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We hold that every person has an unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These rights come with the obligation to respect those same rights of others. We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose.
We hold that the primary purpose of government is to protect the rights and property of its citizens as detailed in the Bill of Rights. We hold that the exercise of these rights assures the prosperity of our society.
The Libertarian Party of Buncombe County seeks a government that:
We Libertarians are optimistic about the future. Freedom works! Harnessing the creativity and energy of a free people is the most effective way to clean up our environment, improve the lot of the poor, and fix other social problems. We are working hard to make this happen.
The name of this organization shall be the Libertarian Party of Buncombe County (LP-Buncombe).
The Libertarian Party of Buncombe County (LP-Buncombe) shall be an affiliate of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina (LPNC).
The purpose of the Libertarian Party of Buncombe County shall be:
Only voting members shall vote, hold office, or serve on standing committees. To be a Voting Member in the LP-Buncombe, one must meet the following criteria:
The purpose of dues is to pay for communications with the membership, events and meeting places. It also serves to determine who is truly committed to the Libertarian cause for the purpose of voting.
Anyone who has contributed at least $24, in cash or in kind, during the last year shall be considered a Voting Member. Volunteer hours can also be counted toward dues at the rate of $2/hour. Dues shall be $24 per year. The schedule and means of payment shall be determined by resolution of the Membership. Members of the NC Libertarian Party are eligible for a 50% discount. Voluntary work can be substituted for monetary dues. The Executive Committee may award $2 credit per hour of volunteer work provided. No more credit shall be awarded than is needed to pay dues. Volunteers will be noted as such in the LP-B database so that they can be called upon for various projects and events.
A membership is terminated when either:
A member who has been expelled by a 2/3 vote of the Membership at a General Business Meeting cannot be reinstated, except by a 2/3 vote at a later Business Meeting.
In order to keep critical decisions in the hands of those who have proven their devotion to the cause of Liberty, the following votes are by default restricted to those who have been members in good standing (which includes being current in one's dues) for the previous six months:
However, those who have been Voting Members in good standing for the previous six months can vote to seat newer members by a 2/3 vote at the beginning of the respective Convention or General Business Meeting.
For all other votes, all Members in good standing have equal rights to vote at General Business Meetings and Conventions, providing they are current in their LP-Buncombe dues.
The Executive Committee shall be made of a minimum of 9 3, 5, or 7 officers, including:
The number of Executive Committee officers may be increased at the Convention to a greater odd number than seven by a 2/3 majority.
A. Chair
The Chair shall preside over meetings, shall be the primary spokesperson of LP-Buncombe, will act as one of the three possible cosigners of checks as directed by the Executive Committee, and perform such other duties as may be delegated by the Executive Committee.
B. Secretary
The Secretary shall keep minutes of all meetings, maintain correspondence, and perform such other duties as may be delegated by the Executive Committee.
C. Treasurer
The Treasurer shall keep organization funds and financial records including those mandated by law, make disbursements as one of the three possible cosigners of checks as directed by the Executive Committee, and perform such other duties as may be delegated by the Executive Committee. All check disbursements isssued by LP-Buncombe require the signatures of two out of the three authorized Executive Committee members: Chair, Vice Chair and Treasurer.
D. Ad Hoc Officers
The priorities of the party and talents available vary from year to year. Taking this into consideration, the exact titles and duties of the remaining officers are to be determined at the Convention. If the Treasurer opts to be on the Executive Committee, there are to be four Ad Hoc officers in order to fill the 9-member Executive Committee. 0, 2, or 4 Ad Hoc officers. If the Treasurer opts not to be on the Executive Committee, there shall be five 1, 3, or 5 Ad Hoc officers.
At the time of nomination, candidates for Ad Hoc officer shall submit a Proposal to the Membership detailing:
The Ad Hoc officers have the power to form committees and appoint members thereto to carry out the powers and duties described in their Proposals.
E. Vice Chair
The Vice Chair shall be one of the Ad Hoc officers. The election of Vice Chair shall take place after the Ad Hoc officers are elected with all the Ad Hoc officers as eligible candidates. The Vice Chair shall have his Ad Hoc officer duty as defined in his proposal as well as serving as the Chair when the Chair is absent. In the event of the loss of the Chair, the Vice Chair shall become the Chair and the Membership shall vote for a new Ad Hoc Officer at the next General Business Meeting (or Convention if that is what comes next). The Vice Chair shall also act as one of the three possible cosigners of checks as directed by the Executive Committee.
The Executive Committee shall:
Individual members are expected to:
The Executive Committee has the following powers:
In order to motivate timely completion of ongoing projects, the Executive Committee shall meet at least once per month. The times and places shall be posted by email to all those who are on the email list.
Members shall be allowed to attend Executive Committee meetings. However, they shall not be allowed to speak unless granted unanimous consent by the Executive Committee.
Given the small size of the Executive Committee, the procedures for meetings can be somewhat informal if there is general consent to do so. Otherwise, the parliamentary procedures described in Article VII apply.
