2024 CONVENTION

Senate District 50 Republicans Annual Convention

Saturday, April 13, 2024, Bloomington Oak Grove Middle School

9:00 AM Registration, 10:00 AM Convention Begins

REGISTER HERE

 

AGENDA

Senate District 50 Republicans

Annual Convention - April 13, 2024 

FINAL UPDATE 4/11/24

 

  1. 10:00 AM Call to Order, 10:15 AM Registration Closes
  2. Pledge of Allegiance 
  3. Invocation
  4. Singing of National Anthem 
  5. Greetings and Announcement from the Co-Chairs
  6. Reading of the Convention Call
  7. Election of Temporary Chair of the Convention
  8. Election of Temporary Secretary of the Convention
  9. Appointment of Parliamentarian, Sergeant-At-Arms & Tellers
  10. Authorization of committee on Rules, Credentials, Registration, Delegate Nominating & Candidate Search 
  11. Make the temporary organization of Convention Permanent
  12. Initial Credentials Report 
  13. Motion to adopt rule 5b, to seat Alternates
  14. Presentation of Strategic Overview - SD 50 Republicans
  15. Precinct Recognition
  16. Final Credentials Report
  17. Rules Committee Report & Adoption of the Convention Rules
  18. Adoption of the Convention Agenda
  19. Volunteer Recognition
  20. Report from the Nominating Committee
  21. Presentation of Voting Procedures  
  22. Election of CD3 Delegates & Alternates 
    1. CD3 Convention (April 27)
    2. State Convention (May 17-18, St. Paul)
  23. Election of CD5 Delegates & Alternates to:
    1. CD5 Convention (April 28)
    2. State Convention (May 17-18, St. Paul)

23. Self nominations for alternate positions

a.    CD3 Convention / State Convention

b.    CD5 Convention/State Convention

24. Report from Resolutions Committee

25. Other Business

26. Adjournment

RULES 

SENATE DISTRICT 50

REPUBLICAN CONVENTION

APRIL 13, 2024

1. PARLIAMENTARY RULES

 

The conduct of the business of this Convention shall be governed by the laws of the State of Minnesota, the Constitution and Bylaws of the Republican Party of Minnesota (“RPM”), the Constitution and Bylaws of the Third Congressional District, the Bylaws of Senate District 50 Republicans (the “Senate District”), the Official Call or the Rules adopted by the Convention, and by the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order, in order of precedence.

 

2. ORDER OF BUSINESS

 

The Convention order of business shall be as outlined on the Official Agenda.

 

3. AMENDMENT OR SUSPENSION

 

After adoption, these Rules may be amended or suspended only by an affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the registered delegates and seated alternates as determined by the final report of the Credentials Committee.

 

4. ADDRESSING THE CONVENTION

 

a.A delegate wishing to speak shall rise, address the Convention Chair (the “Chair”), and when recognized by the Chair, state their name and precinct and the purpose for which they rise.

 

b.Debate on any motion or subject shall be limited to two (2) minutes for each speaker.  No person shall be allowed to speak more than twice on the same subject.

 

c.At least two (2) speakers on each side of a question shall have the opportunity to speak about an issue before a call for the question shall be in order.

 

d.The Chair, at their discretion, may recognize elected officials, Party officers and others, and allow them the privilege of addressing the Convention for a period not to exceed five (5) minutes each.

 

5. CONVENTION ROLL AND QUORUM

 

a.Persons entitled to vote at the Convention are the registered Delegates and seated Alternates who were elected as Delegates or Alternates at the 2024 Republican precinct caucuses within Senate District 50 and who presently reside within a precinct in the Senate District.

 

b.Filling of Vacancies:  Following the preliminary report of the Credentials Committee, the precinct Chairpersons shall fill vacancies in the precinct delegations.  If no precinct Chairperson is seated for a precinct, a majority of seated Delegates for the precinct shall designate a temporary precinct Chairperson for the Convention.  The precinct Chairperson(s) shall fill Delegate vacancies from the Alternates elected from the precinct as follows:

 

(1) From the elected Alternates of the precinct in the order, if any, designated at the precinct caucus.

 

(2) Where no priority of Alternates was established at the caucus, the precinct Chairpersons shall designate, for their precinct, the Alternates to be seated.  No cross-seating of Alternates among precincts shall be permitted.

