Rulebook and Bylaws Proposals Three proposals submitted by Pete Schermerhorn for August 2001 GPMI State Quarterly Meeting 1) Voting Methods Proposal -- Rulebook 2) Proposed Membership Secretary as Officer of the state party 3) Committees Proposal - Bylaws =========================================================== 1) Voting Methods Proposal -- Rulebook This proposal is offered as a binding rule of the party, to be entered into the Rulebook. * Quorum to register votes is set at 10% or 15% of current party membership. * Abstentions do not count towards quorum. * Voting for bylaws and platform amendments as well as binding and non-binding resolutions of the party are by the method: Accept / Reject / Modify, requiring 2/3 majority for passage. * Officers, representatives, delegates, and nominees of the party are chosen by simple majority, using IRV where appropriate. NOTA is a viable option for this type of voting. The Greens long ago agreed that we are a consensus organization in all things, to the extent that we are able. There are many instances where consensus is not possible or not appropriate: for nominees for public office, officer and representative elections within the party, resolutions of the party, and bylaws and platform amendments. Pending other methods of voting being introduced, we need to settle as soon as possible on voting methods within the party. There are two distinct and separate things that people will be voting on at a statewide membership meetings and party caucuses: resolutions and amendments (Type I) and candidates (Type II). Type I votes are to be Accept / Reject / Modify / Abstain, whereas Type II votes are declarative: Candidate A, B, C, etc. or None of the Above (NOTA). NOTA is a viable option in a state party convention and in internal officer elections, as there is every indication that sometimes we do not want to choose those who have put themselves forward for an office, even if there are no other candidates. Every election should thus have balloting, even if there is only one name put forward, as NOTA may be chosen. When a vote is taken, there should be a respectable number of persons making the vote, i.e. a quorum of the membership as a whole, which should be set at some percentage of the party membership - this proposal calls for 10% for statewide membership meetings and 15% for state conventions. This is an easy number to arrive at; "x"% of the state party membership is a concrete number that is known to the Clearinghouse Coordinator, Meeting Manager, and Locals Liaison. Abstentions should not count towards quorum in a vote. If our quorum number is, say, 50, and 70 qualified voters are given ballots, then at least 50 of them must return ballots with a declarative vote, i.e., a candidate (or NOTA) or Accept / Reject / Modify. If Type I voting cannot reach a quorum, no decision is made, and alternative methods of voting, such as the locals polling process (or subsequent replacement processes) may be used, or the issue is postponed until quorum can be achieved. If Type II voting cannot reach quorum, then no candidate is chosen, and either the SCC appoints someone (in the case of internal votes) or no candidate for public office obtains a nomination. Having a binding quorum as well as disallowing abstentions (either 'passive', i.e. not voting, or 'active', i.e., declaring an abstention) to count towards quorum will discourage bringing votes when members are otherwise engaged at a meeting, reducing the possibility for misappropriation of vote procedures. All active abstentions and NOTA votes should be recorded, regardless, as they mean something in the analysis of votes as well. Submitted by Peter Schermerhorn, Huron Valley Greens ============================================================ 2) Proposed Membership Secretary as Officer of the state party: * Closely tracks memberships, including voting local declarations of members * Explains member rights and responsibilities * Sends out renewal notices * Reports membership figures * Maintains and updates the GPMI trifold brochure for recruiting * Encourages unaffiliated members to form or join locals, in conjunction with the Locals Liaison May take on extra duties if a direct voting system is developed: * Announces and tallies votes, ensuring only qualified voting members are counted Explanations: Tracking memberships: Membership Secretary is responsible for maintaining the database of current and past members, prompting renewal notices when needed, reporting dues figures to the Treasurer and the Budget Committee for their use, providing other officers with usable lists of current members, and being able to report total current members and voting member totals when asked. Explaining rights and responsibilities: New members need to have an idea of what they are joining when they join the party, and need more than just what they read on the trifold brochure as a guide to their rights and responsibilities. The Membership Secretary would make available to each member the Bylaws and Platform (sending by mail only when necessary), as well as keep each member informed of voting methods, format of statewide membership meetings, and the structure of the party (committees / locals / caucuses). Maintaining direct contact with members: There is every reason to suspect that some locals are not going to (or currently do) pass on information about what is happening at the state or national level. There needs to be some direct contact between the state party and its individual members, if only to let them know when something has changed. Many people in locals know nothing about state party politics (and may not care), but don't have a very good way of finding out. A membership gazette might be a useful tool (but perhaps not published by the Membership Secretary). As the State Central Committee will need to continue to expand to come into compliance with what state law will call for when our party reaches 'major' status, the Membership Secretary should be added as an officer position without removing an At-large position. Specific changes: Add Article IV, Section 8 (the title and bullets above, exclusive of the last) Renumber Article IV, Section 8 - 11 to 9 - 12 Submitted by Peter Schermerhorn, Huron Valley Greens =========================================================== 3) Committees Proposal - Bylaws The Green Party of Michigan needs to conserve its resources and efforts to better sustain a vigorous presence in the state. Therefore, the following proposal is offered: (Existing language of Article V, Section 1): All committee members other than the State Central Committee are self-selected. The State Central Committee with up to six at-large members are elected as in Article IV, Section 2. No at-large members may be selected for the State Central Committee while there is an empty officer position. Add to Article V, Section 1: i) All committees other than the State Central Committee are open to any member of the party. There is no upper limit on the size of committees, but any committee may limit its voting membership for purposes of feasible working size. The lower limit of members to keep a committee active is three. ii) All committees must make written or oral presentation at every statewide membership meeting. Those committees other than the SCC that cannot are to be considered inactive and are disbanded. iii) Standing committees may be formed only at a statewide membership meeting by a vote of 2/3 of the membership. Ad hoc committees may be formed as needed, and do not have the rights or restrictions of standing committees. iv) Committees other than the SCC may be disbanded at a statewide membership meeting by the membership, by a vote of 2/3. v) Standing committee rules and Chairs are selected in committee, and documentation of such will be forwarded to the Committee Manager. Remove Sections 5 and 6 from Article V (eliminating Media and Budget Committees), renumber Section 7 as Section 5. Submitted by Peter Schermerhorn, Huron Valley Greens ===========================================================