Approval of American National
Standards (ANS)

ANSI Essential Requirements

1.7 Consensus Vote

Evidence of consensus in accordance with these requirements and the accredited procedures of the standards developer shall be documented.

2.7 Evidence of consensus and consensus body vote

Evidence of consensus in accordance with these procedures and the accredited procedures of the standards developer shall be documented. Consensus is demonstrated, in part, by a vote of the consensus body. The developer's procedures shall state specifically how consensus will be determined.

An example of the criteria for consensus includes a requirement that a majority of the consensus body cast a vote (counting abstentions) and at least two-thirds of those voting approve (not counting abstentions). The developer may submit for approval an alternative methodology for determining consensus.

The consensus body vote shall be conducted and reported in accordance with the rules set forth herein. Votes for the approval of a document or portion thereof as a candidate ANS may be obtained by letter, fax, recorded votes at a meeting or electronic means. All members of the consensus body shall have the opportunity to vote. When recorded votes are taken at meetings, members who are absent shall be given the opportunity to vote before or after the meeting.

1. ANSI-Accredited Standards Developers (ASDs) shall not change a vote unless instructed to do so by the voter. If the change of vote was not submitted in writing by the voter, then written confirmation of such a vote change shall be provided to the voter by the developer. It is never appropriate for an ASD to inform voters that if they are not heard from, their negative vote will be considered withdrawn and their vote will be recorded as an abstention or an affirmative. All negative votes that are not changed at the request of the voter shall be recorded and reported to the BSR as unresolved negatives by any ASD that has not been granted the authority to designate its standards as American National Standards without approval by the BSR.
2. ASDs shall record and consider all negative votes accompanied by any comments that are related to the proposal under consideration. This includes negative votes accompanied by comments concerning potential conflict or duplication of the proposed standard with an existing American National Standard and negative votes accompanied by comments of a procedural or philosophical nature. These types of comments shall not be dismissed due to the fact that they do not necessarily provide alternative language or a specific remedy to the negative vote.
3. ASDs are not required to consider negative votes accompanied by comments not related to the proposal under consideration, or negative votes without comments. The ASD shall indicate conspicuously on the letter ballot that negative votes must be accompanied by comments related to the proposal and that votes unaccompanied by such comments will be recorded as “negative without comments” without further notice to the voter. If comments not related to the proposal are submitted with a negative vote, the comments shall be documented and considered in the same manner as submittal of a new proposal. If clear instruction is provided on the ballot, and a negative vote unaccompanied by comments related to the proposal is received notwithstanding, the vote may be counted as a “negative without comment” for the purposes of establishing a quorum and reporting to ANSI. However, such votes (i.e., negative vote without comment or negative vote accompanied by comments not related to the proposal) shall not be factored into the numerical requirements for consensus, unless the ASD’s procedures state otherwise. The ASD is not required to solicit any comments from the negative voter. The ASD is not required to conduct a recirculation ballot of the negative vote. The ASD is required to report the “no” vote as a “negative without comment” when making their final submittal to the BSR unless the ASD has been granted the authority to designate its standards as American National Standards without approval by the BSR.
4. The ASD shall maintain records of evidence regarding any change of an original vote.
5. Except in regard to votes on membership and officer-related issues, each member of a consensus body should vote one of the following positions (or the equivalent):
   a) Affirmative;
   b) Affirmative, with comment;
   c) Negative, with reasons (the reasons for a negative vote shall be given and if possible should include specific wording or actions that would resolve the objection);
   d) Abstain.
6. For votes on membership and officer-related issues, the affirmative/negative/abstain method of voting shall be followed. Votes with regard to these issues need not be accompanied by reasons and need not be resolved or circulated to the consensus body.