Conservative Leadership for Southwest Virginia
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 Below you will find the by-laws and Plan of Organization for the Wise County Republican Committee. If you have comments or questions, let us know by clicking here. PLAN OF ORGANIZATION REPUBLICAN PARTY OF WISE
COUNTY, VIRGINIA
ARTICLE I QUALIFICATIONS FOR PARTICIPATION
IN PARTY ACTIONS
All legal and qualified voters, regardless of race, religion, age, gender, or national origin, under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, who are in accord with the principles of the Republican Party and who are willing to express in open meeting, if requested, their intent to support its nominees for public office in the ensuing election, may participate as members of the Wise, County (Virginia) Republican Party in its Mass Meetings, Party Canvasses, Conventions, or Primaries in their respective Election Districts, provided said voters’ place of residence and voter registration are recorded in Wise County, Virginia. Only members in good standing may hold party office, be appointed to committees and panels, be delegates in conventions, and vote on party officers, nominees, and other matters. A member in good standing is one who attends at least two of either party meetings, party functions, or precinct meetings called by precinct chairman and pays yearly dues by June 30th. Any question as to whether a member is in good standing shall be determined by two-thirds vote of the county committee. Any provision of these
bylaws that conflict with federal or state laws or court decisions is hereby
null and void.
ARTICLE II DEFINITIONS The following definitions apply wherever used: A. “State Party” means Republican Party of Virginia. B. “State Party Plan” means the latest revision of the Plan of Organization of the Republican Party of Virginia. C. “State Central Committee”
means State Central Committee of the Republican
D. “County Committee”
means the governing body of the Wise County Republican
E. “County Party” or “Party”
means the Republican Party of Wise County as defined
G. “Chairman”, “Chairmen”,
“He”, and “His”, shall not be construed to denote
H. “Mass meeting” is as
defined in Robert’s Rules of Order – Newly Revised
I. “Precinct Caucus” means
a meeting of Republican Voters from one of Wise
J. “Executive Committee” means the officers of the Party. K. “Primary” is as defined in and subject to the State Election Laws. L. “County” means Wise County, Virginia.
POWERS AND DUTIES
All the powers and duties of the County Committee of the Republican Party of Wise County, Virginia, are derived from the “Plan of Organization of the Republican Party of Virginia”. No action of the County Committee or the Plan of Organization of the County Party shall conflict with the State Party Plan or any amendments thereto, and in such case the Plan of Organization of the Republican Party of Virginia shall prevail. The County Committee shall determine whether candidates for local and constitu- tional public offices shall be nominated by Mass Meeting, Party Canvass, Convention, or Primary and whether County Chairman and Committee members shall be elected by Mass Meeting, Party Canvass, Convention, or Primary. It shall call all regular and all special Mass Meetings, Party Canvasses, Conventions, and make all arrangements therefore and, if a Convention, determine the basis of representation. Authority to make such arrangements(other than the date, time, and whether there shall be, and the requirements for, any prefiling) may, at the discretion of the County Committee, be delegated to the County Chairman. It shall cooperate with the State Central Committee, its District Committee, and the Legislative District Committees within the boundaries in conducting all elections and fund raising
activities.
PURPOSE The purposes of the County Committee are to promote and promulgate the principles of the Republican Party, to elect Republican candidates to public office, to generally assist the citizens composing the precincts served by the County Committee, and to assist, upon request,
elected Republican officials in the execution of their duties.
ARTICLE V COUNTY COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
A. The Republican Party
of Wise County, Virginia, shall be administered by its duly
advice and consent of the County Committee. B. The Officers who shall be elected biennially in even years by a majority of all Party Members in good standing, as defined in Article I, present and voting at County Republican Mass Meeting are: 1. The Unit Chairman:
who shall be responsible for the overall administration
Mass Meetings, Party Canvasses, or Conventions, and shall preside until a temporary organization is effected. He shall also preside over all meetings of the County Committee and other official meetings and/or functions of the Party. He shall be responsible for sending written notice of the call for a County Committee meeting to all members of the County Committee, which shall include the agenda for the meeting. He shall be responsible for providing a prescribed time and place, which shall be supervised by the County Chairman, or a designated representative, for filing such declara- tion of candidacy and petitions as may be required by state law of a candidate in any primary election. He shall also be the official representative of the Wise County Republican Party to the Ninth District Congressional Committee and to the Virginia Republican Party and to duly
elected public officials. He shall also be responsible for overseeing
the
Party and multi-jurisdictional Republican campaigns. He shall be responsible, along with the Treasurer, for administering the expenditure of County Party funds subject to the advice and consent of the Executive Committee. (Individual expenditures of less than one-hundred dollars require only the concurrence of the Chairman and Treasurer. Expenditures of one-hundred dollars or more require approval of the County Committee). He shall serve on
all special and standing committees of the Party ex-officio.
2. The Vice-Chairman: shall preside over all meetings in the absence of the Chairman and shall assist the Chairman by attending committee meetings (State, District, and Local) which the Chairman cannot attend and which he is designated to attend by the Chairman as his representative. He shall
also assist the Chairman as requested by the Chairman.
