Appointment of Temporary Secretary, Sergeant-at-Arms, and Parliamentarian
Credentials Report, Seating of Alternates, Challenges
Adoption of Agenda and Rules
Election of Permanent Chair
Announcement of the Seating of Alternate Delegates
Appointment of Permanent Secretary, Sergeant-at-Arms, and Parliamentarian
Final Credentials Report
Election of State Convention Delegates and Alternates
Adoption of Platform and Resolutions
Good of the Order
Adjournment – no later than 1:00 p.m.
RULES
The Legislative District Caucus shall be held on Saturday, April 22, 2006, commencing at 9:15 a.m., at Eckstein Middle School, located at 3003 NE 75th St., Seattle.
Delegates to the Legislative District Caucus shall be the Delegates and Alternates elected at the Precinct Caucuses. An Alternate shall not have a vote unless seated to replace an absent or ineligible Delegate. Alternates shall be listed and seated in the order in which they were elected and, to the extent possible, shall be the same gender as the Delegate being replaced. In addition to the allocated Delegates, Precinct Committee Officers serving prior to January 31, 2006, shall be automatic Delegates to the Legislative District Caucus. In such cases, an additional Alternate may be elected.
Any duly elected Delegate or Alternate who moves from his or her precinct prior to the Legislative District Caucus shall automatically forfeit his or her seat and an Alternate shall be seated in his or her place.
At the time of signing in, Delegates and Alternates shall sign in by Precinct. There will be a registration fee for all Delegates and Alternates to the Legislative District Caucus of $10 at the door. Payment of this fee shall not be a condition of participation or election.
The Legislative District Chair or the Chair’s designee shall serve as the Temporary Chair of the Caucus.
The Chair of the Credentials Committee shall present the report of the Credentials Committee which shall include the following:
the total number
of Delegates certified elected within the District;
the total number
of Delegates registered and seated at the time the report is given;
the total number
of Alternates eligible to be seated at the time due to the absence of
elected Delegates;
supervision by name
and Precinct of the seating of eligible Alternates;
presentation of
challenged Precinct documentation for decision by the Legislative District
Caucus as a whole, starting with the lowest numbered Precinct and proceeding
in alpha-numerical order until all challenges are resolved. If
the challenged Delegate is not sustained, he or she shall be removed
immediately and replaced by a qualified Alternate. A challenged
Delegate may not vote on the question of his or her own challenge.
The Credentials Committee
may seat unchallenged Delegates arriving after the Credentials Committee
report.
The Chair of the Rules Committee shall present the report of the Rules Committee.
Any registered voter of the District who is a Democrat and is willing to be known as such may be nominated by a Delegate to the Legislative District Caucus for the position of Permanent Chair. Any registered voter of the District who is a Democrat and is willing to be known as such may nominate himself or herself. Nominations, seconding speeches and speeches by the
candidate on his or her own behalf shall not total more than three (3) minutes per nominee. A majority is required to elect. If no person has a majority, the candidate receiving the least votes is dropped and balloting shall be repeated using the remaining names. This procedure shall be repeated until a candidate receives a majority. If there is only one nominee the Chair shall be elected by a voice vote.
The Permanent Chair shall appoint a Secretary, Sergeant-at-Arms, and Parliamentarian.
The Chair shall announce the allocation of State Convention Delegates and Alternates to the Legislative District Caucus. The allocation to the 46th legislative district for 2006 is 43 Delegates and 22 Alternates. The 46th legislative district will endeavor to elect 22 female Delegates, 21 male Delegates, 11 female Alternates and 11 male Alternates. If there are not enough candidates to meet these gender balance ratios, then the gender allocation may be adjusted at the discretion of the Chair.
The Election of State Convention Delegates and Alternates:
Each candidate for State Convention Delegate or Alternate must be a resident registered voter in the Legislative District.
Each candidate for State Convention Delegate or Alternate shall be nominated individually. No second is required. A candidate who is not a Delegate to the Legislative District Caucus or who is not present must signify in advance, in writing individually, that he/she will serve if elected and that he/she is a Democrat and is willing to be known as such. The letter of any absent candidate shall be read by the Legislative District Caucus Chair and shall constitute a nomination, no second required. All other nominations shall be made by signing the nomination list at the registration table. Each candidate shall have up to one minute (including the time spent by the Chair reading an absent candidate’s nomination letter) for speech on his/her behalf. Nomination of Alternates shall occur after the election of Delegates.
