Oxymoron! By David Mezzera, PRP
During a workshop I recently presented here in California to a 7-member Commission on the subject of Small Board Rules, I was covering the topic of voting. The inevitable question was asked by a member of the Commission: “Do abstention votes count?” The easy answer is to refer the questioner to the FAQ chapter of RONR In Brief where that very question is answered in Question 61. I personally love the answer given there: “The phrase ‘abstention vote’ is an oxymoron, an abstention being a refusal to vote.” But does an abstention ever “count” or make a difference? Let’s look into this a little deeper and consider some common voting circumstances. Situations A common situation occurs if a member is absent from a meeting while a vote is being taken (whether by non-attendance or stepping out of the room temporarily), that person has obviously no effect on the count of a vote. As RONR indicates, voting 1. RONR-In Brief (3rd ed.) p. 116 2. RONR (12th ed.) 1:6 3. RONR (12th ed.) 45:52 10
National Parliamentarian • Winter 2024
normally is based on those present and voting2. On the other hand, someone who is actually in the room but chooses not to vote has, in effect, mentally left the room. Thus, in the same way he is not part of the voting process. But is it that simple? Is there ever a time when an abstention does count for something? Consider the following circumstances. In another example, when a roll call vote (yeas and nays) is taken, one of the four options for voting (along with yes, no and pass) is “abstain” or “present.” What difference does this make? The difference, as RONR points out, is that if someone chooses to abstain, their presence is noted for the purpose of insuring that a quorum was present for the vote 3. In this case, someone expressing an abstention is significant and counts in the process but does not count in the voting tally for or against. This would be the case when a large group is voting using electronic voting and the software package shows an option to “abstain.” We parliamentarians must
