Document:National Bylaws and Convention Rules 1981

THIS DOCUMENT IN OTHER FORMATS PDF

NOTE: This is a historical version of a document which may have a more current version. You may want to refer to this list of versions if you are interested in more recent information.

• Note: This is the result of the merger of the former Constitution and Bylaws which were previously separate documents.

BYLAWS OF THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY

ARTICLE I: NAME

These bylaws shall govern the corporation known as the "Libertarian Party," hereinafter referred to as the "Party."

ARTICLE II: PERIOD OF DURATION

The duration of the Party shall be perpetual.

ARTICLE III: PURPOSES

The purpose for which the Party is organized is to implement and give voice to the principles embodied in the Statement of Princi­ples by:

- Functioning as a libertarian political entity separate and distinct from all other political parties or movements;

- Nominating candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States and supporting Party and affiliate party candidates for political office;

- Chartering affiliate parties throughout the United States and promoting their growth and activities; and

- Entering into political information activities.

ARTICLE IV: STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES AND PLATFORM

1. The Statement of Principles affirms that philosophy upon which the Libertarian Party is founded, by which it shall be sustained, and through which Liberty shall prevail. The enduring importance of the Statement of Principles requires that it may be amended only by a vote of 7/8 of all registered at a Regular Convention.

2. The Party Platform shall include, but not be limited to, a Statement of Principles and the implementation of those principles in the form of Planks.

ARTICLE V: MEMBERSHIP

1. Members of the Party shall be those persons whose national dues are current, and who certify that they oppose the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals.

2. Dues for membership in the Party shall be set by the National Committee.

ARTICLE VI: AFFILIATE PARTIES

1. The National Committee shall charter affiliate parties from those organizations requesting such status in each state, territory, and the District of Columbia. Copies of all the petitioning organization's proposed operating rules shall be submitted with the petition. No organization shall be so chartered which does not ratify the Statement of Principles of the Party. No affiliate party shall endorse a candidate for President or Vice-President of the United States other than those elected to candidacy at a Convention of the Party.

2. The autonomy of the affiliated parties shall not be abridged by the National Committee or other committee of the Party, except as provided herein.

3. The National Committee shall have the power to suspend affiliate party status from any organization by a 2/3 vote of the Committee. Such suspension is subject to written appeal within thirty days of notification. Failure to appeal shall be interpreted as an act of secession by the affiliate party. The National Committee shall not suspend any affiliate party within a period of six months prior to a Regular Convention.

Upon appeal by the affiliate party, the Judicial Committee shall set a date for a hearing within 20 to 40 days of receipt of the appeal. This hearing shall be adjudicated by a quorum of the Judicial Committee, with representatives of the National Committee urging revocation, and representatives of the affiliated party opposing revocation. The Judicial Committee shall rule to either revoke the charter of the affiliate party or to reinstate the charter, with all rights and privileges pertaining thereto, within 30 days of the hear­ ing and no later than 90 days prior to a Regular Convention. Should the Judicial Committee fail to rule, the affiliate party's charter shall be reinstated with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto.

4. Organizations which wish to become affiliate parties shall apply for official designation on a standard petition form as adopted by the National Committee, which petition shall be signed by not less than ten members of the organization residing in the appropriate state.

5. There shall be no more than one affiliate part in any one state or territory or the District of Columbia, and the affiliate part shall determine who shall be delegates from its respective state to all Regular Conventions.

ARTICLE VII: OFFICERS

1. The officers of the Party shall be:

- Chair, - Vice Chair, - Secretary, and - Treasurer.

PAGE IS MISSING IN PDF FROM HERE UNTIL NEXT INDICATED POINT SO THE TEXT IN BETWEEN IS THE OLD LANGUAGE

All of these officers shall be elected at a Regular Convention of the Party by the attending delegates and shall take office immediately upon the close of the convention and serve thereafter until the final adjournment of the next Regular Convention. No person shall serve as an officer who is not a member of the Party.

2. No offices shall be combined.

3. The officers shall be full voting members of the National Committee.

4. The Chair shall preside at all conventions and all meetings of the National Committee. He or she shall be the chief executive officer of the Party.

