PROPOSED RULES

CONVENTION RULES

2018 DFL SENATE DISTRICT 44 CONVENTION

March 10, 2018, 9:00am, Minnetonka High School

GOVERNING AUTHORITY AND AGENDA

1) Upon all matters not governed by the Official Call, the State

DFL Party Constitution and Bylaws, the Senate District

Constitution, and these Rules, Robert's Rules of Order, Newly

Revised shall govern. Provisions of the Official Call shall take

precedence over any other party rules at any level wherever a

conflict exists.

2) A majority vote of the convention is required to adopt these

rules and the agenda. Once adopted, these rules and the agenda

shall govern unless suspended or modified by a two-thirds vote

of the convention.

3) The quorum for conducting any business of the convention is a

majority of the registered delegates (including upgraded

alternates).

SEATING OF DELEGATES AND ALTERNATES

Registration of delegates and alternates to the convention shall

continue until adjournment. Newly registered delegates and

upgraded alternates may not enter while the floor is frozen.

Each precinct delegation shall elect one or more delegation

chairs for purposes of alternate seating, roll calls and ballot

voting. The Convention Chair shall instruct the convention as

to the duties each delegation chair will be expected to perform

during the convention. The name of each delegation chair shall

be reported promptly to the Convention Chair, Any delegate

shall be eligible for election as delegation chair.

The seating of delegates and alternates shall be governed by the

following:

a) All registered delegates (not alternates) on the temporary

roll shall be seated.

The convention shall hear and resolve any challenges

regarding delegate or alternate seating pursuant to the

Official Call.

Any delegates or alternates entitled to be seated after all

challenges have been resolved shall go to the registration

table with their delegation chair so that proper seating can

be arranged. As soon as practicable after verification of a

quorum, the registration staff shall function inside the

convention hall so as to permit its members to maintain a

consistent and accurate delegate count by precincts while

participating as convention delegates.

Alternates elected at large shall be upgraded to delegate

status according to their numerical ranking on the precinct

report. Alternates elected through subcaucus voting

systems will be upgraded to delegate status in the order

reported within their subcaucus. If there are no alternates

available from within a subcaucus, alternates will be raised

from among the highest-ranking alternates within the other

subcaucuses by a lottery in which each subcaucus will be

represented in proportion to its delegate allocation

strength.

No more than [5] floor passes for each candidate for

endorsement or party office shall be issued by the

credentials committee chair to those positions that are on

the agenda to elect at this convention.

A temporary delegate badge shall be issued to an

appropriate alternate when the alternate is raised to

delegate status. There shall be no upgrading of alternates

during any voting process. If the upgraded alternate is

subsequently returned to alternate status, the alternate's

delegate badge shall be immediately surrendered to the

registration table.

Non-upgraded alternates and visitors shall be seated

separately from delegates and shall not be allowed on the

convention floor during the convention.

Special floor passes shall be issued for an interpreter or

other personal care assistant for any delegate or

upgraded alternate who submits a request to the

credentials committee. Such persons may be seated in

close proximity to the delegate or alternate they are

assisting, but shall play no role in the convention.

It is the ongoing responsibility of the Convention Chair

and the Sergeants at Arms to maintain appropriate order.

To this end, it is the prerogative of the Chair to instruct

delegates and non-delegates to maintain decorum, and to

take any further action the Chair deems necessary,

including the removal of such persons from the floor or

from the convention.

During the election of State and Congressional

Convention delegates, the floor shall be frozen and the

auditorium closed to all persons except Delegates and

upgraded alternates, Sergeants at Arms, Tellers, and such

other persons as the Chair deems necessary to conduct the

election.

GENERAL CONVENTION RULES

7) The convention shall not adjourn until the following conditions

have been met:

a) Elections for Party Officers as enumerated in the

Constitution to be elected at this convention

b) Elections for State Central Committee Delegates and

Alternates

c) Elections for State Convention Delegates and Alternates.

One or more Convention Chairs, with gender identity

balance, if applicable, shall be elected by a plurality vote of

the convention.

The Convention Chairs shall appoint a convention secretary

and may appoint parliamentarians, timekeepers, tellers,

sergeants-at-arms, and other assistants, as they deem

necessary to conduct convention business.

10)

For state delegate and alternate elections and for State Central

Committee elections, there shall be an arithmetic division by

gender identity. Allocations shall be divided so that no gender

identity is represented by more than one half of the delegates,

rounded up. If both delegate and alternate allocations are odd-

numbered, the imbalance in delegate election must be

reversed in favor of underrepresented gender identities in the

alternate election.

