SD51 Convention Rules

4-10-2024

SD51 Convention Rules
Minnesota Republican Party
7700 France Ave. S. Edina Mn 6:30 PM April 10, 2024
General
1. The order of business of this Convention shall be as listed in the official
agenda of the Convention, subject to the discretion of the presiding Chair.
2. Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised, shall be the parliamentary
authority on all points not covered by the Constitution of the Republicans of
Minnesota, the Statutes of the State of Minnesota, the Official Convention Call of
the Convention, or the Rules adopted by this Convention.
3. A quorum shall consist of a majority of the duly elected Delegates
registered for the Convention as given in the preliminary report of the Credentials
Committee and shall be superseded by a majority of the duly elected Delegates
and seated Alternates as given in the final report of the Credentials Committee.
Once a quorum in this Convention has been established there shall be no further
question as to the quorum.
4. These Rules shall not be amended or suspended except by a two-thirds
(2/3) vote of the Convention.
5. All persons entering the Convention auditorium shall have in their
visible possession a Convention badge that is provided at the registration desk.
6. Candidate materials, banners, and hospitality setups will be in
designated areas only. Any observed literature that is vulgar, defames, or can
cast negative light on the MN State Republican Party or Senate District 51 will be
removed.
7. Because the body will dissolve upon adjournment, a motion to adjourn
is not in order unless all business of the convention has been concluded.
8. The Permanent Roll of the Convention shall be construed as follows.
a. The duly elected Delegates from each precinct that are present and registered.
b. If a Delegate to this Convention is absent, then a registered duly elected
Alternate from that precinct shall be seated in their stead.
c. If no duly elected Delegates or Alternates from a precinct are present, that
precinct shall have no representation.
d. When a registered Delegate returns to the floor of the Convention, they shall be
immediately seated.
e. The order of seating shall be as follows:
i. By rank. If the Alternate vote count from the precinct caucus is available,
Alternates shall be seated in order of the votes received. ‘
ii. If the vote count is not available, the Convention Chair shall determine the
order of seating.
9. The voting strength of each precinct shall be the number of registered
Delegates, and registered, seated Alternates present on the floor.
Delegates and Alternates must have been duly elected at the February 27, 2024,
Precinct Caucuses.
10. The Credentials Committee shall report any changes in the
delegations prior to an election of officers, election of Delegates, nominations of
candidates, ratification of the platform, or when requested by the Chair.
11. The final report of the Credentials committee may be amended per Rule
#9 if there have been late registrations. Completed late registrations occurring 30
minutes past the Convention call to order shall not be permitted for consideration
as a nominee for State Delegate or Alternate (See Rule 36).
12. A Delegate or seated Alternate wishing to speak shall rise, address the
Convention Chair, state their name and precinct, and the purpose for which they
rise.
13. Debate on any motion or subject shall be limited to two (2) minutes by
each speaker. No person shall be allowed to speak more than twice on the same
subject. No person shall be allowed to speak a second time until all those
desiring to speak have had a first opportunity to do so.
14. The Convention Chair shall appoint a timekeeper for purpose of timing
discussion, debate and speeches during the Convention.
15. The Convention Chair at any time may invite any office holder,
candidate, candidate’s surrogate or distinguished guest to address the
Convention. The length of each address shall not exceed two (2) minutes, unless
the Convention Chair gives approval for a longer period.
16. Visitors to the Convention will not be allowed to speak on the
Convention floor or address the Convention unless such address is made under
Rule 15. When in the Convention Hall, visitors must remain seated in the marked
Visitor Section and must always remain silent so that the business of the
Convention can proceed without distraction. The Convention Chair must instruct
the Sergeant at Arms to immediately and permanently remove any visitor who is
in violation of this Rule.
17. There shall be no voting under the unit Rule at this Convention.
18. Only Delegates and seated Alternates registered and present at this
Convention shall be permitted to vote.
19. The vote on all questions shall be by voice vote subject to the
following restriction. A. A rising vote shall be taken if requested by any Delegate,
seated Alternate, or at the discretion of the Chair. B. A roll call vote by precinct
shall be taken if requested by five (5) or more precincts. C. A secret ballot may be
moved by any Delegate and voted up or down without discussion. D. A secret
ballot shall be used for all contested elections.
