A couple of weeks ago, I ran into a strange situation. The group insisted that the correct procedure was to adopt a motion and then to amend it. They has trouble understanding that amendments had to be proposed and adopted before the final passage of the motion. Anybody ever run into that?
I have run into this situation more than once. The groups thought they had to adopt something before changing it. Using examples of motions (not related to the group) I was able to get them to process motions correctly.
What was the circumstance?
If they were creating a policy for the organization, they could pass it and then amend it. They may have confused that "can" with "should."
That was not the situation. The opinion was that you pass a motion and then you amend it.
The presiding officer, with the help of the parliamentarian, must inform the assembly that if they pass the motion it will immediately be opened for amendment. This is the only time the motion will be reconsidered with a majority vote. Any time later will require a 2/3 vote. This could be an adopted rule for the meeting. This is not what the books say but the group may be hard to change.
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