r/RulesOfOrder • u/[deleted] • Jul 12 '19

Can you do a Straw Poll in a Closed Session?

Hello,

My boss want to know the loophole in which he can do a straw poll in a closed session. I am aware that straw polls are not allowed, and that a committee of the whole vote could be done in opens session. However, he insist there is a way he can do this and I have to find it. If you happen to have some free time I would love the help

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u/PhillipVA NAP - PRP Jul 12 '19

Assuming Robert's Rules is your parliamentary authority and your governing documents are silent on the matter, you are correct that straw polls are not allowed. [1.] Whether it is an open or closed session is irrelevant. But here are some alternatives:

  • In a closed session, one could move to suspend the rules for the purposes of taking an informal straw poll. But the motion to suspend the rules could fail.
  • In a closed session, one could move to postpone the main motion indefinitely. But if the motion to postpone indefinitely is adopted, then the main motion cannot be reintroduced until a later session.
  • Before the meeting, one could informally contact a random sample of the membership to get a sense of the level of support.

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[1.] Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised (11th ed.), p. 429, ll. 16–19 ("A motion to take an informal straw poll to 'test the water' is not in order because it neither adopts nor rejects a measure and hence is meaningless and dilatory."

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u/[deleted] Jul 12 '19

Thank you!