 

(3) If the precinct Chairpersons cannot agree, or if neither Chairperson is seated, a majority of seated Delegates from that precinct shall choose the Alternates to be seated.

 

(4) If there is no majority opinion of the precinct’s registered Delegates, or if no Delegates are present, the Senate District Co-Chairs shall fill the vacancy from the elected Alternates from that precinct, if any.  If no Senate District Co-Chair is present, or if they fail to agree, the next highest Senate District Officer (or if they be equal officers, a majority vote of such equal officers) shall fill the vacancy.

 

c.Seating of registered Alternates shall be permitted at any time if a seated Delegate or seated Alternate is absent.  However, upon the return of the previously seated Delegate or the arrival of a properly registered Alternate delegate, said Delegate shall be seated.

 

d.A majority of the total number of Delegates registered shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of convening the Convention; thereafter, a call for a quorum shall be out of order.  No action except adjournment shall be transacted by the Convention without an affirmative vote of twenty-five (25) percent of the registered Delegates and seated Alternates as established by the final report of the Credentials Committee.

 

6. VOTING 

 

a.All voting for contested Delegate and Alternate positions shall be by written secret ballot.

 

b.Voting on all other questions shall be by voice vote.  If the Chair is in doubt on a voice vote, the Chair may order a standing vote.

 

c.If requested by two or more Delegates, a standing vote shall be taken.

 

d.If the Chair is in doubt as to the result of a standing vote, they may order a polling of the precincts.  The votes shall be reported by the respective precinct Chairpersons, or tellers, at the direction of the Chair.

 

e.Each registered Delegate and seated Alternate shall have one full vote.  Such votes shall be weighted in accordance with State Party directives.  Unit rule voting is forbidden.

 

7. BALLOTING

 

The balloting for the election of contested Delegates and Alternates shall be conducted as follows:

 

a.Precinct Chairpersons shall receive ballots, from the tellers, to be distributed to their registered Delegates and seated Alternates.  If no Chairperson is present, a Delegate shall be designated in the manner provided in Rule 5b to receive and collect the ballots.

 

b.Ballots cast by precinct Delegates and seated Alternates shall be collected by the respective precinct Chairpersons and turned over to the tellers.  The number of ballots allotted to and cast by each precinct shall be verified by the tellers.  Any discrepancies shall be announced to the Convention before the ballots are co-mingled with those of the other precincts.

 

c.If there is a dispute as to the number of ballots cast by a precinct, the challenge shall be made before the ballots from that precinct are placed with the other ballots for tabulation.  Upon such a challenge the Chair shall appoint a special judge and a special teller who shall count the ballots cast by said precinct.  The precinct shall be required to vote again only if the count reveals more ballots cast than votes allotted to that precinct.

 

d.The tellers shall report to the Chair the total number of votes cast for each candidate for each position.  The Chair shall announce the results to the Convention.

 

e.Once balloting in a contested election has commenced by distribution of ballots to the precincts and before announcement of the results of that ballot to the convention, motions of no-endorsement, to table, to postpone indefinitely, to adjourn, or the like shall be out of order.

 

f.Notwithstanding the above, upon adoption by the Convention, electronic voting may be utilized, so long as any Delegate or seated Alternate is provided the option to vote by written ballot.

 

            g.        Election of non-contested Delegates or Alternates may be done by voice vote. 

 

            h.        Ties will be decided by drawing lots.

 

 

 

8.        ENDORSEMENT PROCEDURE

 

Endorsement for Legislative Representatives of House Districts 50A and 50B will be considered in two separate Sub-conventions, each comprised of the Delegates and seated Alternates elected from within their respective House Districts.  The Sub-conventions shall be conducted serially. Use of the tool of ‘recess’ to alternate between Sub-conventions and the Convention-as-a-whole is appropriate, to save time. Any uncontested Sub-convention shall be conducted first. If neither or both Sub-conventions have contests, then the 50B Sub-convention conducted first, followed by the 50A Sub-convention, with both to be chaired by the Convention Chair.

                                                           

a. Legislative Endorsement Sub-conventions:

 

(1) All Delegates and Alternates who are properly registered and seated according to the final Credentials report of the full Senate District Convention shall be deemed registered and seated for their respective Sub-conventions.

