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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	1019
Proposal	Committee Rules Amendment: Coordinated Campaign Committee
Presenter	Coordinated Campaign Committee
Floor Manager	Anita Rios
Phase	Cancelled
Discussion	06/01/2020 - 06/28/2020
Voting	06/29/2020 - 07/05/2020
Presens Quorum	0.6666
Consens Quorum	A Majority of Yes and No Votes

Background

This proposal provides for Coordinated Campaign Committee (CCC) elections that (1) continue the GPUS practice of employing ranked-choice voting (RCV) to elect CCC members, (2) maintain the the objective of providing for one of half of CCC seats to be held by women and (3) allow non-binary candidates to run for CCC seats without having to declare themselves as either women or men candidates.
The background for this proposal is that the CCC was established in January 2002, and the last time the CCC Committee Rules were updated was in September 2006, via Proposal #ID 243 https://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=243. Unlike most GPUS Committees, the CCC is not composed of members appointed by state Green Parties and Identify Caucuses. Instead, CCC members are directly elected by the National Committee (NC) by a process described in #243 that attempts to combine seeking gender balance among CCC members with electing five members a year to staggered two-year terms.
This process has lacked consistency in practice, and in most years has neither led to a full nor a gender-balanced CCC. Why? Trying to combine gender balance and staggered terms is complicated by having different numbers of male and female seats open each year, varying number of women and men running each year, and not having enough candidates in some years for either or both categories. Additionally the universe of potential candidates is limited by a restriction of having only one member of a state Green Party or Identity Caucus serving on the CCC at any one time, and by a state Green Party or Identity Caucus only being able to nominate one candidate per election.

Then there is the goal for gender-balance on the CCC itself. The CCC is the only committee among all GPUS Committees with a gender-balance objective for its committee membership. The original reason for this was to recognize that it is a value for the party to recruit and support women candidates. If gender-balance was promoted on the CCC, the argument was that this would increase the chance for this pro-woman candidate perspective to be heard.

Today the gender-balance equation is complicated by how to provide for candidates who self-identify as non-binary to run for the CCC, who do not fit into the existing women/men categories.
This proposal addresses these issues in two parts.
First, it would provide for electing all CCC seats at once, by electing all ten CCC members together every two years to two-year terms by RCV. This (a) eliminates the confusion resulting from having different numbers of open seats in different years in different categories; and (b) compared to electing five seats at a time, electing ten seats together by RCV can increase the breadth of political representation on the CCC, because electing ten seats lowers the approval threshold to be elected, and thus makes it easier for more different constituencies on the NC to elect CCC members who represent their views.
Second, to ensure half of the CCC seats can still go to women candidates, and that non-binary candidates may run without declaring themselves as women or men candidates, the votes shall be counted so that no more than five candidates can be elected from either of two categories - Women or Everyone Else.
How would votes be counted under this modified RCV system? First, NC members may rank as many or as few candidates as they prefer, as with any standard RCV election. Then, as with any standard GPUS RCV election, the voting software on the GPUS voting page calculates which candidates would reach the approval threshold, with one important difference.
Under a standard RCV election, the top ten candidates that reach the approval threshold in a ten-seat election would be elected. Under this modified RCV process, once five candidates from either Women or Everyone Else cross the threshold, all additional candidates in that category are eliminated from further consideration - or in RCV parlance, become ‘non-continuing candidates’. At that point, ranked-votes continue to be transferred to candidates in the other Category, until either all the remaining seats are filled by candidates crossing the threshold; or if not enough candidates cross the threshold to fill all remaining seats, then those unfilled seats are left vacant (and can be filled later by GPUS Steering Committee appointment).