5. The Vice Chair shall act as an assistant to the Chair, and shall perform the duties of the Chair in the event the Chair is, for any reason, unable to perform the duties of his or her office.

6. The Secretary shall be the recording officer of the Party.

7. The Treasurer shall receive, expend and account for the funds of the Party under the supervision and direction of the Chair and National Committee.

8. Except as otherwise provided herein, the officers of the Party shall have such powers and perform such duties as may be prescribed in the Bylaws.

9. An officer may be suspended, that is, denied the authority to perform his or her specific functions, by a two­ thirds vote of the entire National Committee. The office of a suspended officer shall be declared vacant, unless the suspended officer appeals his or her suspension to the Judicial Committee within seven days of receipt of notice of suspension. The National Committee shall appoint new officers if vacancies occur, such officers to complete the term of the office vacated.

ARTICLE VIII: NATIONAL COMMITTEE

1. The National Committee of the Party shall be composed of the following:

a. the four elected officers of the Party;

PAGE IS MISSING IN PDF FROM POINT PREVIOUSLY INDICATED UNTIL HERE SO THAT THE TEXT IN BETWEEN IS THE OLD LANGUAGE

b. the immediate past Chair, for the two-year period following the Convention at which a new Chair is elected;

c. seven members elected at large by the delegates at the Regular Convention; and

d. one member and one alternate from each Region, plus one additional member an d alternate from each Region containing between 10% and 20% of the total Party membership, plus another additional member and alternate from each Region containing over 20% of the total Party membership, wish such members and alternate to be selected by the Regions as heron provided.

2. The current Regions are as follows.

Region 1: Alaska

Region 2: California, Hawaii and U.S. territories and possessions in the Pacific

Region 3: Oregon and Washington

Region 4: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota

Region 5: Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada

Region 6: Colorado and Utah

Region 7: Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri

Region 8: Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska

Region 9: Illinois

Region 10: Wisconsin and Michigan

Region 11: Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky

Region 12: Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee

Region 13: Texas

Region 14: New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware

Region 15: West Virginia, Maryland and District of Columbia

Region 16: New York

Region 17: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut

Region 18: North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia

Region 19: Georgia, Alabama a, Florida, and U.S. territories and possessions in the Caribbean

3. The National Committee shall take office immediately upon the close of the Regular Convention at which they are selected, and serve until eh final adjournment of the next Regular Convention.

4. A National Committee member shall be a member of the Party, and shall not be the candidate of any party except the Party or an affiliate.

5. A National Committee member-at-large may be suspended, that is, denied authority to perform his or her specific func­tions, by a 2/3 vote of the entire National Committee. The office of a suspended member-at-large shall be declared vacant unless the suspended member appeals to the Judicial Committee within seven days of receipt of notice of suspension. When a suspension of a National Committee member-at-large is appealed, the Chair of the Judicial Committee shall set a date for a hearing, which date shall be between 20 and 40 days following receipt of the appeal. This hearing shall be adjudicated by a quorum of the Judicial Committee, with each side presenting its case. The Judicial Committee shall vote to either declare a vacancy in the office or to reinstate the National Committee member-at-large.

6. The National Committee shall appoint new members if vacancies occur, such members to complete the term of the office vacated.

7. A National Committee Regional Representative may be suspended, that is, denied the authority to perform his or her specific function, by the following procedure:

a. A majority of the State Chairs in the Region must request of the Chair that the National Committee consider the question of suspicion of the Regional Representative.

b. The Chair shall submit the matter to a vote of the National Committee.

c. If 2/3 of the entire National Committee vote to suspend the Regional Representative, that office shall be deemed vacant and the State Chairs in the Region shall elect - by majority vote - a new Regional Representative to fill the vacancy. When a region consists of a single state, the state committee of that state shall fulfill the function of State Chairs in a multi-state Region.

d. The suspension of a Regional Representative is not appealable to the Judicial Committee.

8. The National Committee shall have the control and management of all the affairs, properties and funds of the Party consistent with these Bylaws.

