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Welcome to the
Warren County
Democrats web page.
County Convention
Information
March 15, 2008
Warren County Administration Building Auditorium
301 North Buxton
Indianola, IA
8 am Registration Begins
9 am Convention is Called to Order
9 am Late Registration Begins
10 am Alternate Seating Begins
Arrangements Committee Report
The information contained in the booklet is a necessity for you to be an informed delegate.
Read the information carefully and bring this packet with you to the convention. If you have questions regarding any information or procedures, please contact one of the Committees Chairs listed on the first page.
If you cannot attend the convention, please give this packet to an alternate and complete the form inside the back cover or give this packet to your precinct chairperson!
There will not be additional copies of this packet available.
Important Information about the Convention
Date: Saturday, March 15, 2008
Place: Warren County Administration Building- 301 North Buxton Street, Indianola
Time: 8:00 Registration for delegates begins
9:00 Convention Convenes
10:00 Registration Closes
10:30 Seating of Alternates
11:00 Final Credentials Committee Report
Fee: $20.00 Donation Per Delegate (includes lunch)
Committee Meetings:
7:30 Arrangements
7:30 Credentials
8:30 Platform
8:30 Rules and Nominations
Breakfast and Lunch Costs
Pricing will be posted for visitors, alternates and others who may wish to purchase a meal.
Arrangements Committee Members
Marilyn Kirkpatrick, Chair
Credentials Committee Report
Delegates must be registered by 10:00 AM or an alternate will be seated at 10:30 AM.
Credentials Committee Members
Leslie Merriman, Temporary Chair
Frank Brunia
Terry Loy Mary Mitchell
Emily Nutting
Report of the Rules and Nominations Committee
I. General
A. This committee is charged with the responsibility of drafting such rules and regulations as are necessary to conduct the business of the Convention including, but not limited to, the adoption of the platform, the adoption and ratification of such resolutions as the Convention may wish to consider, the selection and accreditation of delegates to the District and State Conventions, and such other business as the Convention may wish to consider.
B. The Rules and Nominations Committee is also charged with the responsibility of counting all ballots taken during the convention process and conducting all elections that take place.
II. The Purpose of Rules
A. Convention rules have evolved over many years as a result of practical experience in how best to run a convention of many people. Rules serve the following purposes:
1. Provide a way of making sure that only legitimately elected
delegates participate;
2. Provide for fair and able leadership;
3. Define the items of business to be conducted, and the best
order to be followed in action upon them;
4. Provide practical procedures by which many citizens can
have input into the making of the necessary decisions;
5. Protect the minorities from the insensitivity/indifference
of the majority;
6. Protect the majority from the zeal and excesses of the
minorities;
7. Facilitate election of proportional representation to
higher levels of the convention process;
8. Provide ways to deal with unusual and/or unanticipated
situations.
III. Preamble
A. Conventions shall be called to order no later than fifteen minutes after the time announced in the official call. If the Temporary Chair does not call the Convention to order within this time limit, any delegate may call the convention to order and the order of business shall begin.
B. Convention speakers shall be strictly limited to five minutes speaking time. The Chair shall enforce these time limits with the assistance of an official timekeeper where appropriate. If the Chair falls to do so, any delegate may call upon the Chair to enforce the time limit. The Rules and Nominations Committee and Chair will determine whether an individual shall have the right to speak.
IV. Order of Business
A. The report of the Credentials Committee shall be acted upon before the consideration of other official business. The Temporary Convention Chair shall recognize the Chair of the Credentials Committee to present the Committee's report. The Chair of the Committee may present Committee amendments, may yield to others, and may yield for the presentation and disposition of minority reports without losing the right to the floor.
B. The Nominations and Delegate Selection and Seating process shall be in accordance with the Delegate Selection procedure approved by the State Central Committee, with supplementary recommendations of the Rules and Nominations Committee as adopted by the convention.
C. In the case of a delegate challenge, the Credentials Committee shall include in its report the name of the delegate or alternate whom it believes is entitled to participate in the Convention. A minority of 10% of the Credentials Committee may present a minority report on any challenge to the Convention. When a number of challenges are to be resolved, the Credentials Committee shall report on each in alphabetical order by precinct in which the delegates or alternates being challenged reside.