11)

Candidates for election to a party office shall be nominated by

name only, but each candidate may have [2] minutes to use as

they wish.

12)

Contested elections and endorsements shall be done by written

ballot. In the event of a tie vote in an election, there will be a

run-off ballot including only the names of the tied candidates;

if a tie still exists, it will be broken by lot. All other voting

shall be by voice vote or division unless a written ballot vote is

requested by the Convention Chair or by 1/3 of the delegates

present.

13)

Convention tellers shall distribute ballots to the chair of each

precinct delegation on matters to be determined by written

ballot. Ballots shall be distributed only to delegates and

upgraded alternates seated under the rules of this convention.

These ballots shall be returned by the precinct delegation chair

to the tellers.

14)

Smoking and use of intoxicants is prohibited on the convention

floor. No smoking is allowed in the hallways adjacent to the

convention hall, or outside the main entry to the building. All

persons shall comply with any additional rules established by

the convention facility.

15)

No person may place any banners or posters on the convention

platform or in any way obstruct the view of the platform by

delegates. All signs and other materials must comply with the

rules of the convention facility, and with any additional rules

and procedures which are described in a letter dated February 26,

2018, written by the Senate District Convention Arrangements

Committee, which letter is hereby attached and incorporated into

these Rules by this reference.

16)

All campaign material intended or caused to be distributed at

the convention must include a statement of attribution,

disclosing the name of the person or organization responsible

for producing and distributing the material. Campaign material

includes any written communication, whether by an individual

or entity, relating to a campaign. Any material found to be

inconsistent with this rule is subject to removal at the discretion

of the Convention Chair. Campaign material of any kind may

not be distributed in the convention hall after balloting has

begun.

17)

No moving demonstrations are permitted during balloting.

There shall be no disruptive demonstrations in the galleries.

Each delegation will be responsible for collecting materials and

garbage. Whistles, air horns, bull horns, and strobe lights or

other similar devices will not be allowed during the convention

in the convention hall.

18)

The nominations committee shall place in nomination the

committee's recommendations. Other nominations shall be

made from the floor without speeches or seconds.

19)

The Convention Chair shall insure that each election complies

with the requirements regarding equal division by gender

identity.

SPEECH AND DEBATE RULES

20)

No delegate may speak until recognized by the Convention

Chair. Speakers will first state their name and precinct and

topic to be addressed. No person may speak more than once

on an item of business until all others on that side who wish

to do so have had an opportunity.

21)

Unless otherwise provided for in these rules, no delegate shall

speak for more than [2] minutes on any item. The chair will

rotate speaking privileges among floor microphones and

between proponents and opponents of a measure to the extent

possible. Debate will terminate when [3] speakers have been

heard on each side.

22)

With respect to credentials challenges to delegations, prior to

floor debate, speakers on behalf of both the challenged

delegation and the challenging delegation shall each be

allowed [5] minutes in total to present their positions, with

the challenged delegation speaking last.

23)

A properly nominated candidate who is dropped under the

drop rule, or who voluntarily withdraws, may address the

convention for up to [1] minute immediately after

withdrawing, or before or immediately after the ballot result

is announced.

24)

Any motion to table shall be considered as though it were a

motion to postpone indefinitely. A motion to postpone

indefinitely does not preclude amendments to the main

motion. The motions "to reconsider and enter on the minutes"

and "to object to consideration" are not in order. The motion

to reconsider is in order and will require a two-thirds vote.

25)

Any amendment to a motion or resolution, which removes,

changes or adds [5] or more words, must be submitted in

writing to the Convention Chair before being considered.

When the motion to amend is made, it must be seconded.

Amendments take a majority vote for adoption.

26)

Incumbent DFL office holders, declared DFL candidates for

public office, and other party dignitaries may address the

convention at the discretion of the Convention Chair. Such

visitors will be requested to limit their remarks to no more

than [2] minutes, and to refrain from speaking on behalf of

another candidate, except when acting as the designated

surrogate for that candidate. Remarks on behalf of a declared

DFL candidate for public office may be made by either the

candidate or a designated surrogate. Each candidate for

public office will be allowed [2] minutes for such remarks.

