Bylaws Proposal: At-Large CC Election
(draft 5, 3/23/2001)

Contact: Ricardo Newbery, newbery@greens.org, 619.286.5807

The following are some proposed bylaw amendments drafted by the Bylaws Committee to enable the CC election changes outlined in the proposal approved during the December 2000 Plenary.

Paragraph numbers have been temporarily assigned but are not part of the proposal -- they are subject to change in the final bylaws document.

*** For readibility, this plain text version is split into old and new language. ***

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NEW LANGUAGE

Section 7-1. Coordinating Committee

7-1.1	Membership
The Coordinating Committee shall be composed of up to twenty voting members including fourteen regional representatives and up to six at-large representatives. There are ten regions as determined by the General Assembly. Two regional representatives are allocated to each of the four regions with the largest number of registered green party voters, as determined by the Liaison to the Secretary of State from the most current California Report of Registration available on January 1st of each year. One regional representative is allocated to each of the remaining six regions. Diversity and gender balance are encouraged through the election of at-large representatives. CC representatives are not eligible for the positions of Treasurer and Liaison to the Secretary of State. 

7-1.1.1	CC Elections and Term of Office
At the first General Assembly meeting of each year, elections shall be conducted for CC seats whose terms are scheduled to expire within the calendar year including three at-large seats and any expiring regional seats not filled by an alternate regional process (see selection of regional members, paragraph 7-1.4). CC representatives shall serve for a nominal term of two years or until their successors are elected. In any event, at-large representatives shall vacate their seats at the end of the term unless reelected, and regional representatives shall retain their seats beyond the end of the term unless replaced or recalled.

7-1.3	Duties and Authority  (no change)

7-1.4	Selection of Regional Members  (no change)

7-1.5	Alternate Members  (no change)

7-1.6	Selection of At-large Members
Candidates shall submit an application to the CC at least two months prior to the election of at-large CC representatives. The application shall consist of a detailed biography of the person seeking election and what they wish to accomplish as an at-large CC member. The CC shall forward, without prejudice, the applications to the active county organizations along with a full and detailed explanation of the voting procedure, including a description of the "No Other Candidate" (NOC) option and an encouragement to delegates to make their choices seriously and a reminder that delegates do not have to fill all seats unless they feel there are enough qualified candidates. The Coordinating Committee shall appoint three election officials and after the current and newly elected regional CC representatives have been announced and before the at-large CC representative election proceeds, the election officials shall present a full and detailed explanation of the voting procedure (as outlined above) to the General Assembly. The election officials shall then conduct the election as described in Paragraph 7-1.6.1, Choice Voting, if more than one candidate is running or as described in Paragraph 7-1.6.3, Approval Voting, if only one candidate is running.

7-1.6.1	Multiple Seat Election: Choice Voting
When two or more seats are open and two or more candidates seek office, a Choice Voting election shall be held. Each delegate shall be provided a written secret ballot containing the names of the candidates in random order. The ballot shall also include a "No Other Candidate" (NOC) option. The delegates shall vote by ranking the candidates along with the NOC option in order of preference. The ballots shall be tabulated utilizing a "choice" voting system with fractional transfers and a 1/4 threshold (a Droop threshold, 1/(n+1), with three open seats). No candidate shall be seated who does not cross the threshold before NOC. Choice Voting is the Single Transferable Vote (STV) form of proportional representation described in the International IDEA Handbook of Electoral System Design. (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). First published 1997. Second edition. Stockholm, Sweden).

7-1.6.2	Single Seat Election: Instant Runoff Voting
When only one seat is open and two or more candidates seek office, an Instant Runoff election shall be held. Each delegate shall be provided a written secret ballot containing the names of the candidates in random order. The ballot shall also include a "No Other Candidate" (NOC) option. The delegates shall vote by ranking the candidates along with the NOC options in order of preference. The ballots shall be tabulated utilizing instant runoff voting. No candidate shall be seated who does not cross the threshold before NOC..

7-1.6.3	Single Candidate Election: Approval Voting
When only one candidate seeks office, an Approval Voting election shall be held. Each delegate shall be provided a written secret ballot containing the name of the candidate seeking office. The ballot shall allow the opportunity to indicate a "yes" or "no" preference on the seating of the candidate. The candidate must receive "yes" votes on at least two-thirds (2/3) of ballots cast to be seated.

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OLD LANGUAGE

Section 7-1. Coordinating Committee

7-1.1	Membership and Term of Office
The State Coordinating Committee will be comprised of 20 voting members. Fourteen members will be selected to provide regional balance. 8 members will come from the largest regions (2 each), with regional size being calculated annually by number of registered green party voters on the 1st registration count after January 1st of each year. 6 members will come from the remaining regions (1 each). Members will also be balanced by gender, age, culture as much as possible and the committee will have 6 additional at large members who will be chosen with this balancing in mind. Voting members of the coordinating committee will serve a term of 1.5 years but shall not vacate their seat until the first business meeting of the General Assembly following the end of the 1.5 year term. In addition, the Liaison to the Secretary of State and the Treasurer shall be non-voting members of the State Coordinating Committee, and may not concurrently hold a voting seat on the Committee.

7-1.2	Active and Inactive Regions
When a region becomes inactive, as defined in Section 5-4 of these bylaws, the Coordinating Committee seats which it is entitled to elect shall become at-large seats. If the region later becomes active, it shall be entitled to elect members to the next available seat(s). 

7-1.3	Duties and Authority  (no change)

7-1.4	Selection of Regional Members  (no change)

7-1.5	Alternate members  (no change)

7-1.6	Selection of At-large Members
After the regional CC members have been chosen and announced to the General Assembly, whenever any of the At-large seats are vacant, the Coordinating Committee shall call for nominations and place the election of at-large members on the agenda of the General Assembly. The Coordinating Committee shall appoint three election officials to conduct the election in a manner consistent with the following specifications.
a)	Approval Voting  (moved)
b)	Instant Runoff Voting (IRV)  (moved)
c)	Choice Voting  (moved)

7-1.7	Liaison to the Secretary of State  (no change)

7-1.8	Treasurer  (no change)

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