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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	294
Proposal	Rules of the National Nominating Convention Credentials Committee
Presenter	Committee on Bylaws, Rules, Policies and Procedures
Floor Manager	Holly Hart
Phase	Closed - Failed
Discussion	06-05-2007 - 06-07-2007
Voting	06-08-2007 - 06-15-2007
Presens Quorum	Two Thirds of Active Accredited States/Caucuses
Consens Quorum	Two Thirds of Yes and No Votes

Background

Previous documents adopted to govern the credentialing of Delegates at
the Green Party's previous Quadrennial Presidential Nominating
Conventions included provisions sunsetting those rules. It is therefore
necessary to adopt a new set of rules to govern this process for
subsequent Conventions. Your Committee on Bylaws, Rules, Policies and
Procedures, having reviewed those rules sunset following previous
Conventions and the direction of the Green National Committee in its
action to adopt Proposal #168, has considered and endorsed for Green
National Party consideration the adoption of the following rules.

Proposal

To adopt Rules to govern the credentialling of Delegates to the
Quadrennial Presidential Nominating Convention; to provide a title, and
for the findings and intentions of the Green National Committee; to
provide for a Credentials Committee, its size, officers, structure, the
method of its election, and for the filling of vacancies and rules for
the conduct of its business; to provide definitions; to provide rules
for naming Delegations to the Quadrennial Presidential Nominating
Convention; to provide for the use of proportional representation in
the selection of state party delegations; to provide for the
credentials application process; to provide for forms to support the
application and challenge process; to provide a timeline for the
conduct of committee business; to provide for the consideration of
late-filed applications; to provide for the form, content, filing and
disposition of challenges to the actions of the Credentials Committee;
to provide criteria for the resolution of a challenge; to provide for
hearings on challenges; to provide for Committee consideration and
Convention appeal of a challenge; to provide that the Credentials
Committee shall makes it report to the Quadrennial Presidential
Nominating Convention; and for other purposes.

A Resolution of the
Green National Committee of the
Green Party of the United States

Resolved, that the Green National Committee of the Green Party of the
United States here adopts the following as the "Rules of the
Credentials Committee for the Quadrennial Presidential Nominating
Convention of the Green Party of the United States".

Rules of the
Credentials Committee for the
Quadrennial Presidential Nominating Convention
of the Green Party of the United States.

I. NAME, FINDINGS AND INTENTION

1. This policy shall be known as the "Rules of the Credentials
Committee for the Quadrennial Presidential Nominating Convention of the
Green Party of the United States", and may be cited as the Credentials
Rules.

2. As a national federation of state Green parties, it is the mission
of the Green Party of the United States (GPUS) to hold a national
convention every four years to nominate a Green Party presidential
candidate, and to ratify a party platform in a manner that is inclusive
of all legitimate Green Party organizational activity in the country.
It is the intention of Green Party of the United States to provide for
Quadrennial Presidential Nominating Conventions whose legitimacy is
recognized by the member parties and other organizations that seek to
further the Green Party mission by electing Green Party candidates to
political office.

3. These rules shall govern each Quadrennial Presidential Nominating
Convention called and organized by the Green Party of the United States
with respect to the credentialing of delegates who may exercise the
convention power to nominate a Presidential ticket to run on the Green
Party line of each member state party and to adopt a national platform
for such Presidential campaign to express the national Green Party's
position on critical issues of the day.

II. CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE

A. CHARGE

There shall exist a Credentials Committee, elected by the Green
National Committee to serve each Quadrennial Presidential Nominating
Convention. The committee shall serve from the time of their election,
twelve to fifteen months prior to the next Quadrennial Presidential
Nominating Convention, and until twelve months after the adjournment of
each quadrennial convention.

The committee is charged with 1) disseminating these credential rules
to member state parties and to Greens seeking to form member state
parties, 2) soliciting from state parties applications for delegate
credentials, 3) making a preliminary ruling on each application, 4)
developing and publishing an official roster of convention delegates
and alternates, 5) administering delegate on-site registration and
credentialling, 6) administering the credentials challenge resolution
process both prior to and at the location of the convention and 7)
within twelve months of adjournment of each Quadrennial Presidential
Nominating Convention, filing a report evaluating the process used, the
lessons learned and making recommendations to the Green National
Committee on changes recommended for subsequent conventions.

B. STRUCTURE

The Credentials Committee shall consist of fifteen members elected
using preference voting by the National Committee of the Green Party of
the United States.