 

(2) All persons wishing to seek endorsement for elected office must have interviewed with the Candidate Search Committee prior to the Convention.  The Candidate Search Committee shall present a report of the results of those interviews prior to consideration of endorsement.

 

(3) All candidates who have been interviewed by the Candidate Search Committee or their representatives, must notify the Convention Secretary of their intent to seek endorsement within ten (10) minutes after the Convention Chair has announced to the Convention that this Rule 8-a(3) has been adopted and that the ten minute time limit is in force.  Any candidate who fails to notify the Convention Secretary within the time specified cannot be considered for endorsement.

 

(4) Endorsement Question:

The Sub-convention shall first determine by simple majority vote of the Delegates and seated Alternates as established in the Final Report of the Credentials Committee, for each office, whether endorsement shall be considered.  This question shall not be debatable.

 

(5) All voting for uncontested endorsement shall be by voice vote.  If the result of this voice vote is not clear, that there were at least 60% affirmative votes, and a division is properly called for, then a written secret ballot will be used to determine the result.  If two or more candidates seek endorsement for the same office, the vote shall be taken by written secret ballot.

 

(6) Where more than one candidate is seeking endorsement for one office, none of the candidates for that office shall be voted on separately.  Subject to Rule 8-a(9), the candidacies of all shall be submitted on each ballot, unless a candidate withdraws.

 

(7) Only one candidate may be endorsed for any one given office.  If candidates for more than one office are to be endorsed, the Sub-Convention shall vote on each office separately.  

The vote shall be taken on all candidates seeking endorsement for a given office before endorsement may be considered for another office.

                                                      

(8) Only the Delegates and the seated Alternates eligible to vote for the candidate(s) in the general election shall be entitled to vote on the endorsement of said candidate(s)

 

(9) When there are more than two candidates seeking endorsement, any candidate who receives ten (10) percent or less of the total votes possible, according to the final Credentials report, on any of the first six ballots, shall be dropped from all subsequent ballots for that office.

                                                   

(10) Each candidate shall be given ten (10) minutes of total floor time to be used for any nominating and seconding speeches and/or personal address to the Sub-convention.  The order of nominating, seconding and candidate speeches shall be determined by lot.  All such speeches by or for a given candidate shall be completed before a second candidate is nominated.  The Convention Chair shall keep an accurate record of each candidate's allotted time.

 

(11) Only candidates who have interviewed with the Candidate Search Committee shall have their names placed in nomination.  Nominations from the floor of persons who have not interviewed with the Candidate Search Committee shall not be in order.

 

(12) Following the conclusion of the nomination speeches, or following the report of the first vote or ballot, the Convention may, upon motion made, seconded and passed by majority vote, establish a question and answer period for the candidates for the office for which endorsement is sought, not to exceed fifteen (15) minutes in total, with questions limited to 30 seconds and answers to one (1) minute, for each question, addressed to the candidates in turn.

 

(13) Any candidate who shall receive the affirmative vote of sixty (60) percent of the Delegates and seated Alternates officially registered, according to the final Credentials report, shall be considered endorsed.

 

(14) These Rules shall apply uniformly to the separate Endorsing Sub-conventions of House District 50A and House District 50B.

 

(15) Recess:

A Sub-convention may vote to recess at any time and for any time period, or until the call of the convention Chair. In the event the Sub-convention votes to recess rather than adjourn, the Chair, prior to the vote on the question, shall announce that only those Delegates and Alternates who were registered for the original Sub-convention, according to the final Credentials report, are eligible to register for the reconvened Sub-convention.  The number of votes required for endorsement at the reconvened Sub-convention shall remain sixty (60) percent of the number of Delegates and Alternates seated as stated in the final Credentials report at the original Convention.

 

b. Senate Endorsement by Full Convention:

 

Endorsement for the Senate District 50 State Senate seat, when appropriate, shall follow the same rules and procedure as given above in Paragraphs 8-a(1)-(15), except that the registered Delegates and seated Alternates from both House Districts 50A and 50B shall vote as a single Convention.

 

 

9. ELECTION OF DELEGATES AND ALTERNATES TO THE STATE CONVENTION AND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CONVENTIONS

 

Election of Delegates and Alternates shall be as follows:

 

a. The Delegate Nominating Committee shall present its nominations for Delegates and Alternates to the State, and Third and Fifth Congressional District Conventions.

