Per-Item Turnout vs Quorum
The difference between per-item turnout and meeting quorum in Assembley — one measures participation in voting rights on a single item, the other measures representation of share capital for the whole meeting.
Two figures in an assembly's results are easy to confuse: quorum and per-item turnout. They look similar — both are proportions — but they answer different questions and use different bases. Understanding the difference prevents misreading a result. This article makes it clear.
Quorum: representation of the meeting
Quorum is a property of the whole meeting. It measures how much of the organisation is represented — for a company, as a percentage of share capital; for an association, in members present. It answers: was the meeting valid? The basis is fixed at go-live and doesn't change as individual items are voted. See Understanding Quorum.
Turnout: participation on an item
Turnout is a property of a single agenda item. It measures how much of the voting power actually participated on that specific item. It answers: how engaged were voters with this decision? Turnout uses voting rights (the tally weight), and it can vary item by item — people abstain, skip items, or join late.
Why they differ
The two figures rest on different bases:
| Quorum | Per-item turnout | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | The whole meeting | One agenda item |
| Measures | Representation | Participation |
| Basis (company) | Share capital | Voting rights |
| Fixed when? | At go-live | As votes are cast |
So a meeting can be comfortably quorate (plenty of capital represented) while a particular item has lower turnout (not everyone cast a vote on it), or vice versa. Neither contradicts the other — they're simply different measurements.
Why Assembley separates them
This separation is only possible because Assembley keeps share capital and voting rights as distinct numbers. Quorum draws on the capital basis; turnout and the tally draw on voting rights. A platform that used a single number couldn't report both honestly — especially in a company with weighted share classes, where the two can move independently. See Share Capital vs Voting Rights Explained.
Reading them together
When you review results, check both: quorum to confirm the meeting was binding, and per-item turnout to understand engagement with each decision. See Reading Assembly Results.
Where to go next
See How Votes Are Counted and Understanding Quorum for the two sides in full.
Related articles
- How Votes Are CountedHow Assembley tallies votes — by voting rights for company assemblies and one-per-member for associations — and why each vote's weight is frozen at the moment it is cast.
- Reading Assembly ResultsHow to interpret an assembly's results in Assembley — per-item outcomes, the weighted tally, turnout, quorum, and how the result connects to the evidence package.
- Understanding QuorumWhat quorum means in Assembley, how it is measured as a percentage of share capital for company assemblies (and members for associations), and how the quorum basis is fixed at go-live.