Convention Committees

There are four standing committees for every SD / County Convention: Credentials, Nominations, Platform and Resolutions, and Rules and Procedures. These committees can include from 5 to 15 members at the discretion of the Convention Chair. One additional non-statutory committee is the Planning and Organizing Committee.

Statutory committee members may be appointed from among pre-registered attendees at any time before convention day. This allows the committees, if necessary and desired, to meet prior to the convening of the convention to organize or do any preliminary work.

Statutory committee appointees will be ratified by the Senate District Committee at the meeting to canvass primary votes after the March 4th primary election day. That vote canvass meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 13, 2014, one week before Convention Day.

Planning and Organizing Committee:

One additional non-statutory committee is the Planning and Organizing Committee. This committee helps the Convention Chair plan and do the work necessary prepare for and execute the convention.

Rules and Procedures Committee:

In almost all cases, this committee will recommend that the Rules of the Texas Democratic Party and Robert’s Rules of Order will be used at your convention. Some large counties adopt some procedural rules to make matters flow better. The Convention may adopt local rules as long as they do not conflict with statute or Texas Democratic Party Rules.

Democrats attending a County / SD Convention may present a proposed change to the Texas Democratic Party Rules at the convention for the purpose of sending revisions to the rules to the next higher level of convention, e.g. the state convention. Rule revisions submitted to a County / SD Convention are open for debate, amendment and adoption or rejection. Any attendee to the Convention may submit to the Chair or a designee a proposed change to the Texas Democratic Party Rules for consideration by the Convention.

Before getting to the floor of County / SD Convention, a Rules Committee will review all of the proposed rule revisions submitted from within the county or the district and then make a Committee report recommending the rules to be presented to the full body of the county or the senatorial district convention. Rules adopted at a County / SD Convention are then forwarded to the state convention for debate, amendment and adoption or rejection.

Changes to Texas Democratic Party rules may be submitted to the Rules Committee after the Senate District Committee meets to canvass primary votes after the March 4th primary election day. That vote canvass meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 13, 2014, one week before Convention Day. Instructions for submitting resolutions will be posted on this blog on Friday, March 14, 2014.

Credentials:

To attend a county or senate district convention, a voter must have voted in the Democratic primary or have signed an Oath of Affiliation to the Texas Democratic Party. All voters who sign in at your convention shall be signing in on a document that contains this Oath of Affiliation. If there is a question about whether a person is qualified to attend, the Credentials committee makes that determination. After all persons have signed in at the convention, this committee meets to vote on the sign-in list as the temporary roll. Their committee report must be made to and adopted by the main convention body to establish the permanent convention roll.

Nominations:

After precinct conventions are held to elect their allocated delegates, this committee will assess the demographics of the delegation and recommends at-large delegates and alternates to complete the delegation to the state convention. The delegation should include young people and people with disabilities and reflect diversity in race, gender identity, ethnicity and sexual orientation. At least one third of the delegation at any level of the convention must be of opposite gender of the rest of the delegation.

When the precinct conventions are completed, each precinct convention chair/secretary shall report the names of their delegates and alternates to the convention chair or their designee. A master list will be created and reported to the nominations committee. The nominations committee then meets to adopt a delegate report. The committee chair then reports the committee's recommendation to the main convention body.

Platform and Resolutions:

Democrats attending a County / SD Convention may present Resolutions at the convention for the purpose of sending instructions and comments about issues to the next higher level of convention, e.g. the state convention. Resolutions submitted to a County / SD Convention are open for debate, amendment and adoption or rejection.

Before getting to the floor of County / SD Convention, a Resolutions Committee will review all of the resolutions submitted from within the county or the district and then make a Committee report recommending the resolutions to be presented to the full body of the county or the senatorial district convention. Resolutions adopted at a County / SD Convention are then forwarded to the state convention for debate, amendment and adoption or rejection.

There will be a Temporary Platform/Resolutions Committee at the state convention that will review the thousands of resolutions adopted by counties and senatorial districts throughout the State of Texas. The Committee will report to the Permanent Platform/Resolutions Committee that is elected at the state convention. The Permanent Platform/Resolutions Committee will then offer its report containing many of those resolutions to the full body of the state convention for debate, amendment, and adoption or rejection. Because the state convention is so large, you should attend and testify before the Temporary and/or Permanent Platform/Resolutions Committee if you want to have specific input on a subject of special interest to you.

The County or Senatorial District Committee for Resolutions may meet prior to the Call to Order of the County or Senatorial District Convention to organize their work and make preliminary recommendations of submitted resolutions. Any attendee to the SD Convention may submit to the Chair, or a designee, a proposed resolution for consideration by the Convention.

Resolutions may be submitted to the SD Convention Resolution Committee after the Senate District Committee meets in CEC meeting to canvass primary votes after the March 4th primary election day. That vote canvass meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 13, 2014, one week before Convention Day. Instructions for submitting resolutions will be posted on this blog on Friday, March 14, 2014.

The Chair shall announce at the beginning of the SD Convention where and with whom resolutions shall be filed. The period for filing resolutions shall be open for at least one hour from the time of said announcement. The Convention may waive this one hour period if there is no objection from any attendee.(See How To Write A Resolution)

CLICK HERE to volunteer to serve on a Convention Committee