9. The National Committee shall meet at such times and places as may be determined by:

- action fo the Committee,

- call fo the Chair, or

- written request of 1/3 or more of its members.

A written notice of the time and place of all meetings shall be mailed to each member of the Committee not l.ess than 30 days prior to said meeting.

10. The National Committee may, without meeting together, transact business by mail. The Secretary shall send out mail ballots on any question submitted by the Chair or by at least 1/5 of the members of the Committee. Fifteen says shall be allowed for the return of the votes cast, by mail, to the Secretary during the period between a Regular Convention and the next general election, and 30 days shall be allowed at all other times. If, at the expiration of the applicable period, a quorum of the Committee have to return their votes, the meausre being voted upon shall be deemed to have filed; in all other cases, a majority of the votes returned shall carry the measure, except where a higher vote is required by the Bylaws. The Secretary shall preserve all such votes until the next meeting of the National Committee, at which meeting the Committee shall order the disposition of such votes.

11. More than 1/2 of the membership of the National Committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of all business, except where a larger vote is required by Bylaws.

12. Upon appeal by 5% of the Party members, the Judicial Committee shall consider the question of whether or not a decision of the National Committee contravenes specified sections of the Bylaws. If the decision is vetoed by the Judicial Committee, it shall be declared null and void.

ARTICLE IX: JUDICIAL COMMITTEE

1. There shall be a standing Judicial Committee which shall be appointed by, and exclusive of, the National Committee, and shall serve the same term as the National Committee. The Judicial Committee shall be composed of nine members; any five members shall constitute a quorum. The National Committee shall designate a Chair of the Judicial Committee, to whom all notices of appeal shall be sent.

2. The Judicial Committee shall be responsible for hearing appeals regarding the following:

a. suspension of affiliate parties (Article 6, Section 3), b. suspension of officers (Article 7, Section 8), c. suspension of National Committee members-at-large (Article 8, Section 5), d. voiding of National Committee decisions (Article 8, Section 12), e. challenges to platform planks (Rule 7, Section 7), f. challenges to Resolutions (Rule 8, Section 2), and g. suspension of Presidential and vice-Presidential candidacies (Article 12, Section 5).

3. In addition to the responsibilities listed above, the Judicial Committee shall be responsible for disciplinary actions against any Party member, in accordance with Robert's rules of Order, Newly Revised, except as otherwise provided herein.

ARTICLE X: FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING

1. The fiscal term of the Party shall begin on January 1 of each year. From January 1 until the National Committee has approved a budget, the National Director and/or the Treasurer are authorized to make expenditures for any items incorporated in the previous7 year's budget as long as the level of expenditure is consistent with that budget.

2. The National Committee shall cause an efficient double-entry system of accounts to be installed and maintained.

3. All disbursements exceeding $20.00 shall be made solely by check.

4. The National Committee shall have the power to designate the depository of all funds of the Party, and shall appoint such officers and employees as in its judgment may seem advisable to deposit and withdraw funds from said depository.

5. The Party shall not borrow in excess of $10,000 total without prior approval by 2/3 vote of the National Committee. This shall to cinldue current operating debt for trade payables.

ARTICLE XI: CONVENTIONS

1. Regular Conventions

The Party shall hold a Regular Convention every odd­-numbered year, at a time and place selected by the National Committee. Regular Conventions shall be held sometime during the period July through October. All b business required to be conducted at Regular Conventions shall be conducted at Regular Conventions only.

2. Non-Regular Conventions.

Non-Regular Conventions may be held at the discre­tion of the National Committee during even-numbered years.

3. Delegates:

a. Delegates shall be required to be members of either the Party or an affiliate party. At all Regular Conventions, delegates shall be those so accredited who have restored at the Convention. At all Non-Regular Conventions, any person who wishes to attend may do so.

b. Any federal or state law to the contrary notwithstanding, delegates to a Regular Convention shall be selected by a method adopted by each affiliate party; provided however that only members of the Party as defined in these Bylaws, or member of the affiliate party as defined in the constitution or bylaws of such affiliate party, or those who have made the certification required b y Article 5 of these Bylaws, shall be eligible to vote for the section of delegates to a Regular Convention.

