Parliamentary Procedure Have you ever been sitting in class or a meeting etc. and it was mass chaos with lots of people talking at once, others arguing over what someone else said or in a situation where a group was trying to make a decision but you were getting no where with the discussion/debate because of the conversation getting off topic? How did you feel?

Parliamentary Procedure Continued Do you see the reason we have rules and the need for having a formal way of taking care of business, running a classroom, or meeting with a group of people? In meetings this formal way of conducting business is called parliamentary procedure (or I call it parli pro for short).

What is it and where did it come from? Parliamentary procedure is the name given to the tradition of rules and customs that helps with all of the problems that can arise in a meeting. It dates all the way back to the ancient Greeks but was mainly formed by centuries of trial and error in the English Parliament.

Why is it useful? If different groups had different ways for handling business items, it may be hard to learn them all for each group you may be a part of. Parli pro provides a common body of main rules that everyone can follow. This makes it easy for everyone.

Henry Martyn Robert Parli pro in America has greatly been influenced by Henry Martyn Robert ( ). He was a brigadier general when he retired from the army. He was a self taught in depth student of the subject and he wrote Roberts Rules of Order in The book quickly became the standard authoritative work on meeting rules.

Presiding Officer To keep order one person is chose as the presiding officer. He/she enforces the rules and designates who is to speak at any given time. The presiding officer may be elected for a specific meeting and is then called the chairman. While actually presiding they are called the Chair.

The Secretary A written record of what is said/done is call the minutes. A secretary is elected to do this job. The minutes are kept so that you can go back and review what has been done or said. In some groups, copies from a previous meeting are provided to members in case they were absent. Minutes from the previous meeting are read at the beginning of the meeting and members vote to accept the minutes.

Quorum In most organizations that have regular meetings, often members are absent. The organization should not be bound by decisions made by only a few members showing up so a quorum is set. A quorum is the minimum number of members that must be present to vote before a decision can be made. A group can set their own quorum but it is usually more than half (half+1).

How Decisions Are Made Members offer a proposal by “making a motion”. A motion is a formal proposal by a member, in a meeting, that the group take a certain action. A main motion brings an order of business before the group. Only one main motion may be before the group at a time. Here are some of the basics!

How To Have a Turn Speaking IN order to speak you would stand, wait for the previous speaker to finish and call out “Mr./Madame President” (or chairman/chairwoman.) The Chair would then recognize you as the next speaker. When you are authorized to speak, it is said that “you have the floor”.

How to Make a Motion To make a motion you simply say “I move to…” or “I move that…” It is very important to say precisely what the words of the motion are to be… not a vague idea. Example: “I move that we have a car wash to raise money for activity day supplies.”

What next? After you make your motion you immediately sit down and wait until later to give your reasons for the motion. Once a motion has been made, it must be seconded to be considered by the group. This means that someone else has to agree with your idea. They would simply say “Second!”

Then….. The Chair would then say “It is moved then seconded …… The chair must state the question for it to properly be considered by the group.

Debate When a main motion has been stated by the chair, it is said to be “on the floor”. It is then open for debate or action. If someone wishes to debate the main motion then they must be recognized by the chair.

Voting After all debate is done the Chair says “Are you ready for the question?” or “IS there any further debate?” The most common method of voting is a voice vote. Members vote by saying “aye” (pronounced “I”) or by saying no. The chair reads the question exactly as it was stated.

Ammendments If the group cannot agree on the motion, someone can suggest an amendment. They must be recognized by the chair. Your amendment can add words or strike out words. For Example: “I move to amend the motion and sell doughnuts to raise money for the activity day instead.”

Parliamentary Procedure

Amendments and voting When you vote on the amendment, it doesn’t pass the main motion. It only changes the wording of the main motion. Someone would need to second the motion to amend the main motion. Once amendments are adopted, then the main motion would come back up for debate or voting.

Reconsidering a motion When a motion gets adopted or defeated, it can be reconsidered. Remember…. Sometimes people change their mind! If the motion was adopted then only someone on the winning side can make the motion to reconsider. If the motion was defeated, then only someone who voted against it can make the motion to reconsider.

Reconsidering a motion Lets pretend the main motion passed and you voted in favor. Then you changed your mind because you decide that the 8 th grade class at BCMS could make a larger impact by giving money to the national Wounded Warrior Project instead of it just going to the local chapter. You would say “Madame President, I move to reconsider the vote on the motion relating to the Wounded Warrior Charity activity day. I voted in favor of the motion.”

Reconsidering a motion It must be seconded! If you get a second, then the chair will state the question and a vote will be taken to see if there is enough interest in reconsidering the motion. If the motion to reconsider passes then the main motion will be back up for discussion and another vote.