The members of the committee shall be elected in an election scheduled
between twelve and fifteen months prior to each Quadrennial
Presidential Nominating Convention, except that the Credentials
Committee for the 2008 Quadrennial Presidential Nominating Convention
shall be named in two elections held four months apart, to name first
eight members and then seven members. Each such election shall be
conducted by rules consistent with the process defined in the the Rules
and Procedures of the Green Party of the United States, Article 7.
Preference Voting Rules for Steering Committee Elections.

Any member of a state Green Party participating in the national
convention may, with the endorsement of their state party, put forth
his/her name as a candidate for a seat on the Credentials Committee.
Delegates and non-delegates to the convention are eligible to be
members of the Credentials Committee. No more than two members of the
committee shall be from any one state. No person may serve as a member
of the committee who resides in a state with partisan voter
registration, unless they are registered as a Green, or, if that is not
possible, has declined to state their political affiliation.

Vacancies may be filled by a special election, conducted by rules
consistent with the process defined in the the Rules and Procedures of
the Green Party of the United States, Article 7. Preference Voting
Rules for Steering Committee Elections, whenever a majority of the
active members of the Credentials Committee or a majority of the
members of the Steering Committee find that the fulfillment of the
committee's charge is jeopardized by its vacancies. Such special
elections shall not be held more often than once every seventy-five
days.

The committee shall elect two co-chairs after it is seated. The
committee shall also elect a clerk. Should five or more committee
members find themselves at the convention site and one or more of the
officers be absent from the site, the committee may convene and hold an
election to elect interim officers to fulfill the duties of an absent
officer until their arrival at the convention.

C. DECISION MAKING

1. Each meeting of the committee conducted at the site of the
convention shall be convened by one or both co-chairs or, in their
absence from the convention site, by another committee member
designated in writing by the consent of the co-chairs, or by a majority
of the committee members voting where notice has been published by
three or more members of their intention to name an interim convener to
serve the committee in the absence of its chair. An on-site meeting may
be called by posting six hours or more in advance and in a conspicuous
manner the time, place and agenda of the proposed meeting 1) in a
public place designated by the Convention for the posting of such
notices, 2) at the regular place of business of the committee, 3) at
the door of the committee's usual meeting place, and 4) as appropriate,
at the door of the meeting place assigned to the meeting in question.

2. Except for a meeting considering only preliminary actions, a quorum
for the conduct of business shall consist of a majority of the active
committee members who have checked in with the committee at its booth
or office as being on site and ready to work and who have not yet left
the convention. For meetings considering only preliminary actions,
business may be conducted when any five or more committee members from
five or more states are present at the time and place designated in a
notice posted at the regular place of business of the committee.

3. For any decision-making conducted online, a resolution of the
committee shall be deemed to have passed with a two-thirds
super-majority support of the members voting and a majority of the
active members participating in the online vote. Any question put to
the committee shall be published with a subject line that identifies it
for committee action, and voting shall not be opened for one week and
shall not remain open for less than one nor more than two weeks, as
determined by consent of the co-chairs and the clerk in their sole
discretion.

4. The clerk shall serve as the custodian of all applications and shall
maintain a chain of custody log, which documents the handling of each
application. Once on site, the clerk shall provide for the committee a
complete file of applications and the chain of custody log and may
delegate to shifts of two or more committee members the custody of the
file and log.

5. Once each month, the officers of the committee shall review the
participation of each committee member and publish to the committee and
to the Steering Committee of the Green Party of the United States,
their findings of which members elected to serve the committee are
inactive and not subject to consideration in the tabulation of quorum.

6. The committee may adopt rules to govern the conduct of its internal
business which are not inconsistent with this policy. The rules
contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly
Revised shall govern the committee in all cases to which they are
applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with this policy or
with any rules the committee may adopt.

III. DEFINITIONS

As used in this agreement, the term:

"Active" shall mean a member of the Credentials Committee who in the
last forty-five days has participated in committee activities, either
by contributing to discussion of committee or subcommittee business,
attending a face-to-face or phone conference of the committee, casting
a vote on matters before the committee, or serving on a Challenge
Panel.

"Activity" shall mean three or more Greens residing in the same
congressional district who, since January 1 preceding the previous
Presidential election, cooperated in campaigning as Greens for a Green
candidate in a partisan race; a ballot initiative or referendum; a
non-partisan candidate endorsed by a Green Party local or state
organization; the candidate of another emerging independent political
party which is not the Republican or Democratic Party, which candidate
was cross-endorsed by a Green Party local or state organization; have
circulated a ballot access petition for such a candidate; or have
organized a local affiliate of their state party.

