Join us May 17-19, 2019 in Queens County, New York as we meet for training, networking, electing officers and continuing to build the future of the New York State Young Democrats (NYSYD). This document is the official Call to Convention for the 2019 State Convention.
Convention Officers
The 2019 Convention Chair is Andrew Goldston. The 2019 Convention Secretary and Credentials Committee Chair is Seamus Campbell. The Rules Committee Chair is Michael Twomey. The 2019 Convention Parliamentarian is Aries dela Cruz; the alternate Parliamentarian is Tyler White. Other convention officers and committee members shall be named at a later date by approval by the NYSYD Executive Board.
Chartering or Re-chartering
Chartering packets will be distributed and made available electronically on or before March 21, 2019, and will be due for submission by electronic mail by no later than 11:59:59 PM EST on May 8, 2019.
Each county chapter that is rechartering must submit the following items to the Credentials Committee by emailing them to Chair Seamus Campbell at scampbell@nysyd.org as individual attachments on or before May 8, 2019:
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A roster listing all members within the county chapter and required data in accordance with Article II Section 1.1 and Article III, Section 5 of the NYSYD Constitution. The roster must include each member’s first name, last name, address, zip code, date of birth, and either an email address or telephone number (preferably both). The roster must be sent in an Excel or Google Sheet format; any roster not sent in a spreadsheet format (e.g. as a PDF) and/or are missing the aforementioned fields will not be accepted.
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A scanned copy of the certification of current highest ranking officer (usually the County Chair) of the county chapter’s Democratic county committee
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A list of all officers of the county chapter
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A copy of the county chapter’s constitution and bylaws, preferably sent as a Word or Google Document AND a PDF
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A proposed delegation list (each chapter will be entitled to 1 delegate for each validated member)
All county chapters that are submitting new charters (i.e. currently are not chartered chapters) must submit the aforementioned items on or before May 16, 2019. Those chapters will be limited to no more than two (2) delegates.
Chapters who do not submit the aforementioned items in the required formats will have their applications rejected with the Credentials Committee informing said chapters of the errors. If the errors are not corrected by the stated due dates, the application will be rejected by the Credentials Committee.
Should a chapter wish to resubmit their membership roster prior to May 8, 2019, they may do so only if they properly delineate which members have been added or removed since their previous submission; updated rosters not showing which members have been added or removed will not be accepted.
The Chartering fee is $65.00 plus 0.50 cents per member in accordance with Article IV, Section 1. The deadline for the chartering fee to be submitted is May 8, 2019. All chartering fees must be submitted via check and mailed to:
Attn: Patrick Jordan, President
New York State Young Democrats
36-23 204th Street
Bayside, NY 11361
Should a chapter be unable to submit a check by that date, they must alert the President, the Convention Chair, and Convention Secretary by May 11, 2019 by emailing, respectively, jordanpatrick76@gmail.com, agoldston@gmail.com, and scampbell@nysyd.org, and must pay the chartering fee at the convention by check. Failure to pay the chartering fee will result in the chapter in question not being chartered.
Should concerns arise within the Credentials Committee regarding the authenticity of documents submitted by county chapters, the Credentials Committee will be empowered to investigate, as necessary, by means including, but not limited to, contacting the county’s Democratic Committee leadership, and requesting copies of sign-in sheets from county chapter events.
All county chapter members over the age of 18 must be registered members of the Democratic Party, according to the New York State Board of Elections no later than April 15, 2019. It is recommended that any member of a chartering county chapter newly registering or re-registering to vote with the Democratic Party register at their county’s Board of Elections office and photograph a timestamped, submitted voter registration form should concerns arise by the Credentials Committee. Members who turn the age of 18 between April 15, 2019 and the final gavel of the convention shall be exempted from this clause. It will be to the chapters’ benefit to check the registration of their membership on the New York State Board of Elections website prior to submitting rosters to the Credentials Committee as to mitigate the chances that members will not be stricken as ineligible to be charter members.
County chapter members who do not turn the age of 36 before the final gavel at the convention and will be at least the age of 16 before the first gavel at the convention will be eligible to be listed as charter members for a county chapter.
County chapters charted in between December 01, 2018 and January 31, 2019, under Article VI, Section 5 of the NYSYD Constitution will be exempted from chartering under this section and those chapters shall each be allotted one vote at the convention. The NYSYD Secretary shall electronically transmit all chartering documents they have received from said chapters to the Chair of the Credentials Committee.
Delegates to Convention
Re-chartering chapters must submit their preliminary list of delegates to the Credentials Chair at the following e-mail address: scampbell@nysyd.org by no later than 11:59:59 PM EST on May 8, 2019; newly chartered chapters must submit their preliminary list of delegates to the Credentials Chair no later than 11:59:59 PM EST on May 16, 2019 to the same aformention e-mail address. Amendments can be made to delegate lists until 11:59:59 PM EST on May 8, 2019. Each chartered or re-chartered County Chapter shall receive one (1) delegate for every ten (10) members of the Chartered Chapter who are residents of the county in which the chapter is located as set forth in Article III, Section 6 of the Constitution. Delegates and Alternate Delegates must be members in good standing of the chapter they represent in accordance with Article III, Section 3 of the NYSYD Constitution. Proxies are permitted, and individuals may be empowered to act as proxies on behalf of delegates, so long as such individual’s name is submitted to the Secretary prior to the commencement of voting. No one person may hold more than 3 proxies, in accordance with Article III, Section 4 of the NYSYD Constitution. All delegations are subject to the provisions of Article III, Section 6.1 of the NYSYD Constitution. The Credentials Committee shall submit their final pre-convention report of eligible members, delegates, and alternates to chapters by May 8, 2019.
