Hi everyone,

We had an interesting meeting last week and we all left with the understanding that the vote on the proposed resolution of the Care Fund had passed. After a consultation with the legal department and many inquiries into Robert’s Rules of Order, I must say that this vote did not pass and the Care Fund stays as it is with the Employee Assembly.

Please Read Below:

Robert’s Rules for Dummies In Chapter 19: Ten (or so) Meeting Procedure Myths, page 279

Abstentions Count As Yes or No Votes

One of the most frequent questions asked of parliamentarians is “How do we count abstentions?” The answer is simple: You don’t. Abstentions are not votes. They’re instances of members choosing not to vote.

The conclusion probably comes from the fact that voters who abstain typically do, by their abstention, influence the outcome of the vote. For example, if the requirement for adoption is a majority vote, then abstentions have the effect of a vote for the prevailing side. By not voting, members have helped the winner.

On the other hand, if the vote require for adoption is the affirmative vote of the majority of the members present, [or 2/3 of seated EA members] then an abstention has the same effect as a negative vote.

But in any case, abstentions are never counted toward one side or the other even if the fact that a members doesn’t vote has a direct effect on the outcome.

According to our old charter, in affect during the meeting:

ARTICLE 9 Amendment Process

An affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the seated membership of the EA shall be required to amend the Bylaws and Procedures of the EA and those articles of the Charter not excluded in 9.1. The proposed amendments shall be submitted to the EA in written form at least one meeting prior to a vote.

A 2/3 affirmative vote would require 7 YES votes in favor of the motion in order to pass. The vote count at our meeting was:

5 YES 1 NO 2 ABSTENTIONS 1 MEMBER NOT PRESENT 1 CHAIR NOT VOTING

Due to the term “affirmative”, all votes must equal 2/3 in favor of changing the charter. As you can see we did not have 7 votes in favor and therefore did not reach a 2/3 affirmative vote.

I understand that this may be hard for some of you, and for that, I apologize, but we cannot pass this vote despite our original understanding. Please contact me with any questions or you are welcome to call me if you need any clarification.

I suggest that those who would like to try again for this, work with the committee to alter the proposed resolution and bring the new changes to the table at a future date.

Brian Cornell