Democratic Party of White County Bylaws

Democratic Party of White County Bylaws ARTICLE I: Name & Purpose This organization shall be known as the Democratic Party of White County (DPWC). The bylaws and all official acts and proceedings shall be binding on all officers, members and subordinate bodies where applicable. The mission of the Democratic Party of White County is to: 1. Build a strong County Party with emphasis on local-level engagement and activism to educate the community about the Democratic Party of Arkansas (DPA). 2. Recruit quality candidates to seek local, county, district, and statewide office. 3. Raise money to provide resources for county and statewide Democratic candidates. 4. Have an active role on the state level to express local concerns. 5. Maintain and grow the membership of the DPWC. 6. Elect members to the Democratic Party of Arkansas State Committee and participate in Democratic Conventions and activities of the DPA. ARTICLE II: Membership A. The DPWC shall be composed of members registered to vote in White County who are paid members in good standing and who file to join during the primary election filing deadline. B. At any time during the interim of the two-year State of Arkansas election cycle, additional members can join the DPWC, who shall agree to be bound by these bylaws and shall pay the prescribed membership dues. C. There shall be no absolute limit of the number of individuals who shall become members of the DPWC. D. Within ten days after organization of the new County Committee in January following the General Election, the Secretary of the DPWC shall forward a form provided by the DPA with the membership roster to the Secretary of the DPA showing the names and mailing addresses, email address, landline and mobile telephone numbers of its officers and members. Updates to the membership and officers list shall be made quarterly to the Secretary of the DPA. Dues shall be determined by the membership at a duly constituted meeting. There shall be a standing Executive Committee, consisting of the DPWC officers and DPA State Committee Representatives. The DPWC may expand membership of the Executive Committee as the need arises. Other committees shall be appointed by the chair, as needed, or as determined by the membership, at a duly constituted meeting. ARTICLE III: DPWC Officers The elected officers of the DPWC are: Chair, 1st Vice-Chair, 2nd Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. In accordance with DPA rules, the Chair and 1st Vice-Chair shall be of opposite sexes. A. The DPWC shall convene in January, immediately after the General Election for the purpose of electing officers. Officers and members serve for two year terms until the convening of the next officer election in January after the next General Election. B. The DPWC shall strive to reflect the diversity of the DPWC in the election of its officers. C. No person can occupy more than one office. 1

D. Officers of the County Committee must avoid public expressions of support, including campaign contributions, for candidates opposing Democratic nominees. E. Other officer positions may be created by majority vote of those present and voting. A. Chair - The Chair shall call and preside at all meetings of the DPWC; oversee the day-to-day affairs of the DPWC; serve as chairperson and voting member of the Executive Committee; serve as ex officio member on all committees; call meetings of the Executive Committee, when necessary; and make appointments to committees of the DPWC. B. 1 st Vice-Chair - The 1 st Vice-Chair shall preside at DPWC meetings in the absence of the Chair, shall coordinate programs at DPWC meetings that promote the purposes of the DPWC, and carry out such other duties as delegated by the Chair. C. 2 nd Vice-Chair - The 2 nd Vice-Chair, shall serve as interim secretary in the absence of the Secretary; and carry out such other duties as delegated by the Chair. The 2 nd Vice-Chair will also actively recruit members and help keep members involved. D. Secretary - The Secretary shall maintain accurate membership rolls of the DPWC; record all minutes and votes of DPWC regular and Executive Committee meetings and prepare them for consideration by the body at the subsequent meeting; preserve all important records and papers of the DPWC; and carry out such other duties as delegated by the Chair. E. Treasurer - The Treasurer shall maintain the financial records of the DPWC and provide written reports at regular meetings and with the Chair shall be a co-signature authority on any bank accounts and withdrawals. All records of the Treasurer shall be subject to audit at the request of the Chair or Executive Committee. F. Chair Emeritus - The Chair Emeritus is the immediate past Chair of the DPWC and shall serve as a counselor to the DPWC and the Executive Committee of the DPWC. Section 4 The elected officers and the Chair Emeritus shall constitute the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall carry out the business of the DPWC as designated by the DPWC and make decisions within its powers in the interim when the DPWC does not meet. It shall also serve as the budget committee for the organization and shall present to the DPWC a biennial budget for approval. Section 5 A vacancy in any office shall be filled at the next duly constituted meeting of the membership, which must take place within 30 days of the occurrence of the vacancy Section 6 An officer may be removed from office by a three-fourth majority vote of the membership at a duly constituted meeting for any reason ARTICLE IV: Election Commissioner County Election Commissioner(s) shall be elected in January immediately following the General Election. Candidate(s) for Election Commissioner shall be paid members in good standing. The office of the Election Commissioner shall not be combined with any other County Party offices. Within ten days of the date of electing the Election Commissioner, the Chair or Secretary shall notify the White County Clerk in writing the name(s) and address(es) of the member(s) selected to serve on the White County Board of Election Commissioners in accordance with state law. ARTICLE V: Meetings All meetings of the DPWC are open to all members of the Democratic Party regardless of race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or economic status. The DPWC shall hold at least four regular meetings in a non-election year and at least six meetings in an election year. A DPWC member who misses three or more consecutive 2

