Orders of the Day

County Endorsement Convention for the Full Committee

Farm & Home Center

 Tuesday, February 13, 2018

 

I.                  General Provisions

 

1. The call of the roll is waived and the registration shall be used to establish the presence of a quorum. Proxies (Article I, Section 3, E.) must be filed with the Secretary before or during the initial roll call of the meeting.  Additional proxies will not be accepted after that time.
2. Procedural votes shall be determined by voice vote. If the Chairman is unable to determine a majority by voice vote, a standing count shall be taken.  Endorsement and all other votes shall be determined by the number of Committee members present and eligible to vote at the time of the vote and casting a valid ballot. Any voting member who finds it necessary to leave the meeting or arrives late is required to notify staff at the registration/credentials table so that the number of votes necessary for endorsement, placement on subsequent ballots, or all other votes may be adjusted accordingly.

 

3. There shall be a motion and a second to adopt the Agenda and the Orders of the Day.

 

4. The Committee may suspend and/or amend the Orders of the Day by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members present or by proxy.

 

5. Visitors, including the press, may observe the proceedings of the Convention from the designated areas. Visitors shall remain seated and quiet, may not display signs or placards, and may not participate in the Convention.  No recording devices will be permitted during the meeting.  The Chairman may remove from the room any person except for voting members of the Committee and their proxies, officers, and appointees.

 

6. Only resolutions submitted by Committee members to RCLC Headquarters prior to February 6, 2018, may be introduced or considered.

 

7. Out of courtesy for members of the Committee, all cell phones or other electronic devices should be turned off or muted.

 

8. Candidates who are also Committee members shall be excused during balloting but they shall be permitted to vote by proxy or mark their ballots prior to leaving the room. After announcing the results at the conclusion of each round of voting, they will also be announced outside the room.

 

9. At any point during the endorsement meeting, a candidate may withdraw his or her name from consideration for endorsement, and may address the Committee for a maximum of two minutes.

 

10. Candidates shall be considered for endorsement in the order of offices set forth on the Agenda.

 

11. Nominations from the floor are in order if the nominee is present and consents to the nomination. If no additional nominations are received, the nominations shall be closed.

 

12. For Congressional District Delegates and Alternates to the Republican National Convention, all nominations shall be from the floor. There shall be no nominating or seconding speeches.

 

13. Candidates who submitted a timely written request for endorsement for United States Representative in the 16^th and 7^th Congressional Districts, State Senator for the 36^th District, State Representative for the 13^th, 37^th, 41^st, 43^rd, 97^th, 98^th, 99^th, 100^th, 128^th and 129^th Legislative Districts shall be announced by the Secretary. There shall be no nominating or seconding speeches. There shall be no speeches by any candidate (previously announced or nominated from the floor) prior to each District Committee’s endorsement vote. In the event that there is only one nominated candidate for a particular District, the Chairman will entertain a voice vote to declare the single nominated candidate to be the endorsed candidate.  Only qualified committee members from the District shall participate in the voice vote.

 

In light of the decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on January 22, 2018 regarding the composition of the Congressional Districts within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it is presently unknown which members of the Committee will be within the 16^th and 7^th Congressional District.  Accordingly, the Full Committee shall consider the endorsement of any uncontested candidate by voice vote, and the endorsement of the Full Committee shall constitute the endorsement of the Congressional District when the composition of the District is final.

 

14. Following the close of all business to be brought before the full Committee, any Congressional, State Senatorial or State Representative Districts where there is a proper nomination from the floor and therefore a contested ballot shall meet in their respective Districts for balloting and endorsement. Each candidate may have a maximum of two minutes to address the respective District Committee. Order of presentation shall to be determined by drawing of lots.

 

15. Ballot(s) containing the names of all candidates who have previously announced their candidacy for each respective office shall be used for the initial balloting. Nominations from the floor shall be considered write-ins. Committee members will not be permitted to vote for write-in candidates who have not been officially placed in nomination prior to voting, nor for those candidates no longer in contention in accordance with the provisions of the by-laws.

