What does it mean to table a motion?

The short answer

Lay on the Table is a temporary pause, not a decision. A group uses it when something urgent comes up, or when another matter has to be handled before the pending motion can continue.

Robert's Rules says the motion is rarely needed in ordinary organizations, so it is seldom in order. Two common uses are wrong: tabling a motion "to the next meeting" and tabling a motion to kill it.

How Lay on the Table works

For example, say a committee is debating a budget line when the venue manager says the room must be cleared in ten minutes. A member can move to lay the budget motion on the table, settle the room question, then take the budget motion from the table.

Purpose: set a pending question aside for now, then come back to it once the urgent item is dealt with.
Vote: a majority.
Debate: none. The group votes on it straight away.
Coming back: a later motion, Take from the Table, brings the question back. Robert's Rules sets time limits on doing this (RONR 12th ed., section 34).

Why tabling shouldn't be used to kill a motion

Robert's Rules calls using Lay on the Table to defeat a motion "a common violation of fair procedure." Tabling takes only a majority and allows no debate. Using it to kill a motion would let a bare majority suppress debate, which normally takes a two-thirds vote.

Delaying to the next meeting is a different motion too. That is Postpone to a Certain Time, not Lay on the Table.

If you want to…, use…

Pick the motion that matches what you actually want. Vote thresholds below are the default rules in Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 12th edition (RONR).

If you want to…	Use this motion	What it takes
Set a motion aside briefly for something urgent	Lay on the Table	Majority vote, no debate (RONR 17)
Bring a tabled motion back	Take from the Table	Within the time limits in RONR 34
Deal with a motion at a later meeting	Postpone to a Certain Time	Puts the question off to a set later time (RONR 14)
Stop a motion before anyone debates it	Objection to the Consideration of the Question	Raised before debate starts; undebatable; two-thirds vote against consideration (RONR 26)
Drop a motion after debate has begun, without a direct vote	Postpone Indefinitely	Majority vote; the main question stays open to debate until it passes (RONR 11)
End debate and vote now	Previous Question	Seconded, then a two-thirds vote (RONR 16)

Ending a motion without long debate

While a motion to Postpone Indefinitely is pending, the main question stays open to debate. If you want to avoid more debate, Robert's Rules suggests moving the Previous Question right after the chair states the motion to postpone.

If two-thirds agree, the group votes on postponing indefinitely at once, without further debate.

Check your own rules

Robert's Rules are default rules. They govern only where the law that applies to your organization, your bylaws and any special rules of order you've adopted say nothing different. Check your bylaws before the meeting, especially if your group has a long habit of "tabling" things to the next meeting.

Record it in the minutes

Robert's Rules treats minutes as a record of what was done, not what was said. So note the motion, that it was laid on the table or postponed, and the result of the vote. Leave out the arguments.

If the motion is later taken from the table, record that too, so the next meeting can see where the question stands.

Sources & further reading

Keep readingWhat is a quorum in a meeting? →