meetings shall be required upon notice to show good cause or may be dismissed from the Committee by its vote. The DPWC shall meet for regular meetings at the call of the Chair at such time and place as is designated in the call. Notice of call for meetings shall be mailed or emailed by the Chair or Secretary to the membership of the DPWC at least 10 days before the date of the meeting, provided that in case of an emergency, DPWC may be convened on two days notice. The news media within the County shall be informed thereof at the time of the calling of such meeting. The Executive Committee shall meet at the convenience of the Chair as necessary. A minimum of 20% of DPWC members in attendance shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at a properly called meeting of the DPWC. If DPWC membership is 100 or more, 10% of members in attendance will constitute a quorum. Section 4 A. All votes on DPWC business shall be determined by a simple majority, except as otherwise provided by these bylaws. B. Proxy voting shall be permitted at meetings of the DPWC only by a vote of the committee to allow proxy voting. If proxy voting is allowed, the following rules shall apply: 1. No member shall vote the proxy of more than one other member. 2. Proxies shall be granted only when printed, dated, signed, and filed with the Secretary by the commencement of the meeting. 3. No proxy shall be valid for more than one meeting. 4. The Secretary shall preserve said proxies for no less than one year past the term of the Committee. C. In order to vote, one must be a member of the DPWC for 30 days prior to a given vote. D. The DPWC shall record the minutes of each meeting. Within ten days after the minutes are approved, copies of the minutes shall be sent to the DPA headquarters. Minutes shall include, at a minimum, those present, the agenda covered, and actions taken by the County Committee. The minutes may be sent in any form to the DPA, including electronically, by fax, or mail. Section 5 The DPWC shall convene a meeting to be held not later than thirty days prior to the opening of the filing period to fix and announce the ballot access requirements (fees/petitions) to be assessed and to be met by each candidate. Section 6 Special meetings of the DPWC shall be called by the Chair upon request of one-fifth of the membership of the full committee. Upon failure or refusal of the Chair to call a requested meeting, the call may be issued by those members requesting the meeting. Notice of calls for special meetings shall be mailed or emailed by the Secretary or their designee to each member of the DPWC at least ten days before the date of the meeting, provided that in case of emergency, the DPWC may be convened on two days notice. ARTICLE VI: Biennial Convention A. Biennial County Conventions shall be held for the purpose of confirming delegates to the State Convention and electing county representatives to the State Committee, and for any other such purpose as may be required by state law or party rules. B. On the first Monday following the general primary election, i.e. the primary runoff election, the DPWC will hold its County Convention. Adequate notice shall be given by the Secretary notifying County Convention delegates and candidates by mail no later than one week in advance of said County Convention and by news release in the local news media of White County no later than one week in advance of said County Convention. C. The delegates of the County Convention shall be all county committee members. 3

