Just like Truman vs Dewey, a lot of folks are going to wake up tomorrow to find that their hard fought victory was an illusion. The Community Board's have a clever rule that's designed to keep members from hiding behind abstentions. Tonight's vote had too many abstentions to count, though the ays won it 16-9. It goes like this:
Tabulating Votes
Tabulating Votes
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Whenever any act is authorized to be done or any determination or decision made by any community board, the act, determination or decision of the majority of the members present entitled to vote during the presence of a quorum, shall be held to be the act, determination or decision of such board. When a vote is taken, all Board members who are present and entitled to vote must either vote or abstain. No member may be marked "present but not voting." Absentee ballots, proxies and telephone votes are not permitted. In order for a motion to pass, a majority (more than half) of the members present who are entitled to vote must vote in the affirmative. That means there must be more "yes" votes than the total of "no" votes and abstentions combined in order for a motion to carry. The use of a two-thirds or other "super-majority" vote to approve any action is not permitted, unless specifically required by law. (See Appendix E on Conflicts of Interest for an explanation of when Board members are not entitled to vote.)