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Do you have questions about Roberts Rules of Order? Basic meeting management questions pertaining to Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised will be answered. Send your questions to: pennace.org@gmail.com.

Q: Must the Secretary read the meetings at a meeting? Does the chairperson need to call for a vote to approve the minutes?

A: If your organization provides a draft copy [by email, posts online, distributes a hard copy] of the previous meeting to the members before the meeting at which they are being approved, then it is not necessary for the president to call for a reading of the minutes. However, if a member insists that the minutes be read, then the chair will direct the secretary to do so. If no one objects to dispense the reading of the minutes, the chairperson would say “The minutes of the previous meeting have been distributed [prior to the meeting, posted on the website, in your conference packet…]. Are there corrections to the minutes? There being no [further] corrections, the minutes are approved [as read, distributed, or corrected.”]

In either case, the chairperson does not need to call for a motion to approve the minutes. This form of voting is by “general or unanimous” consent.

[RONR (11th ed.) p. 354-55.]