County Convention Rules

Posted on by HumboldtDems

CALL TO ORDER

  1. The convention shall be called to order no later than fifteen minutes after the time announced in the official call.  If the Chair does not call the convention to order within this time limit, any Delegate may call the convention to order and the business shall begin.

PARLIAMENTARY RULES

  1. Parliamentary Rules for this convention shall be Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised.

REGISTRATION

  1. Early registration will be open Friday evening before convention from 4:00 – 7:00 PM.
  2. Pre-convention registration will begin on Saturday, the morning of the Convention at 8:00 AM.
  3. For the purpose of determining the preliminary relative candidate strength within the convention, attendees will be required to designate which candidate they are supporting upon registration.  Anyone who refuses to designate which candidate they are supporting will be registered by the Credentials Committee as uncommitted.

DELEGATES AND ALTERNATES

  1. A Delegate who cannot attend all or part of the convention may designate, in writing, an Alternate from his/her precinct who attended the County Caucus.
  2. When an Alternate is upgraded to Delegate by the Credentials Committee, an attempt will be made to approximate the original preference alignments from the County Caucus.
  3. If a Delegate fails to name an Alternate, in writing, to serve in his/her stead, an Alternate will be upgraded to Delegate and will be seated by the Credentials Committee according to the rules below.
    • Credentials will first look to the absent Delegate’s precinct to find an Alternate.
    • Alternates’ registration times and candidate preferences will be used in determining which Alternates to seat first.
    • If there are no Alternates available from the absent Delegate’s precinct, an Alternate will be upgraded to Delegate status from any other County precinct, based on registration time and candidate preference.
  4. If an Alternate is seated by Credentials in place of a Delegate who failed to designate an Alternate, the tardy Delegate shall not have the right to unseat anyone seated by the Credentials Committee.  The tardy Delegate may, however, be seated as an Alternate, if seating allows.
  5. Delegates are not required to align with the same preference group that selected them at the caucuses, and are not bound by this preliminary alignment.

CONVENTION SEATING

  1. Only Delegates and personnel authorized by the Rules Committee shall be allowed on the convention floor.  Alternates are authorized to be seated in the designated Alternate Seating Area.
  2. Delegates will be seated at 10:00 AM.  Seating of Alternates who have been upgraded to Delegate will begin at 10:05 AM.  Duly-elected Delegates to the Convention shall have the first right to be seated at the beginning of the convention.  Registration of late-arriving Delegates will continue until 10:15 a.m. with late-arriving Delegates being registered as Alternates and seated only if positions are available.

QUORUM

  1. Forty percent (40%) of the authorized Delegates as certified by the County Chair shall constitute a quorum.  A Delegate whose status has been formally challenged and whose right to participate is therefore a matter pending before the Credentials Committee shall not be counted as an authorized Delegate in arriving at the number constituting a quorum.
  2.  No motion questioning a quorum shall be in order after the adoption of the Credential Committee’s report certifying the presence of a quorum.

REPORT OF CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE

  1. The initial report of the Credentials Committee certifying the presence of a Quorum shall be adopted before consideration of other official business. Forty percent (40%) present of those Delegates entitle to vote will be considered a Quorum.
  2. The Credentials Committee shall include in its report the strength of each presidential preference group as indicated at the time of their registration.
  3. In the event of a seating challenge, the Credentials Committee shall include in its report the name of the Delegate or Alternate whom it believes is entitled to participate in the convention.
    • If there is more than one challenge, they will be listed in alphabetical/numerical order by the precinct in which the Delegate seat is being challenged.
    • The Convention body shall vote individually on each challenge in the Credentials Committee report.
      Challenges to the report must be resolved before the question of adopting the final report may be presented to convention body for a vote.
  4. The report of the Credentials Committee must be approved by a majority vote of the Convention body before any business can be conducted.

ELECTION OF HCDCC OFFICERS

  1. All residents of Humboldt County who are Democrats and who are in attendance at the County Convention are entitled to submit nominations and vote in the election of officers of the Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee.
  2. If an individual being nominated for office is not present at the convention, a signed statement from the nominee authorizing the nomination must be presented to the chair at the time of the nomination.
  3. Each office, Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer will be voted on individually.  A majority of votes will constitute election to each office.

