Bylaws

RULE 1:  Organization

SECTION A:  Name

SECTION B:  Authority 

SECTION C:  Eligibility

SECTION D:  Violation of Eligibility

 RULE 2:  County Committee

SECTION A:  Membership

SECTION B:  Duties of Committee Members

SECTION C:  Inactivity

RULE 3:  County Executive Committee

SECTION A:  Membership

SECTION B:  Duties & Powers of the Chair

SECTION C:  Duties & Powers of the Vice-Chair

SECTION D:  Duties & Powers of the Treasurer

SECTION E:  Duties & Powers of the Secretary

SECTION F:  Removal for Absenteeism

SECTION G:  Vacancies

RULE 4:  Subcommittees

SECTION A:  Appointment

SECTION B:  Website and Social Media Subcommittee

RULE 5:  Meetings

SECTION A: Reorganization Meeting

SECTION B:  Regular Meetings

SECTION C:  Email Meetings

SECTION D: Proxies 

SECTION E: Rules for Meetings

SECTION F: Quorum

RULE 6:  ELECTIONS

SECTION A:  Endorsements

SECTION B.  Ballot vacancies   

RULE 7:  Enactment, Amendment and Suspension of Rules

                SECTION A:  Enactment of Rules

SECTION B:  Amendments 

                SECTION C:  Suspension of Bylaws

 RULE ONE: ORGANIZATION

SECTION A: NAME

This organization shall be known as the Perry County Democratic Committee.

SECTION B: AUTHORITY

The Perry County Democratic Committee shall be the authoritative body of the Democratic Party in Perry County Pennsylvania and in all matters of party management not specifically covered by law, by the rules of the Democratic Party of Pennsylvania, or these rules.  It shall have full power and authority to act for the Democratic Party of Perry County and may delegate such power and authority to committee or to representative Democratic voters of the County.  

SECTION C: ELIGIBILITY

Pursuant to the rules of the Democratic Party of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the following rules shall apply to members and officers of the Perry County Democratic Committee:

  1. Only Democratic Electors registered to vote in Perry County shall be eligible to serve as officers or members of the County Committee.
  2. No person shall be eligible to serve as a member or officer of any Democratic Committee as provided in Section 1 of this rule who:
    1. holds a political appointive office of profit under an administration,  whether   city, school district (except teachers), county, state or national, opposed to the Democratic Party (except positions of a judicial character or those appointed by the courts or notaries  public  or Commissioners of Deeds or those whose original appointment to said position was made by a Democratic administration or attained through a merit system or a collective bargaining contract);
    1. has entered into an agreement with opponents of the Democratic Party to support such opponents;
    1. by voice, vote, financial support or otherwise has, within two years, supported a candidate in a general or special election opposed to the duly nominated candidate of the Democratic Party in that election, except as provided in paragraph (4) of this Section.
  3. No person shall be eligible as candidate for the office of Chair or Vice-Chair of Perry County Committee or as a member of the State Committee who has been a registered member of any other political party at any time during the two years preceding the Primary Election.
  4. Those Democratic candidates who cross-file for an office in which cross filing is permitted by law and Democratic candidates running as write-ins and those persons supporting such candidates are exempt from paragraph (a) of this Section.

SECTION D: VIOLATION OF ELIGIBILITY

  1. Any member or officer of the County Committee accused of being disqualified under any provision of Rule One Section C shall be entitled to a full hearing by the County Executive Committee.
  2. Charges of the violation shall be brought only by the County Executive Committee.  The accused shall be sent a written notice describing the charges, such notice to be mailed to the address stated in the Secretary’s book of rolls.
  3. Such notice shall be mailed not less than 15 days prior to the date of the hearing by the County Executive Committee.
  4. The Chair of the County Executive Committee shall be the Chair at all such hearings, except when he/she is the accused, in which case the Vice-Chair shall preside.
  5. If, after hearing all the evidence for and against the accused, the charges are sustained, the Executive Committee may, by majority vote, remove from office and/or membership the person so accused. In such case, the vacancy so created shall be filled in the manner provided by the rules of the Perry County Democratic Committee.
  6. Any ruling of the County Executive Committee may be appealed to the State Executive Committee if such appeal is made in writing within thirty (30) days from the date on which such ruling is handed down.

RULE TWO: COUNTY COMMITTEE

SECTION A: MEMBERSHIP

The County Committee shall consist of the member(s) of the State Committee from Perry County and of the Committee Persons of the various election districts of Perry County

All committee members shall have the power to vote at all County Committee meetings.

The Democratic Voters of each election district of Perry County shall elect at the Spring Primary Election in each gubernatorial election year, two Committee Members.  The two Committee Members shall not be of the same gender unless all the candidates for that year are one gender.

The Chair may appoint up to 10 at large members with the approval of the committee.  These members shall have the same power and responsibilities of other members.

