32nd District Democrats

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Policy & Procedures

Standing Rule 2: Endorsement Policy and Procedures

Section 1. Candidates may be endorsed for elective office, and positions may be taken on ballot issues, as any regular meeting at which written notice has been given as an agenda item on the District organization's Newsletter, whether mailed or emailed a minimum of five (5) days prior to the meeting.

Section 2. Only self-identified Democratic candidates may be endorsed by the District organization. Judicial candidates, who are not allowed to make such identifications, are the only exception to this requirement.

Section 3. In races in which no self-identified Democratic candidate will be on the ballot, a preference for one of the candidates on the ballot may be decided using the same procedures as used for endorsements.

Section 4. The Executive Board shall establish an Endorsement Committee and may make recommendations to the membership for endorsement, election and re-election of candidates and incumbents and issues.

Section 5. Voting procedures shall be as follows: a. Endorsements shall require a sixty-percent (60%) vote of the members present and voting. b. More than one candidate may be endorsed for the same office. c. Voting will be by raised credential. Written ballots may be requested by fifteen percent (15%) of the eligible voters as defined by the final credentials report.

Section 6. All motions to endorse shall require a second except motions from the Executive Board.

a. After all motions to endorse individuals for a given race have been made there will be a question-and answer (Q&A) period for a panel composed of all potential endorsees in the race, or an authorized representative (in writing), each of whom will have an opportunity to respond to each question. The maximum Q&A time will be three (3) minutes time the number of potential endorsees for that race. Each question may last up to fifteen (15) seconds, and each answer may last up to thirty (30) seconds.
b. The motions will then be debated and voted upon in the order in which they were made, starting with the Executive Board motion(s). Up to four (4) speakers, alternating pro (two) and con (two), will be allowed. Each speaker may take up to thirty (30) seconds. If no one requests recognition to speak against the motion after the first pro speaker has spoken, then debate will be closed, and the vote taken. This sequence of “debate and vote” will be followed for each of the motions, in turn.
c. If more than one individual receives a three-fifths (3/5) vote, the result is a multiple endorsement. If only one individual is endorsed, it is a sole endorsement. If no individual is endorsed, motions for multiple endorsements will then be in order, and the same procedures for “debate and vote” (Sec. 5B above) will be followed.

Section 7. Only the Executive Board or a member of the 32nd Legislative District Democratic Organization may make a motion for endorsement or a motion for a position on a ballot issue.

Section 8. Members may debate a motion for positions on ballot measures, alternating pro and con. Questions and answers may be allowed. Debate may be closed by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members present and voting.

Section 9. Sections 1 through 7 of this Standing Rule also apply to motions for “revocation of endorsement“ and “rejection of endorsement.”

Section 10. The organization shall support and publicize its endorsements and positions in ways that it deems appropriate. The District organization's literature-distributions system will be available only for endorsed candidates and endorsed ballot issues.

Standing Rule 3: Endorsement Committee

Section 1. The Executive Board shall appoint an Endorsement Committee from among volunteers from the general membership. Executive Board members may serve as Endorsement Committee members, but no more than one-half of the committee members can also be Executive Board members. Appointees must be ratified by majority vote at the next regularly scheduled General Membership meeting following their appointment. The Endorsement Committee shall consist of at least five (5) members.

Section 2. The Endorsement Committee shall send a letter to Democratic candidates and candidates for nonpartisan office who will be on the ballot in the 32nd Legislative District for a given election. The letter shall ask if the candidate is interested in seeking our endorsement and shall include the provisions of Standing Rule 3 Endorsement Committee, Sections 4 and 5, and any other information the Committee wished to furnish. The Committee shall keep a record of letters sent and responses received and shall begin to schedule interview meetings as soon as possible.

Section 3. Only candidates who will be on the ballot for the 32nd Legislative District can be endorsed.

Section 4. Every congressional, legislative, and local candidate who wants the endorsement of the 32nd Legislative District Democratic Organization must, during the year in which endorsement is sought, appear in person at an interview meeting of the Endorsement Committee that is announced to the membership and is open to all members of the District. Prior to the interview meetings, the Endorsement Committee, the Executive Board, or the general membership, by majority vote (present and voting), may waive the interview requirement. The Executive Board may overrule the Endorsement Committee with a majority vote. The general membership, by two-thirds (2/3) vote, may overrule the Endorsement Committee and/or the Executive Board, as regards a candidate interview waiver. The requirements of the paragraph may be suspended at an endorsement meeting by a vote of not less than 2/3 of the members present and voting, not counting abstentions.

Section 6. The Endorsement Committee shall hold at least one interview meeting with Democratic candidates seeking the endorsement of the 32nd Legislative District Democratic Organization, and as many more meetings as it deems necessary to accommodate all the candidates requesting endorsement, prior to the Endorsement Meeting of each year. In addition, the Endorsement Committee will make every effort to schedule a candidate forum, open to the public, for candidates running for open seats.

Section 7. The Endorsement Committee shall develop a list of questions appropriate to each office to be asked of candidates during interviews, and may ask candidates to submit copies of questionnaires they have filled out for other organizations. It shall keep a file on each candidate who appears during the year, their positions on issues, their responses to questions, and any other pertinent information they can gather. General members should be asked to contribute to the files throughout the year; all of the information shall be available to the membership prior to endorsements. Individual files shall be saved form year to year to the extent practicable and useful.