There is no quorum per se for the Executive Committee. Instead, it takes a majority of the entire committee to pass a motion. For example, if only four of the seven members show up for a meeting, they can pass motions if all four vote unanimously. Also, note that since it takes a majority of the Executive Committee to pass a motion, an abstention has the same effect as a “No” vote. No proxies are allowed. However, the Executive Committee can vote on a motion via email or telephone.
If an Executive Committee member either:
Then, the Membership may vote to expel said member. A 2/3 vote at a General Business Meeting is necessary for expulsion.
If there is a vacancy on the Executive Committee due to either expulsion or resignation, the Membership shall vote on a replacement using the same voting procedures as are used by the Convention for the original election. If the vacancy is the Chair, then the Vice Chair becomes Chair, and the Membership votes for a new Ad Hoc officer and then chooses who is to be the new Vice Chair from among the new set of Ad Hoc officers.
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Note: at the 2006 convention consideration was given to language to render Executive Committee members automatically dormant in order to give the remaining members authority to call a General Business Meeting to determine the status of the dormant members or to resize the Executive Committee. However, formal language was not adopted and no vote recorded. |
All Members in good standing and current in their dues may vote at General Business Meetings. The General Business Meetings are the vehicle by which the Membership is represented. Unless explicitly stated otherwise (such as specifically referring to Conventions), such phrases as “2/3 of the Membership” and “a majority of the Membership” shall be interpreted to mean the respective fractions of those members who attend a General Business Meeting and do not abstain from voting.
The Membership at General Business Meetings has the power to:
General Business Meetings shall take place at least twice per year, as part of the two sessions of the convention. Further meetings can be called by the Executive Committee at its discretion. Those members who accept email from the Party shall be notified of the time and place of General Business Meetings at least one week in advance. Those who refuse such solicitations may or may not be informed of the time and place of General Business Meetings at the whim of the Executive Committee.
No official business can take place if a quorum is not present. For General Business Meetings a quorum shall be defined as at least 50 percent of the average of the previous two meetings. For example, the formula for March would be would be: Quorum = 1/4(February attendance + January attendance). The phrase “previous two meetings” shall include the attendance for prior meetings that failed to meet a quorum. For the Business Meeting that takes place in the month after these Bylaws are ratified (February, 2002), the quorum shall be 1/2 of the attendance at the Convention at which these Bylaws are ratified.
A majority vote is a majority of the Members who attend the meeting and do not choose to abstain. Likewise a 2/3 vote is 2/3 of the Members who attend the meeting and choose not to abstain. (That is, an abstention is not the equivalent of a “no” vote.) Similarly for any other fractional voting requirement.
We shall improve on Robert's Rules of Order in several ways. However, the rules below are not complete. In those areas where the rules below are silent, we default to Robert's Rules of Order.
The standard order of meetings adopted by many organizations has two deficiencies:
People frequently need to vote on a motion within minutes of first hearing it. Not only that, they first hear new motions late in the meeting, when their minds are already tired;
People have to listen to lengthy discussions on motions that are uninteresting to them and/or are not given enough time to discuss those motions that greatly concern them.
In order to address the first point, we adopt the following order of business for General Business Meetings:
By presentation of new business at the beginning of the meeting, people can begin thinking about the new business while their minds are fresh. Further, they have time to think of questions, counter-arguments, and amendments long before debate and voting are to take place.
By placing a recess between formal debate and voting, we recognize the importance of informal processes. Those who are most interested in certain issues can focus on those subjects. Further, the recess can be used to allow subcommittees to meet while the members have already budgeted the evening for Libertarian Party matters. Finally, wording of bills and amended versions thereof can be refined during this period. Additional recesses can be inserted into the above schedule at the request of a majority of those present.
Finally, consideration of motions can continue through the voting session, which can be seen by reading the voting procedures during the next session.
The above order of business and the voting procedures below are designed to maximize the amount of time individual members have to think and discuss motions without having unduly long meetings. However, these procedures may prove unnecessarily complex for Non-Controversial motions. If a motion is Non-Controversial, a vote on a motion can take place on a motion earlier than in the above process using conventional voting techniques (show of hands, voice vote). A motion is considered Non-Controversial if no amendments are offered and 7/8 of the members present agree that the motion is Non-Controversial. That is, 1/8 of the members present can demand that the motion go through the processes outlined in this Article.
The purpose of voting is to determine the true will of the body. Alas, the standard approach of motions, amendments, debates on amendments and so forth is often an inefficient method of determining such. A great deal of time can get wasted haggling over multiple amendments. Further, it is subject to abuse. Those skilled in parliamentary maneuvering can get their version of a bill through even though the majority would prefer something a bit different.
To more correctly determine the true will of the body, and to facilitate expeditious voting on multiple motions, we adopt the following default procedure for motions at General Business Meetings and Bylaws amendments at Conventions.
