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Motion, in parliamentary rules of order, a procedure by which proposals are submitted for the consideration of deliberative assemblies. The will of an assembly is determined and expressed by its action on motions or resolutions offered by members who are recognized for that purpose by a presiding officer. If a motion is in order and properly seconded (endorsed by another member), it then becomes subject to the action of the assembly. (A second is generally not required in legislative proceedings.) A motion may be characterized as a main (or principal) motion, which is used to introduce a proposition, or as a secondary (or ancillary) motion, designed to affect the pending main motion or its consideration. A main motion is entertained by the deliberative body only when there is no other business before the assembly and yields in precedence to all other questions. Secondary motions are further subdivided into subsidiary, incidental, and privileged motions, Subsidiary motions are submitted for the purpose of modifying the principal issue or affecting its disposition. Action on a subsidiary motion takes precedence to the consideration of the main motion to which it applies but yields to the determination of privileged and incidental motions.
Incidental motions embrace questions arising incidentally in the consideration of other proposals and are decided prior to the disposition of the issue to which they are incident. They are usually not debatable, They frequently constitute queslions relating to the rules of order to be followed or to a temporary suspension of those rules. In the absence of contrary provision, an incidental motion requires a two-thirds vote of those present for passage, Finally, privileged motions relate to the needs and interests of the assembly and its members in matters of such paramount importance as temporarily to supersede pending business, They take precedence over all other motions and may be submitted while other motions are awaiting disposition. Included in this category are the motions to fix a time at which to adjourn, to adjourn, and to take a recess, all of which are undebatable by the general assembly.