 

In the endorsement for Congressional District Delegate and Alternate Delegate to the Republican National Convention, each member voting will be required to cast the same number of votes as the number of candidates to be endorsed for each office. Also in that election, votes cast for less than the number of candidates to be endorsed for any one office on that specific ballot will be invalid. Subsequent rounds of balloting shall be conducted for contested offices in that election, with each round consisting of an individual ballot for each office. Also in that election, ballots with fewer than the remaining number of candidates to be endorsed are invalid ballots and shall only count toward the total number of ballots to be counted.

 

16. If on any ballot (a) a candidate falls short of the required endorsement number by less than 1% or (b) a candidate exceeds the required number by less than 1%, the Chairman will entertain a motion for a recount of the ballot.

 

II.               General Balloting Procedure in the Event of a Contested Ballot

 

The following balloting procedure applies as provided in Article IX, Section 2 of the Committee Bylaws:

 

17. Any candidate who receives, in the first ballot, two-thirds (2/3) of the vote of the members of the County Committee, certified to be present in person or proxy and eligible to vote on such nomination, shall be declared an endorsed candidate.

 

18. In the event that no candidate or fewer candidates than the number for whom endorsement is sought receives two-thirds (2/3) of the certified votes in the first ballot, then a second ballot shall be taken. Any candidate receiving at least fifteen percent (15%) of the certified votes in the first ballot shall be voted upon in the second ballot.  Any candidate receiving two-thirds (2/3) of the certified votes in the second ballot shall be declared to be an endorsed candidate.

 

19. In the event that no candidate or fewer candidates than the number for whom endorsement is sought receives two-thirds (2/3) of the certified votes on the second ballot, then a third ballot shall be taken. Any candidate receiving at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the certified votes in the second ballot shall be voted upon in the third ballot.  Any candidate receiving two-thirds (2/3) of the certified votes in the third ballot shall be declared to be an endorsed candidate.

 

20. In the event that no candidate or fewer candidates than the number for whom endorsement is sought receives two-thirds (2/3) of the certified votes in the third ballot, then a fourth ballot shall be taken. The candidates for the fourth ballot shall total one more than the total number of remaining endorsements to be made and shall consist of that number of candidates receiving the highest number of votes in the third ballot.  Any candidate receiving two-thirds (2/3) of the certified votes in the fourth ballot shall be declared to be an endorsed candidate.

 

21. In the event that all endorsements have not been obtained by the fourth ballot, the Committee shall take additional ballots. The candidates for all subsequent ballots shall total one more than the total number of candidates remaining to be endorsed.  If subsequent ballots are taken, any candidate receiving at least two-thirds (2/3) of the certified votes in any ballot shall be declared to be an endorsed candidate.

 

III.            Pennsylvania Senatorial and State Representative Legislative District Endorsement Procedure in the Event of a Contested Ballot

 

22. The County Chairman may determine that it is necessary to convene a Senatorial or State Representative Legislative District in a room separate from the main meeting room (per Article I, sec. 11, paragraph 2 of these Orders). In that event, the previously-approved Orders of the Day continue to apply. Only county officers, District committee members, their proxies, the appointed deputy chairman, and the tellers shall be permitted in that room during the voting and the counting of ballots.

 

23. The members of the Committee meeting as a Senatorial or State Representative Legislative District may suspend and/or amend the Orders of the Day by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members present or by proxy.

 

24. The County Chairman may appoint a deputy chairman to preside over each of the Districts where more than one candidate has been nominated for endorsement. The deputy chairman shall not be a Committee member or a proxy for a Committee member.

 

25. The County Chairman will convene the individual meeting(s) of the District Committees in numerical order. Only a Committee member or his or her proxy residing within a District shall vote in all procedural and substantive votes. When the Chairman convenes the District committee meeting(s), the Chairman shall open the floor for additional nominations for endorsement in that District. If no additional nominations are forthcoming, the Chairman may entertain a motion and a second to close the nomination. The members of the District Committee shall vote by secret, written ballot using the Full Committee Procedure under Article IX, Section 2 of the Committee Bylaws (see paragraphs 15 through 19 above).