Green Party of the United States - National Committee Voting

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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	444
Proposal	Bylaw Amendment to Provide for On-Line Steering Committee Election to end at ANM
Presenter	Steering Committee
Floor Manager	Mike Feinstein
Phase	Closed
Discussion	03/08/2010 - 03/21/2010
Voting	03/22/2010 - 03/28/2010
Result	Adopted
Presens Quorum	31 0.6666
Consens Quorum	64 0.6666 of Yes and No Votes

Background

After electing the Steering Committee (SC) during its Annual National Meeting (ANM) from 2001 to 2008, the National Committee (NC) passed proposal #389 in 2009 to hold the annual election two weeks after the ANM.

This timing change has had several unanticipated negative consequences, including removing the opportunity for newly elected and outgoing SC members to meet in person at the ANM for a debriefing and orientation. It also has eliminated a critical opportunity for newly elected and incumbent SC members to meet in person and get to know each other, face-to-face in a group setting, before meeting exclusively via email and teleconference over the next year. The later starting date has also meant new SC members get a later start on the draft budget process, putting more time stress on that very labor intensive process.

The proposal below would amend the bylaws in the following ways:

- Continue to hold the SC election on-line for one week, as with #389, but start it on the Saturday before the ANM and conclude it on late Saturday afternoon during the ANM. Under this format, the results could be announced at the ANM and the new SC could know who is elected and meet in person on Sunday, and be officially seated after the close of the ANM. To facilitate this earlier election, this proposal also establishes an earlier timeline for the nomination period and clarifies that nominations are made to the NC Votes list and must be accepted by the nominee to become valid.

- Votes will be cast on the GPUS voting page, but made public only upon the conclusion of the voting period. Unlike in the 2009 SC election, the actual rankings of all NC voters would be published after the conclusion of the final vote.

- Since the SC election-section being amended contains SC vacancies, and since the text governing vacancies is actually spread over both the Bylaws and the Rules and Procedures, this proposal consolidates the text from both into the Bylaws. It also adds a definition for what constitutes a vacancy, as there currently is none. That new definition would be that a vacancy shall exist 'when a seat was not filled in an election; when a member has submitted a written statement of resignation to the National Committee Votes List; is recalled, is no longer a Green Party member or dies.'

- The term of the Treasurer would begin/end at a different time than the other SC members, about one month later, so that the complex state of the party's finances would not be just handed over without sufficient orientation/training. The outgoing Treasurer would still be accountable to the party in the way as before, but would spend one month working with the newly elected Treasurer to that person would be up to speed when taking over the position and most directly overseeing the party's finances.

- Since the SC election-section being amended contains recalls of SC members, this proposal doesn't change the text, but does provide renumbering.

Proposal

That the existing ARTICLE VI. SELECTION, ELECTION, AND REMOVAL OF OFFICERS of the GPUS Bylaws be replaced with the following text

ARTICLE VI STEERING COMMITTEE ELECTIONS

6.1. Nomination

6-1.1 Between seventy-five and eighty days before the Annual National Meeting, the Secretary shall publish a call for nominations for Steering Committee members to the National Committees Votes list. The call shall contain the job description for each position, as is described in the the GPUS Rules and Procedures, and a copy of this Article.

6-1.2 Nominations may be made by any National Committee member or alternate, including the candidate. Nominations shall be considered made when posted to the National Committee Votes List. Nominations shall be considered accepted when posted as such to the National Committee Votes List by the candidate. Self-nominations shall be considered accepted when made.

6-1.3 The deadline for nominations shall be 28 days before the Annual National Meeting.

6-1.4 If no Annual National Meeting is held, the Secretary shall publish the call for nominations on the third Monday of May and the deadline for nominations shall be at the conclusion of Sunday six weeks later.

6-1.5 Candidates are strongly encouraged to submit a candidate statement to the National Committee Votes List, no later than the commencement of the discussion period. The statement should address performance of the position sought, as its duties and responsibilities are defined in the GPUS Rules and Procedures, and contain a biography of relevant experiences. Candidates are encouraged to submit video material in support of their candidacy.