D. The consideration of the Platform Committee's report shall be taken at the discretion of the Chair at appropriate times during the normal Party business in order to save time. Rules found herein on debate and voting shall apply to consideration of the Platform Committee's report.
V. Agenda
A. The County Chairperson will call the Convention to order by 9 A.M. and call for the Chair of the Rules and Nominations Committee to appoint a temporary Chairperson(s) for the Convention.
B. The Temporary Chairperson(s) appointed by the Rules and Nominations Committee shall convene the Convention.
C. The Temporary Chair shall announce the temporary secretaries, and a temporary Sergeant-at-Arms. The Rules and Nominations Committee will provide a parliamentarian and select the vote tellers for the Convention.
D. The Temporary Chair shall ask for a motion on the temporary rules. They will be the rules as printed in the delegate packet.
E. The Temporary Chair shall call for a motion to make the delegates, as certified by the Chairperson of the Credentials Committee, the temporary delegates to the Convention.
F. The Chair of the Committee on Committees shall announce the Chairs of all Convention Committees (Arrangements, Credentials, Platform, and Rules and Nominations).
G. The Temporary Chair shall indicate committee meeting rooms, introduce speakers and special guests, and make announcements. Committees may retire to meeting rooms as needed.
H. The report of the Credentials Committee and adoption of the Credentials Committee report by the Convention shall be no later than 11:00 A.M. or sooner if the committee identifies a quorum. Official business may begin when a legal quorum been established.
I. The Chair of the Rules and Nominations Committee shall nominate the permanent Chair(s) of the Convention from among the accredited delegates. Nominations from the floor may then be received for the position. These nominations must also be from among the accredited delegates. Election of the permanent Chair(s) will follow.
J. Report of the Rules and Nominations Committee. The Chair of the Rules and Nominations Committee moves the adoption of the committee’s report (it will include the permanent rules). Voting follows.
K. First realignment of delegates into preference groups (if needed). Convention business will suspend in case of call for caucus, except for youth caucus.
1. Youth Delegate attendees shall caucus separately for the purpose
of electing District and State Youth Delegates and Alternates.
2. Youth Delegate attendees may also caucus to formulate
viewpoints and develop a youth platform.
L. The Chair of the Rules and Nominations Committee shall announce the procedure for:
1. apportioning delegates;
2. electing District/State Convention Delegates;
3. electing a District Affirmative Action person;
4. electing District Convention Committee members.
M. The convention will proceed with these elections. The elections may alternate with platform consideration.
N. The Chair of the Platform Committee will report the Platform. The Platform Chair moves the adoption of the Platform. The Convention votes on the Platform.
0. Ratification of the Convention Proceedings.
P. Any remaining business to come before the Convention.
Q. Adjournment.
VI. Special Orders of Business
It shall be in order at any time for the Rules and Nominations Committee to report to the Convention a resolution on providing a special order of business for debate of any resolution, motion, committee report, or minority report or amendment to a committee report, or for the consideration of any matter for which provision is not made in these rules.
VII. Powers and Duties of the Chair
A. The Permanent Chair or Co-Chair (one male and one female) shall be elected by the Convention. It is the responsibility of those elected (hereinafter referred to as "the Chair") to conduct and expedite the business of the Convention and to preserve order and decorum in its proceedings.
B. The Chair is authorized to:
1. Appoint a secretary and such other officers as may be required
to assist in the conduct of the business of the convention,
to be composed equally of men and women.
2. Appoint any delegate temporarily to perform the duties of
the Chair in the absence of the Chair.
3. Take such lawful action as may be appropriate and necessary to
preserve order throughout the Convention facility.
VIII. Seating of Delegates
A. Duly elected delegates shall have first seating at the beginning of the Convention.
B. A delegate who cannot attend the Convention shall have first right to designate a duly elected alternate in writing using the preferred alternate form provided in this Convention Booklet.
C. When no alternate is selected in writing by a delegate, the appropriate precinct delegation present will select an alternate from the same preference group and precinct.
