Student Council Parliamentary Rules

A.   Starting a Meeting

Two-thirds of the members must be present to start a meeting. (quorum)

There are two ways:

1.    Make a motion or present a communication.

2.    Make a motion to receive communications or committee reports.

B.   Motions

4 types(listed in order of precedence) : privileged, incidental, secondary, and principal

Privileged- can’t be debated unless they pertain to the rights of the assembly or its members and can’t be used to interrupt business.

There are 4 types of privileged motions (listed in order of precedence):

1.    Fix the Time at Which to Adjourn

2.    Adjourn

3.    Questions of Privilege

4.    Call for Orders of the Day

Incidental- arise out of other motions and can’t be amended. 

There are 5 types of incidental motions (listed in order of precedence):

1.    Appeal or Question of Order

2.    Objection to Consideration of a Question

3.    Reading Papers

4.    Withdrawal of a Motion

5.    Suspend the Rules

Secondary-motion applied to another motion as a means of disposing of the other motion.

Principal-motion on any particular subject brought before an assembly for consideration. You can’t make a principal motion when another motion is before the assembly.

C.    Seconding a Motion

A motion must be seconded in order to be voted on.

The seconder may state "I second the motion" or "second" without first being recognized by the chair.  After hearing a second, the chair then states the question and the motion is placed before the assembly for discussion.

D.   Discussion and Obtaining the Floor

Discussion of the topic can take place before and after the motion is made.  To obtain the floor, one must raise his hand or rise up and be recognized by the chair.

E.    Voting

A majority vote means a majority of the votes actually cast.  Raise your hand at the appropriate time if you are in favor (“Aye”) or not in favor (“No”).

F.    Removing a Person from the Meeting

The assembly has the right to decide who may be present during a session. When an assembly decides by rule or votes that someone may not remain in the room, the chair has to enforce that rule or order, using whatever force is needed.  However, the members should be careful not to use harsher treatment than is necessary.

G.   Adjourning a Meeting

To Adjourn,  simply make a motion, but there are rules for when you can’t motion to Adjourn.

One cannot adjourn when:

1.    Someone else has the floor.

2.    Another question has been stated and is being put to a vote.

Commands allowed at any time for clarification:

“Point of order”- Interrupts discussion to clarify a rule

“Point of inquiry”- Interrupts speaker to ask a question

Other important items:

All items must be discussed in agenda-posted order.

Any member can make a motion.

A motion and a second must be made before a vote can take place.

Sponsor  can overrule ludicrous motions.

Open floor discussion is directed and conducted by the chair.

When parliamentary procedure is disputed, consultation from the parliamentarian and sponsor shall be sought.