"Alternate" shall mean an individual named a delegate-alternate by
their state Green Party affiliated with the Green Party of the United
States, or by a convention held in a state without a state Green Party
where the participants have agreed to organize a statewide Green Party,
and who has been issued delegate-alternate credentials by the
Credentials Committee, except that no state shall name, nor shall the
Credentials Committee credential, more alternates than the number of
delegates to which the state is entitled. Alternate shall not mean a
person from a state that permits partisan voter registration unless
they have registered to vote as a Green or, if that is not possible,
have declined to state a partisan affiliation.

"Campaigning" shall mean fielding and supporting a Green Party nominee
in a partisan race; fielding a Green volunteer effort in support of a
Green Party endorsed candidate in a non-partisan race; hosting a
campaign event for a Green Party nominee in a partisan race, supporting
such a campaign with petition-circulating, door-knocking,
phone-banking, visibility work, organizing local endorsements or other
activities reasonably expected to generate ballot access and/or votes
for a candidate nominated or endorsed by a state or local Green Party
or by the Green Party of the United States as a Presidential nominee of
the Green Party; or hosting a state party convention or a local, state
or national Green Party meeting.

"Challenge Panel" shall mean those five members appointed by the
Credentials Committee charged with making a report to the Credentials
Committee on a recommended resolution to a challenge and with
conducting a hearing on a specific challenge filed with the committee
assigned to the challenge panel.

"Challenger" shall mean a delegate of another state or one of the three
Greens who are a member of or registered with a Green Party from the
challenged state who has, while under oath, filed an affidavit swearing
or affirming the accuracy of its contents and who is entitled to
challenge the credentials of the delegation from a state Green Party.
Challenger shall not mean a person from a state that permits partisan
voter registration unless they have registered to vote as a Green or,
if that is not possible, have declined to state a partisan affiliation.

"Credentials" shall mean a color-coded, visible card which permits a
delegate issued the credentials - or an alternate bearing alternate
credentials who is from the same state as the delegate issued the
credentials - the right to vote on any matter before the convention.

"Credentials Roll" shall mean the form, completed and signed by a
delegate or delegate-alternate when picking up preliminary credentials
from the Credentials Committee at the site of the convention, which
pledge the delegate or delegate-alternate 1) to not oppose the
presidential and vice presidential candidates nominated by the
convention and 2) to support the rules of the Green Party of the United
States Nominating Convention.

"Delegate" shall mean an individual named as a delegate by their state
Green Party affiliated with the Green Party of the United States, or by
a convention held in a state without a state Green Party where the
participants agreed to organize a statewide Green Party and who has
been issued delegate credentials by the Credentials Committee, unless
the Credentials Committee has sustained a challenge to their
credentials and the Committees action to sustain the challenge has not
been subsequently overturned by the convention. The term "delegate"
shall not mean a person from a state that permits partisan voter
registration unless they have registered to vote as a Green or, if that
is not possible have declined to state a partisan affiliation.

"Green" shall mean a statewide party, a statewide organization, a local
which is organized based on (or an individual who is committed to) the
values of the Green movement and which values shall include as a
minimum: peace and non-violence, social justice, grassroots democracy
and ecological wisdom.

"Green Elected Official" shall mean a Green 1) who holds an elected
office in a federal, state, county, municipal, special district or
other publicly elected body and 2) who, in those states that provide
for partisan voter registration, has been a registered or enrolled
Green Party member for at least six months prior to the convention.

"Green Party" shall mean a Green political organization which is
eligible for membership with the Green Party of the United States, and
which is organized consistent with the election laws of its state,
regardless of whether that Green Party has yet achieved ballot access.

"Hearing Officer" shall mean one of the five members of the Credentials
Committee who are designated by the committee as a Challenge Panel to
conduct a hearing of the evidence relevant to a particular challenge
that has been granted a hearing by the committee and to make a report
back to the committee of their recommendations.

"Inactive" shall mean a member of the Credentials Committee who is not
considered an active committee participant under these rules.

"Identified" shall mean those Green organizations identified publicly
to the Secretary of the Green Party of the United States on or before
January 1 preceding each Presidential Nominating Convention by any
member state of the Green Party of the United States, regardless of the
identified organizations' affiliation or lack thereof with a national
Green organization. Identified shall not mean any such organization
which is not and has not functioned for 12 or more months, nor any such
organization which is inconsistent with this policy's definition of
"Green".

