[GSA Council] Two thirds majority "of members present"

[Jon Summers]

Hi Gretchen and Keroles,

I was confused by this, too. I think a re-vote on this issue at the next
Council meeting might be appropriate.

Jon

On Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 10:18 AM, Keroles Riad <k_riad at encs.concordia.ca>
wrote:
>
> Hi,
> I think the bylaws refer to the general assembly. Anyways, even if I
> concede that the text says that it is all members present at council. I
> don't think that this was clear during voting that abstention is an
> effective no vote (obviously wasn't clear to me and I doubt it was clear to
> everyone else), so what I propose is to re do the vote next council after
> you clearly state that abstentions are practically no votes.
>
> Does that sound reasonable?
> Kero
> Thanks
> Keroles Riad
> Research assistant and INDI masters student
> B.Eng Mechanical Engineering
> Laboratory for the Physics of Advanced Materials
> Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
> Concordia University
> 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West
> Montreal, Quebec
> Canada H3G 1M8
> Ph: 1-514-476-3686
>
> Follow me
> @Kerologist
> ------------------------------
> *From: * gretchen k <gbayou at gmail.com>
> *Date: *Fri, 19 Dec 2014 10:10:16 -0500
> *To: *Keroles Riad<k_riad at encs.concordia.ca>
> *Cc: *Gsaconcordia at lists.resist.ca<Gsaconcordia at lists.resist.ca>
> *Subject: *Re: Two thirds majority "of members present"
>
> hey keroles and Councillors--
>
> thanks for the link keroles.
>
> as for the GSA bylaws, the quote i inserted in the subject is impt to
> recall, see *21.3* on amending the bylaws: "Any Motion to amend the
> Bylaws must be adopted by a two third (2/3) majority of the members
> present at the Assembly. Any amendment to the Bylaws shall take effect
> once adopted by the General Assembly of members."
>
> so at council and the GA, when amending the bylaws the tally of the vote
> is *of the members present*. last night's vote re 6.1 that resulted in 4
> - for, 2 - opposed, and 4 - abstaining did not receive a two-thirds vote
> and thus did not pass.
>
> the section you forwarded also states this, but in a confusing way. i
> think the GSA bylaws state clearly that to adopt the motion you need a vote
> of the members present. voting to abstain in this case does count towards
> the tally of two-thirds, but is recorded as an abstention.
>
> hope this helps.
>
> --gretchen
>
> On Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 1:37 AM, Keroles Riad <k_riad at encs.concordia.ca>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> In Question 6 on the official Roberts rules site (
>> http://www.robertsrules.com/faq.html):
>>
>> *Question 6:*
>> *Do abstention votes count?*
>> *Answer:*
>> The phrase “abstention votes” is an oxymoron, an abstention being a
>> refusal to vote. To abstain means to refrain from voting, and, as a
>> consequence, there can be no such thing as an “abstention vote.”
>> In the usual situation, *where either a majority vote or a two-thirds
>> vote is required, abstentions have absolutely no effect on the outcome of
>> the vote since what is required is either a majority or two thirds of the
>> votes cast.* On the other hand, if the vote required is a majority or
>> two thirds of the members *present*, or a majority or two thirds of the
>> entire membership, an abstention will have the same effect as a “no” vote.
>> Even in such a case, however, an abstention is not a vote and is not
>> counted as a vote. [RONR (11th ed.), p. 400, ll. 7-12; p. 401, ll. 8-11;
>> p. 403, ll. 13-24; see also p. 66 of RONRIB.]
>>
>> Thanks
>> Keroles Riad
>> Research assistant and INDI masters student
>> B.Eng Mechanical Engineering
>> Laboratory for the Physics of Advanced Materials
>> Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
>> Concordia University
>> 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West
>> Montreal, Quebec
>> Canada H3G 1M8
>> Ph: 1-514-476-3686
>>
>> Follow me
>> @Kerologist
>> Call
>> Send SMS
>> Add to Skype
>> You'll need Skype CreditFree via Skype
>>
>
>
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