D. If an alternate delegate of the same preference group cannot be found, the seat shall not be filled.
E. After 10:00 AM, a delegate who has not selected an alternate shall forfeit their right to be seated as a delegate to the Convention, unless the Delegate’s seat is not yet filled. No seated alternate will be bumped by an elected delegate after this time.
F. The Credentials Committee may, after 10:00 A.M., select and seat accredited alternates who meet the above requirements as delegates.
IX. Voting
A. Except as otherwise required, voting shall be by official card and, in case of doubt, by standing division. A roll call (or non-secret ballot) vote may be ordered only after a standing division, upon a motion which is seconded and supported by a standing vote of 20% of the authorized delegate body present. The determination as to whether a ballot or roll call vote shall be used will be made by the Chair under the criteria of the Rules and Nominations Committee report as adopted.
B. When a roll call vote is ordered, the roll shall be called by precinct. The Chair of each delegation or his designee shall report the vote of the delegation. If any member of an individual delegation challenges an announced vote of his/her delegation, the Chair shall poll that delegation.
C. All questions, except as otherwise specified in the adopted rules, shall be determined by majority vote of the authorized delegates present and voting.
D. When a question on a motion has been put to the vote, the vote thereon may not be interrupted for any purpose other than to move for a roll call (or ballot) vote, or a point of order directed to the conduct of the vote.
E. During the counting of the ballots on any issue, the Chair of the Convention may place a new main motion on the floor and return to the previous motion after the counting is completed, unless a pending vote will influence the outcome of a vote on a subsequent issue.
F. No secret, proxy, or absentee voting is allowed under our party Constitution.
G. If, as determined by the Rules and Nominations Committee, the total number of votes cast exceed the total number of delegates present and voting on the convention floor, the ballot will be declared invalid by the Rules Committee and will be recast.
H. Delegates leaving the Convention early and not designating an alternate (from the accredited alternates in the delegate’s respective precinct) with the Credentials Committee must turn in their delegate packet, including the voting card, and all unused ballots to the Credentials Committee.
I. Bullet voting and plunking are prohibited.
1. Bullet voting is defined as a delegate casting a vote for someone
other than a duly nominated candidate during a given round of voting
for a delegate seat or committee position. Delegates may only vote
for candidates nominated in accordance with Convention rules.
2. Plunking is defined as a delegate casting multiple votes for a
single candidate during a given round of balloting in which more than
one delegate seats or committee positions are to be filled. Delegates
may NOT attempt to vote one candidate into two or more delegate seats
or committee positions during a single round of balloting.
The ballots of a delegate who commits either bullet voting or plunking will be invalidated for that round of balloting.
J. All votes at the convention shall be cast by those individuals named on the credentials, as issued by the Credentials Committee.
X. Appeals
A. The Chair shall decide all questions of order subject to appeal to the body by any delegate. An appeal will be debated for not more than ten minutes. This time shall be equally divided between the delegate appealing and the Chair.
B. An appeal shall not be in order:
1. while another appeal is pending;
2. from decisions of dilatoriness of motions or other attempts to
delay the process of the Convention;
3. during a roll call vote;
4. on questions on which an appeal has just been decided;
5. when in the opinion of the Chair such an appeal is clearly dilatory
in its attempt to slow down or delay the process of the Convention;
6. on questions of debate time after a standing vote.
C. The decision of the body shall be final.
XI. Motion to Suspend the Rules
A. The Chair may entertain a motion to suspend the rules only for a stated purpose. If seconded, the motion may be debated for not more than ten minutes. This time shall be equally divided between proponents and opponents of the motion to suspend.
B.Passage of a motion to suspend shall require a 2/3rds majority vote of the delegates present and voting in favor of the motion, provided that a quorum as defined in section XVI of these rules is present.
XII. Motions
A. No question of privilege nor any motion other than those provided for under these rules shall be entertained except the motion to recess, to a time certain or at the call of the Chair, which shall be privileged.
B. Motions to recess shall be in order at any time except when a question has been put, or a vote is in progress, and shall be decided without debate. The Chair shall not entertain motions to recess when such motion closely follows another such motion if in the opinion of the Chair such motion is dilatory.
