The following proposed amendments to the Bylaws and Articles of Association have been released by the State Board Articles of Association Committee with their unanimous endorsement. This post constitutes notice as required under Article X of the Articles of Association for any amendments to be adopted. The State Board may vote on them any time after May 25, 2018.
In addition to the amendments herein proposed, the State Board will also be asked to formally adopt the revised Articles of Association passed at the 2018 Annual Convention as they have been transcribed to the LPD website. No substantive changes were made during this transcription from those adopted at the convention, only minor modifications have been made to the formatting as necessary to display them on an HTML web page and facilitate easy reading. Adopting them directly as published here is a formality intended to ensure the exact published text is properly adopted in accordance with both the old and new Articles, and that the publicly published Articles can be relied upon by the membership to govern the party.
Please feel free to submit your comments on the proposed amendments below, or discuss them with your State Board representatives.
1. MEMBERSHIP
Amend Article VI:
Any person who is currently registered to vote in Delaware as a Libertarian and agrees to abide by the terms of these articles is a member of the LPD.
The previous AoA required members to agree to abide by the AoA. This provision was inadvertently left out of the revision and may prove critical to preventing a hostile takeover of the LPD by registered Libertarians who do not choose to abide by the rules and traditions of the party and break its continuity of leadership, jeopardizing our status as the “regularly organized and constituted governing authority of the party”.
2. NOTICE
Amend Article IX:
- Posting on the LPD Facebook page
- Posting to the LPD Facebook group
- Posting on the LPD webpage
Most people will not have the ability to post from the LPD Facebook page, to the webpage, or to the collected email list. Facebook notification settings also allow members to receive notifications when something is posted to the group. While it is unlikely many amendments or other processes requiring notice will be initiated without the cooperation of those who do have permission, allowing use of the FB group to constitute notice opens these processes up to the general membership.
3. DISCIPLINARY ACTION
Amend Bylaw 4:
To remain in effect anyAny such sanctionmustmay bereviewed and confirmedappealed at the next State Convention and overturned by a majority of the members present at the Convention with an up or down vote.
Conventions should not generally become forums for second guessing the disciplinary decisions of the State Board, particularly since State Board sanctions against members at large will be exceptionally rare and only used when a member has become exceptionally disruptive and/or detrimental to the party’s interests. A requirement to devote convention time to relitigating these issues would only serve to further damage the party’s reputation. If an offending member cannot find an advocate to appeal their case at the convention, we should not have to devote time to them. If they cannot convince members to overturn their sanctions on their own time, we should not overturn them.
4. CONVENTION VOTES
Amend Bylaw 3.D:
Voting for candidates, delegates, and officers of the executive committee will be by secret ballot. Uncontested elections may be conducted by voice vote with “nay” votes indicating a vote for None of the Above.
Amend Article VIII:
Delegates to the national convention shall be elected by each member writing their slate of desired delegates on a secret ballot and with the delegates receiving the most votes being selected. Uncontested delegate elections need not be conducted by secret ballot.
Conducting secret ballot elections for these positions when the elections are uncontested is unnecessarily time consuming, and the chair should have the discretion to conduct the elections by voice vote, with a majority voting “nay” indicating the selection of “None of the Above”. This is traditionally how uncontested elections have been managed and conforms to the process outlined in Article VI of the old AoA.
5. CREDENTIALING
Amend Article VII:
They shall be responsible for certifying that all voting members of the convention meet the criteria outlined in the Articles of Association for membership in the Libertarian Party of Delaware and reporting the names and numbers to the convention members for approval by a quorum of the State Board.
Reporting the names and numbers to the entire convention for the entire convention to approve creates a circular authority. If the members themselves are not yet credentialed, they are not qualified to approve credentialing. A quorum of the State Board can be presumed to be qualified and present at the convention.
6. MAJORITY VOTE
Amend Article IV:
Unless stated otherwise a simple majority of members voting will be required to pass measures before the State Board.
This change clarifies that an abstention or a non-vote/absence is not equivalent to a “no”. A quorum of 40% is still required, and a majority of those present and voting must approve.
7. ONLINE VOTES
Append Bylaw 6:
By-Law 6: Online State Board Meetings
Any votes conducted online shall remain open for 48 hours unless a sufficient number of votes has been recorded to determine the result of the vote as if the entire State Board had responded, in which case the Chair may direct the Secretary to record remaining votes at their discretion. After 48 hours, votes shall be ruled on based on the quorum of members who have responded.
Online votes shouldn’t stay open forever waiting for stragglers to respond. After 48 hours, if a quorum of members has responded, the measure should be ruled on. If enough members record their votes prior to the expiration of the 48 hours, the measure may be ruled on immediately but the Chair may direct the Secretary to record the remaining votes anyway for accountability, informational, and protest purposes.
8. DEMOCRATIC
Amend Article II:
The Republican and Democratic parties dominate the exercise of electoral politics in the United States.
Proper name, not Rush Limbaugh’s pejorative.