6-2 Discussion and Vote

6-2.1 Discussion shall commence 21 days before the Annual National Meeting. Voting shall commence on the Saturday the week before the Annual National Meeting and conclude on the Saturday of the Annual National Meeting, at 5pm in the time zone in which the meeting is held.

6-2.2 Co-chairs shall be elected in a single Ranked Choice Voting election according to the process described in the GPUS Rules and Procedures, Article VII.

6-2.3 The Secretary and Treasurer shall be elected in separate elections using Instant Run-Off Voting, according to the process described in the GPUS Rules and Procedures, Article VII.

6-2.4 Votes for Co-chair, Secretary and Treasurer shall be cast on the GPUS voting page, but made public only upon the conclusion of the voting period.

6-2.5 The terms of the newly elected Co-chairs and Secretary shall commence upon the conclusion of the Annual National Meeting.

6-2.6 The term of the newly elected Treasurer shall commence on the first of the month that occures at least four weeks after the conclusion of the Annual National Meeting. During this time the outgoing Treasurer would be accountable to the party as before, but would spend approximately one month working with the newly elected Treasurer to understand the party's finances so that person would be prepared to directly oversee them upon assuming office.

6-3 Vacancy

6-3.1 A vacancy shall exist when a seat was not filled in an election; when a member has submitted a written statement of resignation to the National Committee Votes List; is recalled, is no longer a Green Party member or dies.

6-3.2 Any vacancy that occurs within thirty days after a regular election for Co-chair, Treasurer or Secretary, shall be filled by recounting the ballots from the election which elected that member, except that the vacating member's name shall be deleted from all ballots. The first candidate accruing sufficient votes to surpass the winning threshold in the recount, that was not elected to office in the original count, shall fill the vacancy. If more than one vacancy occurs at the same time, this process shall continue until all vacant seats are filled. If such a recount fails to resolve a vacancy, the Steering Committee shall conduct a special election to fill the seat until the next regularly scheduled election for that position.

6-3.3 If a vacancy occurs after thirty days after a regular election for Co-chair, Treasurer or Secretary, the Steering Committee shall conduct a special election to fill the seat for the remainder of the term until the next regularly scheduled election for that position.

6-3.4 If a special election is necessary to fill a vacancy, the Steering Committee shall call for an online election, with a nomination period of three weeks to commence on the next regular starting date as defined in Article VI of the Rules and Procedures, followed by a two-week discussion period and a one-week vote.

Section 6-4 Recall

6-4.1 Any proposal to recall a Steering Committee member must be co-sponsored by a number of delegates equal to at least one-fifth of the National Committee, coming from at least one-fifth of the total number of state Green Parties and caucuses represented on the National Committee. Only one Steering Committee member can be proposed to be recalled with each proposal.

6-4.2 A recall proposal shall be considered submitted when it is posted to the National Committee Votes list and copied to the Secretary. The Secretary shall confirm within 48 hours of its receipt whether the requisite conditions specified in 6-4.1 and 6-5.2 have been met and shall report this to the National Committee Votes List. If the position proposed for recall is the Secretary, co-sponsors shall forward their proposal to the Co-Chairs and the Co-Chairs shall confirm the conditions instead. If the Secretary or Co-Chairs respectively, find that the conditions have not been met, they must approve findings that state how the conditions have not been met as part of their report to the National Committee Votes List.

6-4.3 All recall proposals shall be allotted three weeks for discussion and one week for voting. Discussion shall begin on the next regular starting date as defined in Article VI of the Rules and Procedures, after it has been confirmed that the proposal has requisite support. The vote shall be conducted online, even if an Annual National Meeting falls within the specified window. Quorum shall be two-thirds of member state Green Parties and caucuses, and the threshold for recall shall be two-thirds of those casting yes or no votes.

6-4.4 If the National Committee does not approve a recall proposal, no individual who brought the proposal forward may co-sponsor a new one against the same Steering Committee member until at least 90 days after the completion of the aforementioned vote.

Resources

Bylaw change would become effective upon passage.

References

GPUS Bylaws, ARTICLE VI. SELECTION, ELECTION, AND REMOVAL OF OFFICERS http://www.gp.org/documents/bylaws.shtml#article6

Proposal #389 http://green.gpus.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=389

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