Implementing this voting procedure will require updating the GPUS Voting Page code, so that under RCV parlance, votes for the ‘non-continuing candidates’ in one category will simply continue to be transferred to the ‘continuing candidates' in the other category of candidates.
The sponsored of this proposal believe this approach is preferable to having two separate elections, one for each category, because electing all candidates together (a) prioritizes NC voter choice about who is most qualified to serve on the CCC — and then applies gender categories to those choices to promote gender-balance, instead of the other way around, and (b) electing ten candidates at once provides for lower approval threshold and thus more political representation of the NC on the CCC.
While this proposal would require all CCC candidates to self-identify their gender in order to be eligible to run, what this proposal does not attempt to address is who may self-identify under which category. This is an important and related debate within the GPUS, but one that the sponsors of this proposal believe should occur separately upon its own merits; and in the meantime, NC voters would make their own evaluations based upon the self-declarations of the CCC candidates.
This proposal also does not address the concern that the determination of NC voting procedures and approval thresholds does not belong in Committee Rules approved by a simple majority threshold, but instead belong in Article VII. Preference Voting Rules for SC Elections of the GPUS Rules and Procedures approved by a 2/3 threshold, which not only describe how RCV is used for SC elections, but are referenced in other places in GPUS rules documents for when RCV is used to elect other party leadership positions.

The origins of Article VII. Preference Voting Rules for SC Elections go back to before the GPUS used on-line voting, and the Article is in need of updating. However the sponsors of this proposal believe that the question of whether all NC voting procedures need to be located Article VII should be addressed when Article VII is updated; and to address near-term needs to update the CCC voting process, the changes recommended in this proposal should be made to the CCC Committee Rules at present — especially since the process to elect CCC members is already present in the CCC Committee rules today.
As for the timing of the CCC elections going forward, #243 set the elections to occur after the November general elections each year, in order to enable an existing set of CCC members to work through the end of an election cycle that culminates with a November General Election. This proposal would not change the time of year in which CCC elections are held. But in changing to elections every two years, this proposal would elect seats in odd-number years. This would enable new members to join the CCC in an odd-numbered year leading into an even-numbered election year, years which generally have more candidates and committee work.
However, since this proposal is occurring in an even-numbered year (in time for CCC elections to follow 2020 November general elections), the first CCC elections under this proposal would be for one-year terms in order to get to an odd-year cycle. Then starting in 2021, elections would be for two year terms with elections occurring biennially in odd-numbered years. Text to facilitate this transition is included in the draft amendment.
This proposal also clears up some other issues in the text from #243:
Even though there is a limit of only one member of a state party or Identify Caucus on the CCC, the existing text has a loophole where a state Green Party can have two members of its members serving on the CCC if one of them got appointed to a CCC vacancy by the Steering Committee (SC), after another of its members got elected to the CCC after being nominated by an Identity Caucus. This proposal closes that loophole. (Note: The one-CCC-member-per-state rule comes from the fact that the CCC authorizes financial assistance for candidates, and having no more than one-per-state is meant to address concerns about disproportionate interest for candidates from any state party.)

Since the original #243 text was written in 2006, the NC adopted a regular discussion period and voting period starting date of Mondays, but the existing CCC election text suggests that discussions and votes would start on a Tuesday or Wednesday. This is corrected in this proposal.

The text from #243 talks about filing CCC vacancies by special elections simultaneously with general elections and/or via SC appointments, but does not specify how special elections are to be conducted simultaneously. This proposal eliminates holding special elections and has all vacancies filled by the SC, where the SC can only fill a CCC seat by someone from a Category that doesn’t have all five seats filled.

Proposal #243, approved in 2006, mixed together the CCC’s Mission Statement with its Committee Rules. Since 2009 Committee Rules and Mission Statements are made separately under GPUS Rules and Procedures Article VI. This proposal is separating out the non-Mission Statement portion of #243 and amending it. As part of this process, there is some text from the 2002 Mission Statement about evaluating candidates for CCC support, that makes more sense to be in this document than in the Mission Statement. So it is moved here.

PROPOSAL:

Proposal

That the existing Committee Rules of the Coordinated Campaign Committee be replaced in total by the following language:

Committee Rules of the Coordinated Campaign Committee

Section I - Membership

1-1 The Coordinated Campaign Committee shall consist of ten members elected by the National Committee

1-3 Terms shall be for two years.

1-4 No more than one member nominated by a State Green Party or Identify Caucus may be elected and serve on the Coordinated Campaign Committee at any one time; nor may the Coordinating Committee appoint someone to fill a vacancy, who is a member of a state Green Party or Identity Caucus that already has one of its members on the Committee.

Section II - Elections

2-1 Regular nominations, discussions and elections shall be held in November/December biennially, in odd-numbered years.

2-1(a) Notwithstanding the language in 2.1, a regular election shall be held in 2020 for one year terms, with two year terms starting in 2021. After the 2020 election is held, this language of 2.1(a) shall be deleted from this document.

