeal.

T
“table” (as a verb), 17:1, 17:20n17. See also Lay on the Table;
Take from the Table.
Take from the Table (to resume consideration of a motion that
lies on the table), 6:26(1), 17:6–8, §34, 34:1, 34:2. See also
Lay on the Table.
in classification of motions, 6:25–27
debate on, 43:40
form and example, 34:8–10
interrupt to move, 34:4, 41:25
main motion, right of way over new, 34:4
minutes, take up after dispensing with reading, 48:11
new business, in order of business, 41:27
in order of business, 34:2(1), 41:25
preference in recognition, 34:4, 42:9, 42:13
renewal, 38:7(2)
reports, in order of business, 41:15, 41:17
session, relation to, 9:9
temporarily but not finally disposed of, 6:27(4)
time limits, xxvi, 34:3
unfinished business, in order of business, 41:25
take up business out of order, 41:37–39
Lay on the Table, 17:1, 17:10
Suspend the Rules, 25:3
tally sheets, 45:15, 45:41, 45:54
teleconferences, 9:33
telephone, 9:31, 9:36
tellers, xxiv, 4:51, 45:68
appointment, 45:26
ballot vote, 45:10, 45:26–30
convention, 59:20
counted vote, 45:15
mail ballot, 45:58–61
refer uncertain questions to assembly, 45:10
report, 45:37–40
temporarily but not finally disposed of, 9:11
adhering motions, 10:35
 Adjourn, 6:12(4), 21:7(c)
board, periodic partial change in membership, 49:22
conflicting motion, 6:25(b), 12:17
Discharge a Committee, 6:27(4)
Lay on the Table, 17:9
minutes, 48:4
renewal of motions, 8:15, 38:8
same question, 6:25(b), 10:26(5), 39:6
Take from the Table, 6:27(4), 34:4
temporary officers, mass meetings or organizing a society,
53:32, 54:3, 54:23
temporary presiding officer. See chairman pro tem.
temporary secretary. See secretary pro tem.
temporary society, 53:32
term of office
begins, 46:47, 56:27, 56:62
complete election throughout, 46:45
directors, 49:4
ends, 56:27
length, xxvii
officers, 47:4, 56:27, 56:62, 58:10, 62:16
standing-committee members, 50:7, 50:29
until successors elected, 56:27, 56:62
term limits, 47:4, 56:31, 56:62
tertiary amendment not permitted, 12:12
the special order, 14:14, 41:18n4, 41:53, 41:57
“the” vs. “a” in previous-meeting notice requirement, 56:50
third-degree amendment not permitted, 12:12
threshold. See fraction or proportion.
Thucydides, xxx
ticket. See nominating committee.
tie votes, 4:56, 44:12–13
on Appeal, 24:3(7), 44:13
time of meeting, 9:1
timekeepers, xxiv, 43:9
timeliness
 Appeal, 24:8
Point of Order, 23:5
second lacking, 4:13
titles of officers, addressing by, 43:23
total membership
vs. fixed membership, 44:9(b)n1
majority of (see majority of entire membership)
two-thirds of, 56:55
transactions, publication of, 48:16
treasurer, 47:38–39, 56:65. See also auditing committee.
professional, 47:2
reports, 47:38, 48:20–26, 59:55
trials. See disciplinary committees; disciplinary procedures.
trustees (auditors), 47:40, 48:26. See also auditing committee.
trustees (directors). See boards; directors.
two thirds of entire membership, 56:55, 59:75
two-thirds vote, 1:7, 14:14, 44:3, 49:19. See also fraction or
proportion; minority; voting.
