PRESIDING OFFICERS BEHAVING BADLY? Organizations will run smoothly when the Chair treats this job more like that of a traffic officer and less like that of an Army general. A member should raise a Point of Order if there is “abuse of authority” by the chair in a meeting. A Point of Order should be raised as soon as a breach of rules is observed and can be done by a single member, as it requires no second.
RONR (12th ed.) 62:3 *: For example, some important rules of parliamentary procedure are
(a) that the chair must recognize any member who seeks the floor while entitled to it (see 42);
(b) that after a member has properly made a motion that is not dilatory (see 39), the chair must either state the question on it, or else rule it out of order for a specified and valid reason, require that the wording be clarified or be submitted in writing, or declare that it is not before the assembly for lack of a required second (see 4); and
(c) that the chair cannot hurry through the proceedings so quickly as to deprive the members of their rights to debate and to introduce secondary motions (see 43:7).
MEMBERS BEHAVING BADLY? It is not in order to complain about a motion that has been adopted. Why? Because the vote was taken and the subject is now closed. (This is called out in RONR (12th ed.) 43:24, Refraining from Speaking Adversely on a Prior Action Not Pending.)
Meeting decorum should be observed. For example, if the group has agreed to that no one speaks more than two minutes, it is out of order to speak longer than that. A person has an obligation to obey legitimate orders of the presiding officer. (RONR (12th ed.) 61:8 )
It is not in order to call people names or impute sinister motives. (RONR (12th ed.) 43:21, Refraining from attacking a members’ motives)
The Chair or another member should call an offending member to order. [This is rare! Why? Because people behaving badly should be rare.] The Chair says: “The member is not in order and will be seated.” This is when you have a large assembly and someone is standing to speak, making rude or derogatory comments about another member. In a smaller assembly, likely the Chair should say: “This behavior is inappropriate and Ms. So-and-so should refrain from such displays of anger”–and then should go on to say to the members: “Shall Ms. So-and-So be allowed to continue speaking?” In other words, take a vote! If the Board votes No, you are standing together against bad behavior. If the Board votes Aye, well, you have several problems on your hands.
Sometimes it is better if a fellow member calls a person to order.
” …Another member making the call rises and, without waiting to be recognized, says, Mr. President, I call the member to order,” then resumes his seat. If the chair finds this point of order well taken, he declares the offender out of order and directs him to be seated, just as above. If the offender had the floor, then (irrespective of who originated the proceeding) the chair clearly states the breach involved and puts the question to the assembly: “Shall the member be allowed to continue speaking?” This question is undebatable.” (RONR (12th ed.) 61:11), emphasis added.
VOTING. A vote is based on those present and voting unless your bylaws state otherwise. A person cannot be forced to vote. Therefore, abstentions do not count in any vote total. RONR (12th ed.) 44:7*
The proper way to take a vote which requires a 2/3 vote (or anything other than a majority) is a standing vote in large assemblies (such as at a Convention) or, in a board, a show of hands. RONR (12th ed.) 44:5 It is also proper to make a motion to have a ballot vote, that is, a secret vote. This requires a majority to adopt. RONR (12th ed.) 45:18*
After ballots are filled out, at least two people should collect them and count them. These are the tellers. They report the totals to the presiding officer. The presiding officer then announces the result of the vote. You should choose a voting method before asking for nominations.
MINUTES are a record of what was done at a meeting, that is, motions made and then adopted or lost, not what was said. [RONR (12th ed.) 48:2]* Of course there will be brief summaries of committee reports (and recommendations that were voted on), events coming up, and money in the bank, but generally, there is no effort to record arguments people make during discussion of any motion. For a host of reasons, it is undesirable for minutes to be anything like a transcript.
*RONR = Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised. The current edition is the 12th edition, published 2020. The numbers in the citation (e.g., 48:2) refer to the section number and paragraph number, respectively.