WALKING SUBCAUCUS

27)

If the Walking Subcaucus system is used, delegates will have

an initial period of [15] minutes after subcaucus nominations

are completed to move to the subcaucus of their choice. If all

remaining subcaucuses are viable on the first count, then

there shall be no second count. If any subcaucus is not viable

on the first count, the Chair will announce an additional [15]

minute period during which delegates can move among the

remaining subcaucuses.

28)

If elections take place by subcaucus and the resulting

delegation is not balanced by gender identity, the largest

subcaucus, of those that elected more delegates of the overrepresented

gender identity (with ties determined by lot) will be

instructed by the Convention Chair to exchange [1] delegate of

the over-represented gender identity for its highest ranking

alternate of a different gender identity in the case of state

delegates, and to replace a person it had elected with a person

of a different gender identity in any other case. Any delegate

reduced to alternate status will become the highest-ranking

alternate of that subcaucus. If balance by gender identity is still

not achieved, the process will be repeated with the next largest

such odd-numbered subcaucus.

29)

The Convention Chair shall ensure that all Walking Subcaucuses

are moving smoothly and assist those that are running behind.

PARTY OFFICER ELECTIONS

30)

For candidates for SD44 Director, or for State Central

Committee member or alternate, nomination from the floor is

in order only if either the nominated candidate has screened

with the Nominations and Endorsements Committee before the

published convention start time, or the nominated candidate has

submitted to the Nominations and Endorsements Committee a

completed candidate questionnaire before the published

convention start time. In the event that a candidate has

submitted a candidate questionnaire but has not screened, the

Endorsements and Nominations Committee reserves the

authority to require, for the candidate's nomination to be in

order, that the candidate screen with the Endorsements &

Nominations Committee at the time the candidate’s name is

placed in nomination.

31)

The convention shall elect at least eleven [11] and not more

than nineteen [19] Directors (at least [4] from each House

district), with gender identity balance. If delegates sufficient to

elect [1] Director request proportional voting for Directors, the

convention will use the Walking Subcaucus system provided in

the Official Call following the rules stated in the Walking

Subcaucus section of these rules. If proportional voting is not

used, Directors will be elected by majority vote of the

convention.

HOUSE DISTRICT ENDORSEMENT RULES

32)

For candidates for endorsement for legislative office,

nomination from the floor is in order only if the nominated

candidate has screened with the Nominations and

Endorsements Committee before the published convention start

time.

33)

The Senate District Convention shall recess into [2] House

District Conventions. The House District Conventions shall

each elect one or more Chairs. The business of each House

District Convention shall be the endorsement of a candidate for

the State House of Representatives from that House District,

and any other business authorized by the Senate District

Constitution. The Senate District Convention shall reconvene

upon completion of the House District Conventions.

34)

The Chair and Vice Chair of Senate District 44 DFL shall

refrain from endorsing or promoting the endorsement of

candidates in their party unit. Neither the Chair nor the Vice

Chair shall speak in support or opposition of any candidate,

nor shall either make, second or speak for or against any

motion that would have the effect of supporting or opposing

any candidate.

35) Endorsement of a candidate for State House requires a [60%]

affirmative vote of the Senate District Convention.

a) Each candidate (and/or their representative(s)) shall be

allowed no more than [10] minutes to address the

convention.

b) No others may speak on behalf of or against the

candidate.

c) In the case of contested endorsements, there will be a

question and answer period after candidate presentations,

as follows:

i) All questions must be general in nature and

addressed to all candidates.

ii) All questions must cover a single topic.

iii) The order of response for the first question will be

established by lot and will rotate for each

subsequent question.

iv) Each candidate will be allowed [1] minute to answer

each question.

v) The question period will last for [30] minutes, but

shall be extended to allow all candidates to answer

the final question.

d) Candidates receiving less than [10%] will be dropped

after the first ballot. On the first [3] subsequent ballots,

the drop off percent will be raised by [5%] each ballot.

In addition, after the [4th] ballot, candidates receiving

less than [25%] on any ballot will be dropped. However,

in no case will this drop off rule be used to reduce the

number of candidates remaining on the next ballot to less

than [2].

e) If no candidate for endorsement has received [60%] of

the votes cast after [5] ballots, a motion to have no

endorsement will be in order at any time thereafter, The

motion for no endorsement will pass with a [60%]

affirmative vote of the District Convention. In that event,

balloting shall terminate and the Senate District DFL

will not endorse for that position prior to the primary

election.

STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE ELECTIONS

36)

For candidates for State Central Committee, nomination

requirements are the same as the nomination requirements for

candidates for SD44 Director.

