Presented by Johnnie Brown-Swift, PRP Western Area Parliamentarian Assisted by Lucy Hicks Anderson, PRP Gulf Coast Apollo Chapter
A set of rules for conduct at meetings to facilitate the transaction of business and to achieve the will of the majority after giving the minority a full hearing on its position Adherence to correct parliamentary procedure allows everyone to be heard and make decisions without confusion while protecting the rights of all
Bylaws of Manual of Procedures Chapter Bylaws direct bearing on the rights and obligations of members whether present or absent, cannot conflict with and must conform to requirements of National Robert s Rules of Order Newly Revised, Current Edition
President should have at hand: Copy of the bylaws and other rules of the organization Copy of its parliamentary authority List of all standing and special committees Agenda of the complete order of business listing all known matters that are to come up, shown is proper sequence
Call to Order one rap of gavel Opening Ceremonies (religious, patriotic, ritualistic, etc.) Roll Call (if customary) Establish presence of quorum Adopt agenda with majority vote
Reading and Approval of Minutes Reports of Officers, Boards, and Standing Committees Reports of Special (Select or Ad Hoc) Committees Special Orders Unfinished Business and General Orders New Business
To open the meeting at the appointed time by taking the chair and calling the meeting to order To announce in proper sequence the business that comes before the assembly To recognize members who are entitled to the floor
To state and put to vote all questions that legitimately come before the assembly as motions or that otherwise arise in course of proceedings To enforce the rules of debate and those relating to order and decorum within the assembly
To decide all questions of order, subject to appeal To respond to inquiries relating to parliamentary or factual information regarding business of the assembly To sign all acts, orders, and proceedings of the assembly when necessary To declare the meeting adjourned
Reading and Approval of Minutes the official record of the proceedings The president says, The Secretary will read the minutes. Are there any corrections to the minutes? If there are no corrections, the minutes stand approved as read. With corrections: If there are no objections, the secretary will make the corrections. If there are no further corrections, the minutes stand approved as corrected.
1) the kind of meeting: regular, special, adjourned 2) the name of the organization 3) the date and time of the meeting, and place 4) whether the minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved-as read, or as corrected the
5) all main motions a) the wording in which each motion was adopted or otherwise disposed of b) the disposition of any primary and secondary amendments and all adhering secondary motions that were pending
6) secondary motions that were not lost or withdrawn for example, motions to Recess or Suspend the Rules 7) the substance of oral committee reports 8) all points of order and appeals 9) the hour of adjournment
Reports of Officers come in the order of their listing in the bylaws Actions coming from their reports are to be moved by someone other than the officer Report of the Treasurer is never adopted - it is for information only The auditor s report is adopted
Reports of Committees come in the order the committees are listed in the bylaws Actions coming from a committee should be moved by the reporting member at the end of the report No second is needed if the committee has more than one member
Special Orders include actions that should take place at this meeting as specified in the bylaws Unfinished Business and General Orders include motions that were pending at the end of the last meeting and motions made general orders for this meeting
Business is introduced with a motion Member A rises and addresses the president to be recognized The president recognizes member A as having the floor to speak Member A makes a motion by saying, I move that [Sits] Another member [Seated]: Second!
The president states the motion by saying, it is moved and seconded that. repeating the motion Debate begins with the maker of the motion having the first right to speak, who must speak in favor of the motion Debate follows by recognizing each member wishing to debate, keeping order, time limits and number of times speaking, as they apply
Members address their remarks to the chair Members confine debate to merits of pending question Members avoid the mention of other member s names as much as possible Members refrain from speaking against their own motion President should not enter into discussion of the merits of any pending question
President: Is there any new business? Member A [Stands]: Madam President! President: Ms. A. Member A: I move that the Tennis League establish a division open to juniors and seniors enrolled in city high schools. [Sits] Another Member [Seated]: Second! President: It is moved and seconded that the Tennis League establish a division open to juniors and seniors enrolled in city high schools. Member A [Stands]: Madam President!
President: Ms. A. Member A: We need to bring young people into tennis to keep the sport alive..[sits when finished.] Member B [Stands after Member A sits]: Madam President! President: Ms. B. Member B: Most of our members are adults. High school students should establish their own league..[sits when finished.]
