4-H Grows Here logo in green with 4-H clover at right on a black background

Parliamentary Procedure in a 4-H Business Meeting

Program Icon.

Program Contact

Autumn Britt, 4-H Program Manager
Phone Number509-588-7817 Email Address • autumn.britt@wsu.edu

After learning about parliamentary procedure, volunteers and youth may find it helpful to see a script of it in action in a 4-H setting. This page will walk through one way parliamentary procedure may look when used during a 4-H business meeting.

Order of Business for a 4-H Meeting

Call To Order

President stands, strikes the gavel.

“This meeting of the [club name] 4-H Club will come to order. Please stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, led by [4-H member] and the 4-H Pledge, led by [4-H member].”

Generally the President will stand when talking and sit when someone else is delivering a report.

Roll Call

The President acknowledges the Secretary.

“The Secretary will call the roll.”

The secretary reads the list of club member names.

The President or Secretary will announce the preferred way to answer roll call.

Reading of the Minutes

The President acknowledges the Secretary.

“The Secretary will now read the minutes of the last meeting.”

The Secretary stands before reading the minutes and sits when they are done. The President then asks,

“Are there any additions or corrections to the minutes?”

If there are no corrections or additions, the President says,

“The minutes are approved as read.”

If there are corrections or additions, the President continues with,

“The minutes stand approved as corrected.”

Some groups ask for a motion to approve the minutes as stated or as corrected.

Treasurer’s Report

The President acknowledges the Treasurer.

“We will now have the Treasurer’s report.”

The President sits and the Treasurer takes the floor and reports on money received, money spent, and current fund balances. The President stands and asks,

“Are there any questions about the Treasurer’s Report? If not, the report is received as read.”

If there are no questions, the Treasurer is seated before the President moves on to calling for the other reports in the same manner.

The Treasurer’s Report is approved once a year after an audit.

Other Reports

After the Treasurer’s Report, the President may ask for Leader’s Reports, Additional Officer’s Reports, Committee Reports, and/or reporting on the regular county Extension newsletter.

The President stands and acknowledges the officer or individual making the next report.

“We will now have the [committee or group] Report.”

The President sits and the next speaker takes the floor for their report. The President stands after and asks,

“Are there any questions about the [committee or group] Report? If not, the report is received as read.”

If any of the reports call for action of the club, this requires a vote. The person making the report should make the motion for the action to be taken. It is usually seconded by another person on the same committee making the report. The President should then repeat the motion and ask for discussion.

Unfinished Business

Unfinished Business items include things that were discussed at previous meetings, but “tabled” or not decided on.

The President stands and acknowledges the Secretary.

“Secretary, were there any motions postponed until this meeting?”

If so, the Secretary will recap the issue for further discussion and a vote. If not, the President proceeds,

“Is there any other unfinished business? If not, we will proceed to new business.”

All unfinished business should be addressed before the meeting moves on to new business.

New Business

The President stands,

“Is there new business to be brought before the club?”

Any member may introduce new business to address at the meeting. If the new business is actionable and requires a motion, the script for members to move is as follows:

Member 1: “I move that [state the action that needs to be taken].”

Member 2: “I second the motion.”

President: “It has been moved and seconded that [restate the motion]. Is there any discussion?”

If there is any discussion, the motion will either be “tabled” (saved for a future meeting) or voted on. Once discussion is over, the President calls for a vote. It is at this stage the motion may be amended. More information on this process is available in the page section on Conducting Business Using Motions.

“All those in favor of [restate the motion], say aye.”

The President pauses for responses.

“All those opposed, say nay.”

The President pauses for responses.

“The motion carries [passes].” OR “The motion fails.”

Voting on a motion can be done in a variety of ways, depending on the needs of the group. A verbal vote of aye/nay is common. Votes may also be taken with raised hands, via roll call (where the Secretary reads each name and records their vote) or in a secret ballot (usually used only when discussing highly sensitive issues).

Announcements

The President calls for any announcements of interest to the club.

“Are there any announcements?”

Announcements should include any upcoming events and the date and time of the next meeting.

Adjournment

The President once again stands to call for a motion to end the business meeting.

“Is there a motion to adjourn?”

The motion must be received and seconded before the meeting can be ended. The President will call for the end of the meeting after it has been made.

“It has been so moved and seconded that the meeting be adjourned. All in favor, say aye.”

The President pauses for responses.

“All those opposed say nay.”

The President pauses for responses.

“The motion passes. Meeting adjourned.”

If the President has a gavel, it may be used to signal the end of the meeting.

The business portion of the meeting can be adjourned before programming and team building activities.

Program

To facilitate the transition to the rest of the meeting, the President will announce who will lead the next section of the meeting. As an example,

“We will now ask our Vice President to announce the rest of this meeting’s program. Vice President, you have the floor.”

This section of the meeting will be structured differently for every group and may include team building activities, project demonstrations, community service projects, social time, snacks, and any other activities.

Conducting Business Using Motions

Main Motion

This is the beginning of an idea for an action to be taken by the club. A member rises and asks for the floor in order to propose a motion.

Member 1: “I’d like to propose a motion.”

President: “[club member name], you have the floor.”

The member who asked to speak will propose their motion.

