Outline of Parliamentary Law First Lesson 1) Parliamentary Law a) Accepted system of rules for conducting business in legislative and deliberative bodies. b) Planned to fit all types of organizations. c) Means of arriving at opinion of those present, accurately, impartially, and in minimum amount of time. d) Based on certain principles; equality and fairness; orderly transaction of business; majority rule; protection of rights of minority. e) Formation of a Permanent Organization i) Small group of interested people meet and discuss plan of new organization. ii) Assign time for mass meeting. iii) Invitations for mass meeting sent to those who might be interested. iv) At mass meeting -- v) Someone prepared to act as temporary chairman and temporary secretary. f) Someone prepared to outline purpose of meeting. i) Someone moves that "it is the sense of this meeting that we organize a Chapter of." (1) Motion must be seconded. (2) Motion is thrown open for discussion. ii) Motion put to vote. (1) Note -- If this motion is carried, the foundations for a permanent Chapter have been laid. iii) Someone moves that committee be appointed to organize Chapter and report to assembly at stated time. g) Nominations and Elections i) Nominations require no second. ii) Temporary office-- (1) Majority vote is necessary for election. (2) Should nominee fail to receive majority vote, other nominations are called for. (3) If two (2) nominations are made, take a vote on name first mentioned. If they receive a majority vote, the second name is ignored. iii) Permanent office in election should be carried on by secret ballot. h) BY-LAWS i) By-Laws are the supreme law of the organization and should contain articles describing its purposes, rules and methods of procedure. ii) Article I Object iii) Article III Membership iv) Article V Officers & Elections v) Article VI Dues vi) Article VII Quorum vii) Article VIII Amendments viii) Article IX Authority Second Lesson 1) By-laws a) Introducing the By-Laws i) Presiding Officer calls for report of Chairperson of Committee on By-Laws. ii) Chairman of Committee addresses chair and introduces report as follows: "Your committee on By- Laws submits the following report... ;" the entire report is read, ending with "respectfully submitted...," giving names of all the signers. Note -- Each member of the committee signs the By-Laws if they meet their approval; if not, they do not sign and may introduce a "minority report." b) Motion To Adopt By-Laws i) Made by Chairperson or any member of By-Laws committee. ii) Must be seconded. iii) Discussion -- before putting motion of acceptance of By-Laws to vote, the presiding officer says, "Before putting this motion to a vote, we will discuss it by considering each article separately." 106 Latest Edit: April 2007 It is understood and agreed that in taking on a position of responsibility with NEWH as a Officer, Director or Chairperson, on of your main goals is to work to promote the objectives of NEWH and to encourage participation of members
(1) Each article is read again by the By-Laws chairperson. After each article is read, the presiding officer calls for amendments, which are put in form of a motion. If no amendments are offered, the business proceeds to next article. (2) Upon completion of reading By-Laws, the presiding officer asks, "Are there any amendments to the entire set of By-Laws?" (3) Motion to adopt original By-Laws, or the By-Laws as amended, is then put to a vote by presiding officer. (4) If motion is carried, the organization becomes a permanent one. c) Signing By-Laws i) Recess may be declared by presiding officer to allow members to sign By-Laws. Those signing are known as Charter Members. Third Lesson 1) Officers a) Presiding Officer, Called Either President or Chairman i) Attributes of a successful President: (1) Must be firm, competent, tactful and just. (2) Should have knowledge of parliamentary law. (3) Should Listen to the voice of the minority, but obey the will of the majority. (4) Should be fully acquainted with the By-Laws. (5) Should be nonpartisan and neutral. ii) They stand: (1) When calling meeting to order. (2) When making announcements. (3) When stating motions and putting them to vote. iii) They remain seated during discussion. iv) They leave the chair only when joining discussions and after the Executive Vice President has asked another to take their place. Note -- The presiding officer never enters into discussion in the chair. v) They vote only under the following conditions: tie vote, secret ballot, or roll call vote. vi) They never use the personal pronoun "I," but refer to themselves as "chair" or "your president." b) Secretary i) Next highest to president in importance. ii) Acts as "right-hand man" to president. iii) Incorporates the following in the minutes (1) Kind of meeting (2) Time and place of meeting (3) Only the business transacted (4) Every motion, whether carried or not (5) Records name of maker and seconder (6) Omits all discussion and personal views (7) Signs with name and office iv) Prepares order of business for next meeting and places on desk for use of chairman. c) Treasurer i) Custodian ii) Introduces report as follows: "Your Treasurer submits the following report": iii) Receipts Bal. on hand (date). Dues. Fines. iv) Expenditures Postage. Stationary. $. Bal. on hand as of (date) Respectfully submitted, (signed), Treasurer Latest Edit: April 2007 It is understood and agreed that in taking on a position of responsibility with NEWH as a Officer, Director or Chairperson, on of your main goals is to work to promote the objectives of NEWH and to encourage participation of members 107
