Rules -- 2008 GPMI Nominating Convention
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d08-1, 6/24/08 jalp

I. Delegates
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A. Each county is entitled to as many voting delegates to the convention as there were GPMI members in good standing living in the county as of May 27, 2008 (60 days before the convention). Members of cross-jurisdictional GPMI locals (such as Labor Greens or Campus Greens) or members not affiliated with any GPMI locals shall be counted with their counties of residence.

B. Any county caucus which has selected delegates to the state convention shall send the Meeting Manager a list of those selected, so the Meeting Manager can verify that they are GPMI members in good standing and pre-credential them as delegates. If anyone selected as a delegate is found not to be a GPMI member in good standing, the Meeting Manager shall notify the caucus officers who sent in the list.

If a selected delegate cannot attend, and/or if the caucus does not select a full delegation, then any GPMI member in good standing as of May 27, 2008 who lives in that county and attends the convention is automatically eligible to fill a vacancy in the delegation. Any GPMI member who achieved or regained good standing after May 27, 2008 who lives in that county and attends the convention is eligible to be considered by a credentialing committee (if any) and approved by the convention to fill a vacancy in the delegation.

C. Any GPMI member in good standing as of May 27, 2008 who lives in a county for which no caucus was held and who attends the convention is automatically eligible to fill a vacancy in that county's delegation. Any GPMI member who achieved or regained good standing after May 27, 2008 who lives in such a county and attends the convention is eligible to be considered by a credentialing committee (if any) and approved by the convention to fill a vacancy in the delegation.

D. The Meeting Manager, working with others as necessary, shall have a list of membership at the check-in site for the convention. This list shall include at least the name and county of residence of each GPMI member, as well as whether or not that member was in good standing as of May 27, 2008 and whether or not the member was selected as a delegate by the valid 2008 nominating caucus for the member's home county.

E. If there are more GPMI members present from a county who are eligible to serve as convention delegates than that county is entitled to have, then either:

* those members from that county shall decide among themselves who shall be seated as delegates; or

* the Meeting Manager shall assign delegate spots based first on whether or not a member was in good standing as of May 27, 2008 and then on the order of registering at the convention.

F. The convention's first order of business shall be to receive and decide on a report from the Meeting Manager (and a report, if any, from a credentialing committee) on delegate credentials. The report(s) shall cover, to the extent possible:

1) the number of delegates each county is entitled to under GPMI by-laws;

2) the number of GPMI members in good standing from each county, with information on how many joined or renewed since May 27, 2008 and how many former members in good standing have had their memberships expire earlier in 2008;

3) the number of GPMI members present from each county who either were pre-selected to serve as delegates or are automatically eligible to fill vacancies and serve as delegates;

4) the number of GPMI members present from each county who can only serve as delegates if they are approved by the convention to fill vacancies, and the number of vacancies remaining for each such potential delegates; and

5) information on any cases where someone's qualification to serve as a delegate is questioned or disputed, with any recommendation from the credentialing committee.

All of the pre-selected and automatically eligible delegates present shall decide whether to approve this report as is or make any changes. Decisions shall be by consensus or a 2/3 vote, and approval shall have the effect of credentialing as delegates the people described in 4) above and recognizing or revoking the credentials of people described in 5) above (according to the recommendations from the credentialing committee as amended from the floor).

G. If and as practical, each delegate's credentials shall indicate the county where he/she lives.

II. Nominations
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A. The Meeting Manager shall prepare and coordinate a schedule for the consideration at the convention of anyone seeking nomination to appear in the GPMI column on the November 4, 2008 general election ballot as a GPMI candidate for any office or seat for which GPMI is entitled to nominate a candidate at the convention. To the extent practical, this schedule shall allow possible candidates to make brief statements in support of their candidacy (and to answer questions from the convention).

