Convention Rules Of The Libertarian Party Of New Hampshire
Section 1: Definitions
These Convention Rules, along with the other governing documents of the Party and the parliamentary authority, shall govern the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire during conventions.
Throughout these Convention Rules, the term “chair” or “Chair” shall refer to the presiding officer at the convention, unless the term “Chair of the Party” is used, in which case it explicitly refers to the Chair designated in the bylaws as an Officer of the Party.
A “majority of the membership” of the assembly shall be considered a majority of the total number of dues-paying members who are eligible to be delegates.
Section 2: Behavior During Deliberations
Recognition From the Chair
Members seeking recognition from the chair should proceed to a microphone, and when appropriate, state: “[honorific] Chair, [delegate name], Delegate from [municipality name]” (for example, “Mr. Chair, Calvin Warburton, Delegate from Raymond”).
If a motion does not require recognition from the chair, the procedure detailed above is not required, but the member should still proceed to a microphone to speak if time permits the member to do so.
Motions in Writing
For any motion that contains any original language, including but not limited to:
- all original main motions
- all amendments to original main motions
- any complex motion to suspend the rules
The maker of the motion shall present the motion in writing to the chair after the motion has been made and seconded. After the chair announces the motion to the assembly, the chair shall provide the written motion to the Secretary.
Unacceptable Behavior
For disruptive and/or egregious conduct by a member who refuses to behave respectfully and appropriately after at least one warning, the chair shall have the right to immediately revoke the delegate status of that member and expel that member from the meeting.
Section 3: Debate
Time Limits
Unless otherwise specified in these rules, these time limits for main motions include any privileged, subsidiary, and incidental motions that arise during consideration of the main motion.
The following time limits shall be in effect during deliberations:
- A maximum of two minutes per speaker, including the maker of the motion;
- A maximum of fifteen minutes for consideration of any main motion, except for any motion
considered by paragraph; - A maximum of ten minutes for any “paragraph” of a motion considered by paragraph;
- A maximum of thirty minutes for consideration of any motion considered by paragraph,
excluding a bylaws revision; - A maximum of two hours for consideration of a bylaws revision;
- A maximum of two hours for consideration of all proposed bylaws changes, including a
revision; - A maximum of two hours for consideration of all proposed platform changes;
A maximum of ninety seconds for any speaker during the period of nominations for elections and candidate speeches.Any proposed bylaws revision or substantially complex bylaw amendment shall be considered by paragraph.
Balanced Debate
During debate, to the best of her ability, the chair shall have members with opposing views on the motion under consideration alternate speaking to the assembly. If the chair is unable to determine from a speaker’s initial remarks whether he favors or opposes the motion, the chair may request that the speaker state his position on the motion, to ensure that the assembly hears alternating views on the motion.
If the chair is unable to find a member to speak in opposition to the most recent speaker’s position on the motion, the chair may allow a person with the same position as the most recent speaker to speak on the motion. If the two most recent speakers have had the same position on the motion, and the chair is unable to find someone to speak for the opposing position a second time, then the chair shall declare debate on the motion to be complete, and shall proceed to a vote on the motion.
Timekeeper Duties
The timekeeper shall give a verbal notice to the speaker who has the floor when she has thirty seconds remaining to speak, a visual notice when she has ten seconds remaining, and a verbal notice when the speaker has reached her time limit.
The timekeeper shall inform the chair when three minutes remain in total for any other prescribed time limit specified in these rules or adopted by the assembly.
Section 4: Voting And Elections
Rising Votes (Division of the Assembly)
In any case in which a rising vote is called for (including the motion for Division of the Assembly), delegates shall remain seated for the vote, and instead of standing, they shall raise their voter cards when it is appropriate for them to do so.
General Rules for Elections
Elections shall be by secret ballot. For all elections, unless otherwise specified, None of the Above is an acceptable option. Any identifiable variant of None of the Above (e.g. NOTA, None of These Candidates, none, etc.) shall be interpreted as a vote for None of the Above. A voter who chooses to vote for None of the Above must not list any candidates or place any other text on her ballot. Any ballot that contains a vote for None of the Above and any other text, including the names of any candidates, shall be declared invalid and shall not be counted. After nominations for a position have been closed, each candidate that has been nominated and has accepted the nomination shall have the opportunity to address the assembly. The order of speakers shall be determined by drawing lots. If a candidate has already taken time to speak while nominations were open, that candidate shall not be granted additional speaking time. After the nominated candidates have finished speaking, the chair shall ask the assembly if any member desires to speak in favor of None of the Above. If exactly one member desires to speak on behalf of None of the Above, he shall be given that opportunity. If more than one member desires to speak on behalf of None of the Above, the chair shall decide who the speaker will be. Any votes that are cast that specify anyone other than a candidate that is eligible to be elected shall be tabulated together and announced as a total for “Other.” The actual content of these votes shall be included in the minutes, unless it contains profanity or other language deemed inappropriate by the Executive Committee, in which case they shall be listed in the minutes as “unsuitable votes.”
