An email from Shyam Raman <[email protected]> dated 11/8/21
Hey everyone,
I know everyone is still processing the outcome of last Tuesday, but we wanted to be sure that we sent out information concerning our upcoming reorganizations. For anyone who doesn't know, we will be holding two different types of reorganizations over the next four months, one for each local committee, and one for the Central Committee. This email is going to be long, but it will also be full of information, so I recommend saving it somewhere that's accessible if you need to come back to it. We will also be sending it out again in the next few weeks.
Background
Reorganization is the regularly scheduled process of electing the members of any Democratic Committee. This is part of what makes the Democratic Party, at its core, a small "d" democratic institution.
We begin this process by holding what are called caucuses. Caucuses are gatherings of registered voters where (depending on Central/Local Committee reorganization) Delegates to CD Conventions or Local Committee Members are elected by the voters in their jurisdiction. This is a first step process that is open to anyone who is a registered voter, signs a caucus participation pledge (below), and intends to support the Democratic Nominees in the upcoming elections. The DNC Charter Rule prohibiting secret ballots (DNC Charter, Article 9 Section 12) does not apply to this step in the reorganization process because it is open to the general public (See memo from DNC Party Affairs Department)
Under our Party Plan, we are able to hold two different types of caucuses, the Assembled Caucus or the Unassembled (Firehouse) Caucus.
Assembled Caucus: When you think about an Assembled Caucus, you should think of the Iowa Caucuses. At a specific date and time, voters assemble at a single location, and once the caucus begins, only those who are present in the room are able to participate in the caucus. For the overwhelming majority of Local Committees, this is the recommended method of caucus to use for your Local Committee's reorganization.
Unassembled Caucus: Also referred to a Firehouse Caucus, this method more closely resembles a standard state-administered election. The Party would set a designated location(s), and hours where the polls are open. Any voters would be able to show up during the time allotted and cast their votes in the caucus. Once the polls closed, the Local Committee would tabulate and announce the results. For larger jurisdictions which may not be able to accommodate the participants in an assembled caucus, this is the recommended method to use.
Virtual Unassembled Caucus: As we've all learned, everything is tougher to do during the ongoing pandemic, especially turning all these processes Virtual. In the event your Committee wants to hold a Virtual Caucus, our recommendation is to use an unassembled caucus where you have set hours in which voters can cast their ballots through some Virtual method. This is a lot easier to administer in our opinion than an assembled Zoom caucus.
Local Committee Reorganization
All Local Democratic Committees are required to reorganize between December 1st in an odd year and January 15th in an even year (December 1, 2021 - January 15, 2022). It is important to recognize that Local Committee Reorganization is a two step process. The first step is electing the membership of the Committee, and the second step is electing the Officers of the Committee.
For your reorganization, you will need to issue a Call to Caucus outlining the details of how the membership of your committee will be elected. This document should have a clear statement of the purpose of the caucus, any relevant dates, times and locations, the type of caucus you plan on holding, an affirmative statement of the Committee's commitment to ensuring that the caucus is ADA Accessible, who is allowed to participate (PP 18.3), and how individuals may file to be members of the Committee.
You should also include a statement outlining the conditions that could cause the caucus to be cancelled resulting in any individuals who filed to be members to be automatically elected. For example, if you have 50 spaces open on your committee, and only 40 people file to be members, you do not need to go through the process of holding the caucus if you include a clause saying something along the lines of, "In the event fewer people file than the number of vacancies, the caucus shall be cancelled and those who have filed in a timely and proper manner shall be declared elected."
Click here for a sample Call to Caucus
For any caucuses that are contested, you will need to adopt rules governing the procedure you will use to conduct it. Assembled Caucuses need to adopt rules when they are called to order. Unassembled Caucus rules should be incorporated in the Call to Caucus.
Click here for a sample set of Caucus Rules
You will also need to use some sort of Filing Form that people can fill out to indicate their desire to be considered for a position on your Committee. This may be an electronic form or paper, but it should be publicized along with the Call to Caucus.
Click here for a sample Membership Filing Form
The sole purpose of your caucus should be to elect the membership of the Committee. Every Committee does the next part a bit differently. It's entirely based on what makes sense for your individual locality. You can adjourn your caucus, and immediately call a meeting of the Committee to order for the purpose of electing Officers, or there can be a gap between the membership Caucus and the Officer Election. There is no set rule for how this has to happen, only that it needs to happen before January 15th.
There are a number of reasons to hold a meeting with Officer elections at a different date. You may need the time to count the ballots and determine who has been elected to your Committee, you may not have your meeting space for long enough, or it may just make sense for your Committee. We encourage each of your Committees to decide what makes the most sense in your locality.
Each local Democratic Committee is required to have a Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. Many Committees have additional Officer positions, but you are not required to. As with the filing form for membership, each committee needs to publicize a filing form for anyone interested in serving as an Officer.
Click here for a sample Officer Filing Form
Once this process is complete in your locality, the newly-elected Chair or their designee needs to send a list of the new officers along with a complete list of the membership along with contact information to DPVA. These can be sent to [email protected].
Click here for a sample Membership Template
We encourage you to reach out to your CD Chairs and DPVA Staff if you have any questions on any part of this process.
Central Committee Reorganization
The reorganization of the Central Committee now takes place between the Quarter 4 meeting of the Central Committee in a Gubernatorial year, and the Quarter 1 meeting in the following year. At the Quarter 4 meeting, the Central Committee will adopt a framework for the process that will include a delegate allocation formula for the CD Conventions and a timeline for the Local Caucuses and CD Conventions.
Each Congressional District Committee has a base of twenty (20) members who are elected to 4 year terms (PP 4.2). Those 20 members, plus any Party Leaders (PP 4.1), then elect four (4) additional members to serve two (2) year terms. These 4 additional members are split into two groups. Three (3) of them are City/County representatives (Chairs, Vice Chairs, Magisterial Chairs or recommended by a committee) and one (1) is a General Assembly Member. For Congressional Districts without a General Assembly Member who lives there, the position may be filled by an additional City/County Representative. This brings the total members each CD Committee is guaranteed to 24. These 24 members must comply with the Gender Balance requirements outlined in the Party Plan (PP 4.3).
Similar to the Local Reorganization, this is a multistep process.
Because the Central Committee is organized by Congressional District, the only way to fairly weigh the powers of each locality in this process is to run a Caucus/Convention process. This is very similar to the Delegate Selection process that DPVA conducts every 4 years for a presidential nomination. When the Central Committee adopts a Delegate Allocation, each of the CD Committees will issue their own Call to Convention for the purpose of electing Delegates to their Conventions who will elect the base 20 members of each Congressional District Committee. Part of these Calls to Convention will include guidelines for Local Committees to issue their own Calls to Caucus for the purpose of electing Delegates to the CD Conventions.
Similar to 2020, DPVA will be able to provide assistance to any Local Committees or CD Committees who need help administering a Virtual Caucus or Convention. CD Conventions will also be required to be held on one of three to be determined weekends (more than likely in February).
Click here for a sample Delegate Filing Form
Click here for a sample Call to Caucus
CD Chairs, we will send you a sample Call to Convention separately to avoid any unnecessary confusion.
Click here for a sample Caucus Participation Form
We will hold calls specifically on these processes for anyone who wants to get on and ask questions.
Click here for the November 15th Call - 8PM
Click here for the December 6th Call - 8PM
Click here for the December 13th Call - 8PM
As we get closer to the start of Central Committee Reorganization, we will send out details on more calls.
As always, please reach out if you have any questions.
Shyam
