All Standing committee Chairpersons and Officers-Elect are invited (as non-voting participants) to attend each Executive Committee meeting. Meetings of the Executive Committee are closed to those who are not members of the Executive Committee, Standing Committee Chairpersons, or Officers-Elect, except at the discretion of the President. Only elected members of the Executive Committee can vote; substitutes and officers-elect are not eligible to vote. (Revised by eVote of EC April 2005.)

Electronic Rules of Order (Enacted by eVote of EC January 2005):

a). Working days are Monday through Friday, inclusive; holidays are excluded.

b). During discussion, members of the Executive Committee (EC) must clearly identify the motion they are addressing in the subject line of all email messages. For an e-mail message to be part of a meeting, it must be sent to all EC members (returned ballots are an exception). Other messages may be sent for caucusing or other off-line discussion, but these are not officially part of the meeting.

c). A motion can be made by sending an email to the entire committee. To prevent confusion, a motion should clearly be labeled with "Proposed Motion" in the subject line of the message to distinguish it from other comments.

d). A motion is seconded as soon as someone sends an e-mail stating that they are seconding it. A second should quote the motion being seconded, note the person making the motion, and state that it is being seconded.

e). If a pending motion is not seconded during the 5 working days following submission, then that motion is DEAD.

f). Motions posted on non-working days are considered to have been posted on the first working day following the posting.

g). The debate period shall begin the first working day after the motion has been seconded. It shall last no longer than 10 working days. Normally, the President or Secretary would state the question after it is seconded, before discussion begins. However, since email provides a clear record of the wording of the motion (with modifications, if any), this step may be omitted from electronic meetings.

h). The President or Secretary is obligated to put the question (call for a vote) after 10 working days or when 2 full working days during the debatable period pass with no postings on the motion.

i). To conduct an e-mail vote, the President or Secretary shall send a ballot to the voting membership stating exactly what is to be voted on. The message should contain, at the beginning of the message, a clearly designated place for the member to mark a vote. The subject line (or equivalent) should state "ballot"

j). When the President or members call for a vote on a motion, the motion is open and members may vote on the motion. Everyone on the list is allowed, but not required, to vote yea or nay, or any other means of indicating assent or dissent within reason and common decency. This open period lasts for 7 working days or until the total number of votes equals a quorum (seven members out of a possible 13). The 7 day open period does not include the day the call for a vote was made.

k). In a verbose public vote, each voter e-mails a completed ballot to all members. In a terse public vote, completed ballots are returned to the Secretary only. In most cases, votes by the EC will be terse public vote unless otherwise indicated. The votes for each option are tabulated to produce a report that the Secretary sends to members of the EC. This report is sent after a deadline, typically within 5 working days after close of the vote. Ballots returned after the deadline but received before the report is sent are valid votes and must be included in the report.

l). Once a quorum is reached, the vote is over and there is no need to wait for an official full count.

m). Members may vote to PAUSE the proceedings at any time. The motion to pause must include the date to suspend and date to resume deliberations following the pause.

n). Silence during/after the call for consensus or during the debate period should be interpreted as assent. Silence during the search for support to an objection should be interpreted as dissent with the objection. Silence during the formal vote should be interpreted as abstention. If there are insufficient votes to reach majority, then either everyone disagrees but does not want to go on record saying so, or no one is paying any attention. Either way, the vote fails and there is no consensus. This is appropriate, since if there are not enough people to reach simple majority, or enough people willing to support the call for consensus, then the call should not have been made, and the challenge to the call succeeds.

o). An equipment malfunction among the membership that significantly interferes with reading, writing, or delivering e-mail requires the chair to recess or adjourn the meeting without a vote. E-mail meetings shall not be held when equipment malfunction is a significant hindrance.

Members Rights and Privileges and Responsibilities

a). Members of the EC are entitled to receive all postings to the list, except the votes if they are by secret ballot seen only by the Secretary.

b). Each member has the responsibility to retain network services capable of (1) sending and receiving e-mail messages for the member and (2) providing internet access to the member.

c). The member shall not post messages to the list that are trivial, nonsensical, or offensive.

d). Members have the right to expect the following information to be readily available. (i). Membership list and number of votes required for a quorum. (ii). Bylaws (available online). (iii). Status of current motions (those not DEAD or APPROVED; votes underway; to be available online). (iv). Downloadable archives of DEAD and APPROVED motions (currently available online).