4. Affiliate Party Delegate Entitlements:

Each affiliated party shall be entitled to send delegates to each Regular Convention on the following basis:

a. four basic delegates from each affiliated party; plus b. one additional delegate from each affiliated party for each one quarter of one per cent (0.25%) (rounded) of the total national membership residing in that state, district or territory, as determined by the Secretary as of the last day of February of the Regular Convention year; plus c. one additional delegate from each affiliated party for each one per cent (1%) (rounded) of the total vote cast for President in that state or district which was received by the Party's most recent candidate for President.

5. Ex-Officio Delegates:

In addition, the following persons shall be ex-officio delates, automatically entitled to delegate statues: a. National Officers b. National Committee members or their alternates c. all former Party nominees for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the United States, and d. each state governor, U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator who is a Party member and not affiliated with any other party.

6. Delegate Allocations

In order to be counted for delegate allocation, membership applications must be sent to the National Headquarters by either the individual member or affiliated party and received or postmarked no later than the last day of February of the Regular Convention year. The Secretary shall make a count of members qualified under the requirements set forth here, and shall compute the delegate allocations for the affiliated parties. Notification of the membership totals and allocation totals shall be sent by the Secretary to the Chairperson of each affiliated party no later than April 1 of the year of the Regular Convention.

A list of the names and addresss of all delegates and alternates chosen by each affiliated party shall be sent to the Secretary no later than one month prior to the start (first general session) of the Regular Convention. Amendments to such lists may be made by the affiliated parties until the close of the Credentials Committee meeting preceding the Convention.

7. Delegate List:

Any Party member shall be provided, upon request and payment of copying and mailing cost, a list of the names and addresses of all elected delegates to a Convention.

8. Convention Committees

There shall be a Platform Committee, a Bylaws and Rules Committee, and a Credentials Committee for each Regular Convention. The National Committee shall appoint a temporary chair of each committee to serve until each committee selects its own chair.

a. The Bylaws and Rules Committee shall consist of ten Party members appointed by the National Committee no later than three months before a Regular Convention. No more than five of these members shall be members of the current National Committee.

b. The Platform Committee shall consist of 20 members selected as follows:

- One member from each of ten affiliate parties having the largest memberships (as determined by the National Committee, according to Articles V and XII); these shall be selected by the ten respective parties no later than one month prior to the convention.

- Ten members appointed by the National Committee, including no less than five members from states other than the ten having the largest party memberships; these members shall be appointed no later than three months prior to the Regular Convention.

c. The Credentials Committee, composed of ten members, shall be selected as follows:

- Five members chosen by the National Committee.

- One member from each of the five affiliated parties having the largest memberships (as determined according to Article VI); these shall be elected by the five respective parties no later than one month prior to the Convention.

d. Ranked alternates may be named by the appointing bodies to fill any vacancies in the Convention Committees.

9. Quorum

A quorum shall consist of 40% of the total number of delegates registered in attendance at the Convention.

10. Convention Rules:

Conventions of the Party shall be conducted in accordance ce with the current Bylaws and Convention Rules, unless otherwise amended at a Regular Convention.

ARTICLE XII: PRESIDENTIAL AND VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS

1. Nominations of candidates for President and Vice­ President of the United States may be made only at the Regular Convention held in the year preceding the Presidential election year.

2. No candidate may be nominated for President or Vice­ President who is ineligible under the United States Constitution, or who has not expressed a willingness to accept the nomination of the Party. No candidate may be nominated for President or Vice-President who is not a member of the Party.

3. In the event of the death, resignation or disqualifica­ tion of the Party's nominee for President, the Vice-Presidential nominee shall become the Presidential candidate. A two-thirds majority of the entire National Committee may, at a meeting, fill a Vice-Presidential vacancy and, if necessary, a simultaneous Presidential vacancy.

4. The National Committee shall respect the vote of the delegates at Nominating Conventions and provide full support for all nominees for President and Vice-President as long as their campaigns are conducted in accordance with the Platform of the Party.