New York State Young Democrats Executive Board Positions
All members of the New York State Young Democrats are invited to consider running for an Officer position on the State Executive Board. Applications will be collected via Google Form. The link for applications will be distributed on or before April 1, 2019 by electronic mail as well as the NYSYD website and social media pages. Applications are due by 11:59:59 PM EST on April 15, 2019. All applications will be automatically time-stamped.
Pursuant to the constitution and bylaws, positions you may consider running for are:
President, Executive Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, National Committeeman, National Committeewoman, Regional Vice President (Capital, Central, Downstate, Hudson Valley, Upstate, and Western), and Legal Director (must be an attorney licensed to practice in the State of New York).
In addition, the following caucuses will hold elections: Caucus of Color; Disability Issues; High School; Jewish; Labor; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT); Rural (YDR); and Women. Only members of the aforementioned caucuses may vote in these elections. These positions are not subject to the online application process.
Executive Board Election Procedures
All candidates must submit their applications via Google Form by 11:59:59 PM EST on or before April 15, 2019. However, if no candidate submits an application for a position by that date, applications for the positions lacking candidates will be extended to May 8, 2019 at by 11:59:59 PM EST.
All Candidates shall have an opportunity to address the convention and answer any questions delegates may have prior to their election. All elections will be conducted by roll call vote by the Convention Secretary, by order of the Chair, with the delegation chair of each county chapter designating how many votes it will apportion to each candidate. Each candidate may only run for one position. In an election for a position involving one candidate, one must receive a majority of the votes cast otherwise the position will remain vacant. In an election for two candidates, one candidate must receive a majority of votes cast, a failure for either candidate to achieve a majority will result in a further round of debate and voting until a majority is reached. In an election for a position involving more than two candidates, one candidate must receive a majority of the votes cast, and if no candidate received a majority then the candidate with the lowest number of votes shall be dropped from the ballot and the election run again with the remaining candidates until one candidate receives a majority of the votes cast.
Write-in votes will not be accepted. Nominations from the floor will not be accepted unless there is an Amendment to the Constitution on that day and only for a position that was newly created or for which the nominee was not previously eligible for candidacy. Following the conclusion of elections, the newly elected officers will assume their positions. In the event of a vacancy after the application due date or following elections, the vacancy shall be filled in accordance with the NYSYD Constitution and Bylaws. A motion to suspend the rules shall be in order upon the affirmation of 2/3rds of the appointed delegates.
Special Executive Board Election Procedures
Each region elects a Regional Vice President pursuant to the Constitution, Article III Section 3. Only individuals who are registered voters in the region shall be eligible to run for a Regional Vice President position. The elections for Regional Vice Presidents will occur in a manner and time identical to all other Executive Board positions, except only votes from the respective region will be counted for each regional election.
Constitutional Amendment Procedures
Any proposed amendments to the Constitution shall be submitted electronically to the Rules Chair Michael Twomey at mtwomey@nysyd.org and NYSYD President Patrick Jordan at jordanpatrick76@gmail.com. Any proposed amendments to the Constitution must be received by 11:59:59 pm EST on April 30, 2019. All proponents for a Constitutional Amendment shall be entitled to be heard by the Convention Rules Committee. Proposed amendments to the constitution must both articulate the specific provisions amended and the rationale for the amendment.
Agenda and Programming
Pursuant to the NYSYD Bylaws Article V, the Executive Board of the Queens County Young Democrats shall be designated as the Convention Program Committee and shall be empowered to create the agenda and program of the convention in consultation with the convention officers and the NYSYD Executive Board.
Key Dates
March 21, 2019
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Chartering Packets Distributed Electronically (docx, pdf)
April 1, 2019
April 15, 2019
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Proposed Delegate Lists Due
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Executive Board Election Application Due
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NYSYD Award Nominations Deadline
April 30, 2019
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Constitution and Bylaws Amendments Due
May 8, 2019
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Executive Board Election Applications Due for Capital Vice President, Northern Vice President, and Legal Director
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Amended Membership Roster Due
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Chartering Fees Due
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Chartering Packets Due (existing chapters)
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Final Delegate List Due
May 11, 2019
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Chapters intending to pay dues at the convention must inform President, Convention Chair, and Convention President such intention
May 16, 2019
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Chartering Packets Due (new chapters)
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Credentials Committee Report Due
We look forward to seeing you in May and ensuring the future of our organization.
Excelsior,
Patrick Jordan
President
New York State Young Democrats
