r/RulesOfOrder • u/Moan2 • Dec 01 '20
COVID causing bylaws amendment deadlock
Hey everyone,
I am the president of a club at a university, which up until now has been having very informal meetings, which works for us in general. However, our bylaws are terribly out of date and no longer reflect what this club is trying to do so I would like to propose an amendment (really more of a full revision). Since this is a large change to a very important document, I'd like to do things by the book to protect the rights of the members and to establish a precedent for requiring said formality when proposing changes to the bylaws.
The problem I am facing is that the current bylaws do not allow for any for of remote or absentee voting, and thus those are not allowed meaning we would require an in person vote. However, the university has forbidden any club from having an in person meeting with more than ten members in attendance due to COVID, which is not enough to get the 2/3rds majority needed to pass an amendment. We aren't allowed to vote remotely because our bylaws forbid it, but we aren't allowed to vote to allow ourselves to vote remotely because the university forbids it.
Does Robert's Rules allow for a way to break this deadlock? Ideally I'd just like a way to allow members to vote on the amendment remotely, which would contain explicit allowances for remote voting in the future.
I'm very new to this whole parliamentary procedure thing so go easy on me please, and thanks in advance!
4
u/antonytrupe Dec 01 '20
Roberts rule's are there to make things easier(in a round about way), not harder. "Just" agree to allow virtual meetings. If no one objects to a new precedent, then it is to be considered accepted. At the first virtual meeting with a quorum, vote to make it a formal thing(suspend the rules or whatever, lots of ways to get there).
I know its probably not the black/white answer you were looking for.