Yates County Democratic Committee

The Executive Committee may determine new percentages for this formula without revision of these by-laws; new percentages will be recorded in the Committee minutes.

Section 2. Where a Committee person removes his/her voting residence from the county, such removal constitutes a vacancy.

Section 3. Democratic public officeholders of elected State, County, City, Town, and Village public offices shall be ex-officio members of the County Committee, but they shall have no vote unless they are also duly elected Committee members.

Section 4. All vacancies occurring in the Committee for cause (Article II, Section 5), or by death, disqualification, removal from office, or otherwise, shall be filled by the County Committee as provided by the Election Law, upon the recommendation of the County Chairperson and the majority of the Committee persons from the Election District in which the vacancy occurs.

Section 5. A member or officer of the County Committee may be removed or asked to resign for corruption in office, for publicly supporting the opponent of a duly nominated Democratic candidate, for using the position of a County Committee person for personal advantage, or otherwise acting improperly as judged by the Executive Committee. Notice that charges of malfeasance are to be brought by the Executive Committee will be given to the full Committee and to the Committee person; the charges shall be given in writing to the Committee person and heard by the full Committee. Upon a two-thirds' majority vote of the full Committee, the Committee person may be removed or asked to resign.

Section 6. Resignations shall be submitted in writing to the Secretary, who shall notify the Chairperson of the Committee at the earliest opportunity and the Committee as a whole at the next meeting. The resignation shall not become effective until it is accepted by the Chairperson, who shall so notify the Board of Elections.

ARTICLE III: MEETINGS

Section 1. Organizing Meeting: the County Committee shall meet bi-annually within twenty (20) days following the Primary Election at which it was elected, at such time and place as may be designated by the outgoing County Chairperson, to organize, adopt rules and regulations, establish a schedule of quarterly meetings, and for such other business as may come before it.

Section 2. Regular meetings of the County Committee shall be held semi-annually. Special meetings may be called at any time by the Chairperson, or shall be called within twenty (20) days at the request of ten (10) members, in writing, to the Chairperson or Secretary.

Section 3. Not less than five (5) or more than twenty (20) days' notice of all meetings shall be given by mail.

Section 4. There shall be public notice of all meetings of the County Committee. Any Democrat registered in Yates County has the right to attend and to speak at all meetings of the County Committee.

Section 5. A member of the County Committee unable to attend a meeting may assign his/her proxy to another Committee person in order to transact business, but no individual may hold more than three (3) proxies at any meeting and proxies shall be non-transferable.

Section 6. The presence of one-third of the stated membership of the whole Committee or any sub-group shall constitute a quorum. Failure to achieve a quorum shall cause the meeting to adjourn. The membership shall be informed of the lack of a quorum at the preceding meeting in the notice for the subsequent meeting.

Section 7. All votes shall be decided by a simple majority of those voting, except for votes on amendments to the by-laws, which shall require a two-thirds majority of those voting.

Section 8. Until the Organizing Meeting of the County Committee, and the election of their respective successors, the officers of the outgoing County Committee shall continue in office.

Section 9. Order of Business: At all meetings of the County Committee, the following shall be the order of business: (a) calling of rolls; b) election of officers; c) filling vacancies of the County Committee; (d) report of officers; (e) report of committees; (f) unfinished business; (g) new business.

Section 10. The proceedings of meetings of the County Committee and its standing committees shall be guided by Robert's Rules of Order, as last revised, in all cases to which they are applicable and where they are not inconsistent with the law, these by-laws, or any special rules of order adopted by the County Committee.

Section 11. The Committee may choose, by majority vote at any time, to go into executive session, at which point visitors will be requested to leave.

ARTICLE IV: OFFICERS

Section 1. The officers of the County Committee shall consist of a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer, who shall be elected for two-year terms by the County Committee at each bi-annual Organizing Meeting in the manner specified in Article V, Section 1 (b). The County Committee may elect such other officers, as it may deem advisable.

Section 2. Officers of the County Committee shall be enrolled members of the Democratic Party, but need not be members of the County Committee, as provided by the Election Law.

Section 3. If a vacancy occurs in an office, it shall be filled by the County Committee in the manner specified in Article V, Section 1 (b).

Section 4. The County Chairperson, in addition to the duties conferred by law, shall coordinate all activities of the Yates County Democratic Party, and exercise any other powers and duties assigned by the County Committee. The County Chairperson presides at all meetings and possesses the general powers of the presiding officer.

Section 5. The Vice-Chairperson shall perform the duties of the Chairperson in the absence or disability of the Chairperson to act, and s/he shall perform other duties assigned to the office by the County Committee or the County Chairperson.

Section 6. The Secretary shall keep a full and accurate account of all proceedings of the Committee, and prepare summary minutes for distribution. The Secretary shall file and preserve all written reports of the County Committee, be responsible for the preparation of all reports required by law, except financial reports or those required by law to be filed by some other officer. The Secretary shall make such accounts and reports available for inspection by any member of the County Committee. The Secretary shall attend to the preparation and distribution of all notices required by these by-laws and perform such other duties as the County Committee or the County Chairperson may require.

