Voting Procedure for 2022 MGP Officer Elections

Voting on this proposal will close on Tuesday, April 12, at 9:00 pm.

Our bylaws require that the CC approve our voting procedure for internal officer elections 60 days before the assembly. Because the assembly is June 12, we must approve these procedures by April 13. Below is a copy of the google doc created for discussion some weeks ago; it's a blend of the procedures we used in our last election and the new November 2021 bylaws amendment. No one made any edits to the original nor expressed concerns in our CC meetings or listserv, so it should be ready for a Loomio vote!

MGP Voting Procedure - 2022 Officer Elections

Voting Period

The voting period runs from May 22, 2022 at Noon until June 12, 2022 at Noon. 

Eligibility (Bylaws 5.3-5.3.3)

In order for votes to be counted, voters must be registered voters in the state of Maryland affiliated with the Green Party.

Individuals who are unable to register to vote due to legal status may sign an internal MGP document that expresses their intention to be counted as MGP decision-making members. This includes persons who are not U.S. citizens, persons who are incarcerated, and persons under 18 years of age. Members must be at least 16 years old.

Membership Notification (Bylaws 5.2.4)

The CC shall ensure that the membership is notified of nominations, candidates, and elections. All registered greens and all green party locals must be notified of calls for nominations and elections. The MGP shall provide a forum for candidates to present their positions to the membership. The internal elections committee shall determine the timing and method of the communication with members, as well as the forum for candidates.

Voting Methods (Bylaws 5.2)

The selection of MGP officers, GPUS delegates, and GPUS Alternates and Presidential Nominating Committee Delegates shall be as specified below. Guiding Green principles and values are for voting methods that promote the fullest possible representation and inclusivity, such as multi-member seats, proportionality, and single transferable vote (STV), and for voting methods that avoid factionalism and domination.

Single-Member Seats. Ranked choice elections will be calculated using instant runoff voting (IRV) for single-seat elections with a Droop quota (ballots/(seats+1))+1. A candidate must pass the Droop quota in order to be elected.

Multi-Member Seats. Ranked choice elections will be calculated using Scottish Method single transferable vote (STV) using the Droop quota as a static threshold for multiple-seat elections. All candidates must pass the static threshold in order to be elected.

If a seat remains unfilled after the election, nominations shall immediately re-open for that position and remain open for 30 days. None of the candidates previously listed on the ballot shall be eligible to be nominated. A new election shall take place, following all the rules outlined in Article 5 of the MGP bylaws.

Ballot Requests: Electronic & Paper

1.     Electronic: Ballots must be requested by contacting [email protected] or by submitting our Ballot Request form on our website. When making your request please provide your full name, your zipcode, and your date of birth. Ballots submitted without a request will be rejected.

2.     Paper: Paper ballots are available by request from [email protected]. Requests are due by 05/28/2022 and ballots must be received by the time ballots are counted on 06/12/2022.

Balloting Systems

Secure electronic systems must be used. Paper ballots shall be made available to those requesting them.

Tabulation

Tabulation will be done by Opavote.

Announcement

Preliminary Announcement will be made by 7:00 PM 06/12/2022.

Disputes

Any dispute of the results must be filed by 7:00 PM on Wednesday 06/15/2022.

Dispute Resolution

Dispute resolution will be handled by the Meetings and Assemblies Committee and the Bylaws Review and Rules Committee within 7 days.

Authority

In accordance with Bylaws 5.2.7, an ad-hoc internal elections committee is responsible for recommending to the coordinating committee these procedures. The coordinating council must approve these election procedures at least 60 days in advance of any assembly, and these procedures must be posted prominently at least 50 days before any election.

The procedures the committee has authority over include times, dates, software method of requesting the ballot, ballot wording, and ballot design.

Anyone seeking an office should be recused from the committee.

OPAVOTE BALLOT EXAMPLE