"Petitioner" shall mean a state party that has filed an Application for
Credentials with the committee.

"Presiding Hearing Officer" shall mean that hearing officer chosen by
any Challenge Panel to preside over the panel's deliberations on the
challenge assigned to it.

"Public Statement of Truth" shall mean a statement in an affidavit
challenging the credentials of a delegate or delegation or in testimony
before a Challenge Panel that the testimony offered is the truth, and
shall serve the same function as an oath or affirmation.

"Respondent" shall mean the spokesperson designated by a delegation
whose application is challenged or, in the case of a challenge by a
party to the committee's action on its own application, the
spokesperson designated by the committee.

"State" shall mean a state, district or territory entitled to choose
members of the Presidential Electoral College, or to elect members or
delegates to the U.S. Congress.

IV. DELEGATES TO THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATING CONVENTION

Each Quadrennial Presidential Nominating Convention of the Green Party
of the United States shall consist of delegates chosen as provided by
this policy, among whom shall be apportioned the votes of the
convention as provided by this policy.

The convention shall consist of one Green Party delegation from each
state entitled under the U.S. Constitution to choose members of the
Presidential Electoral College, and from those territories and
districts that are currently disfranchised.

V. DELEGATIONS - HOW CHOSEN

A. STATES WITH AN EXISTING GREEN PARTY

In those states with a statewide Green Party organized under the
election laws of their state and accredited as a member state party of
the Green Party of the United States, the delegation to each
Quadrennial Presidential Nominating Convention of the Green Party of
the United States shall be chosen pursuant to that state party's rules
for naming their delegation to such convention. The votes to which the
delegation is entitled shall be apportioned in accordance with the
state party's rules. Each state Green Party is urged to choose a
delegation that reflects the diversity of the people of that state. If
compliance with these rules and a state's election laws creates a
significant burden to a state Green Party, the state party may apply to
the Credentials Committee for a waiver to such provisions of these
rules as would best serve the democratic engagement of that state
Party's members in the national nominating process. The Credentials
Committee shall have the discretiuon to consider such applications and
shall report to the Green National Committee, each action by the
Credentials Committee to receive, hold a hearing on, schedule debate on
or consider the disposition of each such application.

B. STATES WITH MORE THAN ONE GREEN PARTY

1. In those states where two or more statewide Green Parties are
organized under the election laws of their state prior to October 1
preceding each Presidential Nominating Convention, the delegation to
the Quadrennial Presidential Nominating Convention of the Green Party
of the United States shall be chosen as provided by the rules of the
statewide Green Party which is accredited as a member state party of
the Green Party of the United States. The votes to which the delegation
is entitled shall be apportioned as provided by such rules.

2. In those states without an accredited member state Party, where one
but not both of the state parties retain ballot access from a previous
election and another party from the state does not have and cannot
reasonably be expected to obtain ballot access, the statewide Green
Party with ballot access may choose their convention delegates as if
they represented a state with only one state Green Party, using a
selection process as specified by their state election law.

3. If a party without ballot access exists in a state which has no
accredited member state party of the Green Party of the United States,
that party shall be entitled to seat a delegation of its own if it can
demonstrate activity in congressional districts where the party with
ballot access has not been active.

C. STATES WITH NO EXISTING GREEN PARTY

1. In those states where no Green Party is organized at a state level,
any three or more local Green organizations may by joint resolution
call a statewide convention under such rules as may be provided in such
joint resolution, for the purpose of electing the state's delegation to
the Quadrennial Presidential Nominating Convention of the Green Party
of the United States where such convention also resolves to organize a
statewide Green Party under the laws of the state and to work for
ballot access. Such call shall be published to all Greens and Green
locals identified to the Secretary of the Green Party of the United
States, and to any Green local or Green statewide organization within
the state at least 30 days prior to the proposed statewide convention.
Notice shall also go to each identified Green local or state
organization in any border state with a request to alert any known
Greens from the adjacent, unorganized state holding the convention. In
the event that there exists fewer than three known Green locals in a
state, such convention may be called by a joint resolution of all known
Green locals. In the event that there exists no identified Green local
willing to call such a statewide convention in a state, such convention
may be called by any five or more residents who subscribe to Green
values. The votes to which the delegation is entitled shall be
apportioned as agreed jointly by the statewide convention. The failure
of existing Green organizations within such an unorganized states to
publish a call for such a statewide convention prior to March 15th of
each year during which a Quadrennial Presidential Nominating Convention
is held shall serve as prima-facie evidence of that they will not do
so.

