FYI AGENDA Saturday 5 May 2001 10:00 a.m. Melby Hall Augsburg College 715 23rd Avenue Minneapolis Registration 8:30 a.m. I. Call to Order 10:00 a.m. II.Credentials Committee's preliminary report III.Rules Committee's report A. Adoption of agenda B. Adoption of rules IV. Reading of Affirmative Action Statement V. Election of permanent Convention chair VI. Credentials Committee's second report VII. Treasurer's report VIII. Constitution Committee's report IX.Endorsement of candidates A. Board of Education (three positions)* B. Board of Estimate & Taxation (two positions)* C. Park & Recreation Board (three at-large positions)* D. Library Board (six positions)* E. Mayor* X. Nominating Committee's report; election of officers A. Chair B. Associate Chair C. Secretary D. Treasurer E. Affirmative Action Officer F. Finance Director G. Directors (two, one of each gender) XI. Park-district conventions XII. Other business XIII. Adjournment *Other business may proceed during the counting of any ballot (including endorsement of candidates, the Nominating Committee's report and election of Party officers, and other business) in the order set forth in the agenda. Rules Governing Authority and Agenda 1. Upon all matters not governed by the Official Minneapolis DFL Convention Call, the State DFL Party Constitution and Bylaws, the Minneapolis City DFL Party constitution and bylaws, and these Rules, Robert's Rules of Order most recently 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, and Floor Access for Visitors 4. Registration shall begin at 8:30 a.m. and shall remain open until adjournment of the Convention. The Convention shall convene at 10:00 a.m. Delegates and alternates to this Convention shall be the delegates and alternates now residing in Minneapolis who were elected at the 2000 precinct meetings from precincts in Minneapolis. Registration of delegates and alternates to the Convention shall continue until adjournment. 5. (a) The ward-delegation chair shall be the individual(s) elected at the most recent ward convention as the ward coordinator(s), if present and willing to serve; otherwise, the ward coordinator(s) shall be appointed by the Convention chair. The precinct-delegation chair shall be the precinct chair elected at the 2000 precinct meeting, if present; otherwise a precinct-delegation chair shall be elected by the precinct delegation from among its members. Precinct-delegation chairs shall report to the ward coordinators. (b) The Convention chair shall instruct the Convention as to the duties each ward or precinct chair will be expected to perform during the Convention. The name of each ward or precinct chair shall be reported promptly to the Convention chair. (c) Delegates shall be seated by ward, and by precinct within the ward, on the Convention floor. 6. 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. (b) Disputes as to eligibility may be referred by the complainant to the Credentials Committee for resolution and may be appealed to the Convention thereafter. (c) Any delegates or alternates entitled to be seated after all challenges have been resolved shall go to the registration table, located inside the Conventional hall, with their precinct chair so that proper seating may be arranged. (d) 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 within a subcaucus, alternates will be raised by lot from among the highest-ranking alternates within the other subcaucuses. Each subcaucus will be represented in the lot system in proportion to its delegate allocation strength. Any delegate or alternate who has moved outside his/her precinct but within the city shall become last alternate in his/her new precinct. If there is more than one delegate and/or alternate who has become last alternate, lots shall be drawn to determine rank. (e) The registration staff shall issue identification badges to delegates, and alternates. Badges issued to each group shall be of a different color. Any person at the Minneapolis DFL Convention not having a badge will be considered a visitor. (f) A badge assigned to an absent delegate shall be temporarily 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 raised alternate is subsequently returned to alternate status, the alternate's delegate badge shall be immediately surrendered to the registration table. 7. Unless otherwise provided for in the rules, only delegates, alternates serving as delegates, candidates for endorsement, DFL-endorsed ward candidates, Convention officials, and elected public officials shall be allowed on the floor of the Convention. Only delegates and upgraded alternates shall be allowed on the Convention floor, including aisles, during ballots. Unseated alternates and visitors shall be seated separately from delegates and shall not be allowed on the Convention floor during the Convention. 