A tardy filing of the Regional Coordinator Bylaw Proposal from the May 2020 Convention is forcing party members to have to vote on the same Regional Coordinator Bylaw proposal again to be accepted by the Secretary of State. A Special Membership Meeting is scheduled for January 28th at 7mt/8c. The membership meeting will be on a zoom call, the link can be found at the bottom of the proposal. The Regional Coordinator Bylaw proposal language is as follows:
Regional Coordinator Bylaw Proposal
Notes: Bolded Text is language added or language replacing the prior language, crossed out text is language removed, and italicized text is not included and serves as a note to the reader of this post.
Changes to Article III Section 1
Article III Section 1. Officers and Regional Coordinators. Members filling the positions of Executive Committee Officers, Regional Coordinators, and State-At-Large must be current paid members of LPSD and reside in South Dakota. The following positions shall be filled by election during the annual Party meeting: Chair, Vice-Chair, Membership Director, Treasurer, Communications Director, State At-Large, and three Regional Coordinators (East River, West River, Sioux River)
Changes to Article III Section 2.
Chair: The Chair or a member of the ExCom designated by the Chair shall conduct all state-wide meetings of the LPSD and the ExCom. The Chair or the Chairs designee shall be one of the LPSD delegates to the National Libertarian Party convention. The Chair has authority to speak on behalf of LPSD for all public relations activities and other duties assigned by the ExCom. Chair will appoint him or herself, the Vice Chair, The Secretary, and/or the Treasurer to an appropriate Regional Committee for the purposes of collecting donations made to the party at regional meetings.
Regional Coordinators: The Regional Coordinators shall conduct quarterly gatherings (meetings, booth, volunteer work, outreach) with members of the LPSD within their designated region. The Regional Coordinators shall assist in recruiting legislative candidates, shall organize petitioning teams to assist Libertarian candidates in achieving ballot access within their designated region. The Regional Coordinators shall gather names, addresses, and emails from Libertarian members within their region, relay that collected data to the Membership Director, and assist LPSD members in organizing county party and other affiliates of LPSD within their designated region. Regional Coordinators are recommended to organize a Regional Committee to assist in their responsibilities. All monetary donations to the party made at Regional Meetings must be forwarded to the party Treasurer for deposit (though Secretary, Chair, and Vice-Chair may also accept said funds for deposit). The Regional Coordinators act as ambassadors for the party, and may take on any role assigned to by the State Chair for temporary or emergency purposes.
- The West River Regional Coordinator designated Legislative Districts are as follows: 21, 26, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35.
- The East River Regional Coordinator designated Legislative Districts are as follows: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 19, 20, 23, and 22.
- The Sioux River Regional Coordinator designated Legislative Districts are as follows: 6, 9, 25, 17, 16, 18, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15.
Changes to Article III Section 3.
Article III Section 3. Executive Committee. The Executive Committee (“ExCom”) shall consist of six (6) duly elected officers, plus three (3) duly elected Regional Coordinators, plus three (3) duly elected members at-large. Members elected to the ExCom must be members in good standing of the LPSD. Each Officer and Regional Coordinator will be responsible for maintaining documentation within their area, and they will provide a written report to be passed on to their successor. Newly elected members for the ExCom shall serve ex officio until their terms become effective at the beginning of the following calendar year, unless immediate assumption of their duties is approved by the annual meeting or the ExCom. (this text will be clarified in Section 9.)
Section 4 would be added after Section 3 to maintain organization in the Bylaws, the other sections in this Article will be moved down in sequence.
Article III Section 4. Regional Committees. Regional Committees may select an appropriate name and shall submit a proposal (including bylaws) to the ExCom. A Regional Committee is recognized by the party upon approval of the proposal by their Regional Coordinator and one (1) other officer of the ExCom. Regional Committees must report to their Regional Coordinator. All members must be paid members of LPSD. The Treasurer of each Regional Committee, who shall report to the party Treasurer of the ExCom on a regular basis, must be appointed by the Chair of the ExCom. All monetary donations to the party organized by regional committees must be forwarded to the party Treasurer for deposit (though Secretary, Chair, and Vice-Chair may also accept said funds for deposit). Regional Committees will continue to be recognized unless dissolved by their Regional Coordinator in writing to the ExCom, or until the end of the Regional Coordinator’s term.
