Title: Myth Busting: There are No Rules!
Original CoS Document (slug): no-rules
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Created: 2022-07-06 04:12:39
Updated: 2024-07-16 04:41:17
Published: 2023-07-06 01:00:00
Converted: 2025-04-14T21:18:11.591193169
Myth
There are no rules for holding a convention like this. It will be complete chaos.
Fact
The “no rules” argument is meant to scare you.
All delegates will have some familiarity of Roberts Rules of Order and Mason's Manual. And most delegates would be legislators and attorneys well-versed in both. To think that a group of legislators and attorneys wouldn't know how to conduct a convention is absurd.
Everyone there would know you need to elect a convention chairman for example. Everyone would understand the concept of making motions, calling the question, etc.
Even convention opponents admit that the convention will set its own rules. So saying that there will be no rules just isn't honest.
Ground Rules
There are a couple ground rules for an Article V convention that we already know about
Voting will be by state (likely one state/one vote)
And the state legislatures control the process from beginning to end