Request to be excused from a duty

Hello Everyone! As always Robert thought of every situation that might pop up! I am going to deep dive in this blog about the motion "Request to be excused from a duty."

Below is the use and characteristics of this motions:

Classification: Incidental

Purpose: To allow members to be excused from certain obligations.

Example: If a societies bylaws require members to attend a certain amount of meetings, hold officers, be on committees or even prepare work outside of a regular meeting this motion allows the member to be able to decline a part of their duties/demands as a member. This is a great way to be able to be flexible with members, but fair as well.



Precedence: Take precedence over any motion as long as the purpose is connected.

Applied to: This motion can be applied to all subsidiary motions except postpone indefinitely

In order when someone else has the floor and should be dealt with immediately

Does not require a second except when moved formally

Is debatable and amendable 

Requires a majority vote, but usually handled as a unanimous consent.

Only a NEGIVTIVE vote can be reconsidered




Why would you use it?

If you were assigned to a duty that you cannot complete or where not there when they assigned it to you.

It is a request, but is debatable and amendable and requires majority vote or unanimous consent.

Request must be made immediately

A Deep Dive into Week Five!

Welcome to a review of week five! This week we talked a lot about voting and motions! 

Beginning with a review, what are the five methods of voting that were discussed in the lecture and last week's blog?

🔹Precedence - refers to right of order and consideration of one motion over another, or the priority of a motion

Order of Precedence:                            

Privileged Motions:  

                           Fix Time to Which to Adjourn

Adjourn         

Recess           

            Question of Privilege

                          Call for the Orders of the Day

Subsidiary Motions:  

     Lay on the Table

                    Call for Previous Question

                            Limit/Extend Limits of Debate

          Postpone Definitely

             Refer to a Committee

Amend          

              Postpone Indefinitely 

Main Motion           

                                    Motions that Bring Matter Back Before the Assembly                

          Take from the Table

Reconsider   

Rescind        

Original and Incidental Main Motions:

🔹 Original Main Motion - Introduces a new subject of substantive matter

🔹Incidental Main Motion - Proposes action or a procedure incidental to, or related to the business of an assembly or its past or future actions     

      *Most closely correspond to secondary         motions 

Four Classes of Secondary Motions:

🐣  Privileged Motions 

🐣  Incidental Motions

🐣  Subsidiary Motions

🐣  Motions that Bring Matter Back Before the Assembly

8 Standard Characteristics of all Motions:

Second - is the motion secondable? 

Amend - is the motion amendable?

Debate - is the motion debatable?

Majority - is there a vote? if so is it a majority vote or 2/3?

Reconsider - can the motion be reconsidered? 

Interrupt - can this motion be made while somebody else has the floor?

Precedence - where does this motion rank?

Applicability - to what can this motion be applied to?

Presenting a Main Motion:

   🌵Step 1: Member Rises and Addresses the Chair

   🌵Step 2: Chair Recognizes the Member

   🍄Step 1: Member Makes a Motion

   🍄Step 2: Another Member Seconds the Motion

   🍄Step 3: Chair Restates the Motion

   🍄Step 4: Members Debate (if Debatable) 

    🍄Step 5: Chair Puts Questions & Members Vote

   🍄Step 6: Chair Announces Results of Vote

🌵 Two Steps to Obtaining the Floor 🌵

🍄 Six Steps to Making a Motion 🍄

Thank you for sticking with us! We did cover the subsidiary motions in class this week, but I wanted to do a separate blog for them! Check back in soon!! 

What are Incidental Motions?

The past two classes in AEE 297 a were all about Incidental Motions. Our Robert's Rules of Order book is becoming our best friend as we dive head first into these motions.

Incidental motions are motions that are not planned. They have no order of precedence because they are taken up when they are made, unlike other motions. 

There are 11 incidental motions total, but we focused on the 8 common ones. Our mnemonic device is...

Point of Order 

• This motion does not need a second, is not debatable, amendable, and does not require a vote.
• Point of Order corrects a mistake in the rules. It should not be used on minor infractions because it can be a waste of time during a meeting. 

Object to Consideration of Question

• This motion does not require a second, is not debatable, amendable, and requires a 2/3 vote in the negative.
• The purpose is to allow an assembly to avoid an original main motion when it can be considered undesirable for the assembly. 

Withdraw 

• This motion does not require a second, unless the question has been stated by the chair. It is not debatable or amendable and does not require a vote unless it has been stated by the chair. Then it requires majority vote to pass. 
• This motion becomes useful when the motion maker realizes the main motion can conflict or won't work for the assembly. 

