"The seconder can also withdraw his second after the Chair has stated the question and before it is voted on, if the body permits it either by silent consent, or by majority vote if put to a formal vote." Parliamentary authorities that discourage seconds Ray Keesey states, "Motions need not be seconded. The requirement of a second is largely a waste of time. What member is so destitute of friends that he can't find one willing to second his motion? The traditional justification for requiring a second is that at least two members would support a motion to justify its consideration. ... There is nothing essentially wrong with the practice of seconding. It is simply unnecessary. Tilson's Manual advises against the use of seconds, stating, "It would seem that nothing could be more nearly useless and unnecessary than for some identified voice from the midst of the assembly to boom out, 'I second it'." Legislative bodies Mason's Manual states that "Parliamentary practice in American governmental bodies does not require seconds to motions, and in Parliament itself, where the practice of seconding motions originated, they have not been required for more than a century." Notes and references Parliamentary procedure