*Please send your discussion comments to gpca-votes@sfgreens.org <gpca-votes@sfgreens.org>* Discussion has begun for the following GPCA SGA ranked choice vote: Ranked Choice Vote ID #160 Ranked Choice Vote *Bylaws Amendment - Elections Timing/Eligibility/Venue for GPUS Delegation (*Conditional)* Ranked Choice Vote Administrators: Victoria Ashley, Brian Good, Laura Wells, Eric Brooks, Mike Goldbeck Discussion 02/12/2018 - 03/25/2018 Voting 03/26/2018 - 04/01/2018 Voting ends at Midnight Pacific Time ***Please note: Currently, the final results of the vote to send this item to the SGA are in dispute, meaning this item may be removed from the SGA election if it is found not to have met the relevant vote threshold.* *Background* This is proposal that the Delegation would send to the GPCA Standing General Assembly. The proposal is primarily a housekeeping proposal with four objectives, which would be accomplished by related changes in the GPCA Bylaws. Some of the changes are motivated by the fact that this section of GPCA Bylaws was not updated when the GPCA Standing General Assembly (SGA) was created. Before the SGA, the Delegation was elected at a General Assembly (GA). Since then, it is elected via the SGA. But the Delegation Bylaws still refer to the GA. The same thing applies about filling unscheduled vacancies in the Delegation. In the old days, they were filled at a GA. Now they are filled by the SGA. The Delegation bylaws should be updated to reflect this. Note in both these cases, the proposed language in this proposal uses the same language that is already currently used in GPCA Bylaws to describe SGA elections for the Coordinating Committee, that would be used here to describe SGA elections for the Delegation. This ensures consistency in language throughout our party rules, so there is no confusion on how what our processes are. Third, the Delegation section of the GPCA Bylaws has abbreviations that now are spelled out in the rest of GPCA Bylaws as of the 2013 changes. This proposal would make the spelling in the Delegation Bylaws consistent with the rest of the GPCA Bylaws. Finally, this proposal would clarify that one needs to be a Green Party member to file to run for the Delegation. Here are those four changes explained in more detail, with appropriate links to current documents as reference: The first objective of this proposal would remove a contradiction in the Bylaws between 7-6.2 (http://www.cagreens.org/bylaws/2016-07-03#Section_7-6_ Standing_General_Assembly , most recently updated on 7/3/2016), which requires that elections for both the GPCA state Coordinating Committee and the GPCA's GPUS Delegation be conducted by the Standing General Assembly, and 12-4 (http://www.cagreens.org/bylaws/2016-07-03#Section_12-4_Elections, most recently updated 10/3/06, written before the advent of the Standing General Assembly ) which specifies that elections to the GPUS Delegation be conducted at the General Assembly. In practice since the advent of the Standing General Assembly, elections for the GPUS Delegation have been conducted via the Standing General Assembly, in compliance with 7-6.2. Therefore this new proposal would remove the old language about the GPUS Delegation elections being conducted at the General Assembly and change that to the Standing General Assembly.. The second objective of this proposal would add consistency in how unscheduled, mid-term vacancies are filled for seats on the GPCA's GPUS Delegation. Currently there is language in the Bylaws 8-4.5 ( http://www.cagreens.org/bylaws/2016-07-03#Section_8-4_Elections) specifying the process for filling such vacancies on the Coordinating Committee via the Standing General Assembly, while the language for filling such vacancies on the GPUS Delegation still refers to filling them at the General Assembly. This proposal would amend that to provide for the same Standing General Assembly text for the Delegation process as for the Coordinating Committee process. The third objective of this proposal would address provide for consistency in abbreviations and capitalization in Article 12, as compared to the rest of the bylaws. When the Bylaws were amended in 2013, abbreviations were eliminated except when referring to the GPCA (Green Party of California) and the GPUS (Green Party of the United States), such that committee names and other internal organs of the GPCA were spelled out in full and capitalized in their first letter. This proposal would apply that same formatting to Article 12 for the Delegation. The fourth objective is to clarify that to be eligible to run for the GPCA's GPUS Delegation, one must be a Green Party member in the state of California as defined in Article 3 of the GPCA Bylaws ( http://www.cagreens.org/bylaws/2016-07-03#Article_3._Membership), both at the time of application for the position and to remain so through the conclusion of the election. This is accomplished by amending Article 12 Delegates to the Green Party of the United States to specify this condition of eligibility. Why reference Article 3 in this clarification? Note that GPCA Bylaws 3-2 specifies that only registered Green Party members in the state of California may serve on the Coordinating Committee, whereas other GPCA members as defined in 3-1 may serve as members of the GPCA's GPUS Delegation ("County Organizations may also extend GPCA membership to county residents who are not otherwise eligible to register to vote in California, but who affirm in writing the Ten Key Values and the GPCA's purpose, and meet other criteria established by the GPCA and/or the county organization. For such membership to be valid within the parameters defined in these bylaws, the County Organization must forward minutes to the Coordinating Committee of the meeting at which such membership was extended.”). Therefore referencing Article 3 here removes any confusion over whether being on the Delegation is only restricted to registered Greens, or it also includes other Greens as defined in the party’s bylaws. *Proposal* That GPCA Bylaw Article 12 be amended as follows: Part 1: That Article 12-4 be amended from its current text 12-4.1 Regular Elections At each GA, delegates and alternates shall be elected for two-year terms. Elections shall be by 7-1.8 Choice Voting. The delegation may recommend candidates to the GA. Recommendations shall be made with attention to gender, ethnic, and geographic balance. 12-4.2 Filling Unscheduled Vacancies If delegate and alternate seats become vacant in the middle of a term the GA may elect replacements at its first meeting following the vacancy and at subsequent meetings until the end of the term. Elections shall be by 7-1.8 Choice Voting and those elected in this manner shall serve the remainder of the term. to read as follows 12-4.1 Regular Elections Elections shall be conducted each year by the Standing Green Assembly by secret ballot, using Ranked Choice Voting with a No Other Candidate option. There shall be a six week discussion period beginning on the first Monday of May and the one week voting period commencing immediately thereafter. 12-4.2 To be eligible, candidates must submit an application to the Coordinating Committee by the last Monday of April, be a Green Party in the state of California as defined in Article 3 at the time of application for the position and remain so through the conclusion of the election. Any candidate who fails to remain a member of the Green Party in the state of California during this period shall be removed from the ballot prior to the commencement of the voting period, should their membership in the Green Party as define in change prior to the commencement of the voting period; and should their registration from Green Party change during the voting period, the votes shall be calculated without inclusion of said candidate. 12-4.3 Filling Mid-Term Vacancies Upon a mid-term vacancy occurring on the Delegation (but not a vacancy occurring as a result of any seats not being filled during an annual regular election), the Coordinating Committee shall publish a Notice of Vacancy and Call for Candidate Submissions to the active County Organizations, for candidates seeking to fill the remainder of the vacated term. The Notice shall contain the timing of the submission, discussion and election process, and the time remaining in the term for which a vacancy has occurred. The Notice shall be published within two days of the vacancy occurring. The submission deadline shall be 21 days from the publishing of the Notice. The discussion period shall begin on the first Monday after the close of the submission period. No vacancy shall be noticed to be filled if from the resultant timeline above, the seat would be filled after the first Monday of the April before the end of the vacated term. Part 2: That Article 12 be amended such that every place where the Coordinating Committee is referred to as the 'CC', that 'CC' be replaced by the full two words 'Coordinating Committee'; that where the word 'delegation' is written in lower case, that it be replaced by 'Delegation'; that where the GPUS National Committee is referred to as 'NC', that it be replaced by National Committee; and that where the General Assembly is referred to as 'GA', that it be replaced by 'General Assembly'. Full details will be available at: http://www.sjcgreens.org/sga_vote_bylaw_interpretations *Please send your comments to gpca-votes@cagreens.org <gpca-votes@cagreens.org>.*