Report of the Committee on RULES AND ORDER OF BUSINESS
1st Congressional District Republican Convention
April 16, 2016
CONVENTION AGENDA
THE ORDER OF BUSINESS of this, the REPUBLICAN 1ST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CONVENTION of 2016, shall be as follows: (depending upon the time of various speakers’ arrival, the Convention Chairman reserves the right to re-order some of the events)
(To be determined by District Chair)
I. Convention Order of Business
The 1st Congressional District Republican Convention will convene at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, April 16, 2016 at the Renaissance Hotel, Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Agenda/Order of Business shall be adopted by the 1st District Committee and printed in the program distributed to the delegates. The Chairman may temporarily suspend the Order of Business to recognize special VIP guest speakers.
The First District Chairperson has appointed State Senator Brian Crain to serve as Convention Chairman and State Representative John Wright to serve as Convention Parliamentarian.
II. Credentials
a. All persons duly elected as Convention delegates by their respective county conventions shall register with the Credentials Committee upon entering the Convention Building and pick up their delegate badge or be in the line before 9:00 a.m. No one shall be seated as a delegate unless their name is submitted in writing or by electronic form by their county chairman, and have paid their delegate fee of $10.00. Registration shall be from 7:15 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. The Credentials Committee shall meet after the convening of the Convention for the certification of the delegates.
b. All issues of accreditation of delegates shall be presented to the Credentials Committee no later than thirty minutes after the convening of the Convention. Upon adoption by the Convention, the final report of the Credentials Committee shall be conclusive of every such issue and shall form the permanent roll of the Convention. Pursuant to the State Party Rules, a quorum shall be a majority of the number of delegate votes certified on the permanent roll. No person whose name is not on the permanent roll may vote or otherwise participate in Convention deliberations.
c. Delegates shall at all times wear the official delegate name badges issued by the Credentials Committee. Only Convention delegates, officials, pages and others designated by the convention Chairman and having official identification badges, shall have access to the floor of the Convention Replacement badges shall not be issued.
III. Visitors and Guests
a. The Oklahoma Republican Party welcomes visitors and guests to the 1st Congressional District Convention. Each visitor or guest must register with the Convention Secretary and shall at all times wear the name badge issued by the Credentials committee. Except for pages, Sergeant-At-Arms and others designated by the Convention Chairman, visitors and guests shall be seated only in designated areas and shall not have access to the Convention Floor.
b. Upon entering the Convention Hall, all persons shall agree to abide by the Convention Rules, including the following provision: If visitors or guests shall at any time abuse their privileges or interfere with the Convention, such conduct may result in their removal from the Convention Floor or hall by the Sergeant-At-Arms, if deemed necessary and so ordered by the Convention Chairman.
IV. Declaration of Candidacy and Nominations
a. Names of all candidates for National Convention Delegate, National Convention Alternate Delegate and Presidential Elector shall be submitted electronically or in writing to the Convention Credentials Committee Vice Chairperson on or before April 13, 2016 including the following documents: (see attachments)
· The Official National Delegate Nomination Form
· The Official Biographical Form
· The Official Delegate/Alternate Affidavit of Acceptance Form (Must be properly notarized.)
· The First Congressional District Affirmation Form (Must be completed and signed by no less than 20 accredited Delegates to the 1st Congressional District Convention.)
b. Each candidate shall check in and provide the name of the Delegate as his/her Nominator and the name of the Delegate for one Seconder to the Convention Secretary before 9:00 a.m. Each Delegate making or seconding a name of the candidate for whom he/she wishes to speak, to the Convention Secretary before 9:00 a.m. and affirm that he has the consent of the Candidate.
c. Additional nominations may be made from the Convention Floor only if there are less than three (3) Candidates for National Convention Delegate, three (3) Candidates for National Convention Alternate Delegate or less than one (1) Candidate for Presidential Elector.
d. For each election, the Convention Secretary shall determine the order of nominations by lot, beginning with National Delegate Candidates, followed by Alternate Delegate Candidates and ending with Presidential Elector Candidates.
