Most of the motions regularly used in deliberative assemblies are amendable. That is to say, they contain variables that are subject to change. The plainest motion of all, the main motion, is just one big variable and is therefore fully amendable. As a result, the subsidiary motion to amend is one of the most frequently used secondary motions seen at meetings. Unfortunately, however, it is also one of the most complex and difficult to use properly.

To keep everyone sane, parliamentary procedure offers a rather strict protocol for amendment of motions, but it nevertheless makes the process very flexible and powerful to a skilled user. The key to this flexibility and power is to understand and memorize the six forms of primary amendment, and the forms of secondary amendment applicable to each one.

The six forms of amendment are: 1(a) to insert or add words, 1(b) to insert or add paragraphs, 2(a) to strike out words, 2(b) to strike out paragraphs, 3(a) to strike out and insert words, and 3(b) to substitute. Every reasonable and logical change to a motion can be simply and easily described in terms of one of these forms, and these are the only forms of amendment that are permissible in a parliamentary sense. A motion to amend that cannot be fit into one of these forms is out of order.

Some of the forms are more self-explanatory than others. First, a distinction is made between “inserting” and “adding” words or paragraphs. This is quite simple: an addition occurs at the end of the element to be amended, whereas an insertion occurs either at the beginning or in the middle somewhere. Second, a distinction is made between words and paragraphs. The parliamentary world considers any string of text less than one paragraph in length to be “words”, and anything longer to be a “paragraph”. Third, it should be noted that forms 3(a) and 3(b) are atomic operations that are simply the indivisible combinations of the corresponding 1(*) and 2(*) forms.

One of the reasons all primary amendments are categorized into these six forms is so that rules can be developed to regulate secondary amendment; that is, the amendment of amendments. Unlike main motions, primary amendments are amendable only in a strictly controlled way, with some forms being more broadly amendable than others.

For example, an amendment of form 1(a) can be freely amended by way of forms 1(a), 2(a), and 3(a), and an amendment of form 1(b) can be freely amended by way of any of the six forms (assuming they make sense in the context). On the other hand, an amendment of form 2(a) can itself be amended only by way of form 2(a), which makes perfect logical sense when carefully considered. By first moving to strike out words from the main motion, and then moving to strike out words from the amendment, the mover is actually proposing to ultimately leave those words in the main motion.

The form of amendment 3(a) is interesting, in that it has two sub-forms. The first sub-form consists of striking out certain words from the text of the motion, and inserting different words in the same place. The second sub-form consists of striking out certain words, and inserting those same words at some other place in the motion. The first sub-form is composed of two parts—the words to be inserted and the words to be struck out—and each is amendable in the manner of forms 1(a) and 2(a) respectively, with the words to be struck out usually being considered and amended first.

Forms 2(b) and 3(b) introduce an even more confusing peculiarity that must be carefully studied. To wit, when considering these motions, all six forms of amendment are permitted, even to the paragraphs that are proposed to be struck out. Any secondary amendments adopted to the to-be-struck-out paragraphs are actually kept in the main motion in the event the primary amendment is defeated. So here, unlike in the usual case, the vote on a secondary amendment directly affects the text of the main motion! In form 3(b), as with form 3(a), the portion to be struck out is usually considered and amended first, before the portion to be inserted or added.

Clearly, amending a motion can be a more complex task than first appearances would suggest. It is rare for these subtleties to arise in actual meetings, but when they do, it pays great dividends to be ready and comfortable with handling them. My ability to smoothly and easily handle a form 2(a) amendment to a form 2(a) amendment as the professional chairman of a national convention was very satisfying, not to mention helpful to my client.