As the presiding officer at a meeting, explain the ruling you would make if a point of order was raised because a main motion was considered and adopted without a second.

• A. The point is well taken; the motion must be reconsidered due to lack of second.
• B. The point is not well taken because a motion can be considered and adopted without a second.
• C. The chair should pause to check the minutes.
• D. The motion is considered adopted; the point of order is not well taken.

Answer: (D)

The situation hinges on the mechanism of unanimous consent. A main motion usually needs a second to be eligible for consideration, but it can still be adopted without a second if no one objects—that’s the idea behind unanimous consent. If a point of order is raised claiming the motion was “considered and adopted without a second,” the presiding officer should check whether there were any objections. If no one objected, the correct ruling is that the motion was adopted by unanimous consent, so the point of order isn’t well taken. In that case the chair would affirm that there was no objection and the motion stands as adopted. If there were objections, it wouldn’t have been adopted by unanimous consent, and the matter would proceed to a formal vote or require a proper second as usual.