2. In those states with no statewide Green Party where no agreement can
be reached among a majority of participants in the state convention on
how or whether to elect a delegation to a Quadrennial Presidential
Nominating Convention of the Green Party of the United States, no such
delegation shall be seated, except by special dispensation of the Green
National Committee, or of the Presidential Nominating Convention, once
it has convened. In those states with no statewide Green Party, no
application for such an organizing party shall be granted unless the
Credentials Committee finds that the applicant would be eligible to
join the Green Party of the United States were it to apply.

D. USE OF PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION IS URGED

Each state Green Party is encouraged to select its delegates in a way
that offers representation proportional to the support each candidate
enjoys within the party, parties or confederation of locals represented
by the delegation, and that allows the delegation to truly reflect the
diversity of people within the state. Participating parties are urged
to consult with the Center for Voting and Democracy;
http://www.fairvote.org/; 6930 Carroll Ave. Suite 901; Takoma Park, MD
20912; (301) 270-4616; cvdusa@aol.com for sample rules and advice on
the administration of elections under proportional representation
schemes.

a) The number of delegates pledged to each candidate (or who are
"Uncommitted") shall be proportioned on a state-by-state basis
according to each state's vote totals, regardless of how that vote
was taken.

b) States are urged to make every effort to send delegates to the
Presidential Nominating Convention pledged to candidates for the
party's nomination (or who are uncommitted) in proportion to the
support each such candidate enjoyed in the state party's internal
process.

c) During the first round of voting at the Quadrennial Presidential
Nominating Convention, all delegates except those instructed as
?Uncommitted? must vote for the candidate to which they are
pledged.

d) In cases where states award a portion of their convention delegates
to identity caucuses, the same rules of proportionality shall apply to
the extent possible.

e) Each state party shall submit to the Credentials Committee a plan
for selecting and instructing its delegation at least 120 days prior to
the convening of each Quadrennial Presidential Nominating Convention.
Such plans shall include a description of the methods used to ensure
that all Greens are polled and an explanation of the process to be
employed to apportion delegates among the candidates seeking the
nomination of the party. No change to the rules used by a state party
for naming or instructing its delegation shall be binding unless the
state submits within thirty days of such change its supplementary
report describing those amendments.

f) Not later than two weeks following any action to fill seats on a
state's convention delegation, a state party shall file with the
Credentials Committee the results of its delegate selection process,
including vote totals and the proportions for each candidate seeking
the nomination of the party, as well as a list of delegates and
alternates and an explanation of how each has been instructed to vote
in the first round of voting in the convention's Presidential
Nominating process. A summary of delegate pledges shall be made public
on the website of the committee in a timely manner.

VI. APPORTIONMENT OF DELEGATES TO THE CONVENTION

Reserved.

VII. CREDENTIALS PROCESS

A. DELEGATE CREDENTIALS PROCESS

1.The Credentials Committee shall publish this policy, including an
original of each form relevant to the credentialing process, on the
website of the Green Party of the United States, and send it to each
recognized state Green Party which is organized in the country, whether
or not that party is a member of the Green Party of the United States.
In addition, this policy shall be included in every organizing packet
provided to Greens in unorganized states who seek the national party's
assistance in organizing a state Green Party, and a synopsis shall be
made available to anyone inquiring of the Credentials Committee for
registration information.

2. Each state Green Party which desires to credential a delegation to
the Presidential Nominating Convention shall submit both an electronic
application by email and a paper version of the application by U.S.
Mail to the Credentials Committee prior to the application deadline
(unless granted an extension by the committee) which application a)
shall bear the witness of the officers of the party that delegates
named in the application were duly elected as delegates to the
convention as provided for in the rules of the state Green Party, b)
states that it is a member of the Green Party of the United States, or,
if not a member, states that it has demonstrated to the Credentials
Committee that it is eligible for membership with the Green Party of
the United States, c) states that it is the policy of the party that
neither its Presidential Nominating Convention delegates nor its
Presidential electors will work in active opposition to the
Presidential Slate nominated by the Green Party Presidential Nominating
Convention, d) includes a copy of the minutes of the state convention
or other body of the party authorized to elect the delegation, which
minutes document the delegate election, as well as a letter bearing the
signature of the state Party officers certifying the authenticity of
the minutes, d) includes copies of all portions of state election law
which are relevant to the selection of delegates to a national
convention, whether by primary, caucus, or petitions for national
candidates, e) identifies by name, date of birth, residential address,
phone and fax numbers, email address and the party with which they are
registered to vote (where that is possible) each delegate and
delegate-alternate elected by the party, f) for any delegate who may be
credentialed on the basis of their party's electoral success, attaches
documentation of the election results and the endorsement or nomination
of the Green candidate whose showing in the polls is the basis of the
delegate's eligibility for credentials, and g) describes for each
congressional district in the state, the nature and time frame of any
Green activity in the District.