C. A motion to recess shall be for a time period of not more than one half hour, with the exception of a designated lunch break which shall not exceed one hour.
D. A motion to adjourn shall not be in order until all statutory and constitutional duties have been completed.
XIII. Amendments
A. No amendments to resolutions or motions before the Convention shall be permitted except amendments to Committee reports offered at the direction of the Committee or in a minority report of the Committee, provided that no motion or proposition on a subject different from that under consideration shall be admitted under color of amendment.
B. The maker of the amendment shall provide the Convention Chair with a legible written copy of the amendment before it is introduced, supported by 20 delegate signatures.
XIV. Minority Reports
A. Minority reports of Committees shall not be considered by the Convention unless adopted by at least 10% of the members of a Committee present and voting at a Committee meeting.
B. The minority shall provide the Chair with a written copy of their minority report before it is introduced, signed by members of the minority.
C. Minority reports shall be disposed of prior to action on majority reports.
XV. Debate
A. Initial debate on any question shall be limited to 12 minutes total and shall be equally divided between alternating proponents and opponents in speeches which shall not exceed two minutes each.
B. At the end of the initial debate time, the Convention, by a standing vote, may extend the debate for an additional 6 minutes and shall be divided between alternating proponents and opponents in speeches which shall not exceed one minute each.
C. Debate may be closed sooner by unanimous consent, or by 2/3 standing division vote in support of closing debate. Debate may be extended beyond a total of 18 minutes only by 2/3rds standing division vote in support of extension for a specified additional amount of time.
D. On motions relating to debate time, the ruling of the Chair on standing votes shall be final. Appeals to roll call or ballot votes on motions relating to debate time shall be out of order.
XVI. Quorum
A. In accordance with §43.95 of the Code of Iowa, a quorum for this convention shall be determined as follows:
1. A quorum shall consist of accredited delegates representing a
simple majority of the precincts at the convention; or
2. A simple majority of the accredited delegates shall constitute
a quorum.
B. No motion questioning a quorum shall be in order after the delegates have indicated their preference for a candidate during the nomination and delegate selection procedure.
XVII. General Rules
A. When a point of order is not covered by these rules, the approved Delegate Selection Procedure, the Rules and Nominations Committee Report, the Iowa Democratic Party Constitution, or the Charter of the Democratic Party of the United States, Robert's Rules of Order as most recently revised shall be used as the authority.
B. The registration of delegates and alternates shall remain open for at least one hour after the convention is scheduled to convene. However, as soon as the Credentials Committee reports to the Convention that a quorum of authorized delegates has been seated, the Convention may transact official and binding business. A determination of preference groups and the strength of preference groups shall not be determined until all delegates have been received and approved by the convention.
C. Accredited delegates must be registered by 10:00 A.M. or an alternate may be seated.
D. For the purpose of determining the relative strength of any preference groups within the convention, delegates to the County Convention shall align with a presidential preference (in presidential election years), other preference, or uncommitted group when they are registered for the convention. A delegate shall be required to designate his/her preference group at the time of his/her registration, and a delegate who refuses to designate a presidential preference group shall be registered by the Credentials Committee as uncommitted. Delegates are not required to align with the same preference group which selected them at the caucuses.
E. The Credentials Committee shall have the responsibility of determining the number of delegates within each presidential preference, other preference, or uncommitted group and shall, upon completion of registration and the presentation of its report, inform the convention of the relative strength of preference groups and the existence or absence of viable preference groups. For purposes of this section, any presidential preference, other preference, or uncommitted group which fails to obtain fifteen percent (15%) of the total number of registered delegates by the time the Credentials Committee presents its final report shall be declared non-viable.
F. The first realignment of delegates into preference groups shall take place following the report of the Credentials Committee. At this time, all delegates will be afforded a one hour period to realign with other groups if they so desire. The Arrangements Committee shall provide delegates with proper facilities to complete this realignment process. During this period, the Convention may proceed with other business.
G. Upon completion of the one (1) hour preference group alignment period, the Credentials Committee shall report to the convention the viable and nonviable groups’ status within the convention. Members of nonviable groups shall have a reasonable time not to exceed thirty (30) minutes in which to realign.