PLATFORM RESOLUTIONS

  1. A resolution is a formal statement of opinion or determination. It is an original main motion. Due to its importance, length or complexity, it is submitted in writing for adoption or approval by the convention body.
  2. All questions regarding adoption or amendment of Platform Resolutions shall be decided by simple majority vote.  All amendments shall be presented in legible, written form.  The Chair may rule any amendment irrelevant, if it has been substantially decided by a prior vote on a similar matter.
  3. Rules found herein on DEBATE and VOTING shall apply when voting whether to adopt the Platform Resolutions.  No platform debate will be allowed during realignment periods.

DEBATE

  1. All Delegates, once recognized, shall state their name and precinct.
  2. Each side shall be limited to four (4) minutes.  Initial debate on any question shall be limited to eight (8) minutes alternating between proponents and opponents in speeches that shall not exceed two (2) minutes each.  No more than two (2) consecutive speakers on the same side of an issue shall be permitted.
  3. No speaker may yield the floor to another speaker.
  4. At the end of the initial debate time, the Convention, by a simple majority vote, may extend the debate for a specified period of time not to exceed eight (8) minutes, subject in all other respects to rule 2 above.
  5. Debate may be closed sooner by unanimous consent or by 2/3 standing division vote in support of closing debate.
  6. A motion to move the previous question shall not be in order from a speaker during the course of his/her debate.  A motion to move the previous question must be seconded.
  7. Debate may be extended beyond the initial extension only by a 2/3 standing division vote in support of extension for a specified additional amount of time, subject in all other respects to rule 2 above.

VOTING

  1. Except as otherwise required, voting shall be by voice vote.  When the chair is in doubt, or when a challenge is raised from the floor, by standing, counted vote.
    • A written non-secret ballot may be in order only after a standing division, and upon a motion which is seconded and supported by a standing vote of twenty percent (20%) of the authorized Delegates present and voting.
    • During the counting of non-secret ballots, on any issue, the Chair of the Convention may place a new main motion on the floor and return to the previous motion after the counting is completed.
  2. All questions, except as otherwise specified in these rules, shall be determined by a majority vote of the authorized Delegates present and voting.
  3. No proxy or absentee voting is permitted.
  4. Those Delegates leaving the Convention permanently, and not designating an Alternate, must turn all credentials and ballots over to a member of the Rules Committee.
    • A Delegate who has turned in his/her credentials and ballots and left the convention “permanently” but who nevertheless returns may request the return of his/her credentials and ballots from the Rules Committee.

APPEALS

  1. An appeal shall not be in order from decisions on recognition, from decisions on dilatoriness of motions, during a vote, on a question on which an appeal has just been decided, or when, in the opinion of the Chair, such an appeal is clearly dilatory. (Dilatory = having the intent to delay)
  2. Before the question is put before the convention body on any appeal, the person making the appeal shall be entitled to three (3) minutes to express his/her reasons for the appeal.
  3. The Chair shall be allowed three (3) minutes for explanation of the ruling. Without further debate, the Chair shall then put the appeal to a vote. A simple majority vote of the Delegates present and voting is required to overrule the Chair.

MOTIONS TO SUSPEND THE RULES

  1. The Chair may entertain a motion to Suspend the Rules only for a stated purpose.  If seconded, the person making the motion to Suspend the Rules shall be allowed three (3) minutes to explain the need to suspend.
  2. A motion to Suspend the Rules shall be out of order if the effect of the suspension of the rules is to deprive any minority of any rights granted to them under the rules of the Convention.
  3. The Chair shall immediately recognize the Chair of the Rules Committee or his/her designee whose remarks shall be limited to three (3) minutes. The motion shall then be decided without debate.  A vote of 2/3 of the Delegates present and voting is required to pass the motion for suspension.

OTHER MOTIONS

  1. Motions made by the Committee Chair to adopt the Credentials Report, the Rules Committee Chair to adopt the Convention Rules, and the Platform Resolutions Chair to adopt Platform Resolutions will not require a second before being put to a vote.  An opportunity for debate before the vote, however, will be afforded to the convention body.
  2. No question of privilege or any motion other than those provided under these rules shall be entertained, except the motion to recess to a specific time, or at the call of the Chair.
  3. A motion to recess shall be in order at any time except when the question has been put, or a vote is in progress.  The motion shall be decided without debate. 
  4. The Chair shall not entertain a motion to recess when such motion closely follows another such motion, if in the opinion of the Chair, such motion is dilatory.  (Dilatory = having the intent to delay)
  5. A motion to adjourn shall not be in order until all statutory and constitutional duties have been completed.