d) Auditor i) Reports as follows: "Your auditor reports that I has examined the account of the Treasurer and finds it to be correct." Respectfully submitted, (signed), Auditor Fourth Lesson General a) Main Motion: Method of bringing to the organization the desire to transact specific piece of business. i) Must be seconded before stated by the chair. ii) Is stated and thrown open for discussion by the chair immediately after being seconded? iii) Any member desiring privilege of floor must rise and address the chair. iv) When discussion is finished or previous question called for, the motion is put to vote. b) Privileged Motions (undebatable): i) May be introduced during discussion of main motion. (1) To fix time and place which to adjourn. (2) To adjourn. (3) To take recess. (4) Question of privilege. (5) Call for orders of the day. c) Subsidiary Motions: Modify or dispose of main motions. i) To table ii) Previous question -- 2/3 iii) To limit debate -- 2/3 iv) To extend debate -- 2/3 v) To postpone definitely vi) To refer question to a committee vii) To amend viii) To postpone indefinitely Fifth Lesson 108 Latest Edit: April 2007 It is understood and agreed that in taking on a position of responsibility with NEWH as a Officer, Director or Chairperson, on of your main goals is to work to promote the objectives of NEWH and to encourage participation of members
d) To Table i) Object -- to set aside for the time bring motion under discussion, with the privilege of taking up again at some future time. ii) Form -- "I move that the motion before the house be tabled." iii) Rank -- this motion takes rank above all other secondary and subsidiary motions iv) Debatable -- no v) Amendable -- no e) Motion for Previous Question i) Object -- to cut off discussion and bring the vote immediately upon the pending question. ii) Form -- "I move the previous question." Chair says: "There is a motion for previous question. Shall we cut off discussion? All those in favor of cutting off discussion please rise; those opposed -- etc." iii) Rank -- may be made at any time there is a debatable motion before the house. iv) Debatable -- no v) Amendable -- no vi) Vote -- two-thirds or rising vote. f) To Postpone Definitely i) 1.Object -- to take time to think over, discuss, and act upon the proposition at some later time. ii) Form -- "I move to postpone motion before the house until." iii) Rank -- may be made when any debatable motion is before the house. iv) Debatable -- yes v) Amendable -- yes g) To Refer to a Committee i) Object -- to delay action upon motion before the house until it can be investigated by a small group of uneven number appointed by the chair or by the assembly. ii) Form -- I move the question before the house be referred to a committee of three (five, seven) appointed by the chair (or assembly) and which shall report back at the next meeting." iii) Rank -- this takes precedence over (1) a main motion, (2) a motion to amend, (3) a motion to postpone indefinitely. iv) Debatable -- yes v) Amendable -- yes h) To Amend -- Primary Amendment i) Object -- to perfect the motion i) Form -- "I move to amend the motion before the house by adding (or substituting or eliminating)." ii) Rank -- may be made whenever there is a main motion before the house. It must be voted upon before the motion to which it refers. iii) Debatable -- yes iv) Amendable -- yes v) Vote -- majority Note -- Secondary amendments perfect primary amendments and are voted upon before primary amendment. 109
Types of Voting iii) Rank -- may be presented at any time pro-vided some other business has been transacted since it was tabled. iv) Debatable -- no v) Amendable -- no However, it has both advantages and disadvantages. a) Advantages: i) It is the quickest method. For unimportant questions, or where there is no doubt about the wishes of the majority, it is very satisfactory. b) Disadvantages: i) the minority group may produce more sound than majority, ii) the chairperson has an unusual opportunity to favor the outcome if the vote is close, iii) the side voting first (which must always be the affirmative) has a decided psychological advantage. 2) Voting by Standing or Raising the Hand - This method overcomes the first two disadvantages of voting by acclamation. The majority and the minority are clearly identified from the floor and from the chair. This method is advisable for all important matters, where the two following methods are not used, and where the result of the vote would otherwise be uncertain. 3) Voting By Roll Call: (Sometimes also called "Yeas and Nays") - Roll call gives every voter a chance to register his choice. It is used for matters of importance, each person's vote usually being made a matter of record. Legislative bodies, therefore, use it frequently. 4) Vote by Ballot - This takes more time. Both a ballot is issued or slips of paper and the voters cast the name or choice. Voting by ballot has these advantages: first, it is secret. No person need influence the vote of another; second it is accurate. Every person has a chance to vote and get a fair decision. Third, the decision is not known until all ballots are cast. Points to Remember Order Of Business 110 Latest Edit: April 2007 It is understood and agreed that in taking on a position of responsibility with NEWH as a Officer, Director or Chairperson, on of your main goals is to work to promote the objectives of NEWH and to encourage participation of members
5. Auditors report 6. Correspondence 7. Report of standing committees 8. Report of special committee 9. Unfinished business -- This includes any business left over from the previous meeting. 10. New Business - Any new business to be taken up may be presented (1) in the form of a resolution or (2) as a simple motion from the floor. Such a motion must duly be seconded, and is then open to discussion before a vote is taken. It is always well to give careful consideration to the wording of a motion resolution on new business. State the facts clearly and briefly. Otherwise, the question may not be fully understood, and decisions delayed. 11. Adjournment - Must be made through a motion. This motion must be made and seconded like all other motions, but it is not debatable. The meeting is not adjourned until the motion is duly voted on and the President (or presiding officer) announces that it had been carried. They then say, "The meeting is adjourned." Common Parliamentary Errors The above outline was prepared by the late Mrs. Edgar Menderson, who for many years was the National Parliamentarian of The National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc. 111