37) [6] State Central Committee members and [8] alternates will

be elected by the convention as a whole. The Senate District

Chair and Vice Chair are automatic members. If a contest for

members exists, the Chair will ask for a show of hands on

proportional voting.

a) If delegates sufficient to elect [1] member request

proportional voting, the convention will use the Walking

Subcaucus system provided in the Official Call following

the rules stated in the Walking Subcaucus section of these

rules.

If proportional voting is not used, members and alternates

shall be elected by majority vote of the convention. A

record of the number of votes each alternate receives will

be recorded for purposes of ranking alternates.

If proportional voting is used, alternates shall be ranked

according to the size of each subcaucus.

If proportional voting is not used for election of members

the above procedures will be used to determine if

proportional voting is to be used for the election of

alternates.

[1] alternate shall be elected for each delegate, including

the Chair and Vice Chair. State Central Committee

delegates and alternates shall be elected by gender identity

and Alternates shall be ranked by gender identity.

STATE CONVENTION DELEGATE ELECTIONS

38) Senate District 44 will elect the same [22] delegates and [22]

alternates to both the Third Congressional District and State

Conventions. The procedures to be used in the election of

delegates and alternates to the Congressional District and State

Conventions are as follows:

a) If the Convention Chair determines that no more want to

serve than there are delegate positions, the election shall

be by acclamation.

b) If a contest exists, the Convention Chair shall ask for a

show of hands on proportional voting. If delegates equal to

the number represented by [1] State Convention delegate

want proportional voting, it must be used.

c) If proportional voting is used, the convention will use the

Walking Subcaucus system provided in the Official Call

and will follow the rules of the Walking Subcaucus section

of these rules. In addition, each subcaucus must indicate the

rank and gender identity of each delegate for the purpose of

gender identity balancing the Senate District delegation.

d) If proportional voting is not used, the convention will elect

State Convention delegates by majority or plurality vote as

the convention determines.

e) Those not elected as delegates may run for alternate and

will be nominated and elected in a similar fashion.

Alternates must be ranked by the convention (1st, 2nd, 3rd,

etc.) for use in alternate upgrading at the congressional

district and state conventions. Alternates are ranked

without regard to gender identity.

f) The number of votes each alternate receives will be

recorded for use in alternate ranking at the Congressional

District and State Conventions. Even if no contest exists

for alternate selection, the vote must be taken to determine

this ranking. Any ties are broken by lot.

PLATFORM RESOLUTIONS

39)

The Platform Resolutions Statement provided by the State DFL

Office shall be read to the convention or other group selecting

the resolutions to forward before consideration of platform

resolutions begins.

40)

The Senate District can forward to the State Platform, Issues

and Legislative Affairs Committee [44] resolutions. The

resolutions to be forwarded by the Senate District must be

selected from among those resolutions adopted by the

precinct caucuses from precincts wholly or partially within

the Senate District. The resolutions forwarded to the State

Platform, Issues and Legislative Affairs Committee should

address party positions on state and national issues.

Resolutions that cover only local issues should not be

forwarded to the State Platform, Issues and Legislative

Affairs Committee. All resolutions forwarded to the State

Platform, Issues and Legislative Affairs Committee must be

submitted in the format prescribed by the State Platform,

Issues and Legislative Affairs Committee, with only one

resolution per form and only one subject per resolution. The

Senate District Chair must submit online the resolutions

selected to the State DFL Office no later than [10] days after

the Senate District Convention.

41) The procedure for selecting the resolutions to be forwarded to

the State Platform, Issues and Legislative Affairs Committee

is as follows

a) The written report of the Resolutions Committee will be

distributed to delegates no later than the beginning of the

convention.

b) Each delegate will receive a written ballot, which can be

filled out and turned in to the tellers. Each ballot may

contain votes for any number of resolutions.

c) The [44] resolutions that receive the highest number of

votes will be forwarded to the State Platform, Issues and

Legislative Affairs Committee; provided, however, that a

resolution must have received at least 60% affirmative

vote of the convention to be included in the report. In

calculating the 60%, abstentions shall be counted as part

of the vote (in effect making them "no" votes). Any ties

for last place will be determined by lot.

d) Amendments to resolutions are prohibited except by

suspension of the rules of the convention. If there is a

suspension of the rules, amendments to resolutions must

be seconded by 60% of the delegates either by signature

or by show of hands. (Amendments that change or add

[5] or more words must be submitted in writing.) All

resolutions that are debated require at least a 60% vote

for adoption.