MINORITY COMMITTEE REPORTS 

  1. Minority Committee Reports are matters which failed to win a majority  in Committee voting, but which the losing side, the Minority, believes may win a majority vote of the Delegates to the convention.
  2. Minority Reports of Convention Committees shall not be considered by the Convention unless adopted by at least ten percent (10%) of the members of the Committee.
  3. The Minority shall provide the Committee Chair as well as the Chair of the Convention with a legibly written copy of the Minority Report before it is introduced.  The Minority Report shall be signed by members of the Minority of the Committee.
  4. A Minority Report must have been considered at a meeting of the full Committee.

SELECTION OF DELEGATES TO STATE CONVENTION

  1. Two alignment periods will be provided.  The Convention Chair will announce that Delegates have one (1) hour during lunch to align with a presidential preference group during the first alignment period.
  2. Delegate alignment in preference groups will occur.  Each group will elect a chair.  During this first alignment period, all Delegates may realign with any group.
  3. At the end of the alignment period, a standing, counted vote will take place.
  4. The Rules Committee Chair will be recognized to report to the entire convention the voting strength of each candidate group and to identify viable and non-viable groups.  A candidate group needs fifteen percent (15%) of the seated Delegates to be viable.
  5. The members of non-viable groups will be given thirty (30) minutes in which to realign with a viable group or combine to form a viable group.  Only members of non-viable groups may realign during this second alignment period.
  6. At the end of the alignment period, a standing, counted vote will take place.
  7. The Rules Committee Chair will announce the final strength of each viable candidate group and the number of Delegates each candidate group can elect to represent them at the State Convention.
  8. Delegates who are at that time members of non-viable groups will be declared ineligible to participate in election to successive conventions. 
  9. The Rules Committee Chair will then explain the Delegate selection process.
    • Each candidate group is responsible for electing their Delegates to the State Convention.
    • One or more balloting rounds will be conducted until the requisite number of Delegates have been elected.
    • In the initial round of balloting, ID NUMBERS of people desiring and willing to serve as Delegates to the state convention will be posted on a wall chart for each candidate.  The state convention will be held May 17-18, 2008 at the Sierra Resort Hotel in Reno.  Expenses to attend the convention will be the responsibility of each Delegate.
      • All Delegates must cast five (5) votes. Each Delegate can cast no more than one vote for any one candidate.
      • No proxy or absentee voting is permitted.
      • The group of candidates receiving the most votes on a ballot shall be declared elected to the open Delegate positions which can be filled on that balloting.  No candidate can be elected by less than five (5) votes.  Without violation of any other rule, all candidates receiving the same number of votes must either be elected or defeated as a group.
      • Ballots will be tallied by the elected Candidate Group Chair.  Delegate ID Numbers selected during this first round will be reported to the Rules Chair. Ballots used to select those Delegates will be turned over to the Rules Chair.
    • The Delegates will ballot again to fill the remaining vacancies.  All remaining vacancies may be filled on this or any subsequent ballot, consistent with the other rules herein.  If there are more than five (5) positions to be filled, all Delegates must cast five (5) votes. If the number of positions to be filled is 4 or fewer, each Delegate shall vote for as many candidates as there are positions to be filled.  In all cases no more than one vote may be cast for one candidate.
      • Again, no proxy or absentee voting is permitted.
      • The group of candidates receiving the most votes on a ballot shall be declared elected to the open Delegate positions which can be filled on that balloting.  No candidate can be elected by less than five (5) votes.  Without violation of any other rule, all candidates receiving the same number of votes must either be elected or defeated as a group.
      • Ballots will be tallied by the elected Candidate Group Chair.  Delegate ID Numbers selected during this first round will be reported to the Rules Chair. Ballots used to select those Delegates will be turned over to the Rules Chair.
    • After each ballot, the Rules Committee representative will announce candidates who have been elected.  Their names will be removed from the list of nominees and balloting will continue until all Delegate positions have been filled.
    • All written ballots will be retained by the Chair of the Rules Committee for one year, and will be available for inspection for any challenges.
    • Alternates to the State Conventions shall be chosen by majority vote and may include as many as the majority is willing to elect.
      • The preference group chair shall accept nominations for Alternates  Any Delegate may move to close nominations and cast a unanimous ballot for those nominated.

RATIFICATION STATE DELEGATE/ALTERNATE ELECTIONS

  1. The entire convention shall ratify the election of the entire slate of Delegates and Alternates to the State Convention.  The standard policies concerning challenges and Minority Reports shall apply, i.e., challenges and Minority Reports may be filed with the Credentials Committee.