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i 294 RULES OF ORDER 1306 2) In organizations such as many churches or some soy- cieties in which there are no required or effective ' annual dues and the register of members is not ges- erally reliable as a list of the bona fide members, the quorum at any regular or properly called meeting consists of those who attend. 3) In a body of delegates, such as a convention, the q%w rum is a majority of the number who have been rte- istered as attending, irrespective of whether some m+7► have departed. This may differ greatly from the nous ber elected or appointed. 4) In any other deliberative assembly with enrolled mew bership whose bylaws do not specify a quorum, tiro::' quorum is a majority of all the members. To accomplish their work, voluntary societies that hate an enrolled membership generally need a provision in dwk bylaws establishing a relatively small quorum --consider- ably less than a majority of all the members. In most so& organizations, it is rarely possible to Obtain the attendance of a majority of the membership at a meeting. Sometirmes the specification of a quorum is based on a percentage of the membership; but such a method has the disadvantapr; of requiring recomputation and may lead to confusion—gyp example, when the secretary, or other officer who is is ;s position to certify as to the current number of members foe, purposes of the percentage calculation, is absent. There *,, no single number or percentage of members that will bi equally suitable as a quorum in all societies. The quonak should be as large a number of members as can reasot%& be depended on to be present at any meeting, except in yr bad weather or other exceptionally unfavorable condition NOTE ON PROCEDURE IN CHANGING QUORUM PROVISION IN WV! LAws. If it becomes necessary to change the quorum prnr sion in a society's bylaws, care should be taken, because 19F the rule is struck out first, the quorum will instantly beco ee a majority of the membership, so that in many cases a goon QUORUM 295 rum could not be obtained to adopt a new rule. The proper procedure is to strike out the old provision and insert the mew provision, which is made and voted on as One question. QUORUM IN BOARDS AND COMMITTEES. In a committee of the whole or its variations (51), the quorum is the same as in the assembly unless the rules of the assembly or the or- ganization (that is, either its bylaws or its rules of order) specify otherwise. In all other committees and in boards, the quorum is a majority of the members of the board or committee unless a different quorum is fixed: (a) by by- laws, in the case of a board or standing committee that they specifically establish; or (b) by the rules of the assembly or „ organization or by the motion establishing the particular l f a committee that is not expressly Committee, in the case o s. A bard or committee does not havel he power to determine is quorum estabished by the bylaw unless the bylaws to provide. PROCEEDINGS OF A QUORUM. In the absence AOCE£DINGS IN THE ABSENCE of a quorum, any business transacted (except far the actions torted in the next paragraph) is null and void. In such a case, It is the business that is illegal, however, not the meeting; to be W thus, if the society's rules require the detractslf from the -add, the absence of a quorum in no way #xtt that the rules were complied with and the meeting was t1d—even though it had to adjourn immediately. The only action that can legally be taken in the absence of a quorum is to fix the time to which to adjourn (22), ad- (21), recess (20), or take measures to obtain a quo- tnm. In the last category, a motion that absent members be "contacted during a recess and asked to attend would repre- ;fent such a measure. In assemblies having the power to compel attendance, a Call of the House can be ordered (see below). The prohibition against transacting business in the absence of a quorum cannot be waived even by unanimous en. Consent, and a notice (p. 100) cannot be validly g' ere is important business that should not be delayed, the there