Changes to what used to be Article III Section 8 but after adding a section becomes Section 9.
Article III Section 9. Term of Office. Terms of office for the ExCom officers, Regional Coordinators, and State At-Large members shall be the two (2) calendar years following their election to office, unless 1) term is shortened/lengthened due to immediate commission by approval of ExCom at convention, or 2) if fulfilling the remainder of predecessor’s term. A member may serve unlimited consecutive terms of office.
Changes to Article X Section 6. Nominations and Elections (this section is changed to allow delegates more time to prepare for National Conventions.)
Article X Section 6. National Libertarian Party Convention Delegates. At the Party Convention or at a special membership meeting prior to the National Libertarian Party Convention, the members shall nominate members to serve as state co-delegates with the Chair or the Chair’s designate. Nomination and election procedures shall be as for Party Officers and ExCom. Vacant delegate positions may be filled by appointment.
Changes to Article XI Section 2. Finance and Accounting
Section 2. Disbursements and Deposits. All disbursements shall be made by check, or debit card, from a checking account authorized by the ExCom. Endorsements of checks, debit card payments, withdrawals, or other expenditures shall be made by the Treasurer, or the Secretary in Treasurer’s absence. NOTE: Any payments by the other ExComm members will be of their own accord to be submitted to ExComm and subject to approved reimbursement. Deposits may be made by the four (4) aforementioned ExCom members into approved accounts with all receipts sent to the Treasurer.
Changes to Article VII Bylaw Amendments (same language is repeated twice unnecessarily and unintentionally)
Article VII Section 1. Required Vote. The bylaws of the LPSD may be added to, changed, amended, replaced, or revoked by 75% of the members present at anymembership meeting of the LPSD or any special membership meeting of the LPSDor any special membership meeting of the LPSD.
Article VII Section 3. Legislative Districts. Bylaws in Article III Section 2 regarding the apportionment of Legislative Districts to the West River, East River, and Sioux River Regional Coordinators may be amended by the ExCom in any event that 1.) The borders of Legislative Districts change by law 2.) A consensus is reached between Regional Coordinators to give or swap Legislative Districts under their representation which retains balance to the three (3) prescribed regions. Notice of additions, changes, amendments, replacements and revocations in Article III Section 2 regarding the reapportionment of Legislative Districts to the West River, East River, and Sioux River Regional Coordinators shall be made available to members residing in the reapportioned Legislative Districts. In the event that reapportionment of Legislative Districts is required by these ByLaws, or requested by ExCom, a special membership meeting shall be called to request approval of amendments to Article III Section 2.
Changes to Article VIII Miscellaneous
Article VIII Section 5. Malfeasance: Removal from Office of ExCom Officers, Regional Coordinators, or Executive Committee At-Large Members. Only in the event of an accusation by a LPSD member, of malfeasance or conviction of the commission of a felony on the part of any Officer or Member of ExCom, the remaining officers and members of ExCom shall meet within fourteen (14) days, by personal or electronic means, to hear evidence and to make a decision as to whether to remove the accused from office. A majority vote of the non-accused officers and members of ExCom shall be necessary to remove any other member of ExCom. The accused shall have the opportunity to present witnesses and a defense, and shall have the right to be present at all deliberations, and shall have the right to witness a non-secret vote on the removal question. “Malfeasance” shall be defined as significant dereliction of duty, or significant violation of the Bylaws of LPSD, or stealing from LPSD.
Changes to Article X Section 4.
Article X Section 4. The precinct committee shall act as the local point of contact for all local government agencies, shall coordinate party activities in the precinct, and shall perform such duties as determined by the ExCom, their designated Regional Committee, and the precinct committee.
Zoom Link for the Meeting: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/79043379662?pwd=cVl5cGJGYy9ET1RJQ2U0TzFjQnhYdz09
The Hedgehog Watchdog 