Voting shall be by signed ballot and a ballot to be counted must have all positions filled with no duplications. The Chair shall give clear notice to the Delegates that they must vote for the allotted number of candidates, give adequate time to do so, and ask voting Delegates to check their ballots before turning them in. A majority of those present and voting shall be required to elect. The Chair shall provide the ballots. After the votes are collected and tallied, the person receiving the most votes and a majority of the votes shall have been elected, the person receiving the next most votes and a majority of the votes shall have been elected, and so forth until all allotted Delegate positions are filled or until candidates are no longer receiving a majority of the vote. If candidates are no longer receiving a majority of the vote and Delegate slots are still available then a second vote must be taken to fill the remaining slots. Election as a Delegate will be contingent on the same factors as the first vote. This process shall continue until all Delegate slots are filled. In case of a tie vote, the assignment of a Delegate position shall be by lot. The election of Alternates shall be in the same manner as the election of Delegates, except that the Alternate receiving the most votes and a majority of the votes shall become Alternate number one, and the Alternate receiving the next most votes and a majority of the vote shall be Alternate number two, and so forth. In case of a tie vote, the assigning number to the Alternates shall be by lot. Legislative District delegations elected shall be equally divided between women and men in both the delegate and alternate categories unless there are an insufficient number of nominees from one gender to fill available positions.
At the time of the election, each elected State Convention Delegate shall be requested to pay the $40.00 State Convention Registration fee to the Secretary who shall send fees and a list of Delegates and Alternates with addresses and phone numbers to the State Chair within five (5) days. No person shall be excluded or disqualified from any part of the process for failure to pay such fee.
At the discretion of the Chair, consideration of platform and resolutions may commence without suspension of the rules.
The motion “to table” shall be out of order at all times.
Debate shall alternate pro and con, limited to three speakers for and three speakers against any motion, each speaker to speak no more than one minute.
A quorum shall consist of 30 percent of the number eligible to vote as shown on the Credentials report, as most recently amended. The existence of a quorum may not be challenged before the adoption of the platform.
Resolutions shall be submitted in writing, with supporting signatures as set forth in Rule 19(g-k).
Seated Delegates, elected or appointed Precinct Committee Officers (PCOs) and members in good standing of the 46th District Democrats shall be permitted to vote on platform and resolutions. For purposes of voting on the platform and resolutions, members in good standing shall include PCOs and members who paid dues on or before April 1, 2006, as prescribed in Article III, Section 2 of our Bylaws. Separate credentials shall be issued for non-delegates to allow participation in approval of platform and resolutions.
The order of consideration of platform and resolutions shall be as follows:
Each section of the Platform as proposed by the Platform Committee shall be considered as the equivalent of a motion to adopt (needing no second). Amendments will be considered for each section, if the proposed amendments meet the criteria in rules 19b and 19c and are not ruled out of order by the Chair.
Amendments to the platform submitted to the District Chair by 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, 2006, with 15 signatures of elected delegates, PCOs or members in good standing and 100 printed copies, shall be considered at the time the relevant proposed section of the platform is considered.
Amendments to the platform submitted to the District Chair or the Co-Chairs of the Platform Committee by 9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 22, with 25 signatures of delegates, PCOs or members in good standing and 100 printed copies, confirmed by the Chair of the Credentials Committee, shall be considered at the time the relevant proposed section of the platform is considered.
For all motions, the Chair will recognize three speakers pro and con, with each speaker to speak no more than one minute.
Sections of the platform passed shall constitute the platform as passed.
Any sections of the platform or amendments that meet the criteria for consideration at the caucus that are not considered prior to adjournment, shall be considered at the next regular meeting time of the 46th District Democrats.
Following adoption of the Platform, resolutions proposed by the Platform Committee shall be considered, with their recommendation serving as a motion to adopt, proceeding on the basis of each topical section of resolutions serving as a single motion. If the Chair determines there is substantial (not majority) interest in amending or opposing a resolution within a section, that resolution will be considered separately from the remainder of resolutions proposed by the Platform Committee, immediately following consideration of the relevant topical section of proposed resolutions.
Resolutions submitted to the District Chair by 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, 2006, with 15 signatures of elected delegates, PCOs or members in good standing and 100 printed copies, shall be considered following resolutions proposed by the Platform Committee, and any amendments thereto.
Resolutions submitted by 9:15 a.m. Saturday, April 22, with 25 signatures of delegates, PCOs or members in good standing and 100 printed copies, confirmed by the Chair of the Credentials Committee, shall be considered after resolutions proposed by the Platform Committee, and any amendments thereto.
Resolutions submitted after 9:15 a.m. on the day of the caucus or submitted with insufficient signatures or insufficient copies shall not be considered.
Any resolutions that meet the criteria for consideration at the caucus but are not considered prior to adjournment or recess, shall be considered at the next regular meeting time of the 46th District Democrats.
The Chair shall appoint a representative Tally Committee of Alternates or non-Delegates. All ballots shall be returned to the State Democratic Headquarters and shall be retained by the State Chair until the State Convention has adjourned.
The unit rule shall not be permitted at any time.
Proxy voting shall not be allowed.
All possible efforts shall be made to insure maximum participation of ethnic minorities, women, youth, persons over 65 years of age, lesbians and gays, Labor, persons with a high school education or less, disabled, and persons of economic disadvantage.
Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, shall prevail in other matters not specifically covered herein.