Parliamentary Inquiry

• This motion does not require a second, is not debatable or amendable, and does not require a vote.
• The purpose of this motion is to ask a question about how to perform parliamentary procedure. 

Appeal

• This motion requires a second and is debatable when it is applied to a motion. It cannot be amended and requires a majority vote.
• A chair is delegated to run a meeting and make decisions, but any member has the right to appeal from the decision. 
• EXAMPLE: There has been a main motion made and seconded and the chair has asked for debate. Three members stand at the same time to be recognized by the chair, one of them being the motion maker. The chair decides to recognize Sally instead. Another member can call point of order, but if the chair decides to continue in recognizing Sally, someone can appeal the chairs decision. 

Division of Assembly

• This motion does not require a second, is not debatable or amendable, and does not require a vote.
• This motion is used during voting. Most of the time there are voice votes taken. Voice voting can be unclear sometimes. A member can call for Division of the Assembly when there is an unclear divide in the vote. 

Division of Question

• This motion requires a second, is not debatable, can be amended, and requires a majority vote.
• Division of a Question is made when the main motion has two separate motions together. 
• EXAMPLE: Sally says, "I move that the 4-H club buys a new set of flags for the meetings and  club T-shirts for all the members." This motion has two motions: to buy a new set of flags and club T-shirts for all members. The motion needs to be split in two, so a member can call for Division of a Question. 

Suspend the Rules

• This motion requires a second and is not debatable or amendable. It requires a 2/3 vote to suspend a parliamentary order or order of business. It requires a majority vote to suspend the standing rule. 
• The rules of parliamentary order, order or business, or standing rules can be suspended. Any rules in the bylaws or fundamental principles of parliamentary law cannot be suspended. This is done when the assembly wants to do something during the meeting that could not have been done with the rules. 
• EXAMPLE: (This is just one of many) The assembly can suspend the rules to allow multiple people to debate on the motion. 

As you can see, some of these motions are very complex with gray areas. They aren't as straight forward as the subsidiary motions. For more information on these motions, you can visit Robert's Rules of Order 11th Edition pages 247-299.

Erin Yoest

Session 6 - In Depth with Incidental Motions - February 19

Responses from your Ticket Outs from Session 6!

What are you curious about?

• Suspend the Rules
• Suspend the Rules sets aside a rule of the Assembly. 
• Needs a second, not debatable, not amendable, cannot be reconsidered
• Requires a majority vote to suspend a Standing Rule, but requires a 2/3rds vote to suspend a parliamentary order or order of business
• Read everything about it here: RONR, p. 260
• Bylaws language
• Follow Ch. 18 starting on p. 565 on creating and writing the Bylaws with correct language. 
• We will be studying this more in depth on April 9th!
• Judging opportunities and coaching for them
• Talk to Dr. Foster for details!
• Is time the primary purpose you can only debate once in Appeal?
• Although RONR doesn't state anything specifically, time is a good reason, as is the fact that a decision has already been made and members are debating the validity of that decision. The Chair has the right to speak first or last.
• Read all about Appeal starting on RONR, p. 255
• The five other Incidental motions we didn't cover
• Consider by Paragraph or Seriatim: RONR, p. 267
• Motions Relating to the Methods of Voting and the Polls: RONR, p. 283
• Motions Relating to Nominations: RONR, p. 287
• Request to be Excused from a Duty: RONR, p. 289
• Requests and Inquiries: RONR, p. 292
• MTBBBTA ("zombie" motions)!
• Next week! Read Ch. 9 to prepare.
• Is there a way to formally call out an officer and re-vote the vote that gave them their office? Like a Call for the Orders of the Day but for the role of officers?
• I like that idea for a motion! Unfortunately, it doesn't exist though. 
• The best way to call out or punish an officer or member is to move to censure him or her. The rules regulating censures and the subsequent punishments are usually laid out in an organization's Bylaws.
• Incidental main motions and why they are used?
• They're main motions that are incidental, or related to, the Business of the Assembly or its past or future action. 
• They're used for procedure or to delineate further steps related to substantive Business (aka something introduced via a main motion)
• See RONR, p. 100-102
• Withdraw/Modify
• Use this motion to withdraw or modify a motion without having to take a vote
• Needs a second when modifying the motion. Needs no second when withdrawing the motion
• Not debatable. 
• Vote by general consent when asking to withdraw. The negative vote in withdrawing a motion can be reconsidered
• See RONR, p. 295-298

What did you learn?

