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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	1086
Proposal	Accreditation of the Proposed Green Party Elders Caucus
Presenter	Accreditation Committee
Floor Manager	Ahmed Eltouny
Phase	Closed
Discussion	07/18/2022 - 08/14/2022
Voting	08/15/2022 - 08/21/2022
Result	Failed
Presens Quorum	32 0.6666
Consens Quorum	71 0.6666 of Yes and No Votes

Background

On May 9th, 2022, the Accreditation Committee received a complete application packet requesting accreditation for a new “Green Party Elders Caucus.” The proposed caucus’s membership is restricted to Greens aged 60 years and older.

After careful review of the proposed caucus’s application packet, two rounds of in-depth questioning, and over a month of discussion and research the Accreditation Committee voted against recommending accreditation for the proposed “Green Party Elders Caucus.”

The Accreditation Committee’s final proposal was as follows:

“The Accreditation Committee finds that the forming “Elders Caucus” group does not meet the criteria for a caucus as laid out in Section 5 of the GPUS Rules for the Accreditation of Caucuses and does not recommend accreditation as a caucus. The committee shall produce a report as outlined in GPUS Rules for the Accreditation of Caucuses detailing its findings for each of the criteria.”

The motion passed, with 17 votes in favor, 3 against, and 2 abstentions. Please note that one of the votes against came from a member of the proposed caucus’s Coordinating Council who had recused due to a conflict of interest earlier in the process but refused to do so on this final vote.

The Accreditation Committee has numerous findings supporting its recommendation against accrediting the proposed caucus which can be read in detail in the linked document in the reference section of this proposal. However, the main stance that the committee makes, is that Greens age 60 years and older do not “[r]epresent a historically disenfranchised or underrepresented and significant sector of the population” as required for accreditation of a caucus under GPUS Rules and Procedures. GPUS Bylaws provide the following definition:

“The term “underrepresented group” as used in these bylaws shall refer to any grouping of Greens, not explicitly ideological in nature, that has historically failed to attain adequate access to power in society at-large and/or within the Green movement, as determined by the National Committee.”

The Accreditation Committee finds, and the proposed caucus’s own answers to the committee's questions support, that Greens age 60 and older are not lacking in access to power, protections, privileges, or representation either within the party or in society at-large and does not constitute a historically disenfranchised or underrepresented group.

While not a formal part of this proposal, the Accreditation Committee politely extends the recommendation that should the proposed caucus fail to gain accreditation, it should instead pursue accreditation as a network, which does not have these requirements.

The Diversity Committee approved a formal statement in support of accrediting the Green Party Elders Caucus during their May 4th, 2022 meeting. The Accreditation Committee notes that this proposal was authored, edited, and approved largely by members of the proposed caucus. See Diversity Committee Statement of Support for an Elders Caucus in the resources section for additional details.

This formal support for the accreditation of the proposed caucus puts the Accreditation Committee and the Diversity Committee in conflict on recommendations. Chapter VI Section 3.e of the GPUS Rules and Procedures provides the following direction for this scenario:

“If the AC and the DC cannot reach consensus on the report, the proposal shall include both the AC and the DC’s recommendations. A two-third’s majority vote is required to approve an Identity Caucus.”

Please see the supporting documentation linked in the resources section for additional rationale, findings, questions and answers, and the proposed caucus’s application packet.

Proposal

Pursuant to Article I, Chapter VI of the GPUS Rules and Procedures, the GPUS National Committee hereby extends formal accreditation to the Green Party Elders Caucus, including all rights, responsibilities, and privileges delineated under GPUS Bylaws and Rules and Procedures.

Resources

Please note that Article I, Chapter VI, Section 3.g. of the GPUS Rules and Procedures states that:

“The NC may require the gathering of additional evidence. This might include on-site visits by authorized representatives of the NC to caucus headquarters, gatherings or other meetings.”

The Accreditation Committee stands ready to facilitate any additional evidence gathering should the NC deem it needed. However, extensive research and investigation has already been done by the committee which is made available below:

Elders Caucus Application Packet
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R2OS0Xx6SoECNii4MDwAl7kRqLGh-JgIy9G72JZxwZg/edit?usp=sharing

Diversity Committee Statement of Support for an Elders Caucus
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1svpyBSSZFaA5qvWBRhOsPyVCFX5iicnGrJ0axYEmUlc/edit?usp=sharing

First Round Accreditation Committee Questions and Answers
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IPR5yJLvXkZF0QPnT0cFnu1bNGPdOYbbRNEBZ-JeWdQ/edit?usp=sharing

Second Round Accreditation Committee Questions and Answers
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZhgPDqLqgcqBBPtr2GAVW7b02kNPXfOVXsuQx94vtTY/edit?usp=sharing

Final Accreditation Committee Proposal Vote Count
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gl22fbQbGuEZz_XDvB6zbz6dhsZmZdl_FtBt7FDOWE8/edit?usp=sharing

Accreditation Committee Findings
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aRMx5VEcJHR30H3QaQVg8coq2VzBMcqN7wrkRl2niKc/edit?usp=sharing

Additionally, while this proposal is coming from the Accreditation Committee, we have requested a contact for the Diversity Committee so that the National Committee might send any queries about their actions to them. They provided the following:

Gil Obler, Diversity Committee Co-Chair (divcom@gp.org)

Contact for Accreditation Committee:

Daniel Bumbarger, Accreditation Committee Co-Chair (acc-chairs@gp.org)

References

GPUS Rules and Procedures
https://gpus.org/rules-procedures/

GPUS Bylaws
https://gpus.org/bylaws/

Accreditation Proposal from Accreditation Committee
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DIsXPpR6jKhAdI6MHbEMMKyx2qkoyxuCaJT_2MtkzRk/edit?usp=sharing

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