[Updated January 2005]
All amended versions of a motion are to get parallel treatment; each version should be considered on its own merit. To allow this, all versions of the motion are to be given separate up or down votes; that is, the delegates are encouraged to vote for all of the versions that they find acceptable. Then:
The following procedures are to be used for electing the “Fixed” officers; that is, the Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. They are also to be used for electing the Vice Chair from among the Ad Hoc officers. These procedures are also to be used when electing any other officer or committee Chair for such temporary positions and committees that the Membership may create from time to time; that is, these procedures apply at any time when a single officer is to be elected at a time. For Ad Hoc officers, where we generally elect multiple officers at a time, see Section 4.
Voting shall take place in multiple Rounds. The Rounds proceed as follows:
In the event that “None of the Above” gets a majority in the final round, then the seat is not filled. In the case of the required Officers (Chair, Secretary and Treasurer), the entire process is repeated with the following changes:
“None of the Above“ is no longer allowed. A vote for “None of the Above” or someone not on the list is counted as an abstention.
The winner fills the position on an interim basis. A new vote to fill the position shall be taken at either the next General Business Meeting or Convention, whichever comes first.
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Note: The procedures below are supposed to be adjusted to be approval voting in which the number of potential officers who meets the threshold of of approval determines the number of Ad Hoc officers. However, time was running out at the time this was resolved, so precise language was not drafted. |
The following procedures apply when multiple seats are to be elected in parallel. This situation applies for voting for Ad Hoc officers and for Delegates to the State Convention. For example, all open seats for Ad Hoc Officers are to be voted on at one time. This means 4 or 5 at the Officer and Bylaws Session of the Convention, depending on whether the Treasurer opts to serve on the Executive Committee. This could be a smaller number at a General Business Meeting or the Candidate Nominating Session of the Convention.
The process for Parallel Voting is similar to Serial Voting but with the following differences:
For Ad Hoc officer positions, if “None of the Above” wins any of the positions, then a second election is immediately held for interim holders of those seats. For interim positions, “None of the Above” is not an allowed option and shall be counted as an abstention. The next Convention or General Business Meeting is charged with attempting to elect a permanent replacement for the interim office holders.
For Delegates to the State Convention we do not use “None of the Above”.
The Party shall hold a Convention consisting of two Sessions each year. The first Session is to be held in January at which time officers shall be elected and amendments are made to the LP-Buncombe Bylaws. A second Session shall be held to elect Delegates for the State Convention, nominate Candidates for public office, as well as make further Bylaws Amendments if need be. The time of the second Session will be in accordance with the Bylaws of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina and the laws of the State of North Carolina.
A. Purpose
The purpose of this Session is to elect the Officers and to make amendments to these Bylaws if need be.
B. Time and Place
This Session shall be in January of each year. The Executive Committee shall arrange for the precise date and time. All Members shall be notified at least two weeks in advance. Any proposed Amendments to these Bylaws must be made available to the Members by this time. Posting on the web site and notification of the members of the location on the web site shall be construed as sufficient notification.
C. Order of Business
The following items must be covered in this order in relation to each other:
However, other items such as speakers, other presentations and breaks can take place before, after, and in between these items.
The Officers shall be elected in the following order:
Before each election, all the candidates will be allotted equal time to make their campaigns. Candidates can speak on their own behalf or give the time to others for endorsements. Ad Hoc Officer Candidates must present their Proposals as part of their nomination presentation.
A. Purpose
The purpose of this Session is to elect Delegates to the State Convention, nominate candidates for public office, and to make amendments to these Bylaws if need be.
B. Time and Place
The time of the this Session will be in accordance with the Bylaws of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina and the laws of the State of North Carolina. The Executive Committee shall arrange for the precise date and time. All Members shall be notified at least two weeks in advance. Any proposed Amendments to these Bylaws must be made available to the Members by this time. Posting on the web site and notification of the members of the location on the web site shall be construed as sufficient notification.
C. Order of Business
The following items must be covered in this order in relation to each other:
In the event of typographical error, inconsistency, or omission, these Bylaws may prove to be inadequate for certain situations. In such event that resolution is necessary before the next Convention, the Membership may vote on an Official Interpretation to fill in the gap. A 2/3 vote of the eligible Membership (as per Article IV Section 4) is required to pass such Official Interpretations. The Official Interpretation shall stand as part of the Bylaws until the next Convention Session, at which time the opportunity arises for a more permanent solution by a proper Amendment.
In the event that these Bylaws contradict the Bylaws of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina, the laws of the State of North Carolina, or the laws of the United States of America, the next Convention is charged with passing Amendments to these Bylaws to bring them into conformity. In the interim, at the first General Business Meeting after the contradiction is found, the Membership is charged with voting in Temporary Amendments to bring these Bylaws into conformance. A 2/3 vote of the eligible Membership (as per Article IV Section 4) is required to pass such Temporary Amendments. Such Temporary Amendments shall be construed as part of the Bylaws until the next Convention Session, at which time the opportunity arises for a more permanent solution by a proper Amendment.