3. The clerk of the Credentials Committee shall make the application
and all attachments available online at a web-site accessible to
members of the Green National Committee, to members of the Credentials
Committee and to any delegate awarded preliminary credentials by the
committee. The on-line files shall contain links to a text version and
a PDF version of each application and any attachment, except that the
clerk shall describe in the text version of the application any
attachment which was not made available by the state party making
application.

4. For any application filed both electronically and by mail forty-five
days or more prior to the convention, within four weeks of receipt, the
chair of the Credentials Committee shall respond certifying upon
preliminary online examination that the committee has found the form of
the application to be consistent with these rules and with a
preliminary finding of the number of delegates the committee expects
will be credentialed at the convention.

5. Until the resolution of any pending challenges and the adoption of a
Credentials Report by the Presidential Nominating Convention, the
Credentials Committee shall operate a Credentials Committee office or
booth at the site of the Presidential Nominating Convention for at
least four hours each day starting when five or more committee members
from five or more states are on site, but in no case starting later
than twenty-four hours prior to the convening of the convention. The
Credentials Committee may utilize volunteers to staff the office if
they are to be directly supervised by two or more members of the
Credentials Committee, and the volunteers' role shall be limited to
providing administrative support. The supervising committee members are
empowered to rule on whether any application or challenge filed with
the committee complies substantially with the rules of the committee
and warrant action by the committee. If there are unresolved challenges
pending before the committee, the committee is urged to consider
offering extended hours, as appropriate. The booth shall continue to
operate until the adjournment of the convention. At the site of the
booth, the committee shall maintain for inspection by any delegate
named in an application on file with the committee the original and a
copy of each application, and a chain of custody log documenting the
receipt of each application and the transfer of any such application
for duplication, referral to a Challenge Committee or referral to the
convention.

6. No application for credentials shall be accepted unless the original
is filed with a copy. The clerk of the Credentials Committee shall sign
the application and its copy, certifying the receipt of a duplicate
copy.

7. During the hours of the booths operation, the Credentials Committee
shall convene to give preliminary consideration to any challenge
received not more than three hours after the receipt of an application.
For the purposes of preliminary consideration of a challenge, a quorum
of the committee shall consist of a minimum of five members from five
different states.

8. Credentials shall be issued on site by the committee during normal
operating hours only at the usual place of business for the committee
or at the entrance to the convention floor to each delegate or
delegate-alternate who signs the Credentials Roll, and only when they
have been granted preliminary credentials by the granting in whole or
in part of an application to the committee and to delegates who
identify themselves with a state or school-issued picture ID, credit
card, or are identified by the chair or other officer of their state
delegation.

9. Until the adoption of the Credentials Report, the convention shall
consist of those applicants granted preliminary credentials by the
committee.

10. A report of the Credentials Committee actions shall be compiled and
presented to the convention for their adoption. A majority of the
convention may adopt the report as presented or as amended by a
majority of the convention. The effect of the adoption of the report
shall be to issue credentials to any delegate in possession of
preliminary credentials. The presiding officer of the convention is
authorized to appoint doorkeepers who shall have the power to assist
the Credentials Committee in recovering any preliminary credentials
issued by the committee, but not affirmed by the convention.

B. DELEGATE CREDENTIALS AND CHALLENGE FORMS

The Credentials Committee shall have the power to develop and adopt
such forms and other materials as may be consistent with this policy as
will facilitate the conduct of the credentialing process and fully
describe to parties wishing to credential a delegation the requirements
for successfully credentialing at the convention. The Credentials
Committee shall have the power to develop and adopt such forms and
other materials, which consistent with this policy will facilitate the
conduct of the challenge process and fully describe to petitioners
wishing to challenge the committee's actions the criteria for the
resolution of credentials challenges.

