1. Date proposed 2/20/2009. Name of the sponsors: Claire Ryder, Thomas
Kelly
2. Title: Change of GPUS Bylaws
3. Text of the actual Proposal:
The Green Party of the United States shall elect the members of the Steering
Committee by an online vote of the members of the Green National Committee
(GNC). All other requirements for candidates’ announcements and publication
of biographical information shall be the same as in the current nomination
and election procedures, shown below. There should also be an addition to
the procedures that encourages candidates to publish online videos of their
biographical information and vision statements.
Current Nomination and election procedures from GPUS Rules and Procedures
At least two months before a national Green Party gathering, the Secretary
of the GPUS shall ask members of the National Committee for nominations for
the various offices. One month shall be given for all nominations to be
submitted. Once all the nominations have been received by the secretary,
candidates shall submit a short biography online for all delegates to read
at least two weeks before the convening of the next Green Party gathering.
Nominations will reopen at a specified part of the Agenda at the Annual
National Committee Meeting. The official nomination and announcement of
candidates and the elections will be held on separate days during the Green
Party annual meeting
4. Background: In order to submit a proposal to the GNC a State is required
to submit a proposal. For this reason, the proposal is being presented to
the Green Party of Colorado online council for discussion and a vote ,before
it is submitted to the NC of the GPUS
The election of Steering Committee members is currently done by an
undemocratic method. The GNC members must be in attendance at an Annual
National Meeting (ANM) to cast a vote. This is a filter on the right to
vote that the GPUS should not practice. Proxy votes have been allowed in
the past by temporary resolutions, but the rules did not permit a complete
representation of a States’ GNC delegation. If a States’ GNC level of
attendance doesn’t meet a threshold value then some votes are not cast. The
proxy votes cast in the last Steering Committee election were challenged
because the level of attendance of some States’ GNC delegation was
challenged and because some GNC members felt their proxy votes were a
misrepresentation of their voting desires.
5. Justification/Goals: By changing the Rules and Procedures, proxy voting
will be eliminated and by encouraging candidates to provide more online
information individual Green Party members as well as GNC members will be
more informed and more able to participate in the election of the Steering
Committee.
6. Pros: This change in the rules and procedures will increase the level of
democracy used to select the Steering Committee because all votes cast will
be counted and all GNC members will be able to cast a vote. A States’ GNC
delegation will not be filtered out because they are financially unable to
attend an ANM.
7. Alternatives to the proposal: The rules and procedures can be left as
they are.
