Democratic Call for Election

February 29, 2020 by admin | News

THE HENRICO COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE WILL CONDUCT AN ELECTION FOR THE VICE-CHAIR FOR PRECINCT OPERATIONS

ON MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020

Following are the “Democratic Call for Election” and the “Rules for Election of HCDC Vice Chair for Precinct Operations” which, together, will govern the election.

It is critical that we have a quorum for the meeting on March 9th. Please plan to attend.

DEMOCRATIC CALL FOR ELECTION
During the regular committee meeting of the
Henrico County Democratic Committee

Whereas it is the duty of the Henrico County Democratic Committee to issue the Call for Election for the purpose of electing the 2020-2022 vice-chair of Precinct Operations. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Henrico County Democratic Committee hereby issues a Call for Election to convene at 7:30, doors open at 6:45, March 9, 2020 at The Board Meeting Room, 4301 East Parham Road, for the purpose of electing the 2020-2022 Vice Chair of Precinct Operation and breaking the standing tie from December 9, 2019. The election on December 9 ended in a tie, and both the Party Plan and the HCDC by-laws are silent on how to break a tie. Therefore, Robert’s Rules is the governing document and they instruct the tie is broken by a revote. Only those who were properly elected as members of the HCDC on December 9, 2019 at the re-organization caucus may participate and vote in this election. To most replicate what Robert’s requires, the election will be held in the same location as the one on the aforementioned date. The following provisions shall govern the election, to wit:

1. Notice Requirements
The Henrico County Democratic Committee shall cause to be published the time, date and location of the Election at least 7 days prior, but not more than 2 weeks before said election. All notices shall be published on the DPVA website and on the HCDC website.

2. The election shall be held at The Henrico County Board Room, 4301 East Parham Road at the regularly scheduled meeting. Doors will open at 6:45pm and doors will close at 7:30pm. All those in line to vote at 7:30 pm shall be allowed to vote. Anyone entering the line after that time may not fill out a participation form or vote. All registered voters in Henrico County, who are willing to sign the caucus participation form (see Appendix A), AND who were eligible to participate on December 9, 2019 when the voting ended in a tie, shall be allowed to participate. The candidate with the most votes at the close of the caucus shall be declared the Vice Chair of Precinct Operations.

2. Conduct of the Election
The clock on the wall in the board room or, if no clock exists, the cellphone of the chair of the Henrico County Democratic committee shall be the official clock of the election. The chair of the Henrico County Democratic Committee shall oversee the election. She will publicly announce the time at 7:30 pm. At 7:30pm, the chair shall note the last person in line to vote. No person who enters the line after 7:30pm (at the chair’s designation) shall be allowed to vote.
Individuals’ names will be checked against the official roster from the re-organization caucus of December 9, 2019. Those persons only will receive a participation form which will be filled out and traded for a ballot.

Prior to the start of the caucus, the county committee chair shall appoint a Tellers’ Committee to count the ballots. The Tellers Committee shall consist of one person designated by Frank Callahan, one person designated by Matt Banfield and two persons selected by the Chair.
All participants in the caucus must fill out a participation form stating that they are registered voters in Henrico County and that they are Democrats.

3. Candidate Requirements
Matt Banfield and Frank Callahan are the only two persons eligible to run. Because this election is a continuation of the election that concluded in a tie on December 9, 2019 and they were the only two candidates properly prefiled for that election.

4. Affirmative Action
It shall be the duty of each committee officer and committee member to take all feasible steps to encourage broad participation from those eligible to vote in this election. Discrimination on the basis of race, sex, age, color, national origin, religion, ethnic identity or economic status in the delegate selection process is prohibited.

5. Call Distribution
It shall be the duty of the Henrico County Democratic Committee Chair to
distribute a copy of the Call to Election to any and all individuals who are eligible to participate in this election. It shall further be the duty of the Henrico Democratic Committee Chair to cause this Call to election to be publicized through the news media of the County as is feasible.

Adopted 2/26/2020

Lizzie Drucker Basch, Chair HCDC

Rules for Election of HCDC Vice Chair of Precinct Operations
 
1. The HCDC chair will serve as chair of the vice-chair election.
 
2. The chair will appoint a secretary, a parliamentarian and a tellers’ committee at the onset of the meeting.
3. Only those who properly filed and were elected to membership in the HCDC on December 9, 2019 are eligible to vote and participate in this election.
4. Upon admission to the meeting, individuals’ names will be checked against those who were voted in to HCDC membership on December 9, 2019 and if their names appear on the membership list compiled from that caucus on December 9, 2019 at The Henrico County Board Room, they will be given an election participation form. Individuals who may have joined the HCDC subsequent to that caucus are NOT eligible to participate in this election.
5. The chair will read the names of those who have submitted participation forms in a timely fashion as prescribed above.
6. No other individual may vote in the election because this election is required by Robert’s Rules of Order to resolve the tie vote that occurred the evening of the original election.
7. Frank Callahan and Matt Banfield are the only two individuals who are eligible to run for Vice Chair of Precinct Operations as they are the only two who were properly prefiled when this election was initiated on December 9, 2019.
8. The doors to the election will open at 6:45pm for participants to get forms and sign in. Doors will close at 7:30 pm. Anyone admitted after closing will NOT be able to participate in the election or fill out a participation form.  The clock on the wall will serve as the official clock of the election.
9. The chair will announce when there is only five minutes left until doors close.
10. The HCDC will prepare the ballots, only listing the two individuals above who have filed appropriately and in a timely fashion.
11. The Chair will present the Rules for the Election of Vice Chair of Precinct Operations as voted on and approved by the Executive Board. The Rules may not be amended at this meeting.
12. The HCDC Chair will read the names of the two individuals properly filed for chair aloud to the meeting.
13. The candidates will be given 2 minutes to re-introduce themselves given the length of time elapsed since the December 9, 2019 meeting.
14. The chair will then call for the vote and the tellers’ committee will distribute the prepared ballots.
15. Ballots will list both individuals in alphabetical order. No write-ins will be accepted or counted.  Ballots must be signed, as prescribed by the Democratic National Committee Charter.
16. Voters must turn in their participation form to a member of the Tellers Committee and trade it for a ballot by walking to the front of the room. The Tellers Committee will sit at the front of the room so everyone can observe the process. If an individual is unable to walk up to get a ballot, a member of the tellers Committee will come to him/her and make the trade (participation form for ballot)
17. The ballot box will also be in front of the room, staffed by the Tellers’ Committee. The ballot box will have a slit in the top for tellers to submit the ballots.
18. After voting, the chair will ask voters to hold up their ballots and the Tellers Committee will circulate around the room, picking up ballots. Voters may pass their ballots to the end of the row to facilitate the gathering by the Tellers Committee.
19. The meeting will proceed while the ballots for vice chair of precinct operations are counted.
20. The Tellers Committee will first count the ballots to ensure the numbers of ballots cast does not exceed the number of eligible voters.
21. Should there be more ballots than forms, a member of the Tellers Committee shall blindly remove the excess ballots and discard them.
22. Each campaign is entitled to two observers of the counting process, should they wish.
23. The ballots will be counted twice for accuracy.
24. In the case of a tie, the tellers committee will redistribute the participation forms and the process listed above will be repeated.
25. The winner shall then be announced prior to the conclusion of the meeting.
26. After the winner is announced, the ballots and participation forms shall be put in separate envelopes, sealed, signed by the chair, and maintained for 30 days.
27. The Seventh and Fourth CD committees shall have persons there to assist in facilitating the caucus.
28. The Seventh and Fourth CD committee members there shall address and resolve any disagreements, challenges or concerns.

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