Standard Voting Procedure for Single-Winner Elections
This procedure shall be used for all elections in which a single person may be declared the winner. The standard procedure for a single-winner election shall be for each voter to cast a vote for a single candidate or for None of the Above. If one candidate receives a majority of the vote, that candidate shall be declared the winner. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, and None of the Above does not receive a majority of the vote, then the assembly shall proceed to another round of voting for the election. If None of the Above receives a majority of the vote for an election to determine who shall be a candidate for an election to a public office, then no person shall be nominated for that position. If None of the Above receives a majority of the vote for an election to assign a role within the party (e.g. an Officer), then none of the candidates defeated by None of the Above shall be eligible for the next round of voting, unless the assembly chooses to use the Alternative Voting Procedure for Single-Winner Elections specified in these rules, in which case all qualified candidates shall be eligible to be elected.
Alternative Voting Procedure for Single-Winner Elections
During a single-winner election, the assembly may, by majority vote, adopt this voting procedure to use for a final round of voting to fill any internal position within the Party. If adopted as a voting method, this method shall determine the winner of the election, regardless of whether any candidate receives a majority of the vote. This procedure may only be used if at least two rounds of voting have been completed and no candidate has been declared the winner. The motion to use this tie-breaking procedure shall be in order during nominations in the third round, or any subsequent round, of a qualified election. A voter may vote for None of the Above in lieu of voting for any candidates, but it shall not affect the outcome of the election, and shall not be considered in determining what constitutes a majority or any other percentage of the vote. For this procedure, no candidate with less than 5% of the first-place votes may be declared the winner. A voter ranks candidates as either first-place, second-place, or third-place, on her ballot. Each candidate may be ranked only once. The voter may only rank one candidate in first-place. The voter may only rank one candidate in second-place. The voter may rank as many or as few candidates as she chooses to in third-place. If a voter has ranked any candidate more than once, or has ranked more than one candidate in either first-place or second-place, then the ballot shall be declared invalid and not counted.
Round One
For each candidate, count all first-place votes. If one candidate has a majority of the votes, then that candidate shall be declared the winner. If no candidate has a majority, proceed to Round Two.
Round Two
For each candidate, count all second-place votes and divide the result by two. Add this result to the total for the candidate from Round One. If at least one candidate has a majority, the candidate with the highest total shall be declared the winner. If no candidate has a majority, proceed to Round Three.
Round Three
For each candidate, count all third-place votes and divide the result by three. Add this result to the total for the candidate from Round Two. If at least one candidate has a majority, the candidate with the highest total shall be declared the winner. If no candidate has a majority, proceed to Round Four.
Round Four
Discard the accumulated totals from previous rounds. Count each candidate’s first-place and second-place votes. The candidate with the highest total shall be declared the winner.
Tiebreaking Procedures
In any case in which there are two or more candidates who are tied and who would otherwise be declared the winner if not for the tie, then the candidate among the tied candidates with the most first-place votes shall be declared the winner. If there is still a tie, then the candidate among the remaining tied candidates with the most second-place votes shall be declared the winner. If there is still a tie, then the candidate among the remaining tied candidates with the most third-place votes shall be declared the winner. If there is still a tie, then the winner shall be determined among the remaining tied candidates by drawing lots.
Standard Voting Procedure for Multi-Winner Elections
This procedure shall be the standard procedure used for any election for which multiple persons may be elected, excluding the selection of delegates to the Libertarian National Convention. For elections in which multiple persons are elected, a modified form of approval voting shall be utilized. Members shall be able to vote for as many or as few candidates as they choose to, or they may choose instead to vote for None of the Above. There shall be no ranking of the candidates by the voter. After the tabulation of all ballots, candidates shall be ranked in descending order of votes.
Candidates must have received a majority vote in order to be elected. For any positions that have open slots available, the candidate with the highest rank who has received at least a majority vote shall be declared a winner for that election.
Selection of Delegates to the Libertarian National Convention
The Party shall use the procedures specified in this rule to elect Delegates to the Libertarian National Convention (referred to as “Delegates” in this rule) and Alternate Delegates to the Libertarian National Convention (referred to as “Alternates” in this rule). A modified form of approval voting shall be utilized. Members shall be able to vote for as many or as few candidates as they choose to, or they may choose instead to vote for None of the Above. There shall be no ranking of the candidates by the voter. After the tabulation of all ballots, candidates shall be awarded the position of Delegate in descending order of votes. After all Delegate positions have been filled, up to 50 remaining candidates shall be declared Alternates, in descending order of votes. A candidate must receive at least 10% of the vote to become either a Delegate or an Alternate. No candidate that receives a lower number of votes than None of the Above receives shall be eligible to become either a Delegate or an Alternate. A member who has been elected to be a Delegate may choose instead to become an Alternate if she wishes to do so. Ties shall be broken by drawing lots.
Drawing Lots
If, for any election at a convention, a tie must be broken by drawing lots, the Chair shall perform the drawing. The Chair and Secretary shall determine what procedure to use to conduct the draw. At any convention, the draw shall be performed under the observation of the assembly.