e. The combined time given to each candidate for National Convention Delegate, National Convention Alternate Delegate and Presidential Elector for nominating speeches, seconds and to address the Convention shall be limited to a total of two minutes. The time will be used at the candidate’s discretion. When all nominations have been completed, all candidates will be recognized by the Convention Chairman prior to voting.
f. The deadline for submitting an application for State level Delegates (National Convention Delegate, National Convention Alternate Delegate and Presidential Elector) is April 23, 2016. Copies of all application forms received by the deadline for submission to the District Convention (April 13, 2016) will be forwarded by the District Convention Credentials Committee Chairman to the State headquarters office on or before April 23, 2016.
V. Nominations and Voting for Delegates/Alternate Delegates/Presidential Electors
The Voting Procedures for Delegates, Alternate Delegates and Presidential Electors shall be conducted as follows:
a. A list of all qualified candidates shall be posted for consideration of the Convention.
b. Voting shall be by written numbered ballots in random order at the discretion of the Convention chair.
c. On each ballot, delegates will vote for one candidate. If any ballot is reused, contains the name of more than one candidate, or indicates a ballot number different from the one chosen by the Convention Chair, it shall be considered an invalid ballot and become void.
d. The ballots from each county will be totaled by their respective County Chairman and presented to the Convention Chair in a sealed envelope. If one candidate has received a majority (which is further defined as 50% plus one (1) vote of the apportioned votes), he/she shall be elected as the Delegate. If no candidate receives a majority on the first election, the two candidates acquiring the most votes shall be voted on by the Convention in a separate, run-off election. The recipient of the most votes shall be declared elected as National Convention Delegate.
e. The candidate not being elected shall be put back into the pool of candidates and the selection process shall proceed as before.
f. Any National Delegate Candidate not elected shall be placed in alternate pool for Alternate Delegate unless he/she chooses to withdraw.
VI. General
a. All Convention business must be completed and the Convention must be adjourned no later than 5:00 p.m. The Renaissance Hotel will charge the Convention a sizeable fee for keeping the Convention Hall beyond that time.
b. At the conclusion of all Convention business, candidates for public office will be allowed to speak at the discretion of the convention chair.
c. Confetti and noisemakers are not permitted in the Convention hall. No amplifying device other than the regular public address system shall be used. Delegates are requested to leave their delegation areas as clean as possible upon the conclusion of the Convention. The Convention Chairman shall appoint a clean-up crew immediately following adjournment. Convention delegates and visitors will abide by the rules of the facility.
d. All convention delegates, all visitors, all persons attending, shall exhibit proper decorum and show proper respect to all other persons. There shall be no booing, cat calls, or other derogatory remarks addressed to any other person. Violators may be removed from the Convention Hall by the Sergeant-At-Arms at the directions of the Convention Chair and, in such case, will forfeit any credentials which they might possess. Violators may be subject to the enforcement of applicable laws by local law enforcement officials.
e. All literature distributed at the Convention shall clearly identify the name of the person or organization responsible for its distribution or it shall be removed.
f. No official platform shall be adopted. No resolutions shall be entertained.
g. The minutes of the Convention shall be referred to the District Committee for reading and approval.
h. Except in the absence of a quorum, a motion to adjourn, however qualified, shall be out of order until the elections of Delegates, Alternate Delegates, and Elector are completed.
i. This Convention shall be governed by the following: applicable rules of law, rules of the Oklahoma State Republican Party, these Convention Rules and Robert’s Rules of Order, respectively.
VII. Members of the Rules Committee
Committee Chairman Mike Ford, Tulsa County
Committee Vice-Chair Linda Lapak, Rogers County
Committee Secretary Jo Senske, Tulsa County
David Arnett, Tulsa County
Cherie Cook, Tulsa County
Charlotte Harer, Tulsa County
Jim Mills, Tulsa County
David Oldham, Tulsa County
Ronda Vuillemont-Smith, Tulsa County
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