H. The number of district/state delegates to which each presidential preference, other preference, or uncommitted group is entitled to elect shall be determined by multiplying the total number of delegates to be elected by the percentage of the total convention vote that each preference group represents. When a situation occurs where there are more viable preference groups than there are delegates to be elected, the preference group(s) with the largest fraction shall be awarded the delegates in question.
I. The Chair of the Rules and Nominations Committee shall announce the number of delegates each preference group is entitled to elect to the District and State Conventions. The convention will then divide into its respective preference groups--each seated delegate going to the preference group to which he or she is aligned.
J. Each preference group shall elect a chair.
K. The first formal action of the preference group chairs shall be to read the following statement:
"All caucuses, convention committees, and Democratic Party officials
shall take such practical steps as may be within their legitimate
power to assure that all caucuses, conventions, and committees shall
include men, women, various age groups, and representatives of
identifiable geographically defined populations--all in reasonable
relationship to the proportions in which these groups are found in the
populations of the respective constituencies."
L. The procedure to be used within the presidential preference, other preference, or uncommitted groups to elect district/state delegates is as follows:
1. All delegates and party members who desire to run for district/state
delegate positions shall inform the caucus chair of the appropriate
preference group. This business must be done prior to the delegate
election procedure. Candidates for the delegate positions shall be
listed on a ballot in alphabetical order and numbered. Additional names
may be submitted for nomination. They shall be placed at the end of the
list and given a number. Persons need not be present to be elected but
delegates must be present to vote.
2. Each delegate who is an authorized member of a preference group,
empowered to vote on the election of the candidate or candidates, shall
do so by casting a vote or votes necessary to elect a simple majority of
the positions being sought by the candidates. Delegates shall cast
ballots for all positions to be elected on any given ballot. For
example, in the event that thirteen (13) individuals are each seeking
one of seven positions, the delegate shall vote seven (7) ballots, not
more than one (1) of which shall be cast for any one (1) candidate.
Counties are permitted to institute a system whereby preference groups
can vote for less than the simple majority of delegates to be selected
on any given ballot.
3. The ballots shall be collected and counted under the authority of the
Rules and Nominations Committee. If the number of positions to fill is
less than five (5), each elector shall vote for the number of candidates
equal to the number of positions to be filled.
4. No more than a simple majority of the delegate positions may be
determined by the result of the first balloting.
5. No candidate may be elected with less than five (5) votes. All
candidates receiving the same number of votes must, without violation of
any other rules, either be defeated as a group or else elected as a
group.
6.When the votes have been tabulated, the results of the election shall
be announced to the group.
7.Balloting shall continue until all delegate positions have been
filled.
8. The Rules and Nominations Committee Chair shall take possession of
the ballots. The ballots shall be preserved for one year.
9. Each preference group shall then proceed to elect its alternates.
Any number of alternates may be elected. Careful record should be kept
of the alternates elected, so as to avoid any confusion in seating the
alternates at either the District or State Conventions.
10. The convention as a whole shall ratify the selection of the entire
slate of delegates and alternates to the District/State Conventions.
Ratification shall mean only that it is the sense of the Convention that
the procedures used by the various preference groups were in conformity
with required procedures under the constitution of the Iowa Democratic
Party, and applicable convention rules as adopted by the Convention.
The ratified slate of delegates shall be presented to the District
Affirmative Action Committee and the District Convention Credentials
Committee.
M. All mobile telephones and pocket pagers must be set to silent notification (such as vibrate or visual notification) or must be turned off. Each delegate who wishes to use a mobile telephone must leave the convention room while using their telephone. The Chair is authorized to use any appropriate means to enforce this rule, including ejection from the convention.
XVIII. Election of District Convention Committee Members
A. At least ten (10) days prior to the County Convention, the Chair of each County Convention Committee shall notify the chair of the Committee on Committees of their nominations to corresponding committees at the District Convention. Failure to do this in a timely manner will require all nominations for the specific committee in violation to be made from the floor of the Convention without the Committee's endorsement.
B. Additional nominations may be made from the floor.
C. When there are no further nominations or upon adoption of a motion to cease nominations, the Convention Chair shall, after giving any nominee the opportunity to decline nomination, conduct a vote for each position to be filled.