 

b. Following the report of the Delegate Nominating Committee, the Convention Chair will entertain a motion to close further nominations and to proceed to a vote on the nominations presented by the Delegate Nominating Committee for Delegates to the State Convention.   A vote to close nominations requires a majority vote.  If the vote to close nominations passes, then the vote to elect the Delegate Nominating Committee’s nominees may be conducted by voice vote. 

 

c.     Following the election of Delegates to the State Convention, from the Delegate Nominating Committee, nominations for State Alternates shall be presented by the Delegate Nominating Committee.  It is intended that the Delegate Nominating Committee will leave open a number of Alternate positions to be filled by nominations from the floor. If the number of Alternates nominated, by a combination of the Delegate Nominating Committee and nominations from the floor, reaches the number of allowed Alternates, and if a motion to close nominations is made and passed, the remaining Alternates will then be elected by voice vote, and shall then be ranked by drawing names out of a hat.

 

d.  If the voice vote to close nominations, after the Delegate Nominating Committee report, fails, then nominations from the floor for additional Delegates and Alternates to the State Convention shall be in order.  Each Delegate recognized by the Convention Chair for the purpose of nominating from the floor shall be limited to the nomination of one person if any other Delegates are waiting to be recognized.  After a sufficient number of persons have been nominated to fill all of the Delegate and Alternate positions, a motion to close nominations will be considered to be in order, even if there are other Delegates remaining who may wish to make further nominations from the floor.

 

e. Upon the close of nominations for Delegates and Alternates, voting shall proceed for the Delegates and Alternates to the State Convention.

 

f. A Delegate or seated Alternate shall vote only for a designated number of nominees, announced by the Chair, depending on the number of Delegates to be elected.  A ballot with fewer or more than the designated number of nominees or containing the name(s) of a person(s) not duly nominated shall be invalid.  A ballot on which the name of any nominee appears more than once shall be invalid.  Blank ballots shall not be counted.  Voting may be conducted electronically and/or by written ballot. If the number of nominees is the same as the number of positions to be filled, the Convention may choose to vote by voice vote. 

g.

  The nominees receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected Delegates, and then Alternates after that, in order of votes received, to fill all available positions.  In the event of a tie for any position, the tie will be broken by drawing names out of a hat.

 

h. Nomination and election of Delegates and Alternates to the Third and Fifth Congressional District Conventions shall be conducted in the same manner as outlined above.

 

 

10. RESOLUTIONS

 

  1. All resolutions which passed through the recent precinct caucus process shall be submitted in writing to the Resolutions Committee.

 

  1. To expedite the business of the Convention, the Chair may call for consideration of the report of the Resolutions Committee at any point during Convention slack time. After the initial report of the Resolutions Committee, the Convention Chair may recognize Delegates who wish to speak for or against platform resolutions, one speaker in favor, then one speaker against, etc., with a two-minute time limit on each speaker’s time.

 

c. Resolutions Ballots, by paper, if used, will be collected during the Convention at a designated collection spot, up until a cutoff time to be designated by the Chair approximately two hours before the estimated adjournment of the Convention.  Or, if electronic voting is used then follow instructions of the Chair.

 

d Ballots will be counted, and results communicated to the Convention.

 

f. Resolutions may be offered from the floor of the Convention only by the suspension of these Rules. Such offered resolutions must be submitted to the convention Secretary in writing.

 

g. Additional written resolutions, if any, which are accepted during the Convention by suspension of the Rules, will be proposed, discussed, and voted on by voice or standing vote, separate from the process of considering the Resolution Committee ballots.

 

 

11. TRANSMITTAL OF NAMES

 

The names of those persons elected as Senate District Officers, State Delegates and Alternates, and Congressional District Delegates and Alternates shall be forwarded, no later than three (3) days after the Convention, to the Third and Fifth Congressional District Republican Committee offices and to the RPM office.

 

 

12. MISCELLANEOUS

 

a. Minority reports of Convention Committees may be presented if agreed to by one-third (1/3) or more members of the Committee.

 

b.Registration shall close at the time stated in the call, provided that registration has been open for at least one (1) hour.  No Senate District Delegates or Alternates may register thereafter.

 

  1. No video or audio recording equipment may be activated in the Convention hall without the prior written permission of the Chair.                                          v.1   4-6-24