• The eight Incidental ("popcorn") motions (POWPADDS)
• Point of Order
• Object to the Consideration of a Question
• Withdraw
• Parliamentary Inquiry
• Appeal
• Division of the Assembly
• Division of the Question
• Suspend the Rules
• Withdraw has conditions on voting
• You can't Appeal an opinion
• There can be numerous parts to your main motion and you can break it down by calling for Division of the Question
• Amendments can be divided with Division of the Question
• Division of the Assembly vs. Division of the Question
• Division of the Assembly: retaking a vote in a format where the result can be quantified. Call it when you don't trust a viva voce vote
• Division of the Question: dividing a motion into smaller sections to be dealt with individually
• How to Suspend the Rules and that the motion has different standards and restrictions when applied to different types of rules
• You can't Suspend Bylaws unless it's stated in the Bylaws that you can
• Incidental motions are for the unexpected and do not have an order of precedence
• How to properly use Object to the Consideration of a Question
• When you can Withdraw with or without a vote

What do you want to learn more about?

• Voting
• We'll be looking at Debate and Voting on April 2nd
• In the meantime, check out Ch. 13 in RONR (starting on p. 400)
• How to make sense of all 24 motions and their precedence
• Use the acronyms in order of precedence (FARQC, LCLRPRAP) and then POWPADDS and MTBBBTA and Main to remember them all. Keep up with your chart quiz studying and it will all fall into place before the semester is out! 
• Cassie and I would also be happy to meet with you to find the best way for everything to make sense for you :)
• Using Object to the Consideration of the Question in a model
• Check out RONR, p. 270!
• Suspend the Rules
• Suspend the Rules sets aside a rule of the Assembly. 
• Needs a second, not debatable, not amendable, cannot be reconsidered
• Requires a majority vote to suspend a Standing Rule, but requires a 2/3rds vote to suspend a parliamentary order or order of business
• Read everything about it here: RONR, p. 260
• MTBBBTA!
• Next week! Read Ch. 9 to prepare.
• Under what circumstances would you Withdraw a motion?
• Successfully withdrawing a motion makes it as if that motion never happened. There are many situations in which you might want that to happen, such as new information coming to light (for example, you want to move our midterm to March 12th, but then realize that's spring break) - see RONR, p. 41 for this particular example. 
• Using Chair language
• Pay attention to the phrasing used in class by Dr. Foster and your classmates, read the models of motions in RONR, and practice with your friends!
• Participating in debates as Chair
• You'll have at least two opportunities to Chair class this semester!
• Amending Bylaws
• Amending Bylaws is a variation of the motion to Amend Something Previously Adopted. 
• It's an involved process and the process for each individual organization will be explained towards the end of their Bylaws document. We will be covering Bylaws on April 9th, but until then read RONR, p. 592-599
• Where in Roberts does it say about Withdraw needing a second after being stated?
• RONR, p. 40-41
• Object to the Consideration of a Question
• This prevents the main motion from being considered
•  No second, not debatable, not amendable. Because no second and no debate is needed, the Chair takes an immediate vote on the Object to the Consideration of a Question motion
• Requires a 2/3rds vote in the negative for the main motion to not be considered. Only a negative vote can be reconsidered
• Check out RONR, p. 267 on for more information
• Are there any example websites on Parli Pro videos?
• YouTube has tons!

Session 3 - In Depth with Subsidiary Motions - January 29

Responses from your Tickets Out from Session 3!

What are you curious about?