B. The Election Coordinator shall compile all replies to the GPMI vetting questionnaire he/she receives from any candidate seeking to be considered for nomination at the convention:

* in hard copy by mail, fax, etc. at least two weeks before the convention; or

* in readable plain-text or Adobe Acrobat PDF form at least one week before the convention

into one document, and make and provide copies for all delegates. Candidates may also bring their own copies of their responses -- and/or any other campaign materials -- to distribute to delegates.

C. If only one person seeks the GPMI nomination for a single office or position, that person must be approved by consensus or a 2/3 vote in order to be nominated by GPMI for that office.

If two or more candidates seek the GPMI nomination for a single office or position, an instant-runoff vote shall be taken by secret ballot (unless some other method is approved) to determine the general order of preference between or among the candidates. Once the order of preference is determined, the first-choice candidate shall be presented to the convention for approval by consensus or a 2/3 vote. If one candidate is not approved, the next candidate in order of preference shall be presented to the convention for approval in the same way. If no candidate is approved for an office or position, the convention shall decide whether to reconsider any or all candidates, invite more nominations and repeat the instant-runoff vote, try again later in the convention, or give up on nominating anyone for the office or position.

D. For offices where more than one seat at a time is to be elected, if there are no more candidates seeking the GPMI nomination than there are seats available, each candidate must be approved by consensus or a 2/3 vote to be nominated. (If there is consensus on all candidates at once, no separate decision need be made.)

If there are more candidates for a GPMI nomination for an office or position than there are places on the ballot, an instant-runoff vote shall be taken by secret ballot (unless some other method is approved) to determine the general order of preference between or among the candidates. Once that order is determined, the first-choice candidate shall be presented to the convention for approval by consensus or a 2/3 vote. This shall be done with each candidate in order of preference until either enough candidates are nominated to fill all spots on the ballot or all candidates have been considered. If there is a spot left unfilled, the convention shall decide whether to reconsider any or all not-yet-nominated candidates, invite more nominations and repeat the instant-runoff vote with the new list of candidates, try again later in the convention, or give up on nominating anyone more for the office or position.

E. All convention delegates shall take part in any decision whether to nominate someone for any statewide office or position. If an office or position would serve a district or constituency crossing county borders, delegates representing all counties wholly or partly in that district shall take part in that nomination process. If an office or position would serve a district or constituency entirely within a county's borders, the delegates representing that county shall take part in that nomination process. District or county delegates may choose to caucus separately or with all other delegates at the convention, and to include or exclude all other delegates at the convention in the nomination decision. (But no county or district caucusing may be done at the convention if there are no delegates from the affected county or district present.)

F. If no caucus has been held for a county, then GPMI may nominate someone at the convention (by the whole convention or by a separate caucus) for any partisan office up for election in that county. If a caucus was held for a county, but the caucus did not nominate anyone for some partisan office or position, then (to the extent permitted by law) the convention may consider requests for nominations for such office or position. (This would be done by the convention as a whole, since a caucus once held and closed could not be reopened.) However, any discussions or decisions on such a nomination by the previous county caucus shall be considered by the convention, and no such nomination shall be approved without consensus or a 2/3 vote from both the convention as a whole and the delegation of that county.

III. Endorsements
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By state law, GPMI may not nominate candidates for any non-partisan offices (except the nominally non-partisan State Supreme Court). However, it may endorse candidates for non-partisan offices. After all decisions have been made about whether or not to nominate GPMI candidates for office, any GPMI member or other person attending may ask the convention to endorse a non-partisan candidate. As the convention's schedule permits, those who ask GPMI for endorsements may have a brief opportunity to introduce themselves (and to answer questions from the convention). The convention shall also hear any report from any caucus which has also considered the endorsement. Any decision to endorse must be made by consensus or a 2/3 vote.

IV. Other Business
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The GPMI state convention is also a state membership meeting. As such, it may do party business as is done at other SMMs -- including considering proposals that the party take and/or declare publicly positions on ballot questions or other issues of public interest. If it does any such business, all normal rules for SMM decision-making shall apply (except as they are overruled by the SMM itself).