Vacancies happening at any time in the County Committee may be filled by the County Chair.  Gender balance should be maintained when possible but filling the vacant position will take priority.

SECTION B: DUTIES OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS

All members of the County Committee shall, in addition to their other duties stated in these rules, make a good faith effort to:

  1. Obtain candidates as required for offices in their respective districts.
  2. Continuously solicit Democratic voter registrations.
  3. Attend all meetings of the County Committee.
  4. Support the candidacy of party nominees in the General Election.

SECTION C: INACTIVITY

  1. Should a committee member fail to attend three consecutive regular meetings, they shall be considered inactive and shall not be considered when determining if quorum has been met. The Secretary will notify a committee member of such inactive status by email at least ten days prior to the next regular meeting.
  2. The committee may replace an inactive member with another person from the same voting precinct.
  3. If they have not already been replaced, an inactive member must attend two consecutive regular meetings to be considered active again.
  4. Inactive members may not participate in any vote until the beginning of the second consecutive regular meeting attended. 

RULE THREE: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

SECTION A: MEMBERSHIP

Members of the County Executive Committee need not be members of the County Committee, but all shall be qualified as provided elsewhere in these rules. The County Executive Committee shall consist of the County Chair, the Vice Chair, the Secretary, the Treasurer, and the member(s) of the State Committee.

SECTION B: DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE CHAIR

The Chair shall:

  1. Prepare the agenda and preside at all meetings of the County Executive Committee and County Committee.
  2. Conduct the meetings in accordance with the rules stated herein.
  3. Have no right to vote at County Committee meetings except in the case of ties.

SECTION C: DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE VICE-CHAIR

The Vice-Chair shall:

  1. Perform all the duties and exercise all the powers of the Chair in the absence or disability of the Chair.
  2. Assist the Chair in overseeing and administering the activities of the Perry County Democratic Committee. 

SECTION D:  DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE TREASURER

The Treasurer shall:

  1. Have charge of all the funds of the County Committee.
  2. Make no payments over $300.00, unless the payment was previously approved by the County Executive Committee or the County Committee.
  3. Report on the condition of the finances of the County Committee at all regular meetings.
  4. File all required financial reports on a timely basis. 

SECTION E:  DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE SECRETARY

The Secretary Shall:

  1. Have charge of all Committee documents and records and perform all duties of a nature handled by an organizational Secretary.
  2. Assist the Chair and the Executive Committee as requested by such officers, including the notification of any or all members for any purpose.

SECTION F: REMOVAL FOR ABSENTEEISM

Any member appointed or elected to the County Executive Committee who fails to attend in person three (3) consecutive meetings, without just cause, may cease to be a member of the County Executive Committee.  The Secretary shall mail a notice of warning to Executive Committee Members who have missed two (2) consecutive meetings.  If the member then misses the next meeting, the Secretary shall mail a notice of removal to the member postmarked no more than 7 days after the meeting.

SECTION G: VACANCIES

In the case of vacancy in the office of Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary or Treasurer for any cause, the Executive Committee shall fill such vacancy until the next regularly scheduled County Committee meeting. At the next regularly scheduled meeting an election shall be conducted by the Chair to fill the vacancy or vacancies. If the election is to fill the position of the Chair, the Vice-Chair shall conduct the election; if the election is to fill both positions of Chair and Vice-Chair, the Treasurer shall conduct the election; and if these three positions are to be filled, the election shall be conducted by the Secretary. If all elected and appointed positions of the Executive Committee Officers (Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary) are to be filled, the elected State Committee representative shall conduct the election.  Vacancies must be announced via email and social media at least one week prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting or the appointment must wait until the following meeting.    

RULE FOUR: SUBCOMMITTEES

SECTION A:  APPOINTMENT

  1. The Chair, with the assistance of the Vice Chair, may form a committee to perform a special function within the county party. 
  2. Upon formation of the subcommittee, the Chair shall make clear the task(s), duties, and powers assigned to the committee, and appoint the leader of the subcommittee. 
  3. Subcommittees may be formed at any time for any reason. 
  4. Subcommittees may be temporary or permanent, however, permanent subcommittees should be defined in the bylaws at the next bylaw review following the formation of that subcommittee.
  5. With the approval of the County Committee, a subcommittee may be granted a monetary budget. 
  6. Members of each subcommittee may be changed at any time by the Chair with the approval of the County Committee.

