PREAMBLE

 

The Niagara County Libertarian Party (NCLP) is dedicated to serving the interests of individuals who have publicly affiliated themselves with the Libertarian philosophy and who embrace the following principles:  The proper role of government is to protect the rights of the individual amongst others to life, liberty and property; government should empower good people to earn a living, to defend themselves, and to live life as each individual so chooses provided they do no harm to another; and, both the individual and government should embrace the principle of the non-initiation of force.

 

1: PURPOSE

 

1.1 The Niagara County Libertarian Party (NCLP) is a chapter of the Libertarian Party of New York.

1.2 The purpose of the NCLP is to be a political organization with the express goal of working to place Libertarians into public office.

1.3 The NCLP holds that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, and that individuals have an obligation to recognize the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose.  The NCLP agrees to the principles stated in the Declaration of Independence and supports the principles incorporated into the Constitution for the United States of America.

1.4 Section 1.3 above shall constitute a statement of commitment to be verbally agreed upon by all officers of and candidates endorsed by the NCLP.

 

2: MEMBERSHIP & DUES

 

2.1 CLASSES OF MEMBERSHIP: General Members and Governing Body.

2.1.1 GENERAL MEMBERS: General members of the NCLP are individuals who reside in Niagara County that meet at least one (1) of the following requirements:

2.1.1a Member of the Libertarian Party of New York

2.1.1b Member of the National Libertarian Party

2.1.1c Enrolled with the Libertarian Party with the Niagara County Board of Elections

2.1.1d Self-identifies as a libertarian.

2.1.2 GOVERNING BODY: Members of the Governing Body of the NCLP are individuals who reside in Niagara County who meet both of the following requirements:

2.1.2a Member of the Libertarian Party of New York

2.1.3b Paid dues to the Niagara County Libertarian Party (NCLP) in accordance with the dues requirements established in Section 2.2 of the bylaws.

2.2 DUES

2.2.1 Dues shall be $25.00 annually starting on January 1, 2016, span the Calendar Year (January 1st – December 31st), and are to be paid to the Treasurer of the NCLP. 

2.2.1a Founding Members (individuals present at the Founding Convention held August 1, 2015) are exempt from 2016 dues.

2.2.1b Incoming members prior to January 1, 2016 who were not in attendance for the Founding Convention are required to pay $8 in dues to the NCLP in order to meet the criteria for Governing Body Members as outlined in section 2.1.3b.

2.2.2 An additional set of dues may be required for membership in the Libertarian Party of New York. The amount, time span covered, and method of payment are to be determined solely by the LPNY, in accordance with their bylaws.

2.3 RIGHTS OF MEMBERSHIPS

2.3.1 General Members of the NCLP:

2.3.1a Shall have voting privileges at any convention.

2.3.1b Shall be entitled to join the Governing Body by paying the membership dues and the annual dues as specified by the Governing body.

2.3.2 Governing Body members:

2.3.2a Have voting rights at all meetings of the NCLP Governing Body and at the NCLP annual convention.

2.3.2b Are eligible to serve as officers of the NCLP.

2.4 Membership year.  The Membership year coincides with a calendar year (January 1st through December 31st).

 

3: OFFICERS

 

3.1 The officers of the NCLP shall be the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, and Representative to the LPNY state committee.

3.2 All officers of the NCLP must be members of the Governing Body as specified in Section 2.1.3 of these bylaws.

3.3 An elected officer must be an enrolled Libertarian, a member of the LPNY, and a member of the Governing Body. 

3.4 A Chairperson, a Vice-chairperson, a Treasurer, a Secretary, and a State Representative shall be nominated and elected by a majority vote of NCLP General Members and Special members present at the annual convention, or elected as provided for elsewhere in these bylaws. No proxy voting is permitted.

3.5 All elected officers will serve a 2 year term; or special elected officers will serve until the previous officer holder’s term expires.

3.5.1 Elections for Chairperson, Secretary and State Representative will be held in odd years. Elections for the Vice-Chairperson and Treasurer will be held in even years.

3.5.2 Every ballot must have an entry for ‘none of the above’ (NOTA).  After each ballot, the candidate with the least number of votes is dropped and the voting is continued until one candidate wins a majority of votes.  If NOTA wins a majority of votes, none of the previously nominated candidates may be re-nominated and if no candidate meeting the requirements of office is nominated, the position will remain empty until otherwise filled as specified here or elsewhere in these By-Laws.