8. Upon application to the Credentials Committee chair, each candidate for endorsement for public office or party office being considered at this Convention shall be allotted four floor passes. All candidates and their representatives (using floor passes) must leave the Convention floor at the time that ballots are distributed. Floor passes issued for each race shall be returned to the Credentials Committee chair when the endorsement process for that race concludes. Each candidate for endorsement for any Citywide office who is not a delegate or seated alternate will be given a permanent, personal floor pass for the Convention. General Convention Rules 9. One or more Convention chairs, with gender balance, if applicable, shall be elected by a plurality vote of the Convention. The Convention chairs shall appoint a Convention secretary, timekeepers, tellers, sergeants-at-arms, parliamentarians, and other assistants, as they deem necessary to conduct Convention business. 10. All persons shall comply with rules established by the Convention facility. 11. 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 established by the City Central Committee. Campaign signage will be prohibited in the registration area. Campaign literature may not be distributed in the Convention hall during balloting. 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. 12. DFL incumbents or declared candidates for Federal, Statewide or County offices and party dignitaries may address the Convention at the discretion of the Convention chair. Such visitors shall limit their remarks to no more than one minute. Voting and Procedures 13. (a) All voting shall be by delegates and alternates serving as delegates who are sitting in the location designated for their precinct/ward or conducting business essential to the Convention. (b) No ballot shall be distributed until at least five minutes after appropriate notice that delegates should return to the floor has been given. (c) Unless otherwise provided in these rules, all voting shall be by voice vote or standing division unless a counted division or a secret ballot vote is requested by the chair or by a one-third vote of Convention delegates. All votes on contested endorsements shall be a secret ballot vote. No roll call votes shall be allowed. (d) On a counted division, each precinct delegation chair will poll the delegation and deliver a signed tally sheet to the ward-delegation chair(s). The ward-delegation chair(s) shall deliver the precinct tally sheets for their ward to the tellers. The tally sheet will report the precinct number and the number of delegates voting for and against the motion. The division totals will be reported to the Convention. (e) On a secret ballot vote, each ward-delegation chair will receive an envelope from the tellers containing precinct envelopes containing sufficient ballots for each delegate or upgraded alternate as listed with the Credentials Committee, for those precincts within their respective ward. Each precinct delegation chair shall distribute and collect the ballots for their precinct. A delegate will cast only one ballot, but each delegate may vote for as many candidates as there are persons to be elected or endorsed, but voting for each candidate only once. After all the eligible precinct delegates have voted, the precinct-delegation chair shall place the ballots back into the precinct envelope and mark the outside of the envelope with the number of ballots cast. The precinct-delegation chairs shall return the envelopes to their ward-delegation chair who shall return to the tellers inside the ward envelope all precinct envelopes within their ward. (f) If no candidate for endorsement has received sixty percent of the votes casts after five ballots, a motion to have no endorsement will be in order at any time thereafter, and will pass with a majority vote. In that event, balloting shall terminate and no body of the DFL will endorse for that position prior to the primary election. (g) The phrase "sixty percent affirmative vote" means that to be endorsed, a candidate must receive sixty percent of the votes cast on that ballot excluding blanks and abstentions. Ballots marked "No endorsement" shall be counted for purposes of determining the sixty percent necessary for endorsement. Uncounted ballots shall include blank ballots, ballots marked as abstaining, ballots marked with the name of a dropped candidate or unnominated candidate, and unintelligible or spoiled ballots. A spoiled ballot is defined as containing the name of a dropped candidate or too many names in a multiple endorsement race. All ballots cast shall count toward a test of quorum. Election of Party Officers 14. For each Party office, the chair shall call for nominations by name only. After the candidates have been nominated, the chair shall determine speaking order by lot. Each candidate for Party Chair will have three minutes to address the Convention; all other Party office candidates shall have one minute. Elections shall be by majority vote. If none of the nominees for an office receives a majority vote on a ballot, the nominee with the least number of votes will be dropped on the next ballot, provided that at least two candidates remain on that ballot. Speech and Debate Rules 15. No delegate may speak until recognized by the Convention chair. Speakers will first state their name and precinct. 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. 16. Unless otherwise provided for in these rules, no delegate shall speak for more than two 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 three speakers have been heard on each side. 17. 