ROBERT’S RULES of ORDER Simplified and Applied

1 robert 'S RULES . of ORDER . Simplified and Applied Second Edition by robert McConnell Production robert 's RULES of ORDER : Simplified and Applied , 2nd edition Copyright 2001 by robert McConnell productions Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA.

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4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2001092064. Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4. iv About the Author robert McConnell Productions is a multimedia company pro- viding Simplified information about parliamentary procedure in the form of videos, books, magazine articles, and a Web site: The company published robert 's RULES of ORDER : Simplified and Applied in 1998, a book designed to take the complexity and the mystery out of robert 's RULES and to explain it to users in plain, easily understandable terms. The company also makes special interest videos in its own production studio. To date, the company has made five videos about parliamentary procedure. Parliamentary Procedure Made Simple: The Basics is an 80-minute video produced in 1993.

5 It has sold more than 12,000 copies worldwide so far. The next video, produced in 1996, is All About Motions, a 140-minute video covering all the motions in robert 's RULES of ORDER . The third and fourth videos are a 32-minute How to Conduct a Meeting and its Spanish companion version, the 46-minute Como Conducir Reuniones, the world's first video about parliamentary procedure made in Spanish. The fifth video is Nominations & Elections, a video designed to keep organizations out of trouble by showing them how to do the electoral process correctly. The company markets these videos through a combination of direct mail brochures, targeted faxes, and a Web site, , which was the first Web site about parlia- mentary procedure on the Internet.

6 The company also makes and markets videos about France, Russia, and Cuba, and produces custom-made videos for corporate clients. robert McConnell Productions has been in business since 1993. v Contents Preface ..xvii Introduction ..xix PART I: Meetings and Organizations 1 The Basics ..3. Structure of an Organization ..3. Applying Democratic Principles to Organizations ..4. Defining Parliamentary Procedure ..6. Importance of Parliamentary Procedures ..7. Basic Principles of Parliamentary Procedure ..7. Taking Up Business One Item at a Time ..8. Promoting Courtesy, Justice, Impartiality, and Equality ..9. The Rule of the Majority and Protection of the Minority ..11. 2 The ORDER of a Business Meeting ..13. Planning and Using Agendas.

7 13. Accepted ORDER of Business ..14. Creating a Specific Agenda ..16. Adopting the Agenda ..18. Mailing an Agenda to the Members ..19. Consent and Priority Agendas ..19. Quorum ..20. How to Keep a Record of the Quorum ..22. What to Do When No Quorum Is Present ..22. A Business Meeting in Action ..23. Calling the Meeting to ORDER ..23. Reading and Approving the Minutes ..23. Reports of Officers ..25. Reports of Committees ..26. Unfinished Business and General Orders ..28. New Business ..28. Adjourning the Meeting ..30. 3 Presenting Business to the Assembly ..31. Basic Steps in Presenting a Motion ..31. Making a Main Motion ..33. vii viii robert 's RULES of ORDER Discussing a Motion ..35. Taking the Vote ..37. Completing the Action on the Motion.

8 39. Important Points to Remember Before Making a Motion ..39. Resolutions ..43. 4 Debating the Motion ..45. RULES of Debate ..46. Limitations on Debate ..49. Debatable Motions And Undebatable Motions ..49. 5 Voting ..53. Procedure for Taking a Vote ..54. The Majority RULES ..55. Majority Vote Defined ..56. Modifications in Majority Vote ..56. A Two-Thirds Vote ..59. A Three-Fourths Vote ..59. The Tie Vote ..60. Ways the Vote Can Be Taken ..60. Taking a Vote by Voice ..61. Taking a Vote by Show of Hands ..61. Taking a Vote by Rising (Standing) ..62. Taking a Vote by Ballot ..62. Taking a Vote by Mail ..64. Taking a Vote by E-mail ..65. Taking a Vote by General or Unanimous Consent ..66. Doubting the Result of the Vote ..68. Calling for a Division.

9 68. Doubting the Result of a Ballot Vote or Roll Call Vote ..69. Other Voting Procedures ..69. Frequently Asked Questions About Voting ..70. PART II: Motions Simplified 6 Motions ..75. Classes of Motions ..75. Main Motions ..76. Secondary Motions ..78. Contents ix Motions That Bring a Question Again Before the Assembly ..81. Previous Notice of Motions ..82. The Ranking of Motions ..82. 7 Using Subsidiary Motions to Help Adopt a Main Motion ..85. Postpone Indefinitely ..85. Amend ..87. Voting on Amendments to the Main Motion ..90. Refer to a Committee ..94. Committee (or Quasi-Committee) of the Whole ..95. Consider Informally ..96. Postpone to a Certain Time ..97. Postpone to a Certain Time Made into a Special ORDER ..98. Limit or Extend the Limits of Debate.

10 99. Previous Question (Close Debate) ..101. Lay on the Table ..104. Legitimate Uses of the Motion Lay on the Table ..105. 8 Using Privileged Motions ..107. Calls for the Orders of the Day ..107. Raise a Question of Privilege ..109. Recess ..111. Adjourn ..112. Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn ..114. Fix the Time at Which to Adjourn ..115. 9 Using Incidental Motions ..117. Point of ORDER ..117. Appeal from the Decision of the Chair (Appeal) ..118. Requests and Inquiries ..120. Request for Permission to Withdraw or Modify a Motion ..122. Request To be Excused from a Duty ..124. Object to Consideration of a Question ..125. Division of the Assembly ..126. Division of the Question ..127. Suspend the RULES ..128. x robert 's RULES of ORDER 10 Using Motions That Bring a Question Again Before the Assembly.