Temporary majority

A temporary majority exists when the positions of the members present and voting in a meeting of a deliberative assembly on a subject are not representative of the membership as a whole. It is in contrast to a "real majority."RONR (10th ed.), p. 208] Parliamentary procedure contains some provisions designed to protect against a temporary majority violating the rights of absentees. For instance, previous notice is required to rescind, repeal or annul or amend something previously adopted by a majority vote; if previous notice has not been given, a two-thirds vote is required. [RONR (10th ed.), p. 295] However, in this and many other cases, previous notice is not required if a majority of the entire membership votes in favor, because that indicates that it is clearly not a temporary majority. Another protection against a decision being made by a temporary majority is the motion to reconsider and enter on the minutes, by which two members can suspend action on a measure until it is called up at a meeting on another day. [RONR (10th ed.) p. 324] If the motion to lay on the table another motion is used with the intent to kill that motion, there may be a possibility that a temporary majority will later take it from the table and act on it; accordingly, it is better to instead use move to postpone indefinitely the motion.

References