3. The Secretary: shall be responsible for keeping accurate minutes of all County Committee meetings and for assisting the Chairman with cor- respondence as needed. Complete copies of the minutes shall be kept for four years and shall be made available for any party member requesting the same at a reasonable cost to the member making such a request. The Secretary shall also keep a list of all Party Members and guests attending
each Party Meeting and function.
4. The Treasurer: shall serve as a voting member of the Finance Committee. He shall be responsible for keeping all Party accounts, which may include two (2) bank accounts- one for Party operations and one for Campaign assistance or whatever other accounts are required by the Federal Election Commission, or as directed by the Executive Committee. He shall be responsible for properly accounting for all expenses and income; for keeping accurate records of contributions and contributors and seeing that they are properly thanked; for seeing that lists of all contributors are made available to the Executive Committee on at least a quarterly basis and for fully complying with all State and Federal laws relating to campaign expenses. The Treasurer shall be prepared to present current Treasurer’s Reports at Party meetings.
C. The County Committee shall be composed of members who meet the requirements of Article I and who are elected as follows: 1. The Party’s officers as set forth in Article V, Section B, above. 2. The Chairman of each Precinct who shall be elected at Precinct Caucuses held in conjunction with the Mass Meeting in each even year. 3. The Chairman of the Young Republicans and/or College Republicans(if any). 4. The President of the Republican Women in the County (if any). 5. The Chairman of each of the Standing Committees as set forth in Article VI. 6. All past Chairmen of the Wise County Republican Party. 7. All Public officials elected as Republicans whose place of voting residence is Wise County. 8. Precinct members shall consist of one(1) person from each precinct as provided by the State Party Bylaws. Precinct members shall be elected at the Precinct Caucus held in conjunction with the County Mass Meeting in each even year.
D. Standing Committee Chairmen shall be appointed for one (1) year terms by the Chairman with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee. They shall be appointed at the first regular County Committee Meeting in each calendar year.
E. Any vacancies on the County Committee from among those Precinct members as set forth in C.8., above, shall be filled by the nomination of the Precinct Chairman from that Precinct and by a majority vote of the County Committee. Any vacancy among the Precinct Chairmen shall be filled by the nomination of the Unit Chair- man and the majority vote of the County Committee. All other vacancies shall be filled by the nomination and majority vote of the County Committee except that if a vacancy occurs in the office of Unit Chairman, then the Vice-Chairman shall assume that position and shall then nominate someone to fill the position of Vice-Chairman with the
majority vote of the County Committee.
F. Regular meetings of the County Committee shall be held at least quarterly on a date set by the County
Committee.
G. Party members in good standing who desire to seek a position on the Electoral Board shall submit an application for consideration. Applications shall be submitted to the Party Chairman. The Party Chairman shall be responsible for setting a deadline for the submission of applications. Once all applications have been received by the Party Chairman, the Party Chairman shall make recommendations to the party membership and the entire party membership shall vote. A quorum for any meeting
shall be seven (7) members.
ARTICLE VI STANDING COMMITTEES
Standing Committees of
the Party shall be appointed by the Unit Chairman, subject to the approval
of the County Committee.
1. Finance Committee The Finance Committee will provide for the fixed expenditures of organization for the Wise County Republican Party, and may provide for the planned support of the elected candidates seeking elected office in national, state, county, and townships or town elections in accordance with the decisions of the County Committee.
2. Sustaining Membership Committee Duties: The Sustaining Membership Committee shall obtain from whatever sources as may be available a list of names of registered voters in Wise County who are interested in the Republican Party. It shall design and, in conjunction with the County Committee, implement a program for sustaining membership for the continuous support of the Wise County Republican Party. Meetings: The Sustaining
Membership Committee will meet at the call of
3. Public Relations Committee Duties: The Public Relations Committee will send announcements about County Party activities- meetings, dinners, picnics, etc. – to newspapers, and radio and television stations. It will try to get representatives from those newspapers and radio and television stations to the Party activities. It will arrange for photo- graphs to be taken at the Party activities and for descriptions of the activities to be written up and submitted to the newspapers and radio and television stations. It will try to maintain good relations between the County Party and all of the news organizations in the area. Meetings: The Public
Relations Committee will meet at the call of its Chairman.
4. Candidate Search Committee Duties: The Candidate Search Committee will continuously survey the member- ship rolls of the County Party and the voter registration lists for Wise County, to identify those persons in the County who will be best qualified to serve as the Party’s candidates for those offices that are subject to election or appointment for the next two, four, or eight years. It will consider potential candidates for national, state, county and town elections. It will encourage as many persons as it finds to be well qualified to hold each office to submit themselves to the County Party for possible acceptance as the Party’s candidate. The committee may make recommendations to the County Party concerning the qualifications for candidacy of any person who is or might be seeking the Party’s endorse- ment, but a lack of endorsement by the Candidate Search Committee should not be considered an impediment to the candidacy of any person who is qualified for both membership in the County Party and the office for which he seeks to be the Party’s candidate. Those elected officials who are running for re-election may serve on the search committee, but may not vote on matters concerning the office to which he/she may be seeking. Meetings: The Candidate Search Committee shall meet at least once each quarter at the call of
its Chairman.