• How often some organizations move to limit debate
• Depends on the organization
• Why did this class start?
• You should ask Dr. Foster!
• Subsidiary motions and what they are all about
• They Assist, Postpone, Modify, and Dispose of the Main Motion
• RONR, p. 62-66
• Better ways to run committee meetings
• We’ll learn that in session #12
• See RONR, p. 489-542 if you want information before then
• Best way to deal with people who don’t see the value of Parli Pro
• Talk to them and explain why it’s so useful! Anyone have any other ideas??
• Can you reconsider the motion to postpone indefinitely?
• An affirmative vote is reconsiderable RONR, p. 127, l. 17-20
• Still a bit confused about the difference between Lay on the Table and Postpone Definitely
• Lay on the Table is meant to put something aside for a short time because there is something more urgent that needs to happen right now. It doesn’t set a certain time to take the item up again (need to use Take from the Table). It is also not debatable or amendable. Postpone definitely just puts it off until a certain time (or another meeting).  This may be because you need to hold off on making a decision or because it needs to be decided at a more convenient time. It is debatable and amendable. RONR, p. 209-218 and RONR, p. 179-191
• The order of precedence
• For what we have learned so far: Lay on the Table, Call the Previous Question, Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, Postpone Definitely, Refer/Commit, Amend, Postpone Indefinitely, Main Motion
• How difficult the Parli Pro exam is
• If you study and practice, you should be ok! Below is some basic information and example questions
• All AP tests will use the same references and will consist of two parts: PART I: Five (5) open book parliamentary procedure research questions using the 2011 edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised (to be provided by the taker of the test).
• Example: List the page and beginning line number of the following statement: “Until the chair states the question, the maker has the right to modify his motion as he pleases or to withdraw it entirely.” 
• Answer: Page 40 Beginning line number: 8
• PART II: Forty-five (45) multiple choice questions taken from Dunbar’s Manual of Parliamentary Test Questions and the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised.
• Example: Which of the following motions can the Previous Question be applied to?
• A. Adjourn
• B. Limit or Extend Limits of Debate
• C. Raise a Question of Privilege
• D. Lay on the Table
• Answer: B
• SAEP-Accredited Parliamentarian Credential has more information about the accreditation exam if you’re interested.
• When incidental motions take priority over subsidiary motions
• Incidental motions rank higher when they are actually applicable to the motion that is pending and need to be taken care of immediately RONR, p. 72, l. 24-36
• How do you properly suspend the rules?
• Next Week!
• More about previous question
• See RONR, p. 197-209
• How does the chair keep it all in line?
• Taking notes or asking for the secretary’s help

What did you learn?

• You can amend an amendment
• Characteristics of the seven subsidiary motions
1. Lay on the Table
2. Call the Previous Question
3. Limit of Extend Limits of Debate
4. Postpone Definitely
5. Refer/Commit
6. Amend
7. Postpone Indefinitely
• Subsidiary motions are third in precedence compared to privileged motions
• How to properly use the previous question
• All about motions :)
• The specifics of subsidiary motions and the ins and outs of them
• Call the previous question is not debatable
• How to make subsidiary motions properly 
• Gavel Taps
• There are many ways to use the subsidiary motions to your advantage and ultimately get your way
• The proper use of a lot of the motions I had sort of known about
• There are four types of committees
• Applying the motions to real scenarios

What do you want to learn more about?

• Why would you use postpone indefinitely instead of just voting it down?
• Postpone indefinitely is used when you can’t adopt or reject the motion without undesirable consequences. It kills the motion without taking a direct vote on the motion. RONR, p. 126, l. 7-9
• Also for strategy purposes (the Parliamentarian’s Motion) RONR, p. 128, l. 17-33
• A way to speak properly during a meeting
• We’ll go over debate later on. But until then try RONR, p. 385-399
• Committee of the Whole
• RONR, p. 529-542
• Looking forward to running through more practice session
• Yay!
• If the chairman makes a significant mistake, how is that corrected or brought to attention?
• Point of Order…we’ll learn about that next week!
• How to become more fluent in my Parli Pro
• Read and Practice!
• Incidental Motions
• That’s next week!
• How reconsider works
• We’ll learn about that in session #6
• Example of debating the motion to postpone indefinitely
• The following video has this motion starting at 5:10  
• Meridian FFA-2012 National FFA Convention Parli Pro Finals

Session 2 - Motions: the Nuts ‘N’ Bolts of Parliamentary Procedure - January 22nd

Responses to your Tickets Out from Session 2!

What are you curious about?