Section 7. The Treasurer shall be the chief financial officer of the County Committee and shall receive, hold in trust, and disburse all funds of the County Committee according to procedures established by the Executive Committee. All checks drawn on, or withdrawals made from, accounts of the County Committee shall require the signature of the Treasurer, or County Chairperson, or County Vice-Chairperson, who shall be the authorized signers. The Treasurer shall file all financia1 reports and statements required by law and, in cooperation with the Executive Committee, perform such other duties as the County Committee or the County Chairperson may require. All records and reports of the Treasurer shall be made available for inspection by any member of the County Committee.

ARTICLE V: COMMITTEES OF THE COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE

Section 1. The standing committees of the County Committee shall be the Executive Committee, the Election Committee, the Personnel Committee, and the Campaign Committee. Their duties and responsibilities are described in the sections that follow.

a) The Executive Committee shall consist of all the officers of the County Committee, the members of the State Committee in Yates County, the Chairpersons of the Standing Committees, and two at-large members selected by a majority of the County Committee. The Officers of the County Committee shall be the officers of the Executive Committee. Each voting member of the Executive Committee shall have one vote; there shall be no proxies. A majority of the voting membership will constitute a quorum. Any member of the County Committee may attend meetings of the Executive Committee.

The Executive Committee shall recommend actions to the County Committee and be empowered to take such actions as are necessary to carry out the work of the County Committee between meetings of the County Committee. The record of actions taken at meetings of the Executive Committee shall be reported at the next meeting of the County Committee. The Executive Committee shall oversee the preparation of an annual budget, approve the annual financial report to be submitted by the Treasurer, and shall establish procedures for the raising and disbursing of funds. The Executive Committee shall perform such other financial functions as are delegated to it by the County Committee or the County Chairperson.

(b) The Elections Committee shall preside over and conduct the election of officers of the County Committee at the Organizing Meeting or when a vacancy occurs. The Elections Committee shall consist of three members elected by the outgoing Executive Committee, none of whom may be a candidate for an officer position. The Elections Committee shall elect its own Chairperson. The Executive Committee has the power to fill vacancies on the Elections Committee.

The Elections Committee shall inform every member of the County Committee of the procedures and timetable of the forthcoming election. Before the election there shall be the opportunity for all potential candidates to speak and/or have others speak for them, and there shall be opportunity for discussion. At the election there shall be opportunity for nominations from the floor. The order of election shall be Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer. Any person nominated for one office, but not elected to that office, shall be eligible for nomination to any remaining office.

(c) The Campaign Committee shall consist of members designated by the County Chairperson. The Committee shall coordinate campaign functions, including recruiting and selecting candidates for public office, training and briefing these candidates, planning and supporting/managing campaigns, and generally assisting the candidates to succeed in seeking public office.

(d) The Personnel Committee shall consist of seven (7) members appointed by the Executive Committee. The committee shall elect its own chairperson who will serve as a member of the Executive Committee. The Committee shall oversee the recruitment and recommendation of the Election Commissioner and all other appointments as necessary. Each voting member of the Personnel Committee shall have one vote; there shall be no proxies.

The Committee shall meet annually with all appointees to discuss goals and objectives.

Section 2. Except as otherwise provided herein, the Chairpersons and all members of the standing committees shall be designated by the County Chairperson, who shall be an ex-officio member of all committees.

Section 3. The standing committees provided for in this article shall have the power to appoint sub-committees.

Section 4. The County Committee, the Executive Committee, and/or the County Chairperson, may create and terminate ad hoc committees. In the absence of specific stipulations in the establishing motion, the County Chairperson shall designate ad hoc committee members.

ARTICLE VI: MISCELLANEOUS

Section 1. A copy of the adopted by-laws shall be made available by the Secretary to any member of the County Committee who requests it.

Section 2. These by-laws shall become effective immediately upon their adoption.

Section 3. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section, article, or part thereof, of these rules shall be adjudged by any court or body of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the part directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.

ARTICLE VII: AMENDMENTS TO THE BY-LAWS

Section 1. These by-laws may be amended by a two-thirds majority vote of those present at any meeting of the County Committee, provided that a quorum (as herein defined) is present at the meeting, and provided that notice of consideration of such amendments, together with a copy of the current and proposed sections concerned, is mailed to each member of the Committee not less than five (5) or more than fifteen (15) days before the said meeting.

Section 2. Any member of the County Committee may propose an amendment to these by-laws by presenting said amendment, in writing, signed by at least five (5) members of the County Committee to the County Chairperson or Secretary of the County Committee at least twenty (20) days before any scheduled meeting of the County Committee, in order to meet the requirements of Article VII, Section 1.

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