2-2 Nominations shall be called for by the GPUS Secretary on the Monday following the November General Election in odd-numbered years. The nominating period shall be for twenty days, ending on a Saturday.

2-3 The Call for Nominations shall be posted by the GPUS Secretary to the National Committee Votes List and to former Green candidates and officeholders who are listed in the GPUS Elections Data Base and still are Green Party members in their state.

2-4 Nominations may be made by any State Green Party or Identity Caucus and shall be made to the National Committee Votes List. No State Green Party or Identify Caucus can nominate more than one person in any given year; nor can they nominate anyone if someone they previously nominated was elected or appointed to the committee, and will continue the remainder of the term after the election in question is conducted.

2-5 To be eligible for election, nominees shall submit a candidate statement to the National Committee Votes List during the nomination period, and must self-declare their gender as part of their statement, as either woman, man or non-binary.

2-6 After the close of nominations, two weeks of discussion shall commence on the ensuing Monday, followed by a one-week vote.

2-7 Members shall be elected by ranked-choice voting, according to the voting procedure for ranked-choice voting used to elect the GPUS Steering Committee described in Article VII of the GPUS Rules and Procedures, except that candidates shall be grouped into two categories Women and Everyone Else as follows:

2-7.1 Once five candidates from either Women or Everyone Else cross the threshold, all additional candidates in that category are eliminated from further consideration and become ‘non-continuing candidates’. At that point, ranked-votes continue to be transferred to candidates in the other category, until either all remaining seats are filled by candidates crossing the threshold. or if not enough candidates cross the threshold to fill all remaining seats, then those unfilled seats are left vacant.

2-8 Should not all seats be filled by election, or should there be a mid-term unscheduled vacancy, the Steering Committee may fill vacancies by appointment. Appointments must be made within either Women or Everyone Else, up to but not exceeding the five seats allowed for each. The Coordinated Campaign Committee may not appoint someone to fill a vacancy, who is a member of a state Green Party that already has one of its members nominated and elected to the Committee, regardless of whether that member was nominated by their state Green Party or an Identity Caucus.

Section III - Co-chairs

3-1 The members of the CCC shall elect three co-chairs of the committee, gender balanced, within one month of overall committee elections. If more than three candidates are nominated, the CCC members shall use preference voting.

3-2 The responsibilities of the co-chairs shall include keeping the committee on task, maintaining a current roster of committee members, conducting votes, and communicating with CC and SC members for the BRPP committee and its subcommittees. Co-chairs shall submit formal monthly reports to the CC list detailing committee activities. The committee may create working groups and subcommittees.

Section IV - Meetings and decisions

4-1 The CCC shall maintain an e-mail list for all committee business and formal decision-making.

4-2 Proposals for the CCC to sponsor to the National Committee shall be sent to all CCC members, via the list, for formal approval. CCC members shall attempt to reach consensus on all proposals, with a simple majority needed to pass any proposals in which consensus cannot be reached.

4-3 When needed, the CCC shall conduct teleconferences for specific purposes. An agenda will be issued for said teleconferences at least 48 hours in advance. A facilitator and note keeper will be chosen from among the CCC members.

Section V Criteria for evaluating candidates and campaign

In carrying out its functions, the Coordinated Campaign Committee shall consider the following priorities:

5-1 Securing and maintaining state ballot lines.
5-2 Existing on-the-ground support for candidate.
5-3 Likelihood of winning.
5-4 Racial inclusion, diversity, and gender balance .
5-5 Four Pillars and 10 Key Values of the Green Party.
5-6 Potential for Green Party growth in targeted area.
5-7 Past electoral success in targeted area.
5-8 Likelihood of gaining legislative majority or of securing an executive office.
5-9 Districts/States where incumbent is unopposed or only one other candidate has announced for office.
5-10 Districts/States where Green candidates are likely to run at least second.
5-11 Districts/States where all other likely candidates are highly objectionable.

Section VI Associates

The Coordinated Campaign Committee may also work with a pool of CCC Associates; these include one liaison from each affiliated state party not already represented on the CCC as well as staff or other persons necessary to the productivity of the CCC who shall be chosen as deemed appropriate by the CCC. Associates may participate in CCC discussions and meetings as needed but are not regular voting members of the CCC.

