Distinguishing “Question” and “Motion”
By Paul McClintock, PRP
The terms motion and question sometimes seem to be used interchangeably in Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR), and at other times not so. Simply put, the motion is a proposal; the question is in essence, “Shall the motion be adopted?”[i] It is a yes-or-no type of question, so members can vote “aye” or “no.”[ii]
“A motion is a formal proposal by a member, in a meeting, that the assembly take certain action.”[iii] For example, “I move that we hold our annual meeting on January 15.” The phrase “I move” means “I propose” or “I suggest,” but until the member uses the word “move” or “motion,” it is not a formal motion. Indeed, The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure says, “Statements beginning ‘I propose’ or ‘I suggest’ should not be recognized as motions. The presiding officer should inquire of the member making such a statement, ‘Do you wish to state your proposal as a motion?’”[iv]
RONR provides six steps[v] in handling a motion in the ordinary case:
1. a member makes the motion,
2. another member seconds the motion,
3. the chair states the question on the motion,
4. members debate the motion,
5. the chair puts the question to a vote, and
6. the chair announces the result of the vote.
Prior to step three when the chair states the question on the motion, the motion belongs to the maker, who can withdraw it without the assembly’s permission. Hence it is not a “question” for the assembly to decide. Thus steps one and two refer to the proposal, the motion.
Step three makes it the property of the assembly and a question for them to decide. This is why RONR uses “question on the motion” in the description of this step. However, the wording that the chair uses is really more like a statement of the motion. E.g., “It is moved and seconded that….”[vi] Demeter says, “Strictly speaking, a motion is correctly referred to as a ‘question’ after the Chair has stated it to the body; before it is fully stated, it is properly known as a ‘motion.’”[vii]
To determine if any members wish to debate, the chair asks, “Are you ready for the question?”[viii] This is short for, “Are you ready to vote on the question?” or “Are you ready for the question to be put to a vote?” (Note that in asking “Are you ready for the question?” that the chair is not really asking that that the are-you-ready question itself be directly answered by members responding “yes” or “no,” but rather the chair is giving members an opportunity to debate or to make relevant secondary motions at this time.) Inasmuch as by this time the chair has already “stated the question” and the members are proceeding to “debate the question,” there is no doubt that they are “ready” for the question in that sense.
Before debate has begun on a motion however, a member may “object to the consideration of the question.” Here RONR allows “resolution” or “motion” as substitutes for “question,”[ix] indicating that in this case the terms are interchangeable.
Members debate the motion (the proposal), and in essence, the question of whether it should be adopted. Hence at this point either term could well be used. In fact, RONR uses both. It says “Members debate the motion”[x] in the list of steps, but uses “Debate on the Question”[xi] in a heading.
If debate is prolonged, a member may “move the previous question.”[xii] This is a subsidiary motion, and thus a new question to be adopted, so the “question” that was pending just before this has now become the “previous” question. Previous question is a motion to close debate and to vote immediately on the previous question. If several motions were pending, such as a main motion, amend, refer and postpone, the member may “move the previous question on all pending questions”[xiii] or “move the previous question on” any consecutive set of pending questions that includes the immediately pending question. But typically in describing a subset of the pending questions by the parliamentary terms for the motions, “motion” is used instead of “question,” for example, “I move the previous question on the motions to postpone and refer.”[xiv]
Next, the chair puts the question on the adoption of the motion to a vote. The question is never actually asked in question form, but the implied question is: “Shall the motion to ... be adopted?” Instead, the chair says, “The question is on the adoption of the motion to....”[xv] It is given in statement form; no question mark is used.
In summary, a motion is a proposal, but the question of whether the assembly should adopt the motion is what the assembly considers and decides by vote. The shall-the-motion-be-adopted question is merely implied, virtually never explicitly verbalized. In many cases the terms question and motion are interchangeable, but in others, even though they could be interchanged in less formal usage, parliamentary tradition dictates a particular or preferred term.
[Paul McClintock lives near Seattle, WA and has served as District 7 Director and state president. He now serves on NAP’s Educational Resources Committee.]
[i] Parliamentary Law, p. 574, defines “Question” as: “The Question is whether the assembly agrees to, or will adopt, the immediately pending motion.”
[ii] RONR (10th ed.), p. 44, l. 10-11.
[iii] RONR (10th ed.), p. 26, l. 19-20.
[iv] The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (4th ed.), p. 13.
[v] RONR (10th ed.), p. 31, l. 14-23, and p. 40, l. 28-31.
[vi] RONR (10th ed.), p. 36, l. 15.
[vii] Demeter’s Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure (1969), p. 57.
[viii] RONR (10th ed.), p. 36, l. 20.
[ix] RONR (10th ed.), p. 260, l. 31-32.
[x] RONR (10th ed.), p. 40, l. 28.
[xi] RONR (10th ed.), p. 41, l. 6.
[xii] RONR (10th ed.), p. 199, l. 12-13.
[xiii] RONR (10th ed.), p. 199, l. 16-17.
[xiv] RONR (10th ed.), p. 199, l. 15.
[xv] RONR (10th ed.), p. 44, l. 8.