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 five minutes in total to present their positions, with the challenged delegation speaking last. 18. 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. 19. Any amendment to a motion or resolution which removes, changes, or adds five 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 by at least one other delegate. Amendments take a majority vote for adoption. Endorsement Rules 20. (a) When a public office that will be contested on the general-election ballot contains more than one person to be elected, the Convention may endorse as many persons as there will be positions for that office. (b) For each public office to be considered, the chair shall first call for nominations from the floor for endorsement. Nominations shall be by name only. After the candidates have been named, the chair shall determine an order for speaking time by lot. (c) No time shall be given to individuals who are nominated but decline the nomination. (d) Endorsement Ballot for Mayor and School Board. (1) Candidates nominated shall be allotted for nominating speeches, seconding speeches, floor demonstrations, and addressing the Convention the following times: (a) Mayor: up to fifteen minutes; (b) Board of Education: up to five minutes. Speaking order shall be determined by lot. (2) There will be up to a thirty-minute question-and-answer period following the nominating speeches for Mayor and up to a fifteen-minute question-and-answer period following the nominating speeches for Board of Education candidates, except in uncontested elections. All candidates seeking endorsement will be invited to participate. (3) Delegates and alternates are entitled to submit written, signed questions. All questions must be submitted to the Convention secretary no later than the time for nomination for that office is closed. All questions must be submitted in writing and only one question per submission is permitted. All questions must be general in nature and be addressed to all of the candidates. No preliminary remarks, statements, or explanations may be included and are cause for the disqualification of the question. No question deemed to be in the nature of personal attacks on any or all candidates will be accepted. All questions should be possible to answer within a one-minute period. (4) All questions will be screened for compliance with Rule 20(d)(3), above, by a panel consisting of the representatives of the Convention chair, chair of the Rules Committee, and each candidate nominated. All questions approved will be placed in a container from which the Convention chair will draw randomly during the question-and-answer period. The chair will ask the question and not repeat a previously asked question. (5) Each candidate will have up to one minute to respond to each question. The order of response for the first question will be determined by lot and rotation will follow for subsequent questions. All candidates will have the opportunity to answer the last question asked even if the time frame elapses prior to the completion of the rotation. The first question all candidates will be asked will be: "In the event that you are not endorsed, will you run against the candidate, endorsed by the Convention for the office of [the office the nominee seeks]?" (6) The endorsed candidate for Mayor may be allotted up to five minutes for an acceptance speech. (e) Endorsement for Park & Recreation Board, Board of Estimate & Taxation, and Library Board. (1) Candidates nominated shall be allotted up to five minutes for nominating speeches, seconding speeches, floor demonstrations, and addressing the Convention. Speaking order shall be determined by lot. At the conclusion of each nominating speech, each nominee shall state whether he or she, in the event he or she is not endorsed, will run against the candidate endorsed by the Convention for the office the nominee seeks. (2) There will be no question-and-answer period for these offices. (3) Park Board districts. At the time for endorsement for Park & Recreation Board district candidates, the Convention may recess up to one hour to permit delegates of Park Board districts to consider endorsement of Park Board candidates. If the Park Board districts have not completed their business in such one-hour period, they may recess and reconvene after adjournment of the City Convention. The City Convention may reconvene in less than one hour if all Park Board districts have completed their business. The Convention chair shall appoint a convenor for each district Convention who shall be the highest-ranking DFL official living in that district. (f) General Endorsement Rules.Drop rule. Candidates receiving less than ten percent will be dropped after the first ballot. On subsequent ballots, the drop-off percent will be raised by five percent each ballot. In addition, after the fourth ballot, the lowest remaining candidate will be dropped regardless of the percent. 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 two. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com _______________________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
