2024 Special 57th National Council Session Voting Summary

This is a brief summary of actions taken during the Special 57th National Council Session (NCS) held virtually on October 19, 2024. Delegates and staff were logged in using the Zoom platform while a watch-only livestream was available on YouTube for guests. This summary does not include all motions and voting results but only the major ones.

For the 2023-2026 triennium, 902 delegates were allocated to councils and USAGSO. Between National Board and NBDC members, there were 33 additional members who were eligible to be National Council members leading to a possible 935 members for the 2024 Special NCS (not including Past Presidents of GSUSA and other members).

Credentials report:

• Delegates elected by GS councils: 794
• Delegates from USAGSO: 6
• Members of the National Board: 28
• Members of the NBDC: 2
• Past Presidents of GSUSA: 3
• Other members elected by the National Council: 0
• Total eligible voting members: 833

Proposal 1

To amend the Blue Book of Basic Documents, page 23, as follows:

Girl members pay annual dues of $[amount to be determined by National Council].

The “fill in the blank” method [see Robert’s Rules 12: 92 – 113] was used for this proposal. In order to be considered, suggestions needed to receive at least 1/5th of the voting results. The first round of voting for suggestions was as follows:

Amount	Votes
$85	168
$65	263
$40	47
$35	95
$45	96
$95	6
$120	7
$55	36
$50	64
$60	42

Total votes cast: 824

As $85 and $65 were the only amounts to receive 1/5th of the total votes, a second round of voting was held:

Amount	Total
$85	196
$65	617

Total votes cast: 813

During debate on the dollar amount, a motion to amend to add a proviso using the language “provided, however, that this dues increase shall take effect as follows: ________” was made and seconded.

The following suggestions and their voting results for the proviso were as follows:

Proviso	Votes
$10 each year until reach $65	105
$60 for MY2026 then $65 for MY2027	154
$5 each year until reach $65	73
$45 for MY2026 then $65 for MY2027	341
$40 for MY2026, $55 for MY2027, $65 for MY2028	91

Total votes cast: 764

Of the two options that garnered 1/5th of the total voting results, the following vote was taken:

Proviso	Votes
$60 for MY2026 then $65 for MY2027	191
$45 for MY2026 then $65 for MY2027	580

Total votes cast: 771

The motion to amend passed (Yes: 452 | No: 326 | Votes cast: 778 | Votes required to pass: 390).

A motion to postpone indefinitely failed (Yes: 139 | No: 641 | Votes cast: 780 | Votes required to pass: 391).

The final vote was taken to pass the following proposal:

Girl members pay annual dues of $65, provided, however, that this dues increase shall take effect as follows: That girl membership dues be $45 for the 2026 membership year and that girl membership dues be $65 for the 2027 membership year.

Yes: 625 | No: 162 | Votes cast: 787 | Votes required to pass: 394

After a 20 minute recess, the presiding officer asked the assembly if they wanted to continue on with the session or to recess and start again the next day. The straw poll results were not displayed publicly, but the presiding officer stated that 62% wanted to continue and not recess to the next day.

Another credentials report was given and passed to assure that a quorum was present:

• Delegates elected by GS councils: 717
• Delegates from USAGSO: 7
• Members of the National Board: 23
• Members of the NBDC: 1
• Past Presidents of GSUSA: 1
• Other members elected by the National Council: 0
• Total eligible voting members: 749

Proposal 2

To amend the Blue Book of Basic Documents, page 23, as follows:

Adult members pay annual dues of $[amount to be determined by National Council].

As was done for Proposal 1, a “fill in the blank” suggestion method was used. The following were the suggested amounts and their voting totals:

Amounts	Votes
$45	204
$35	203
$40	30
$30	307

Total votes cast: 744

Before this vote however, a motion to recess until the next day did not pass (Yes: 194 | No: 543 | Votes cast: 737 | Votes required to pass: 369).

Three choices from the list of suggestions met the 1/5th criteria and so another vote was taken between those three:

Amounts	Votes
$45	207
$35	203
$30	339

Total votes cast: 749

Since none of the three reached a majority, another vote was taken:

Amounts	Votes
$45	183
$35	191
$30	377

Total votes cast: 751

As $30 reached a majority, this amount was selected for the following proposal:

Adult members pay annual dues of $30.

This proposal passed (Yes: 549 | No: 185 | Votes cast: 734 | Votes required to pass: 368).