20. If there is a dispute as to the vote of any precinct, the Chair of the
Convention shall appoint a judge and up to two tellers to canvass the vote of said
precinct, and the judge shall report the same to the Convention.
21. No second shall be required for a motion to adopt the majority report
of any committee. A minority report of any committee may be offered for
substitution for the majority report if signed by three (3) committee members.
22. When the previous question has been ordered on any proposition on
which there has been no debate: it shall be in order, before the final vote has
been taken, to debate the proposition for three (3) minutes with one-half of that
time allotted to those in favor, and one-half to those in opposition to the
proposition, the same right of debate shall be allowed whenever a motion to lay
on the table has been made on any proposition on which there has been no
debate.
23. There will be no nominations for Senate District 51 Officer candidates
from the floor. a. However, if at least five (5) seated delegates address the
convention chair and request that an eligible candidate be added to the
nominations for a position, additional candidates may be considered. This
provision must occur for
Elections of Delegates and Alternates to Congressional District and State
Convention
36. Nominees for Delegate or Alternate, or their designated speakers, may
address the Convention for 30 seconds, for the purpose of stating their
qualifications.
37. Each ballot will allow for the selection of either up to 9 positions
(HD51A / CD5) or up to 11 positions (HD51B / CD3) assigned in accordance with
the delegate’s precinct address. The top vote getters on the ballot will be
Delegates. Alternates will be ranked by number of votes received. Two Alternates
may be elected for each delegate. If any ballot contains more than the maximum
allotment, duplicate names or invalid names, the entire ballot will be considered
spoiled.
38. All ties for alternate ranking will be decided by simple coin flip. This
includes Delegate – Alternate ties. Additional coin flips will be used as needed to
successfully resolve all tie breakers.
39. Candidates may run for either delegate or alternate. If running for
alternate, the votes received will be used only for the purposes of ranking.
40. In the event there are fewer nominees for Delegate than available
positions, a motion to unanimously elect the complete list of nominees will be in
order.
41. Eligibility: Only those people who are registered and added to the
nominations list will be eligible to receive votes. Those wishing to have their
names placed into nomination (or their surrogates) must sign up with the
Nomination Committee in advance of the convention or at the registration table at
the Convention site. No nominations will be taken from the floor of the
Convention. Candidates must be a duly elected Delegate or Alternate, seated or
unseated, from the February 27, 2024, Precinct Caucus.
42. It is not necessary for a candidate to be physically present if all other
requirements are met.
43. Nominations for Delegates and Alternates to CD3 & CD5 and State
Convention will close 30 minutes after the Convention is called to order.
Executive Committee Elections
44. Elections for vacant positions Senate District 51 Executive Committee
shall occur in the following order: Full Senate District 51
a. SD51 Co-Chair
b. SD51 Co-Chair
c. SD51Treasurer
d. SD51Secretary
e. SD51 Vice Chairs (up to 6)
45. Nominations: All nominations for Executive Committee positions shall
be submitted and acknowledged by the nominations committee prior to the
convention as stated on the official convention call. Nominations shall not be
taken from the Convention floor except whereas any position remains vacant
without a previously declared candidate.
a. Any candidate for the Senate District 51Executive Committee must reside
within the bounds of Senate District 51 and either be registered as a Republican
or voted Republican at the prior election.
b. Candidates need not be present to be nominated. Those persons, or their
designed speakers, which have been nominated shall have the opportunity to
address the Convention for a total of one minute (1) minute. If any position is
contested, the nominees shall have the opportunity to select their order of
speaking via coin toss, or at the discretion of the chair.
46. Voting: In addition to Rules described in voting section of this
document, the following apply: There will be a separate election for each of the
vacant positions.
a. Voting strength is established by the final report of the Credentials Committee.
b. In any contested election, a valid ballot majority of the registered voters at the
time of the final report is required to elect a person to the SD51 Executive
Committee.
c. In the event of an uncontested election, a motion to unanimously elect the
position will be in order.
d. The motion to elect by standing vote requires a majority vote of the
Convention.