President: “Do we have a second for the motion?”

Member 2: “I second.” OR “Seconded.”

President: “It has been moved that we [restate motion}. Is there any discussion?”

Members discuss the merits and drawbacks of the motion until they have reached a consensus or decided to vote on it.

Often the President is addressed as Mr. or Madam President. This may make some members uncomfortable and should be adapted for the needs of the club and its members.

Amending a Motion

During discussion, members may decide to change the motion – these changes are called amendments. These amendments need to be moved on and voted on before voting on the main motion. To continue the script above:

Member 3: “I move that we amend the motion by [proposed change].

Member 4: “I second the amendment.” OR “Seconded.”

President: “It has been moved and seconded to amend the motion to [add the changes to the full motion text]. Is there any discussion on this amendment?”

The President pauses to allow for any discussion on this change. If there is no discussion, they continue with,

“Hearing none, we will vote on the amendment. All in favor, say aye.”

The President pauses for responses.

“All opposed, say nay.”

The President pauses for responses.

“The amendment passes and the motion is amended.” OR “The amendment fails, the original motion stands.”

After an amendment has been offered, seconded, and discussed, only the amendment is voted on. The main motion still has to be voted on separately. If the amendment fails, the text of the motion is unchanged as the discussion continues.

The President will then call discussion back to the main motion, as amended, or as originally stated, depending on the outcome of the vote on the ammendment.

“Is there any other discussion on the main motion?”

Discussion either continues, or if there is none, the President continues,

“Hearing none, we will vote on [restate the motion, with amendments if applicable]. All in favor, say aye.”

The President pauses for responses.

“All those opposed, say nay.”

The President pauses for responses.

“The motion passes (as amended).” OR “The motion fails.”

If action is necessitated by an officer, such as writing a check or gathering supplies, the President can then restate what needs to happen after the motion passes before calling for other business or the continuation of the meeting to the next agenda item.

Voting on Motions

There are different ways voting can happen during a meeting. The President decides on the method of voting. Different types of voting:

  1. Voice vote (people respond with aye/nay)
  2. Standing vote
  3. Raising hands
  4. Paper ballots (distributing paper slips on which members write yes or no)
  5. Roll call vote (the Secretary calls names and each person says aye/nay)

The President only votes to break a tie.

Amendment Types

There are three types of amendments.

  1. Inserting or adding a phase
    • “I move to amend the motion by adding [phrase] after/before [motion text].”
  2. Striking out a word or phrase
    • “I move to strike the phrase [thing to be removed] from the motion.”
  3. Substituting a word, phrase, or entire statements
    • “I move we amend the motion by substituting the phrase [motion language] with [new language].”

Other Rules About Motions

  1. Only one main motion may be on the floor at a time. The main motion must be postponed, sent to committee, or voted on before another main motion can be introduced. A motion to postpone a main motion or to send a main motion to committee is not considered a main motion and can be offered to clear a main motion from the floor so a different main motion can be made. Motions to postpone a main motion or send it to committee require a majority vote to pass.
  2. With the approval of the members who made and seconded a motion, it can be withdrawn from the floor without a vote.
  3. If a motion doesn’t receive a second, it dies (it is no longer considered or discussed).
  4. If discussion or debate on a main motion drags on and doesn’t seem to be progressing, any member may call for a vote. The script for this may look like this:
    • Member 1: “President, I move (or call) the previous question.”
    • Member 2: “I second the motion.” OR “Seconded.”
    • The motion to call the previous question may not be debated and requires a two-thirds majority to pass. If this motion to call the previous question passes, it forces a vote immediately on the main motion.

Parliamentary Procedure for Electing Officers

Members should be aware of any special rules for eligibility for officers that are dependent on club bylaws or procedures. It is important everyone knows the duties expected of officers and those who are elected to these positions must be willing to carry out those duties in order for the club to have a successful year.

At the time of an election, it can be useful for current officers can give a short report about the work they’ve accomplished in the previous year.

The following is a script that can be used to guide nomination of officers. For more information on the roles of club officers, see our pages on Supporting 4-H Youth Officers and, for youth, 4-H Club Officers.

President: “Nominations are now open for the office of the President.”

Member 1: “I nominate [name of a different member].”

Member 2: “I nominate [name of another member].”

Member 3: “I move nominations be closed.”

Member 4: “I second the motion to close nominations.”

President: “It has been moved and seconded that nominations be closed. All in favor of closing the nominations raise your hand.”

President pauses for responses.

“All opposed, raise your hand.”

President pauses for responses.

The motion passes.” OR “The motion fails.”

If the motion passes, continue,

“Will the chair of the Nomination Committee please pass out the ballots?”

Members will write the name of their chosen candidate on the ballot. The Nomination Committee collects and counts ballots, bringing the results to the President. The President announces the result of the election for the officer position being voted on and then announces the next position, calling for nominations in the same way as for the previous role.

In some clubs, each eligible member may be asked what office they would like to be nominated for.

After nominations are closed, nominees may give short speeches about why they want to be elected.

Back to Youth Friendly Parliamentary Procedure
Back to Volunteer Resources

Adapted from “Parliamentary Procedure At A Club Meeting” (PDF) by Ruth Ann Vokac, University of Illinois Extension.