3.6 Nominations and elections may be held at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Governing Body to replace an officer unwilling or unable to complete his or her term of office. The voting procedure used to elect officers at the Annual Convention shall be followed.

3.7 No person shall hold an Elected Governing Body position and an endorsed and/or elected public office.

3.8 No elected officer of the NCLP shall be a Chairperson of a committee; no one shall be the Chairperson of more than one committee at a time.

 

4: DUTIES OF OFFICERS

 

4.1 The duties of the Chairperson shall be to act as administrator and spokesperson for the chapter, and to preside over, call and organize regularly scheduled meetings of the NCLP Governing Body.  The Chairperson may create NCLP county committees and appoint a Chair to any committee. Appointees of the Chairperson of the NCLP shall serve at the discretion of the Chair and shall be subject to nullification by a majority vote of those present at a regularly scheduled Governing Body meeting.

4.2 The Vice-chairperson will be responsible for assuming all authority in the absence of the Chairperson. The Vice-chairperson will serve as liaison and coordinator for all committees of the NCLP.

4.3 The duties of the Treasurer shall be to collect, hold, and disburse funds, maintain records of all financial transactions, provide annual financial reports, report regularly on the Governing Body membership, and determine quorums (see section 5.2.2a).  Upon request, the Treasurer shall provide a list of NCLP Governing Body members to any NCLP member requesting the list.

4.4 The duties of the State Representative shall be to attend meetings of the LP State Committee, and to represent the NCLP and vote at said meetings with the best interests of the NCLP as prime consideration. The State Representative can be removed for cause by a majority vote at a regular meeting of the NCLP if the Representative fails to attend two consecutive meetings of the State Committee or fails to provide a written or oral report of the State Committee activities at two consecutive regular meetings of the NCLP Governing Body.

4.5 The duties of the Secretary shall be to record official meeting minutes, check for correspondences, track membership roll, and distribute appropriate information to the General Membership as defined in Article 10 of these bylaws.  The Secretary will annually, or more frequently if requested by the Chairman, obtain the list of enrolled Libertarian Party voters for Niagara County.

4.6 Prior to any election, the Secretary shall notify the membership of any members who may be subject to censure and the grounds therefore.

 

5: MEETINGS

 

5.1  All regularly scheduled meetings of the NCLP are open to the public.

5.2  A Convention shall be held each year at least two weeks before the start of election petitioning.

5.2.1 Members of the NCLP will be given timely notice of the date and location of the NCLP Annual Convention in a manner and time as determined by the chair

5.2.2 The chair or the chair’s designee shall call the annual convention to order. The Secretary or the Treasurer will immediately be asked for a report on the attendance at the time the convention was called to order.

5.2.2a A quorum for the annual convention shall consist of a number of NCLP members equal to 50% of the number of General members who were registered and in attendance at the time of the call to order. As the individuals are free to come and go during a convention, a quorum may be represented by different individuals throughout the convention.

5.2.2b No decisions at the Annual Convention requiring a vote shall be made without a quorum present.

5.3 Governing Body meetings:

5.3. 1 The NCLP shall hold regularly scheduled meetings of the Governing      Body.

5.3. 2 Special meetings of the Governing Body may be called by any Elected NCLP officer by providing Governing Body members, notice 14 days in advance.

5.3.3 A quorum for all regular and special meetings of the NCLP Governing Body shall consist of the Chair or Vice Chair, Secretary or Treasurer, and 20% of the Governing Body.

5.3.4 No decisions requiring a vote shall be made without a quorum present as defined in section 5.3.3

5.3.5 Proxy voting is not permitted.

5.3.6 Any persons engaging in inappropriate conduct at a meeting may be asked to discontinue such conduct or leave.

5.3.7 The Chairperson may appoint a moderator for each meeting.

 

6: EXPENDITURES

 

6.1 No expenditures of the funds of the NCLP shall be made without the approval of the Chairperson and the Treasurer.

 

7: CANDIDATE SELECTION
 

 7.1 Vetting Committee: The vetting committee shall be responsible for interviewing potential candidates for public office; determining the voter registration party affiliation of individuals seeking endorsement; background checks, or other inquiries as they deem appropriate. The Vetting Committee shall make a final report and recommendation to the Governing Body.

7.1.1 The NCLP Chairperson will appoint the Chair of the Vetting Committee. The Vetting Committee shall be comprised of the elected officers and interested governing body members.  The size of the Vetting committee will be determined at the discretion of the NCLP Chair.

