PRP

The election process may be the easiest part of deciding who handles a particular job in the organization. Robert's Rules on elections are very straightforward after what is often a politically charged prequel of nominating and campaigning. An election is really nothing more than the handling of an assumed motion, with the question being on whom to elect to fill a position.

To save you time and unnecessary work, Robert’s Rules spells out exactly what needs to go into your minutes. Minutes are important because they’re the only surviving record of what was said and done at a meeting. They can be dry and boring. In fact, it’s probably a good sign if they are! Most importantly, they need to be informative and easy to navigate for whatever the reader needs to know six months from now.

No matter how good a job you've done creating your bylaws, sooner or later you'll need to change something. Robert's Rules encourages creating bylaws that can't be too easily amended, but amending them isn't so difficult that you can't consider and make changes within a reasonable time when necessary. Setting the conditions for amending your bylaws In amending a previously adopted bylaw, make sure that the rights of all members continue to be protected.

According to Robert's Rules, minutes drafted ahead of time aren’t the official minutes until the members approve them. Today's technology has made its mark on meeting minutes. The secretary can now draft the minutes and easily send copies to the members for them to read before the meeting; then members can come to the meeting prepared with any corrections.

Robert's Rules says that if you expect to do business in the name of a group, then every voting member has a right to previous notice of the meeting. It's easy to understand why: If you have a right to vote, then you have a fundamental right to attend. And you can't attend a meeting if you don't know about it, right?

Robert's Rules offers quite a selection of voting methods, whether you're voting on motions or having elections. The methods range from asking for unanimous agreement to showing how you vote by voice or other physical action to voting by secret ballot. The voting methods recognized by Robert's Rules include Unanimous consent Quite possibly the most efficient way of conducting a vote, unanimous consent is the voting method of choice because it saves so much time.

The motion to Reconsider is a distinct parliamentary motion! When you use the word reconsider in a parliamentary situation, it refers only to this specific motion. All the motions in the class of motions that bring a question again before the assembly assist your group in revisiting previously considered motions.

If a motion needs to be discussed much more informally or at greater length than is possible in a regular meeting, Robert's Rules allows you to refer the motion to a committee, or perhaps to the executive board of your group by adopting the subsidiary motion to commit. For all but the most simple and direct of motions, everyone's interests may be best served by referring a motion instead of spending a lot of meeting time on discussion.

Ballot voting is the preferred voting method in situations in which knowing how all the members voted isn't desirable. You can use a ballot vote to decide either a motion or an election: If the ballot vote decides a motion, the question is clearly stated by the chair, and you're instructed to mark your ballot Yes or No (or For or Against).