Resources

effective upon passage

Contact(s):
Hillary Kane treasurer@gp.org

References

(1) GPUS Proposal #243: Resolution to change the election of Coordinated Campaign Committee members
https://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=243
Approved September 24, 2006
(2) GPUS Proposal to establish the Coordinated Campaigns Committee.
Companion resolution to bylaw changes relating to committees.
https://gpus.org/archive/committees/nc/votes/ccc.html
Approved January 28, 2002
(3) Text of existing CCC Committee Rules:
https://gpus.org/committees/coordinated-campaign/ccc-policies-and-procedures/
CCC COMMITTEE STRUCTURE
The Coordinated Campaign Committee shall consist of 10 voting members Drawn from the affiliated state parties and caucuses. The National Committee shall elect 5 members of the CCC and replacements for recently opened vacancies with an online election to be held each year. Nominations will be called for by the Secretary of the GPUS each year two weeks after Election Day. A two week nominating period shall be opened, followed by one week of discussion and an on line STV vote using the GPUS voting page and following the procedures and protocols the GPUS uses to elect the Steering Committee. The 5 people elected each year via the regular election shall serve two year terms while those elected or selected to fill vacancies will serve out the term of the member they are replacing. In between the annual December elections for the CCC the GPUS Steering Committee shall appoint Greens to fill vacancies.
Committee members elected or selected in 2006 prior to an online Election authorized by the passage of this proposal shall be able to maintain their seats until the election held in 2007. The Committee will continue to recruit and have members selected by the GPUS SC prior to November 2006 and then hold an election based on this rule change beginning in November 2006 to fill the rest of the seats that have not yet been filled. The Committee shall in January 2007 hold a lottery to determine which of the newly elected committee members shall have their terms conclude in December 2007 and which 5 shall Serve until the election in 2008.
The committee shall always have an equal number of males and females on Its roster except when it has an odd number of members. Then its makeup can Be +1 for any gender. The exception to this rule is that no member of the committee shall be asked or forced to resign from the committee in order to reestablish the gender balance. The balance will be reestablished by Adding members to the committee. Each year the election to fill seats on the CCC shall actually be two elections, one to elect males to the committee, one to elect females to the committee. The number of men and women elected in any given year shall be determined by the nature of the vacancies in that year with the goal of having 5 men and 5 women on the committee.
No State Green Party or GPUS Caucus may have more than one member serving on the CCC at any time. State Parties and Caucuses must formally, in writing, nominate one of their members to serve on the CCC. No State Party or Caucus can nominate more than one person in any given year, nor can they nominate if a member of their state party or caucus will continue to serve on the committee after the filling of whatever seats are being filled. Nominations from State Party or Caucus officers are to be sent to the Secretary of the GPUS during the post November Election Nominating Period and when a vacancy is being filled, and the Secretary shall publish them on the votes email list.
The Coordinated Campaign Committee may also work with a pool of CCC Associates; these include one liaison from each affiliated state party not already represented on the CCC as well as staff or other persons necessary to the productivity of the CCC who shall be chosen as deemed appropriate by the CCC. Associates may participate in CCC discussions and meetings as needed but are not regular voting members of the CCC.
The responsibilities of the co-chairs shall include keeping the committee on task, maintaining a current roster of committee members, conducting votes, and communicating with CC and SC members for the BRPP committee and its subcommittees. Co-chairs shall submit formal monthly reports to the CC list detailing committee activities. The committee may create working groups and subcommittees.
CCC INTERNAL DECISION-MAKING
ON-LINE VOTING
The CCC shall maintain an e-mail list for all committee business and formal decision-making.
Before a proposal is forwarded to the Coordinating Committee, it shall first be sent to all CCC members, via the list, for formal approval. CCC members shall attempt to reach consensus on all proposals, with a simple majority needed to pass any proposals in which consensus cannot be reached.
TELECONFERENCES AND IN-PERSON MEETINGS
When needed, the CCC shall conduct teleconferences for specific purposes. An agenda will be issued for said teleconferences at least 48 hours in advance. A facilitator and note keeper will be chosen from among the CCC members.
ELECTION OF CO-CHAIRS
The members of the CCC shall elect three co-chairs of the committee, gender balanced, within one month of overall committee elections. If more then three candidates are nominated, the CCC members shall use preference voting.’

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