7.1.2 Any person seeking the endorsement of the NCLP for public office must be approved by an absolute majority of the Vetting Committee and must be a member of the NCLP, except as stated elsewhere in these By-Laws.  An absolute majority is defined as 50% plus one.

7.1.3 The Vetting Committee will meet at the call of its chairperson and will establish its own evaluation procedures, which will include personal interviews.

7.1.4 The primary criterion for endorsement will be the candidate’s general agreement with libertarian principles.

7.1.5 If a potential candidate who resides outside the area covered by the NCLP seeks endorsement to run for an office in a political unit that intersects with the area covered by the NCLP:

7.1.5a That person must be endorsed by all county organizations of the LPNY which intersect with that political unit; and

7.1.5b That person must be a member in good standing of the county organization, if any, covering the area where he or she resides, or if none, must be a member of the LPNY.

7.1.6 The committee will only consider persons nominated by the procedures described in 7.2 of these By-Laws.

7.1.7 Candidates may appeal committee decisions to the NCLP Governing Body at any meeting of the NCLP Governing Body, which body may overturn the ruling of the Vetting Committee with at least a 60% plurality vote of the NCLP Governing Body present.

7.2 Nomination:

7.2.1: Any NCLP member in good standing can nominate a candidate including themselves.

7.2.2: Persons who seek the nomination of the NCLP for political office can be nominated from the floor at any regular or special meeting of the NCLP Governing Body, or at any time be nominated by the NCLP Chair.

7.2.3: All nominations require a seconding nomination by a NCLP Governing Body member.

7.2.4: Candidates shall be vetted by the Vetting Committee. If approved by the Vetting committee prior to the annual convention, the body of the General Membership shall vote to determine whether to approve the nomination of the candidate. Any candidate who seeks the NCLP endorsement after the annual convention must first win approval of a majority of the Vetting Committee, and then must be approved by a majority vote at a meeting of the NCLP Governing Body.

7.2.5: Notification that a candidate for political office will be interviewed/reviewed by the Vetting Committee is to be made known to the NCLP Governing Body membership as widely as possible, so that members can have an opportunity to have input to the committee concerning the potential candidate. However, the manner of notification shall be at the discretion of the Vetting Committee Chair and shall be in such a manner as to not unduly delay the process.

7.2.6 Any endorsed candidate may have that endorsement revoked.  Endorsement may be revoked by a simple majority vote of the Governing Body.

7.2.7: The endorsement of a candidate for political office, if done after the Annual Convention, shall be by a 60% plurality vote of approval at a meeting of the NCLP Governing Body convened with a proper quorum.

7.2.8: When selecting a candidate, all nominated candidates will be considered during any vote, and the nominated candidate with the majority of votes shall be the endorsed candidate. Voting with multiple candidates will be run as customary, with NOTA as a choice, and dropping the candidate with the least votes each round. If and when NOTA receives the majority of votes, none of the candidates will be endorsed.

7.2.9: When an election district spans 2 or more LP County Chapter areas, and two or more candidates have been endorsed by the separate LP County Chapters, the NCLP will cooperate with the other LP County Chapter(s) in order to hold a candidate selection convention. The purpose of this convention will be to select a single Libertarian candidate. The rules of the joint convention will be agreed upon by the NCLP Chair and a representatives designated by the other Chapter’s (s’) Chair.

 

8: MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING

 

8.1 An individual is a General Member in good standing if on December 31 of the previous calendar year the individual met the requirements of section 2.1.1 and provided the individual still meets those requirements as of the date of the event in question.

8.2 An individual is a member of the Governing Body in Good Standing if, on December 31 of the previous calendar year the individual met the requirements of section 2.1.2 and provided, on the date of the event in question the individual still meets the requirements of section 2.1.2.

 

9: BYLAWS

 

9.1 These Bylaws shall take effect immediately if accepted by majority vote of NCLP members present on Saturday, August 1st, 2015, and all current members shall become NCLP Governing Body members until the time that their annual dues are to be paid.

9.2 Amendments to the bylaws shall be made by majority vote at a NCLP Governing Body meeting or at an annual convention of the NCLP provided the proposed amendments were communicated to the entire NCLP Governing Body in writing (USPS, email, text, or similar means) 14 days prior to the Governing Body meeting, or communicated to the General Membership via electronic means and/or by mail and/or by any other means approved by the Chairman within 14 days of the annual convention of the NCLP.

9.3: The text of properly disseminated proposed amendments to these By-laws may be altered at the meeting by a simple verbal consent of all NCLP Governing Body members present.