D. The County Convention shall be called to order by the Chair of the DPWC. If the Chair or Vice- Chair is not present, or is present and refuses to act, then any delegate to the County Convention may serve as Temporary Chair. E. The County Convention delegates shall elect the county s representatives to the State Committee. Article IV of the Rules of the Democratic Party of Arkansas presents the process through which the number of representatives from a given county is identified. F. The County Convention shall also identify the county s delegates to the State Convention. All members of the DPWC at the time of the County Convention shall be eligible to attend the State Convention as a voting delegate. G. The Chair and Secretary of the County Convention shall certify the names of the county s State Committee representatives and State Convention delegates to the Secretary of the State Committee within seven days of the election. ARTICLE VII: Standing Committees A. There shall be the following standing committees: 1. Membership & Community Outreach 2. Publicity & Events 3. Nominating 4. Other committees shall be established by the DPWC upon recommendation of the Chair or Executive Committee. Within the first two months after taking office, the Chair shall appoint a chair of each standing committee. A. The duties of the standing committees shall be as follows: 1. The Membership & Community Outreach Committee is responsible for strategically implementing a plan to recruit, motivate, and engage members of the DPWC. The committee is also responsible for organizing events within the community to engage and improve White County and the lives of its citizens. 2. The Publicity & Events Committee shall be responsible for communicating the activities of the DPWC and its candidates through newspaper, radio, television, social media, and other channels. The committee shall also be responsible for organizing and promoting DPWC fundraising events. 3. The Nominating Committee is charged with identifying and recruiting potential candidates for local, county, and state elections and formulating and implementing strategies for the election of Democratic Party candidates to public office. ARTICLE VIII: Grievance Procedure A. Notice of a contest, protest, appeal or grievance shall be in writing and shall be served by mail, proof of mailing supplied by the U.S. Postal Service shall be deemed as date of service, or hand delivered to the Chair of the DPWC within ten days of the act or omission complained of by the aggrieved person(s). The day on which the act or omission occurred shall be counted as the first day in determining the ten-day period. Failure to provide timely notice may be grounds for dismissal of the grievance. The notice shall clearly set forth the facts giving rise to the grievance and shall describe the relief sought. The Chair may require the aggrieved person(s) to elaborate and/or clarify in writing any point raised in the notice. B. The Chair shall give notice to all committee members and the aggrieved party of a hearing that shall be held as soon as reasonable but no more than twenty-one days from the date the Chair received the notice of the grievance, unless otherwise agreed by the aggrieved party and the Chair. The DPWC 4

shall, by majority vote of those present and voting, adopt such rules of procedure which are consistent with these Rules and as are necessary to assist in the orderly conduct of the hearing. C. The DPWC, after learning the evidence and affording all parties a full opportunity to be heard, shall deliberate and render judgment in the matter by a majority vote of those present and voting. At the request of the party to the proceeding, the Secretary of the DPWC shall provide a letter certifying the action of the committee. ARTICLE IX: Miscellaneous Provisions The official business of the DPWC shall be conducted in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order (Newly Revised) when not inconsistent with the Bylaws or Rules of the DPWC. These Bylaws shall be subject to the Rules of the DPA and any provision herein that is inconsistent with the requirements of the DPA Rules shall defer to those Rules. ARTICLE X: Amending the By-Laws Proposals to amend the bylaws must be submitted by a DPWC member to the DPWC Chair. The proposal then shall be submitted to the Executive Committee which shall require a majority vote to amend. The Executive Committee shall then refer the proposal to the full County Committee at least thirty days prior to a vote. The Secretary of the DPWC shall include a summary of any proposed amendment in the notice of the meeting at which it is to be voted on, and no amendment shall be voted on without such notice. The proposal shall require a two-thirds vote of the County Committee quorum to be passed. 5