• The progression/malleability of Robert's within an org. What liberty is acceptable?
• Each organization will allow different levels of liberty. The point is to ensure that business is always being conducted efficiently.
• The 13 ranking motions:
  1.       Fix Time to Which to Adjourn (P)
  2.       Adjourn (P)
  3.       Recess (P)
  4.       Question of Privilege (P)
  5.       Call for the Orders of the Day (P)
  6.       Lay on the Table (S)
  7.       Call for Previous Question (S)
  8.       Limit or Extend Limits of Debate (S)
  9.       Postpone Definitely (S)
  10.   Refer to a Committee (S)
  11.   Amend (S)
  12.   Postpone Indefinitely (S)
  13.   Main Motion (M)
  * P indicates “privileged motions” – They will be discussed in depth on February 1st
  * S indicates “subsidiary motions” – They will be discussed in depth on January 25th
  * M indicates “main motions” – it was discussed in depth tonight on January 22nd
• Why can you not attempt to drown out a disorderly member with the gavel? They are being disorderly, so you should be able to obtain order. 
• See RONR, p. 387
• What is the best way to study the 13 motions?
• We will cover tips and tricks throughout learning the motions, but I personally found creating a table with the motions and their requirements helpful.
• What happens when a member is censured? Are there common punishments?
•  Each organization will have different punishments for a censured member in their Bylaws.
• If the Chair does not know can s/he ask a member for help?
• Of course. Many organizations have a Parliamentarian for these situations though. Also, many Chairs have basic Parli Pro rules and motions on a sheet in front of them when they are running a meeting.
• Gavel procedure
• Some common practices:
• One tap: completion of business, members sit, meeting adjourned
• Two taps: call meeting to order
• Three taps: signals members should stand
• Several sharp taps: restores order
• Learning about all the secondary motions, there are way more than I thought there were!
• We will be covering the secondary motions (subsidiary, privileged, and incidental motions) during the next 3 sessions! 
• Subsidiary motions
• Next Wednesday!
• Proper timing and use of common motions
• We will be covering how to effectively use motions as we learn each one.
• The proper use of objections
• See RONR, p. 267-270 

What did you learn?

• 13 motions and how they are ranked
• That we should motion to introduce legislation
• Original motions are the motions to bring new business
• Anyone can move to "object to the consideration of a question" but the motion requires a two-thirds vote to pass
• Division of the question is allowed if you agree with only part of a resolution
• Motions can only be reconsidered by people who were on the prevailing side
• How to appeal the Chair's decision
• The 10 rules of Parli Pro

1.  The rights of an organization supersede the rights of individual members.
2. All members are equal and their rights are equal.
3. A quorum must be present to do business.
4. The majority rules.
5. Silence is consent.
6. Two-thirds vote rule
7. One question at a time; one speaker at a time
8. Debatable motions must receive full debate
9. Once a question is decided, it is not in order to bring up the same motion, or one essentially like it, at the same meeting.
10. Personal remarks in debate are always out of order.
    

• The 6 steps to make a motion (see RONR, pp. 32, 42, 120)

1. Making the motion
2. Another member seconds the motion
3. The Chair states the motion 
4. Debating the question
5. Putting the question
6. Announcing the result of the vote

• Some common mistakes in making motions
• We improperly run our UPUA meetings
• About the main motions and meetings
• There are 2 types of main motions: original main and incidental main
• The lowest ranking motion is a main motion
• The consequences of a censure is determined by the organization's Bylaws
• Object to consideration of a question
• Primary and secondary motions
• Proper use of the gavel
• A lot! There is much to be learned about Parli Pro, but the subject matter is accessible
• Gavel taps

What do you want to learn more about?

• Parli Pro strategy and loopholes and how to implement Parli Pro when one is not chairing the meeting
• We will be learning tips and strategies throughout the semester to run meetings effectively whether one is Chair or not! You will have lots of practice in either position.
• How, as a future educator, can I teach Parli Pro to my students effectively?
• Pay attention to how Dr. Foster is teaching you, he is a great Professor!
• Proper use of the gavel 
• Some common practices:
• One tap: completion of business, members sit, meeting adjourned
• Two taps: call meeting to order
• Three taps: signals members should stand
• Several sharp taps: restores order

•  The 13 ranking motions
• There are 13 ranking motions and we will be learning them in the next three sessions
• Properly stating a motion
• "I move to..." or "I move that..."
• Can you ask the Secretary to restate the main motion?
• The Chair must state the motion (#3 of the 6 Steps to Make a Motion). You can ask him/her to restate the main motion whenever you need. We will be learning how during session 5 on February 8th. 
• To read about how to ask for this, see RONR, p. 294-295
• Secondary motions
• We will be covering the secondary motions (subsidiary, privileged, and incidental motions) during the next 3 sessions!
• I want to act out examples to retain the information better
• We will be doing interactive activities every week!
• The small details in specific motions
• We will be learning the most important details when we learn about each individual motion. Keep doing your reading for the smallest details!
• More efficient ways to run meetings
• Stay tuned this whole semester ;)
• The process of postponing indefinitely
• Next Wednesday!
• Incidental motions
• See you at session 5 on February 8th!
• Parliamentary inquiry
• See RONR, p. 294-295