SECTION B: WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA SUBCOMMITTEE

  1. Membership of the website and social media subcommittee.
    1. The head of the website and social media subcommittee shall be known as the Webmaster, who shall be appointed by the Chair.
    1. The Webmaster shall be responsible for ensuring all members of the website and social media subcommittee have proper access and privileges to the website and social media pages in keeping with their role.
    1. Other subcommittee members shall be those with knowledge of and/or interest in the Committee’s website design and utilization and/or social media moderation and administration.
    1. The Committee Chair shall be an ex officio member of this subcommittee and shall have moderating and posting privileges to any social media page currently in use by the County Committee.   
  • Duties and powers of the Website and Social Media Subcommittee:
    • Maintain Committee website.
    • Moderate social media pages.
    • Ensure that coming events are properly listed on the website and any social media pages.
    • Post to the website and/or social media pages any information related to the county party, or candidates whose election district encompasses part or all of Perry County.
    • Subcommittee members shall not act as spokespersons for the County Committee and shall not post any content that is their own opinion without prior approval from the Chair.

 RULE FIVE:  MEETINGS

SECTION A: Reorganization Meeting 

The Perry County Democratic Committee reorganization meeting shall occur as part of the first regular meeting following the primary election in each gubernatorial election year.  The time and place shall be displayed on the Committee website and all social media pages actively used.  Additionally, all members shall be notified by email at least seven (7) days prior to the meeting.  The County Committee shall by majority vote elect a Chair, a Vice-Chair not of the same gender as the Chair, a Secretary, and a Treasurer.  Said officers shall hold office for a term of four (4) years and/or until their successors are elected.

SECTION B:  REGULAR MEETINGS

Meetings of the County Committee shall occur once per month at a regular frequency (e.g. third Thursday of each month).  A meeting may be cancelled at any time by the chair.  Should a meeting be rescheduled or held at a location other than the previous month’s meeting, committee members shall be notified by email and/or social media at least one week in advance.

SECTION C:  EMAIL MEETINGS

Should an issue arise that cannot reasonably wait until the next regular meeting, the Chair may send an email to all committee members asking for a vote.  Members shall have 48 hours from the sending of the email to respond.

SECTION D: PROXIES

Any member of the County Committee or the County Executive Committee who is unable to a meeting of the committee in person, except the Chair, Vice-Chair, or State Committee person, may appoint by proxy a Democratic elector resident in the same district who shall have power to attend such a meeting and vote as the representative of such absent member.  Any proxy shall be in writing, signed by the same and attested by the signature of a witness.

SECTION E: RULES FOR MEETINGS

Meetings of the County Committee shall be conducted in accordance to the rules stated herein and when such procedure is not laid down then by Roberts Rules of Order, Newly Revised.

All voting must occur by audible means.  No secret ballot shall be permitted.

SECTION F: QUORUM

The quorum for all meetings, endorsements, or other decisions shall be 30% of the active Committee members unless otherwise stated elsewhere in these rules.  Inactive Committee members as defied in Rule 2 Section C shall not be considered when determining if quorum has been met.

RULE SIX:  ELECTIONS

SECTION A: ENDORSEMENTS

  1. The county committee may vote to endorse a candidate at any point during the election cycle.
  2. Candidates that can be endorsed consist of:
    1. County and municipal candidates of Perry County.
    1. State level candidates whose district encompasses part or all of Perry County.
    1. U.S. Congressional candidates whose district encompasses part or all of Perry County.
    1. U.S. Senate candidates from Pennsylvania.
    1. Presidential candidates. 
  3. The endorsement vote may take place at a regular meeting or following a candidate forum.
  4. A 60% majority is required for any endorsement.
  5. An endorsement may be revoked in the same manner that it was approved.
  6. No candidate shall be discouraged from running as a Democrat.
  7. Committee members may still assist with any campaign of a candidate even if they are not endorsed. 

SECTION B.  BALLOT VACANCIES

The County Executive Committee shall have the power to fill all vacancies happening or existing on the county ticket by reason of death, withdrawal, failure to nominate at the primary election, calling of a special election, or other cause, and which cannot be filled at a primary election under law, and shall have the authority to make and certify a nomination.

Vacancies happening or existing on a borough, township, ward, or election district ticket by reason of death, withdrawal, failure to nominate at the primary election, calling of a special election, or other cause, and which cannot be filled at a primary election under law, shall be filled by the borough, township, ward or election district committee concerned, and they shall have the authority to make and certify a nomination.  If the borough, township, ward or election district in question does not have any active committee members, the Executive Committee shall have the authority to make and certify a nomination.

RULE SEVEN: ENACTMENT, AMENDMENT and SUSPENSION of RULES

SECTION A:  ENACTMENT OF RULES

These rules shall go into effect upon their approval and adoption by the County Committee.  Such adoption will supersede all former rules.

SECTION B:  AMENDMENTS 

These bylaws may be amended at any regular meeting with 2/3 majority vote.  If a bylaw amendment is to be discussed at a regular meeting, it shall be announced at least 7 days in advance via email, website, and any social media pages actively being used.

SECTION C:  SUSPENSION OF BYLAWS

These rules may be suspended at any time with a 2/3 majority vote.