President: Is there any further debate?... The question is on the adoption of the motion that the Tennis League establish a division open to juniors and seniors enrolled in city high schools. Those in favor of the motion, say aye. Some Members [Seated]: Aye! President: Those opposed, say no. Some Members [Seated]: No! President: The ayes have it, and the motion is carried. Member C [Seated]: Division!
President: A division is called for. Those in favor of the motion will rise. Some Members Stand. President: Be seated. The affirmative has it, and the motion is adopted. The Tennis League will establish.. Member C [Standing]: Madam President! President: Member C. Member C: I move that the vote be counted. [Sits.] Another Member [Seated]: Second! President: It is moved and seconded that the vote be counted.
Those in favor of counting the vote, say aye. Some Members: Aye. President: Those opposed, say no. Other Members: No! President: The ayes have it, and the motion is adopted. The vote will be counted. The question is on the adoption of the motion that the Tennis League establish a division open to juniors and seniors enrolled in city high schools. Those in favor of the motion will rise and remain standing until counted. Some Members Stand [President counts, possibly assisted by the secretary.]
President: Be seated. Those opposed will rise and remain standing until counted. Other Members Stand [President counts, possibly assisted by the secretary.] President: Be seated. There are 15 in the affirmative and 14 in the negative. The affirmative has it and the motion is adopted. The Tennis League will establish a division opened to juniors and seniors in city high schools. OR
President: There are 15 in the affirmative and 14 in the negative. The chair votes in the negative, making 15 in the affirmative and 15 in the negative, so that the negative has it and the motion is lost. Is there any further new business?
Announcements The president has the following announcements and recognizes other members who may make announcements about future meetings, activities and general information. Adjournment The president says, Is there further business to be brought up at this meeting? Since there is no further business, the meeting is adjourned. Rap gavel one time.
Most often, when an individual thinks of voting, the first thing that crosses his or her mind is the election of officers
Offering the suggestion of an individual to be elected to office through a formal proposal to fill the position
The bylaws typically prescribe eligibility requirements Common eligibility requirements include: Not holding more than one office at one time Not serving more than two consecutive terms Previous service on board Member in good standing Number of years of membership Credentials
Each person elected as an officer shall be a member in good standing and have served on the Executive Board for not less than two years.
The bylaws of an organization should prescribe the following items related to elections: When elections are held Methods of nominations Methods of voting for the election process
Nominations take place in order to narrow the field of candidates Nominations are not necessary when elections are by ballot or roll call
There are six methods of nomination offered by RONR: By the chair By a committee From the floor By ballot By mail By petition
The committee is responsible for nominating candidates for office Nominating committee members are selected by appointment or election No action is taken on the committee report
Takes place at the time prescribed by the bylaws (or immediately following the nominations committee report) Members cannot nominate more than one candidate until other members have had an opportunity Nominations are typically taken one office at a time in the order in which officers are listed in Bylaws Member need not be recognized
No second required After each nomination, the Chair repeats the name being nominated and asks for further nominations. For example, John Jones has been nominated. Are there any further nominations? A member may be nominated for more than one office, unless Bylaws prohibit
Should be held early in the meeting If there is only one candidate, may be elected by acclamation unless a ballot vote is required by the bylaws If a method of election is not prescribed, a motion may be adopted to fix the method of voting
A single ballot listing all offices or separate ballots for each office may be used If a single ballot is used, each section of the ballot is treated as a separate ballot
Legal Votes Properly filled out ballots Properly filled out ballots for some offices (if a single ballot is used) Blank Ballots/Abstentions Ignored, not included in the count
Illegal Votes Votes for more than the number allowed Votes for undetermined write-in candidates Votes for ineligible candidates Votes for fictional characters Two (or more) ballots folded together count as one illegal vote. If one of the two ballots is blank, the blank is discarded and the marked ballot is legal Wrong color or numbered ballot is used
The tellers are selected early in the meeting and are responsible for counting the ballots The tellers report should be signed by the tellers The report is entered in full in the minutes
The tellers report is read to the assembly, but the chair declares the appropriate candidate elected to office The following is included in the tellers report Number of votes cast Number of votes needed for election Number of votes for each candidate Number of illegal votes and reason for being illegal
Unless indicated otherwise in the bylaws, elections take effect immediately It is not unusual for officer elections to take effect at the close of the current meeting or at the next meeting
Inability to conduct a required installation ceremony does not affect the time that the officer term starts After an election has become final, it is too late to reconsider the vote on an election