Author: New York State Young Democrats

Indianapolis, IN – July 17-21, 2019

The President of the New York State Young Democrats (NYSYD) shall present a list of delegates and alternates to the NYSYD Executive Board for consideration. The Executive Board will give its advice and consent on the names submitted prior to approval.

New York will cast 110 votes at a ratio of about 3 votes per delegate. As such, we will send 37 delegates and 3 alternates to Indianapolis, Indiana for the Young Democrats of America (YDA) Biennial Convention. One delegate, chosen by lot, will cast 2 votes.

All prospective delegates or alternates (delegation members) are required to submit an online application form. This form will be made available online beginning on May 16, 2019, and will receive applications until 11:59:59 PM EST on May 31, 2019. Failure to submit a form during this time will result in an individual not being considered. In addition, all persons chosen as delegation members are required to attend the 2019 NYSYD Convention. Failure to do so may result in forfeiture of their status as a delegation member.

Affirmative Action Goals

Women: 50% (Fixed at 50% regardless of population)

Based on the updated 2015 U.S. Census estimates, we will attempt to meet the following goals for minority representation:

• African-American: 20%
• Hispanic or Latino: 20%
• Asian: 10%

In addition, extensive research has provided these goals for the following groups:

• Rural: 15% (2010 Census)
• LGBTQ: 10% (2012 Gallup Poll^[1])
• Disabled: 15% (ages 18-44, 2010 CDC^[2])
• Labor: 20% (2016 Bureau of Labor Statistics^[3])
• Jewish:  10% (2015 Brandeis University^[4])

Taking these numbers into consideration, and based on those who applied by the deadline, NYSYD will strive to meet the following goals:

• Women: 19 delegation members
• African-American:  8 delegation members
• Hispanic or Latino: 8 delegation members
• Asian: 4 delegation members
• Rural: 6 delegation members
• LGBTQ: 4 delegation members
• Disabled: 6 delegation members
• Labor: 8 delegation members
• Jewish: 4 delegation members

Delegation members may qualify for more than one of the aforementioned categories. For example, someone can be an African-American union member with a disability and thus be counted to satisfy all 3 requirements.

Delegates will be expected to be present and in their seats during all general sessions. Failure to do so will result in the seating of an Alternate in their place.

In addition, delegation members may be appointed to represent NYSYD in specific committee and caucus meetings. While all of these meetings are open to the public, some allow only one (1) person to vote on behalf of each state. In this instance, only those who are specifically assigned by the Delegation Chair will be given voting privileges on behalf of New York.

Any necessary changes to the delegation roster as a result of a penalty imposed by the YDA Credentials Committee will be made by the Delegation Chair with the consultation of the National Committee Members from New York.

Finally, in an effort to be more inclusive, it is the sole discretion of the Delegation Chair to add any members of the New York State Young Democrats present at the YDA Convention to the list of Alternates. Should a person be added, they cannot be seated as a Delegate until the list of Alternates who applied in a timely manner is exhausted.

^[1] http://www.gallup.com/poll/160517/lgbt-percentage-highest-lowest-north-dakota.aspx
^[2] https://www.cdc.gov/BRFSS/
^[3] https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/union2.pdf
^[4] http://ajpp.brandeis.edu/

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:

• 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.

• A scanned copy of the certification of current highest ranking officer (usually the County Chair) of the county chapter’s Democratic county committee

• A list of all officers of the county chapter

• A copy of the county chapter’s constitution and bylaws, preferably sent as a Word or Google Document AND a PDF

• 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

• Chartering Packets Distributed Electronically (docx, pdf)

April 1, 2019

• Executive Board Election Applications Open

• NYSYD Award Nominations Applications Open

April 15, 2019

• Proposed Delegate Lists Due

• Executive Board Election Application Due

• NYSYD Award Nominations Deadline

April 30, 2019

• Constitution and Bylaws Amendments Due

May 8, 2019

• Executive Board Election Applications Due for Capital Vice President, Northern Vice President, and Legal Director

• Amended Membership Roster Due

• Chartering Fees Due

• Chartering Packets Due (existing chapters)

• Final Delegate List Due

May 11, 2019

• Chapters intending to pay dues at the convention must inform President, Convention Chair, and Convention President such intention

May 16, 2019

• Chartering Packets Due (new chapters)

• 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

“No matter the who, no matter when, no matter what we should believe people who come forward with their experiences of sexual assault or misconduct. No one is above the law especially those who are supposed to enforce it. NYSYD supports the Governor Andrew Cuomo and Speaker Johnson’s ask of the Attorney General to resign. The Executive Board is unanimous in asking Schniederman to resign immediately.”

Update: Eric Schneiderman has resigned as the Attorney General of New York State.

WHEREAS, a vacancy exists in the offices of Northern Vice President and Western Vice President of the New York State Young Democrats due to the respective resignations of Vice Presidents Carina Haden and Heather Neu.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, PATRICK JORDAN, President of the New York State Young Democrats, pursuant to Article V, Section 7 of the New York State Young Democrats Constitution, do hereby order and proclaim that an election for the offices of Northern Vice President and Western Vice President be held on the seventeenth day of April, two thousand eighteen and that such election is to be conducted in the manner prescribed by said section the New York State Young Democrats Constitution with the Presidents of the chapters which constitute the respective regions of the New York State Young Democrats, pursuant to Article III, Section 3 of the New York State Young Democrats Bylaws, serving as the designated electors and that all perspective candidates shall apply no later than the sixteenth day of March, two thousand eighteen.

GIVEN under my hand in the City of New York, Borough of Queens this fourth day of April in the year two thousand eighteen.

WHEREAS, a vacancy exists in the office of Chair of the Council of Presidents of the New York State Young Democrats due to the resignation of John Midwood as President of the Dutchess County Young Democrats.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, PATRICK JORDAN, President of the New York State Young Democrats, pursuant to Article V, Section 7 and Article 3, Section 10 of the New York State Young Democrats Constitution, do hereby order and proclaim that an election for the office of Chair of the Council of Presidents be held on the eleventh day of February, two thousand eighteen and that such election is to be conducted in the manner prescribed by Article 3, Section 10 of the New York State Young Democrats Constitution with the Presidents of the chapters which constitute the New York State Young Democrats serving as the designated electors with one vote apiece.

GIVEN under my hand in the City of New York, Borough of Queens this thirtieth day of January in the year two thousand eighteen.