5. Nominating Committee Duties: The Nominating Committee will prepare and present to the County Mass Meeting at which the County Committee and County Officers are to be elected a list of persons who are qualified and willing to serve in each of the Party Offices of Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer. It may, if it so desires, submit more than one name for any office, and may submit the name of any member of the Nominating Committee for an office. Failure of the Nominating Committee to include a person’s name in its report to the Mass Meeting should not be considered an impediment to that person’s being nominated from the floor at the Mass Meeting for any office in the County Party. The Nominating Committee will be responsible for contacting, prior to the Mass Meeting, each person on its list to be sure that that person is willing to serve in the office proposed by the Committee. Meetings: The Nominating Committee will meet as soon as is practicable after the November election prior to the County Mass Meeting at which the County Party officers are to be elected, and will meet as often thereafter and prior to the Mass Meeting as it is necessary to obtain a complete slate of qualified and willing candidates for the Party offices. All meetings will be held at the call of the Committee Chairman.
6. Such other committees as the County Chairman and the County Committee deem appropriate.
ARTICLE VII SECTION A. CALL REQUIREMENTS
1. All calls for Mass
Meetings of the Wise County Republican Party shall be
not less than seven (7) days prior to the Mass Meeting. Each call shall include: a. The qualifications
for membership in the Republican Party of Virginia
b. The time, place, and purpose of the Mass Meeting. c. In the event the purpose is to elect delegates to a convention(s), then the purpose of the convention shall be included. d. The amount of the registration fee, if any. e. The following format is to be used in all of said calls and does comply with Article VII, Section
A, Paragraph 1, Sub-paragraphs a,b,c, and d.
CALL FOR A MASS MEETING OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
OF WISE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
I, ____________________________. Chairman of the Republican Party of Wise County, Virginia, do hereby issue a Call for a Mass Meeting of all members of the Republican Party of Wise County to be held at _______________________, on _____________________, at ________a.m./p.m.. The purpose(s) of the meeting are: All legal and qualified voters of Wise County, Virginia, regardless of race, religion, color, national origin or sex, under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, who are in accord with the principles of the Republican Party and who express in open meeting, if requested, their intent to support all of its nominees for public office in the ensuing election, may participate as members of the Republican Party of Virginia in this Mass Meeting. 2. In the event that the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia or the Plan of the Republican Party of Virginia require prefiling of candidacies for election for any purpose, then notice of such prefiling requirements shall be published along with the Call and subject to the same time requirements as in the Call. Unless the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia or the Plan of the Republican Party of Virginia make such prefiling mandatory, there will be no prefiling require- ments for Mass Meetings
of the Republican Party of Wise County, Virginia.
SECTION B. TIME OF MASS MEETINGS 1. Mass Meetings shall be called by the Unit Chairman as required by the Plan of the Republican Party of Virginia. 2. Mass meetings shall be called by the Unit Chairman as required by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. 3. Mass Meetings shall be called at such times as the Unit Chairman deems it necessary or upon written application of seven (7) members of the County Committee of Wise County, Virginia. SECTION C. RULES 1. All Mass Meetings shall be conducted pursuant to the rules promulgated by the Rules Committee appointed by the Unit Chairman subject to the advice and consent of the County Committee. Said rules shall provide for nomination of candidates from the floor and the use of the secret ballot in instances of contested elections. 2. Other committees for the Mass Meeting may be established by the Unit Chairman with the advice
and consent of the County Committee.
ARTICLE VIII RULINGS AND APPEALS SECTION A All controversies and contest arising within Wise County, Virginia, pertaining to this Plan shall be decided by a majority vote of the members present and voting at a meeting of the County Committee. SECTION B
Any person deemed adversely affected by the decision of the County Committee
Committee. Further appeals shall be governed by the Plan of the Republican
Party of Virginia.
SECTION C
Controversies and contests arising under this Plan shall be adjudicated by the County Committee after a written statement describing said controversy or contest has been presented to the Unit Chairman. Said adjudication shall be
made within twenty (20) days of presentment of said written statement.
ARTICLE IX NOTICE OF MEETINGS
Unless otherwise notified by the Unit Chairman, meetings of the Party shall be held
the 1st Tuesday of each month at 7:00 P.M. in the General District Courtroom
at the Wise County Courthouse in Wise.
ARTICLE X AMENDMENTS
This County Party Plan may be adopted or amended by any Mass Meeting by majority roll call vote; or by the County Committee by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of its members present, but not less than a majority of the total County Committee members, after notice of such intent has been included in the Call of the meeting. ADOPTED ____SEPTEMBER 4___________,2001 ___________CHAD DOTSON________________ Chairman and ___________DIANNA MULLINS______ Secretary of the Wise County
Republican Party.
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