5.. A candidate's nomination may be suspended by a 3/4 vote of the entire membership of the National Committee at a meeting. That candidate's nomination shall then be declared null and void unless the suspended candidate appeals the suspension to the Judicial Committee within seven days of receipt of notification of suspension. The resolution of suspension must state the specific reasons for suspension and must be signed by each member of the National Committee agreeing thereto. The Judicial Committee shall meet and act on this appeal within 30 days and before the election.

ARTICLE XIII: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the Party in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are to inconsistent with other rules adopted by the Party.

ARTICLE XIV: AMENDMENT

1. These Bylaws may be amended by a 2/3 vote of the delegates at any Regular Convention.

2. Article 4, Section 1 shall not abe amended by a vote of less than 7/8 of all registered delegates at a Regular Convention.

ARTICLE XV: PROMULGATION OF BYLAWS

The National Committee shall promulgate the Bylaws in accordance with applicable law.

CONVENTION RULES OF THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY

RULE 1: ORDER OF BUSINESS

The standing order of business for a Regular Convention shall be as follows:

1. Call to order

2. Credentials Committee Report

3. Adopt Agenda

4. Bylaws and Rules Committee Report

5. Platform Committee Report

6. Nomination of Party candidates for President and Vice­ President (in appropriate years)

7. Election of Party officers and National Committee members­ at-large

8. Other Business.

RULE 2: VOTING ELIGIBILITY

1. The Secretary, acting on behalf of the Credentials Committee, shall report the number of delegates registered in attendance and eligible to vote directly after the opening of the first business session, and at the beginning of each succeeding session.

2. All delegates shall be eligible to vote on all matters. In order to vote on a given matter, a delegate must be present on the floor at the time the vo·Le is taken. Each delegate present shall have one vote. use of the unit rule or unit voting is prohibited at national Conventions.

3. Duly elected alternates may be freely substituted for any members of their delegation, except for ex-officio delegates, who are temporarily or permanently absent from the floor, provided the procedure has been clearly specified by the affiliate party in advance of the Convention, and the Secretary has been provided with lists of the affiliate party's delegates and alternates, as well as a copy of the affiliate party's rules governing substitutions.

4. An alternate, upon certification by the Secretary, shall be designated as a delegate whenever a delegate of the same state has not been registered in attendance. This status shall continue until the absent delegate registers in attendance. If the state party has made no provision for filling delegate vacancies, the alternate substitute shall be decided by drawing lots.

5. If the affiliate party has made no provision, an alternate may temporarily vote in place of a delegate from the same state while he or she has the written consent of that delegate; however, no delegate may cast more than one vote on a question.

6. All members must wear the identification badge issued upon registration in order to be admitted to the convention hall.

RULE 3: VOTING PROCEDURE AND MOTOINS

1. On all matters, except the election of Party officers and the National Committee, and the nomination of Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates, voting will be on a voice-vote basis. If ten or more delegates object to the Chair's ruling on the out­ come of a voice-vote, a roll-call vote will be held.

2. The Chair may require any motion offered from the con­ vention floor to be in writing, signed by the mover, and submitted to the Secretary.

RULE 4: POLLING PROCEDURE

1. The State Chair shall serve as chair of his or her delegation, unless that delegation selects some other member of that delegation to serve as its chair, and so notifies the Secretary.

2. In cases where a roll-call vote is required, polling shall be by state. The Secretary will ask for the vote from each state in alphabetical order, and the chair of each delegation shall report the vote for his or her state. The Convention seating will be by state delegations. If someone challenges the vote reported by any state's chair, the Secretary shall poll the delegates from that state individually.

RULE 5: COMMITTEE PROCEDURES

1. A majority vote of those Committee memes present is necessary for a "do pass" recommendation, and in the case of the Platform Committee, a majority must prove each specific plank separately.

2. Four or more members of the Platform Committee may join together to issue a minority report regarding any plank reported to the floor of the Convention. Two or more members of the Bylaws and Rules Committee or of the Credentials Committee may join together to issue a minority report regarding their business.