C. TIMELINE

1. The Steering Committee of the Green Party of the United States shall
publish this policy and a call for nominations to the Credentials
Committee not earlier than fifteen months prior to the next Quadrennial
Presidential Nominating Convention, nor later than twelve months prior
to such convention or two weeks after the adoption of this policy. The
committee may begin to conduct business once the National Committee of
the Green Party of the United States has certified the results of the
election of members to the Credentials Committee. The Secretary of the
Green Party of the United States shall serve as custodian of all
committee correspondence and applications until the committee begins to
operate and elects a clerk and co-chairs.

2. The committee shall publish a "Call for Applications for Delegate
Credentials" not later than four weeks after the committee may be
elected and seated.

3. The committee shall conduct its business online using an archived
list serve to which any state party may designate observers, and may
take decisions online by email poll or a voting application approved
for the conduct of party business in order to facilitate preliminary
actions on any applications that may be filed with the committee.

4. The deadline for postmarking an application or challenge to be
considered prior to the convention shall be forty-five days prior to
the convening of the next Quadrennial Presidential Nominating
Convention.

5. The committee shall convene at the convention site no later than
twenty-four hours prior to the convening of the Quadrennial
Presidential Nominating Convention.

D. PROCESS FOR CONSIDERATION OF LATE APPLICATIONS

Any application which is not submitted to the committee by the filing
deadline may be considered by the Credentials Committee if the
applicant has requested and been granted an extension of the filing
deadline prior to that deadline or with the consent of a 2/3 majority
of the committee. The committee shall grant such an extension if a
majority of the committee finds that the application for an extension
has demonstrated that the functioning of the applicants state law
operates to make meeting that deadline and serving the internal
democracy of the party mutually exclusive or if a 2/3 super-majority
finds that equity and justice in the credentialing process would be
served by granting the application for an extension.

VIII. CHALLENGES

A. HOW INITIATED

Any three Greens, who are either registered with or a member of a Green
Party from the state whose credentials they seek to challenge, any
three or more delegates extended preliminary credentials by the
Credentials Committee or any state delegation may initiate a challenge
to the preliminary credentials of a delegate or delegation by filing
with the Credentials Committee four copies of an affidavit entitled
"Challenge to the Credentials of the Delegation from the State of
_________", which by oath or affirmation attests to the accuracy of its
contents and states that either 1) a state party is not qualified under
the rules to elect and seat a delegation, 2) the number of delegates
issued preliminary credentials by the committee is more than or less
than the number the delegation is entitled to under the rules or 3) an
individual delegate issued preliminary credentials is not entitled
under the rules to serve as a delegate.

The Credentials Committee may only consider a challenge if it was filed
within thirty calendar days of either a) the publication on the website
of the Credentials Committee of the minutes documenting the granting of
the challenged application, or b) the granting of the application
making one or more challengers eligible to file the challenge, unless a
two-third majority of the committee grants a motion to extend the
deadline which motion argues that equity and justice in the
credentialing process would be served by the committee's consideration
of the attached challenge.

Each challenge shall make specific reference to the application
challenged, citing the seats challenged and stating its claim that the
preliminary recommendation of the Credentials Committee should be
reconsidered. Any petitioner filing such an affidavit may file as well
four copies of any attachments intended to support or make their case.
If such an affidavit is filed twenty-one or more days prior to the
convention, it may be filed by email and by mail, with the clerk of the
Credentials Committee. Any challenge initiated after that date may be
filed with the committee at its regular place of business during normal
operating hours at the convention.

Once a day, and one hour before the convention convenes each day, the
committee shall convene to consider any challenge to the granting of
preliminary credentials which has been recommended by a Challenge Panel
of the Credentials Committee. A quorum of this committee shall consist
of a majority of the committee members who have checked-in with the
committee at its booth or office as being on-site and ready to work and
who have not yet left the convention. A majority of the committee
voting may grant or deny, in whole or in part, a challenge of an
application for credentials, as it was presented or as amended by a
majority of the committee.

B. CRITERIA FOR RESOLUTION

Whenever any challenge is considered by the committee, the question
before the committee shall be: "Does a preponderance of the evidence
compel us to reconsider our action on the challenged application and
reach a different result?'

C. HEARINGS

1. Whenever the committee has received a challenge, it shall appoint
five of its members to serve as a Challenge Panel. Both the challenger
and the respondent shall be heard as well as any other witness called
by a party to the challenge or otherwise granted a hearing by a
majority of the panel or of the committee of the whole. First the
petitioners bringing the affidavit shall make their case presenting any
exhibits relevant to the proceeding, subject to cross-examination and
objections to the relevance of the evidence. Then the delegation whose
application is challenged or, in the case of a challenge by a party to
the committee's action on its own application, the spokesperson for the
committee shall respond to the challenge, presenting any exhibits
relevant to the proceeding, subject to cross-examination and objections
to the relevance of the evidence.

