What distinguishes a secondary amendment from a secondary motion?

• A. A secondary amendment is an amendment to an amendment; secondary motions are all the subsidiary, privileged, and incidental motions.
• B. A secondary amendment is a motion to amend a secondary motion.
• C. A secondary amendment is a motion to postpone the main motion.
• D. A secondary amendment is a type of main motion.

Answer: (C)

The key idea is how timing and consideration of a proposal are controlled in parliamentary procedure. A secondary amendment is described as a motion that specifically targets postponing the main motion—moving the proposal to a later time or to be reconsidered after some delay. This focus on delaying the main item’s consideration is what sets it apart from other secondary motions that handle the process in different ways (for example, actions that alter how the motion is handled without delaying it in this explicit postponement sense). So the distinguishing feature is that a secondary amendment is a motion to postpone the main motion. The other secondary motions deal with the main motion in other ways, not by postponement.