3. A member must be present in Committee to vote.

4. More than 1/2 of the membership of each committee shall constitute a quorum.

RULE 6: DEBATING AND VOTING-BYLAWS AND RULES

Section 1. The Chair of the Bylaws and Rules Committee shall report each recommendation of the Committee to the Convention separately and may explain the intent or purpose of the proposed amendment(s). The Convention Chair shall open each recommendation to discussion and amendment from the floor. Each recommendation shall be considered and adopted separately, with a maximum of ten minutes discussion on any recommendation.

RULE 7: DEBATING AND VOTING-PLATFORM

1. The current Platform shall serve as the basis of all future Platforms. At Regular Conventions, the existing Platform may be amended. Additional planks or additions to planks must be approved by a two-thirds vote. A platform plank may be deleted by a simple majority vote of the delegates present and voting.

2. The Platform Committee shall meet at least two months prior to the Convention to consider proposed amendments. After consultation with the Platform Committee members and state convention committees, the Platform Committee Interim Chair shall decide the time and place of the Platform Committee Meeting.

The Platform Committee's report shall be mailed by the Party no later than 30 days prior to the Convention to all national delegates, state chairs and state newsletters editors. At the convention, the platform committee's recommendations shall be reported to the floor on a plank-by-plank basis and each shall be debated and voted upon separately. The Platform Committee shall set forth the order in which planks shall be considered.

3. Recommendations for which there is no minority report shall be debated and voted upon in the following manner:

a. The Platform Committee Chair, or some other person designated by him or here, shall read the proposed recommendation and shall have up to two minutes to explain the recommendation.

b. The Convention Chair shall then open the recommendation to discussion and amendment for a period of 15 minutes. At the end of 15 minutes, a vote will be taken on whether to bring the recommendation (as amended, if this is the case) to a final vote. If a majority vote is in favor or immediate consideration, the vote to accept or reject the recommendation must follow immediately. If a majority vote is against immediate consideration, the proposed recommendation shall be tabled for later consideration after all other recommendations receiving a favorable majority vote from the Platform Committee have been considered.

4. When all recommendations having no minority report have received at least initial consideration, those for which there is a minority report shall be considered in the following manner:

a. Spokespersons for both the majority and minority positions shall each have two minutes to present their views.

b. The chair shall then open consideration of both positions for five minutes, during which time any delegates may express their views without offering amendment. After five minutes, there will be a vote on which of the two reports shall be considered for purposes of adopting a recommendation. The report receiving the greater number of votes shall then be discussed and voted upon in the manner described in section 3b.

5. After all Committee recommendations have received initial consideration, any delegate may propose amendments to the Platform. The delegate may take up to two minutes to state and explain the proposal, with debating and voting to proceed described in section 3b.

6. Finally, if time permits, proposals which were considered by the Platform Committee but which received an unfavorable vote from a majority of the Committee, may be considered, with a spokesperson for the minority position giving the reasons in favor and the Platform Committee Chair or other representative of the majority position giving the reasons why it was voted down, before the proposal is taken to the floor for debate.

7. Challenges of adopted Party planks believed by 10% of the delegates to be in conflict with the Statement of Principles shall be referred in writing, during the Convention, to the Judicial Committee by the delegates requesting action for consideration. The challenge shall specify in what manner the plank is believed to be in conflict. The Judicial Committee shall consider the challenge, decide whether the Statement of Principles is conformed to and report their findings and reasons to the Convention. If the plank is vetoed by the Judicial Committee, it will be declared null and void but can be reinstated by a 3/4 vote of the Convention.

RULE 8: RESOLUTIONS

1. Resolutions must be approved by two-thirds (2/3) of the delegates present and voting.

2. Resolutions must not be in conflict with the Statement of Principles. Challenges of such adopted resolutions believed by ten per cent (10%) of the delegates to be in conflict with the Statement of Principles shall be referred in writing, during the Regular Convention, to the Judicial Committee by the delegates requesting action for consideration. The challenge shall specify in what manner the resolution is believed to be in conflict. The Judicial Committee shall consider the challenge, decide whether the Statement of Principles is conformed to, and report their findings and reasons to the Convention. If the resolution is vetoed by the Judicial Committee, it will be declared null and void, but can be reinstated by a three­ fourths (3/4) vote of the Convention.

