bdschobel

Per the TalkBoard Guidelines:

"A motion shall pass if at least two-thirds of the yes or no votes cast by TalkBoard members are ‘yes’ and a majority of the total TalkBoard membership votes 'yes.'"

Some people may have read the above language but not thought very hard about what it really means. For those who really care a lot, I decided to prepare this summary:

TalkBoard has nine members. We can assume that all positions are filled, because vacancies are unusual (and don't last very long). Members do not have to vote, however. They can abstain (which requires action) or simply fail to vote (which is passive).

No ordinary motion can pass without 5 yes votes. Therefore, if only 4 (or fewer) members vote yes or no (with the rest either abstaining or not voting), then the motion necessarily fails, even if all 4 people voted yes. (Again, I am assuming no TalkBoard vacancies exist.)

If 5 members vote yes, then one might assume that the motion passes, but that's not necessarily true. The number of yes votes must equal or exceed two-thirds of the combined total of yes votes and no votes (without regard to abstentions). So a 5-1 (83%) or 5-2 (71%) vote will result in the motion passing, but a 5-3 (63%) or 5-4 (56%) vote will result in the motion failing to pass.

If 6 members vote yes, then the motion necessarily passes, because the number of no votes cannot exceed 3, and a 6-3 (67%) vote passes the two-thirds test. Obviously, the same is true if 7, 8 or 9 members vote yes. In all such cases, the motion necessarily passes, regardless of the number of no votes.

Keep in mind that close TalkBoard votes seem to be pretty rare historically. Still, I hope that this brief review of the voting rules is helpful to people.

Bruce