bylaw amendments, 2:8(4), 56:50, 57:1
chair’s vote to affect results, 44:12
conflicting motion, to consider, 10:26(1)n1, 10:27
counted vote, 44:5–6
debate, interfere with, 43:3
expulsion, 61:17, 63:33
main motion, 10:8(7)
motions requiring, 44:4, t48–t49
orders of the day, set aside, 6:12(1), 18:8
result, announcing, 4:43
rising vote, 4:38, 44:5
show of hands, 44:5
special rules of order to require count, 45:14
stability over sessions, 8:14
Suspend the Rules, 25:14
unanimous consent, 4:63
U
unanimous consent, 4:58–63
also called general consent, 4:58
Adjourn, 21:19
Amend, 12:45
assumed, 33:20
ballot required by bylaws, 45:20
chair turned over to appointee, 43:29
change vote, 4:42
close debate, 16:7
close polls, 30:9, 45:30
debate, to allow when vote retaken, 43:8
Division of a Question, 27:4
election by (“acclamation”), 46:40, 50:13(b)
extend time to speak, 43:8
make motion when not recognized, 42:4
minutes correction, 4:61, 41:10
objection, 4:59–60, 26:4
Privilege, Request for Any Other, 33:22
quorum, when absent, 4:63, 40:9
Reconsider, moved by any present, 37:10(a)
Reconsider, withdraw, 37:10(b)
Request to Be Excused from a Duty, 32:1
speaker, to hear, 41:36
Suspend the Rules, 25:16
take up business out of order, 41:37–39
two motions at once, 12:59
Withdraw or Modify a Motion, 33:15
unfinished business, 41:21–26
Adjourn, effect, 6:12(4), 21:7(b)
agenda, 41:69, 59:55
board membership change, effect, 49:22
convention, 41:70, 59:55
items constituting, 41:23
order of business, 3:16
in order of business, 41:21–26
 renewal of motions, 38:8(2)
Take from the Table in order, 17:6
temporarily but not finally disposed of, 9:9–11
Unfinished Business and General Orders, 41:21–26. See also
general orders; unfinished business.
next item, announcing, 10:42
Take from the Table in order, 17:6
unit, instructions to vote as, 58:21
unorganized groups, 1:10
ushers, 42:17, 47:40, 59:65

V
vacancies, 32:7, 44:9(b)n1, 46:49, 56:32
board, 47:57, 49:22
committee, 13:23, 50:11, 50:17
office, xxvii, 46:45, 47:4, 47:57–58, 56:32, 62:16n6
president, 47:22, 47:28, 56:32
president-elect, 47:21–22
vacant, to declare chair, 47:11, 62:11. See also relinquishing the
chair.
verifying a vote. See recapitulation (in roll-call vote); voting:
verifying.
vice-chairman, 13:17
vice-president, xxvi, 47:23–31, 56:62
62:15, 62:14
address, how, 3:10, 47:24
alternate in convention delegation, 58:11–12
bylaw provisions on, 47:11, 47:25–26, 56:23; sample, 56:62
chair, assume, 43:29, 47:11
committee of the whole, chairman, 52:7
multiple, ranking of, 47:29–30
nominee for president, 47:31
reports, 48:19
vacancy, 56:32
vice-chairman of delegation caucus, 47:25
videoconferences, 9:33
Village-moot, xxxi
Virginia Governor’s Council, xxxiv
Virginia House of Burgesses, xxxiv
viva voce, 4:35. See also voice vote.
election, 50:13, 53:11–13
pronunciation, 4:35n10
voice vote, xxx, 4:35, 13:13, 30:6, 45:11
committee members, 50:13
count vote, whether to, 4:53
Division of the Assembly, 29:1
election, 50:13, 53:11–13
inconclusive, 4:51, 4:55
mass meeting election, 53:11–13
show of hands to verify, 4:55, 29:2
suggestions for filling blanks, 12:103
vote immediately, motion to. See Previous Question.
voted down. See “lost.”
voting, 4:34–57, §44–§45. See also abstention (from voting);
announcement of voting result; ballots; counted vote;
Division of the Assembly; elections; rising vote; roll call; show
of hands; voice vote; Voting, Motions Relating to.
