And here are the answers to last week's “How Much Do You Know About NH Town Meeting?” Quiz:
1) Far as we know the first Town Meeting was held in (a) Dover (b) Colebrook (c) Effingham (d) Exeter.
Answer is EXETER.
2) And that meeting took place in the year (a) 1639 (b) 1704 (c) 1776 (d) 1930.
Answer is 1639.
3) Town Meetings are run according to Robert’s Rules of Order written by General Henry Robert in 1876, and based on the parliamentary procedure used in the US House of Representatives. (a) Yes (b) No.
Nope. Moderators may use Robert’s Rules or they may use other rules. Or mix and match. It's up to the individual moderator.
4) The amount of time spent on an article is inversely proportional to the amount of money being raised by that article. (a) always (b) usually (c) sometimes (d) never.
This is kind of a joke, but not really. Sometimes we spend a very long time on a very small money item.
5) Town meeting is traditionally held on (a) the third Monday in January (b) the second Tuesday in March (c) the fourth Saturday in May (d) the day after Labor Day.
Answer is the second Tuesday in March, though some towns opt for a March Saturday. Others wait until June when the snowbirds return. And under SB2 there is no town meeting, just a deliberative session in January or February (to deliberate and monkey around with figures) followed a few weeks later by a ballot vote.
6) A secret or paper ballot vote must be requested prior to a hand or voice vote and will be honored if (a) any voter asks (b) at least five voters ask (c) at least ten voters (d) a majority of voters present ask (e) varies town to town.
The law says at five (I recently heard this from a sponsor of the original bill that set the number at five), however Moderators may choose to hold a ballot vote if even one voter calls for it.
7) A tythingman (a) decides who is eligible to vote (b) is the Moderator’s deputy (c) ensures that people eschew debauchery, profanity, night walking, idleness or uncivil or rude practices, and seizes unlicensed liquors (d) leads the Pledge of Allegiance.
The answer is C.
8) The difference between a motion to “indefinitely postpone” and a motion to “table” is __________.
Indefinitely postpone kills the article. An article that is tabled is placed on the table, that is, it may be picked up again later in the meeting.
9) The town with the record for the most town meetings in the same hall is (a) Union (b) Freedom (c) Orange (d) Langdon.
It’s Dear Little Langdon!
10) The only request for action that may legitimately interrupt a pending motion without a vote is (a) Call the question (b) Call to limit debate (c) Point of Order (d) Amend the article.
Shout “Point of Order” and everything stops. To call a Point of Order is to question the process, and suggests a technical misstep that must by addressed for debate to continue. Something like: You can’t amend an amendment. Or, this requires a 2/3rds vote not a simple majority. Or, we’re debating the wrong article. Any of these would constitute a Point of Order.
1) Far as we know the first Town Meeting was held in (a) Dover (b) Colebrook (c) Effingham (d) Exeter.
Answer is EXETER.
2) And that meeting took place in the year (a) 1639 (b) 1704 (c) 1776 (d) 1930.
Answer is 1639.
3) Town Meetings are run according to Robert’s Rules of Order written by General Henry Robert in 1876, and based on the parliamentary procedure used in the US House of Representatives. (a) Yes (b) No.
Nope. Moderators may use Robert’s Rules or they may use other rules. Or mix and match. It's up to the individual moderator.
4) The amount of time spent on an article is inversely proportional to the amount of money being raised by that article. (a) always (b) usually (c) sometimes (d) never.
This is kind of a joke, but not really. Sometimes we spend a very long time on a very small money item.
5) Town meeting is traditionally held on (a) the third Monday in January (b) the second Tuesday in March (c) the fourth Saturday in May (d) the day after Labor Day.
Answer is the second Tuesday in March, though some towns opt for a March Saturday. Others wait until June when the snowbirds return. And under SB2 there is no town meeting, just a deliberative session in January or February (to deliberate and monkey around with figures) followed a few weeks later by a ballot vote.
6) A secret or paper ballot vote must be requested prior to a hand or voice vote and will be honored if (a) any voter asks (b) at least five voters ask (c) at least ten voters (d) a majority of voters present ask (e) varies town to town.
The law says at five (I recently heard this from a sponsor of the original bill that set the number at five), however Moderators may choose to hold a ballot vote if even one voter calls for it.
7) A tythingman (a) decides who is eligible to vote (b) is the Moderator’s deputy (c) ensures that people eschew debauchery, profanity, night walking, idleness or uncivil or rude practices, and seizes unlicensed liquors (d) leads the Pledge of Allegiance.
The answer is C.
8) The difference between a motion to “indefinitely postpone” and a motion to “table” is __________.
Indefinitely postpone kills the article. An article that is tabled is placed on the table, that is, it may be picked up again later in the meeting.
9) The town with the record for the most town meetings in the same hall is (a) Union (b) Freedom (c) Orange (d) Langdon.
It’s Dear Little Langdon!
10) The only request for action that may legitimately interrupt a pending motion without a vote is (a) Call the question (b) Call to limit debate (c) Point of Order (d) Amend the article.
Shout “Point of Order” and everything stops. To call a Point of Order is to question the process, and suggests a technical misstep that must by addressed for debate to continue. Something like: You can’t amend an amendment. Or, this requires a 2/3rds vote not a simple majority. Or, we’re debating the wrong article. Any of these would constitute a Point of Order.
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