In parliamentary procedure in the United States, a motion to postpone to a certain time (or postpone definitely or postpone) is used to delay action on a pending question until a different day, meeting, hour or until after a certain event. Then, when that time comes, the consideration of the question is picked up where it was left off when it was postponed.
Explanation and use
| Class | Subsidiary motion |
|---|---|
| In order when another has the floor? | No |
| Requires second? | Yes |
| Debatable? | Yes |
| May be reconsidered? | Yes |
| Amendable? | Yes |
| Vote required | Majority, unless it makes the question a special order, in which case a two-thirds vote is required |
Using Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR), action on a pending question may be postponed to another time. Alternatively, a motion can be postponed until after a specific event has occurred, such as after an officer makes a relevant report. A postponed question becomes an order of the day (a general order or a special order in the order of business) for the time to which it is postponed.[1] Postponing a motion is permitted so long as:
- There is a meeting on the date the motion is postponed to. For example, a main motion cannot be postponed to a day where there is no regular meeting or where a special meeting has not been planned yet.
- The date to which the main motion is being postponed is not too late for it to be effective. For example, if the main motion proposes that there be a picnic on September 3, the motion cannot be postponed to September 5, because that would be too late for it to be carried out.
Under Demeter's Manual, if a motion to postpone definitely specifies a time that falls after the next regular meeting, or after a certain event which will not occur until after the next regular meeting, then it is treated as a motion to postpone indefinitely, which effectively ends consideration of the pending question.[2]
A motion to postpone an action or event that was previously scheduled is distinct from the subsidiary motion to postpone to a certain time, and is a type of the motion to amend something previously adopted.[3]
Generally, a motion to postpone is applied to a main motion and not to other motions alone.[4]
Debate on the motion to postpone to a certain time should be brief and confined only to the reasons for and time of the postponement.[5] Amendments to it may only relate to the desired date that the assembly will resume consideration or if the question is to be a special order.[5]
The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (TSC) treats the motion to postpone to a certain time similar to that in RONR. A difference is that TSC does not allow this motion to be reconsidered.[6]
Improper use of tabling a motion
Frequently, a motion is improperly "tabled" until the next meeting. In this case, the proper procedure would have been to postpone the motion to the next meeting.[7]
References
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