RULE 9: NOMINATION OF PRESIDENTIAL AND VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

1. Presidential and Vice-Presidential nominations shall be from the floor. Each delegation shall tabulate its total vote, and the delegation chair shall deliver a written total to the Secretary. When all delegations have submitted their votes, the Secretary shall declare the voting closed. AT this point, an announcement of each delegation's vote total shall be made by delegation chairs in alphabetical order beginning with a randomly selected delegation.

2. The Party's nominee for President shall be chosen by majority vote. If, after four ballots, no candidate has attained a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes on the latest ballot shall be struck from subsequent ballots. This procedures shall be repeated after each even-numbered ballot in which no candidate has received a majority vote, until one candidate attains a majority.

3. The Party's nominee for Vice-President shall be chosen by the same procedure as for the Presidential nominee, except that the Presidential nominee shall have the power to veto any candidate for Vice-President with whom he or she does not wish to run. The Convention may overturn such veto by a 2/3 vote.

RULE 10: ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND NATIONAL COMMITTEE

1. Nominations for Party offices shall be from the floor, with any national or affiliated Party member eligible to run for any office. The election shall be conducted in the following manner:

a. For each office, a majority vote will be necessary for election.

b. Each delegation shall tabulate its total vote, and the delegation chair shall deliver a written total to the Secretary. When all delegations have submitted their votes, the Secretary shall declare the voting closed.

c. At this point, an announcement of each delegation's vote total shall be made by delegation chairs in alphabetical order beginning with a randomly selected delegation.

d. In cases where no candidate receives a majority, runoff votes will be held, dropping the candidate with the fewest votes after each ballot.

2. Nominations for the at-large members of the National Committee positions shall be from the floor, with all national or affili­ate Party members eligible for nomination. The election shall be conducted in the following manner:

a. Each delegate may cast up to seven votes, but no more than one for any candidate.

b. Each delegation shall tabulate its total vote, and the delegation chair shall deliver a written total to the Secretary. When al delegations have submitted their votes, the Secretary shall declare the voting closed.

c. At this point, an announcement of each delegation's vote total shall be made by delegation chairs in alphabetical order beginning with a randomly selected delegation.

d. Those seven candidates receiving the highest vote totals shall be declared elected. If a tie vote affecting the outcome of the election occurs, another ballot for the remaining offices shall be held with each delegate allowed to cast as many votes as there are office to fill.

3. Nominations for each candidate may be made by any delegate present on the floor, provided he or she has the candidate's permission. Nominating speeches shall be limited in duration as follows:

a. Chair: five minute nominating speech, two three-minutes seconding speeches;

b. All others: two minute nominating speech, two one-minute seconding speeches.

4. The National Committee members from each of the Regions shall be elected by the delegates from that region, provided there are at least five such delegates present, in caucus, after the election of the Officers and at-large members of the National Committee. If a Region is represented by fewer than five delegates, the incumbent Regional Representative will remain in office until a new Regional Representative is elected at a Regional caucus to be held within ninety days of the last day of the Convention. The incumbent representative shall call said caucus and preside over it. Each Region's delegates may elect their representative by whatever manner they choose, provided all delegates present from that region are given equal voice in the selection.

ARTICLE 11: NONE OF THE ABOVE

Votes cast for "None of the Above" in voting on the Party's nominees for President and Vice-President, the Party officers, and at-large members of the National Committee, shall be considered valid. Should a majority of the votes be cast for '"None of the Above" in the Presidential or Vice-Presidential balloting, no candidate shall be nominated for that office. Should "None of the Above" be selected for any Party office, that position shall be declared vacant and none of the losing candidates for that position may be selected to fill the vacancy for that term of office.

RULE 12: AMENDMENT TO THE RULES

The Convention Rules may be amended by a 2/3 vote at a Regular Convention.