absentee, 23:8, 25:9, 45:56
Adjourn during, 21:6(1)
agenda topic, on pending questions before taking up, 41:65
Appeal, 24:7
balls, black and white, 30:1
Call of the House, fee payment, 40:15
cards, 45:16
chair’s duty to verify, 4:41
chair’s vote to affect results, 4:43, 4:56, 44:12, 45:48
change, 4:42, 45:8, 45:50
conflict of interest, 45:4
cumulative, 46:43, 56:26
effect, describing, 4:46
electronic, xxvii, 45:42
electronic meeting, 9:36
explain vote, 45:7
fixed membership, 44:9(b)n1
improper, remedy, 23:8
interrupt, 19:6, 45:6
keypad, xxvii
machine, 45:42
mail ballot, 44:11, 45:57–61, 56:26
majority, 44:1
majority of entire membership, 44:9
method, determining, 30:4
multiple by one voter, remedy, 23:8
negative, when required, 4:35
nonmembers, 25:9
one person, one vote, 45:2
oneself, questions affecting, 45:4–5
plurality, 44:11, 56:26
Point of Order timeliness, 23:5, 45:9
preferential, 44:11, 45:62–69, 56:26
presence required, 23:8, 25:9, 45:56
present, number of members as basis, 4:35, 44:7–9
present and voting, number of members as basis, 1:6–7, 44:7
“present” in roll call, 45:48, 45:51
proxy, 45:2, 45:56, 45:70–71
quorum, when absent, 40:12
recount, 45:15, 45:41, 45:54
requirements, as Standard Descriptive Characteristic 7 of all
motions, 7:2
result, announcing, 4:41–49
result, assembly judges, 45:10
result, motion in order after announcing, 4:44, 42:8
retake, 4:51, 43:7, 45:9, 45:14
right to, 1:4, 23:7, 56:19
same method again, 30:6
standing (see rising vote)
on suggestions for filling blanks, 12:102–105
 tie, 4:56, 24:3(7), 44:12–13
transfer, 45:2
two-thirds vote (see two-thirds vote)
as a unit, 58:21
verifying (see also recapitulation (in roll-call vote)), 4:38–39,
9:36, 24:7, 30:6, 45:14
Voting, Motions Relating to, 6:17(8), §30, 30:1, 30:3, 45:42.
See also polls, to close or reopen.
election, 46:30
precedence of, 6:21
preference in recognition to make, 42:8
signed ballot, 45:46
time limits, 45:9
verify doubtful voice or show of hands, 45:14
voting cards, 45:16
voting member, 1:4, 1:13. See also members.
voting station, 46:31(1)

W
warden. See sergeant-at-arms.
warrant (of meeting). See notice (of meetings).
warrant officer. See sergeant-at-arms.
website, Robert’s Rules Association
Question and Answer Forum, xxiv
RONR Official Interpretations, xxv
“Whereas,” use in preamble, 10:16–18
whole membership. See fixed membership; total membership.
Wilberforce, Samuel, xxxix(n7)
Wilson’s Digest, xl
witan, xxxi
witenagemot, xxxi–xxxii
with power, committee, 13:8(d), 50:5
withdraw a second, 4:21
Withdraw or Modify a Motion, 6:17(11), 10:30(1–2), 33:1,
33:11–19
 Adjourn, 21:11
form and example, 33:12, 33:14–15
minutes, 48:4
Reconsider, 37:10(b)
renewal of withdrawn m., 38:2
stating question, before, 4:19–24, 10:30(1), 33:11–12
withdrawal from committee. See Discharge a Committee.
within the control of the assembly, 17:9. See also temporarily
but not finally disposed of.
“without objection.” See unanimous consent.
witnesses, 63:4, 63:30, 63:33
wording of motions, 4:16–24, 10:9–12, 10:29–30, 39:7
in minutes, 4:34, 48:4(6)
words, forms of Amend relating to. See insert (or add) words;
strike out and insert words; strike out words.
words not permitted in debate, 43:21
words taken down (disciplinary procedures), 61:12, 61:14, 61:17
write-in votes, 45:18, 45:25, 46:2, 54:23, 56:26
machine voting, 45:42
written rules vs. customs, xxix–xxx, xlvi, 1:5, 2:25. See also
custom and customary practices; rules.
written submissions
motions, 4:5, 4:18, 10:13
previous notice of motions, 10:51
questions and motions during trial, 63:33
reports, 51:23, 51:31, 51:45, 51:49, 51:53–54, 51:60–62, 63:35

Y
“yea” or “yes” or “aye” (in roll-call vote), 45:45, 45:47. See also
“aye” (in voice vote).
yeas and nays. See roll call.
yielding, one motion to another, 5:8
yielding the floor, 3:31, 5:8n3
yielding time, 43:10
“you” (second-person singular personal pronoun)
 to chair, 3:11
to member, 3:13, 4:17, 61:14
“You are out of order,” 4:17