Remember that the Chair (presiding officer or president) of an organization is the leader, not the boss. The power of the Chair is in the office, not the person.
Parliamentary rules are tools, not the end objectives. No rules can take the place of tact or common sense. Because parliamentary procedure is intended to protect the rights of members as well as helping to facilitate effective meetings, there are three motions used during meetings that members should understand, and presiding officers should know how to respond to them.
1. Parliamentary Inquiry – If a member wants to ask a question about the rules, as they relate to the business at hand, and how they apply to what is going on she may rise and say, “A parliamentary inquiry, please.”
The chair responds, “The member will state the inquiry.” The member asks the question, for example, “Is a motion to recess in order?” The chair then answers the question.
2. Point of Order – Any member may call the attention of the chair to a violation of the rules because the chair has the duty to make sure that rules are followed. You may rise and interrupt the chair or speaker without waiting to be recognized, calling out, “Point of order!” The chair responds, “The member will state her point of order.”
The member states how they think the rules are being broken. The chair then rules that the point of order is or is not well taken, explaining the reason for the ruling.
3. Appeal the Chair’s Ruling – The group (the assembly, the members) as a whole, not the chair, is the final authority in judging whether the rules have been violated. If a member disagrees with a ruling by the chair, she may stand, without waiting to be recognized, and say, “I appeal from the decision of the chair.”
This requires a second and may be debated, but each member is allowed to speak only once. The chair may speak twice, the second time to close debate.
The chair then asks, “Shall the decision of the chair be sustained?” A majority vote in the negative will overturn the chair’s ruling.
**See Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR) Sections 23, 24 and 33 for more information.
By Greg Pokorski, Pacific Region Parliamentarian
Photo 1 istock
The president of a garden club leads the meetings following Robert’s Rules of Order.