2. No testimony shall be heard on-site unless notice of a hearing shall
have been posted for three hours in the same manner and at the same
places as is normally required for Credential Committee meetings.

3. In the event that deliberations on the challenge occur online, an
archived list serve shall be established for each challenge heard, in
which the hearing officers, any parties to the action and any other
witnesses shall have writing privileges and any member of the
Credentials Committee and any delegate granted preliminary credentials
by the committee shall have password access to web archives of the
hearing. Any exhibits offered as a part of the challenge, not already
in the record of the application, shall be made available online by the
clerk as if it were an application to the committee.

4. The presiding hearing officer shall initiate a thread on any
procedural motion in which all subscribers with write authority may
participate to make and respond to procedural motions. Each party shall
initiate a thread with a subject: "Arguments for the
(Challenger/Respondent)" and one called "Testimony of _________" for
each witness in which each hearing officer and all parties may examine
and cross-examine. The challenger shall have one week to present their
testimony through the list serve and may call and examine any delegate
granted preliminary credentials, any officer of a party whose
application is challenged or with the consent of the Challenge Panel,
another witness who can contribute relevant evidence which would not be
in the record without their participation. The parties may use prepared
interrogatories or may submit questions one at a time, as they prefer.
Any member of the hearing panel may put a question to any witness or
party in the appropriate thread. All witnesses or people submitting
information to the Credentials Committee shall publicly state, "I
publicly state that what I'm about to say is true."

5. Any of these rules may be suspended with the consent of both parties
and the hearing officers. At the conclusion of the hearings, the
hearing officers shall have one week to deliberate within the list
serve before taking a vote on a resolution to the challenge.

D. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

The committee, when in receipt of a challenge shall serve the complaint
on the delegation challenged and schedule the matter for preliminary
consideration at the next meeting of the committee or if filed two or
more weeks prior to the convening of the convention shall be put to the
committee consistent with its practices for handling business online.
At a preliminary hearing on a challenge, if the respondent has filed
their response or if prior to the convention two weeks have elapsed
since the challenge was filed or if at the convention, 24 hours have
elapsed, the committee may rule on the challenge with the consent of
both parties, or may appoint a Challenge Panel of five hearing officers
to hear the evidence and make its report back to the committee.

Any member of the Credentials Committee who resides in the state which
is the subject of a challenge, or is challenging the seating of any
other delegates, shall recuse themselves from the consideration of any
procedural or substantive question related to such a challenge. The
committee shall not appoint to any challenge panel a committee member
who resides in either the state whose credentials are being challenged
or a state whose delegate is a challenger and a party to the action.

Both challenger and challenged may provide to the credentials hearing
panel a copy of any state law or rule upon which their challenge or
rebuttal is based. With regard to any challenge to the assertion of
Green activity as defined in this document, challenged Green parties
claiming delegates in the Green activity category may provide
reasonably objective proof of such activity, including but not limited
to: signature petitions, newspaper/periodical articles or
advertisements, public announcements of Green events, internal
publications, mailings, etc, record of media appearances, public or
government proceedings, agendas and prepared testimony or statements,
etc., including mention of the Green Party or its representatives as
well as the dates and names of publications and such proceedings.

At the preliminary hearing, or at a subsequent hearing after the report
of the challenge panel, the committee shall consider the question for
each party, seat or delegate challenged: "Does a preponderance of the
evidence compel us to reconsider our action on the challenged
application and reach a different result?"

If a majority votes in the negative, the challenge is denied and the
challenger may appeal to the convention. If the majority of the
committee votes in the affirmative, the challenge is granted and the
respondent may appeal to the convention. If the challenge is granted,
the seats or delegates challenged are then subject to the
reconsideration of the committee and the committee may hear motions for
the granting or denial of credentials for any challenged seat or
delegate.

E. CONVENTION CONSIDERATION OF APPEALS TO A CHALLENGE

After the consideration of the Credentials Committee report, the
convention shall consider any challenge where 33% or more of the
committee has filed a minority report recommending convention action
and may by majority vote choose to consider any challenge where 10% or
more of the committee has filed a minority report recommending
convention action.

Resources

Contacts:
Hugh Escho
Audrey Clement

References

None

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