D. A simple majority vote of the delegates present and voting shall be required to elect District Convention Committee members.
Rules and Nominations Committee Members:
Greg McCleary
Kathrine Allikian
Top of Form
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Platform Committee Report Preamble: From its inception, the Democratic Party has committed itself to establishing and maintaining the rights of and worth of the individual. We believe that any administration that abuses or ignores these basic tenets of human dignity has lost its mandate to direct a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." As a party, we favor equal rights for all people, regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender (male, female, transgender), age, and other labels which separate one individual from another. As Democrats, we believe that individuals are entitled to basic Universal Health Care. The infrastructure of our communities, our state, and our nation is an investment in our future. The base of our future is a strong educational system and expanded opportunities, which not only provides entry-level jobs, but also recognize an employee’s talents fairly and equitably. Without these opportunities, our standard of living and our business climate will continue to erode and have an adverse effect upon our most valuable resource—the people. As temporary stewards over our national resources, we demand that governing bodies develop policies and laws protecting our environment permanently from wasteful and indiscriminate use. We support alternate renewable energy, such as wind, solar and hydro energy. We affirm those individual rights as expressed in the United States Constitution and its Amendments as being paramount; we believe it is the government’s duty to protect those rights against all foreign and domestic encroachments; we reject all unwarranted encroachments against those rights; and, we believe that all warranted encroachments should be temporary, not permanent. As a unified party, Democrats are leading the way to a peaceful, progressive and economically just society for current and future generations. Agriculture and Environment: Category: Agriculture & Environment Economy, Commerce and Labor
Education:
Government and Law:
Health and Human Services:
Subcategory: UH Because: Living without fear of illness or injury without the means to pay for treatment is essential to Americans' rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, Resolved: The American people demand quality and universally affordable health insurance for everyone, while preserving choice of doctor and sharing costs between employers, individuals and the government. Category: Health & Human Services Subcategory: SQ Because: Improvements in preventative healthcare depend on developing new technologies and improving treatments, Resolved: That we must improve the quality of care for those with chronic diseases by encouraging innovation in the treatment of diseases at the research and practice levels. Category: Health & Human Services Subcategory: CC Because: The health and economic success of Americans depends on preventing costly and debilitating chronic illnesses, Resolved: That we refocus our health care system toward keeping people healthier through disease prevention, care management and targeted incentives to encourage self-management and prevention. International Affairs:
Subcategory: ME Because: Millions of American families, countless Iraqi families and hundreds of millions of taxpayers suffer from America's lack of an exit strategy from Iraq. Resolved That the United States military and State Department pursue an intelligent exit plan with a total and complete, diplomatically driven withdrawal from Iraq. Category: International Affairs Subcategory: RT Because: An unknown number of intelligence operations and one foreign war have proven to be based on baseless evidence, Resolved: That Congress greatly expand its oversight and investigatory powers over all intelligence-gathering operations. Category: International Affairs Subcategory: TN Because: Numerous international crises continue without any American governmental assistance as the United States' image continues to decline around the world, Resolved: That the United States be a contributing member within the United Nations in order to strengthen the U.N.'s ability to provide measured, but appropriate, responses to the political, economic and environmental crises afflicting the globe in such places as Darfur, Burma and Indonesia, in order to prevent terrorism and protect human rights. Category: International Affairs Subcategory: ME Because: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has destabilized the entire Middle Eastern region while depriving millions of people of their basic human rights, Resolved: That the United States government must work diplomatically, alongside international partners, with Middle Eastern nations to find a sustainable path of resolution for the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that supports a viable and healthy two-state solution.
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County
Fundraising Project
Presidential
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Sold for $1225.00
2008 Democratic Presidential Candidate Signed Quilt
by Iowa Caucus Winner
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One of a kind Iowa
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Contact: Don Ruby 515-205-6982
Paula Martinez 515-669-6812
Delpha Middleswart 515-961-7160 or 515-681-1154
Warren County Democratic Party
P.O. Box 477
Indianola, IA 50125
info@warrendemocrats.org
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