&Questions Answers

QQuESTION:

Over the last several years, at our organization’s annual convention, there has been a trend toward voting only on the “Resolved” parts of resolutions, leaving the “Whereas” clauses out of the voting and, therefore, out of the minutes. Is this proper procedure?

ANSWER:

The “Whereas” clauses are called a preamble, and usually include reasons for the resolution’s adoption [see RONR (12th ed .) 10:16-19] . The preamble “should contain no more clauses than are strictly necessary” [RONR (12th ed .) 10:18] . Further, “In moving the adoption of a resolution, the preamble is not usually mentioned, since it is included in the resolution . ” (Ibid .)

Regarding not voting on the preamble, RONR (12th ed .) 10:19 assumes the preamble will be voted on with the resolution and may even be amended: “In the consideration of a resolution having a preamble, the preamble is always amended last, since changes in the resolving clauses may require changes in the preamble . ” Therefore, if a resolution includes a preamble, it will be included in the final vote taken on the resolution; consequently, the entire resolution with the preamble should be included in the minutes as a motion that was made at the meeting .