Background

The bylaw passed by the membership last year about primaries included two sections. 10.6 Specified an April primary for statewide and federal positions, 10.7 Describes a July primary  for people who file after April. The July primary in 10.7 requires the coordinating committee to take a 2/3 vote to call for the primary. The Bylaw passed this year removes that two tier process and just has a july primary going forward. But it does not go into place until after this election cycle. Here is 10.7 

10.7 Filling a Vacancy- If a position that is nominated via the primary process outlined in section 10.6 is vacant and a candidate seeks to fill that vacancy prior to the deadline for providing the state of Maryland with a certificate of Nomination the Coordinating Council may by a two-thirds vote  convene a special primary for the eligible voters in that region that will occur during July of the year in which the general election will occur. Procedures for a special primary should be published no later than July of the prior year

Justification

The votes on the bylaws suggest that voters want this power. Beyond that, the gubernatorial campaign represents  all greens across the state, not just the MGP-CC, having a handful members of the MGP-CC decide who the candidate will be is not in line with Grassroots Democracy. Even if there is only one candidate, people should be able to vote for none of the above. 

Special Considerations

This proposal should be subject to the conflict of interest policy passed by the CC in June of 2019.

That policy, available here specifies:

In all decisions of the Maryland Green Party Coordinating Council (MGP-CC) involving procedures for the nomination of a candidate for public office; allocation of funds for candidates seeking the nomination of the Maryland Green Party or nominees of the Maryland Green Party; or the allocation of other material resources to candidates or nominees of the Maryland Green Party ("material resources" include, but are not limited to, promotion, endorsement, or assignment of staff or volunteer time) individuals will be required to inform the MGP-CC of any circumstances that create a conflict of interest and are strongly encouraged to recuse themselves from such decisions.

MGP-CC members recusing themselves from a decision shall cast a vote of "abstain", and their abstention shall be considered as a vote for purposes of determining quorum

and

The following circumstances shall be deemed to a create a "conflict of interest":

-an MGP-CC member who is a candidate for public office;

and

-an MGP-CC member serving in an unpaid capacity as a director, officer, associate, trustee, personal representative, receiver, or other legal representative of, or consultant to any candidate for public office who may benefit materially or strategically from a decision made by the MGP-CC;

This would mean that Nancy Wallace as a Candidate for Governor and Tim Willard as the Treasurer for the Friends of Nancy Wallace Kane campaign committee would be subject to this policy.