Constitution
Preamble
We the members of the Libertarian Party in Montgomery County, Ohio, in order to nominate, endorse, support, and elect candidates, and to support issues best representative of the ideals of libertarianism, do ordain and establish this Constitution and hereby establish the Montgomery County Libertarian Party of Ohio (“the Party”) in perpetuity.
Article I - Status and Membership
Section 1. The Party affirms and intends to preserve its status as the official Montgomery County Ohio affiliate of the Libertarian Party of Ohio (hereinafter referred to as “the LPO”). The Party shall abide by the Statement of Principles, Constitution, Bylaws, Standing Rules, and Operational Directives of the LPO. This Section shall not be interpreted in such a way as to allow the LPO to dictate spending or operating priorities of the Party.
Section 2. A Voting Member is defined as a person who:
A. Has affirmed the following pledge: “I hereby certify that I do not believe in or advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political or social goals.”
B. Is not legally affiliated with another political party.
C. Resides in Montgomery County, Ohio.
Article II - Executive Committee
Section 1. The Controlling Committee of the Party shall be called the County Executive Committee (“the Executive Committee”).
Section 2. The Executive Committee shall be elected from Voting Members. This election shall be held by secret ballot.
A. The Executive Committee shall consist of at least a Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. Up to two At-Large members may also be elected if the total number of voting members is sufficient to nominate eligible candidates.
i. Additional Executive Committee Members may be added during normal elections as decided by the Voting Members.
B. Executive Committee elections shall normally be held during a regular County Convention.
i. Special elections to fill vacancies may be held, as necessary.
Section 3. The Executive Committee shall create a set of Standard Operating Procedures that governs the day-to-day operations of the Party.
Article III - County Conventions
Section 1. The Party shall hold a Regular Convention during even numbered years.
Section 2. A Special Convention shall be held upon petition of 10% of Voting Members or 50% of the seated Executive Committee Members. Such a petition shall state the business of the special Convention and no other business, shall be considered at such a Convention unless the petition states that it is being held in lieu of a missed Regular Convention.
Section 3. Any Voting Member is eligible to be a delegate to a County Convention
Section 4. Public notice of no less than thirty days shall be given for all conventions by reasonable and common methods.
Section 5. The Executive Committee may establish such registration and attendance fees as may be required. These fees shall be established no later than 90 days prior to a Regular Convention and no later than 30 days prior to a Special Convention.
Article IV - Miscellaneous
Section 1. Nothing herein shall conflict with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Libertarian Party of Ohio.
Section 2. Any matter which is determined to conflict with Section 1 shall be of no force and effect. All constitutional provisions of the Libertarian Party of Ohio are hereby incorporated by reference and made a part hereof.
Section 3. Each clause of this Constitution shall be considered separately and the enforceability of any one clause shall not affect any other clause.
Section 4. All Party meetings shall be open to the public and the press. Any Committee of the Party may go into executive session to consider and vote upon matters of budget, personnel, legal affairs, and any other matter that is not required by law to be discussed and voted upon in an open meeting, upon a majority vote of those members voting.
Section 5. On all Party ballots, all proposals shall provide the alternative “None of the above”
Section 6. The Party shall not create any rules which attempt to limit participation by any individual based upon race, gender, national origin, language(s) spoken, sexual preference, gender identification, religious preference(s), military background, physical capabilities or characteristics, mental capabilities or characteristics, age, prior political affiliation or any other individual trait.
Section 7. The most recent edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall govern all proceedings not specifically covered by this Constitution or the Standard Operating Procedures.
Article V - Amendments
Section 1. The Executive Committee may, by two-thirds vote of the seated members, make non-substantive changes to correct errors in standard American usage or numbering.
Section 2. This Constitution may be amended by 60% of all delegates to a Convention.
Section 3. Amendments to this Constitution may be made only at Conventions.
Section 4. All amendments to this Constitution must be made available to all members by reasonable and common methods no less than 30 days before a Convention. Proposed amendments may be amended without separate notice to all members if such amendments are
deemed germane to the proposed published amendment and separately approved by 60% of all delegates to a Convention.
Article VI - Adoption
Section 1. This Constitution shall take effect 48 hours after the close of the Convention at which it is adopted. The governing body of the previous Constitution shall have the authority to implement this Constitution and shall automatically be dissolved upon the election of the first Executive Committee as described by this Constitution.
Section 2. This Constitution supersedes all other Constitutions of the Montgomery County Libertarian Party of Ohio.
Bylaws
Bylaw 1. Standing and Special Committees
1. Standing Committees of the Libertarian Party of Montgomery County shall be appointed by the Executive Committee no later than the first regular business meeting after the County Convention. Special Committees shall be appointed as needed by the Executive
Committee, to serve until the final report of the Committee has been filed with the Executive Committee.
2. The meetings of Standing and Special Committees shall be exempt from the public access rule, but all reports shall be submitted to the Executive Committee during regular business meetings.
3. Except as otherwise specified, the Executive Committee may name the Chair of any Standing or Special Committees. If the Executive Committee declines to do so, the Standing or Special Committee may elect its own Chair. Members of Special or Standing
Committees must be members of the Libertarian Party of Ohio.
4. The following Standing Committees shall be maintained by the Libertarian Party of Montgomery County:
a. The Communications Committee shall be responsible for drafting press releases and public statements for approval by the Executive Committee, maintaining the Party's social media presence, and providing content for the party website.
i. The chair of the Communications Committee shall be the Secretary of the Executive Committee.
b. The Activities Committee shall be responsible for planning and hosting party socials, outreach events, community service events, fundraisers, and other activities.
5. The following Special Committees may be formed as provided below:
a. The Delegate Committee shall be formed no later than sixty (60) days prior to the State Convention of the Libertarian Party of Ohio, or the National Convention of the Libertarian Party of the United States, whichever is earlier, and shall dissolve after presenting its report at the regular business meeting following the later of the two Conventions.
i. The Delegate Committee shall consist of all members of the Libertarian Party of Montgomery County registered as delegates to the State and/or National Conventions.
Bylaw 2. Executive Committee Voting Procedure
1. Election of the Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary of the Executive Committee shall be by Ranked Choice. The Chair may nominate incumbents who are seeking reelection, and then shall accept nominations from the floor for each office prior to voting.
a. The threshold is 50%, rounded up to the next whole number.
b. If no candidate achieves the threshold in the first round, the last place candidate shall be eliminated, and their votes allocated to the voter’s next preference. This shall be repeated as necessary until a candidate has received the threshold and is elected, or until NOTA has received the threshold and no candidate is elected.
c. If no candidate is elected, nominations shall be re-opened, and candidates from the previous ballot shall be ineligible to be nominated again.
2. Election of the At-Large Officers shall be by Multiple Winner Ranked Choice, after the election of the Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary. The Chair may nominate incumbents who are seeking reelection, and then shall accept nominations from the floor prior to voting. If no candidates are nominated or elected, the seats shall be vacant.
a. The threshold is 33%, rounded up to the next whole number.
b. If no candidate achieves the threshold in the first round, the last place candidate shall be eliminated, and their votes allocated to the voter’s next preference. This shall be repeated as necessary until a candidate has received the threshold and is elected.
c. The first winning candidate’s votes in excess of the threshold shall be divided by their total votes received to obtain the Surplus Vote Percentage. Each second choice preference shall be allocated a number of votes equal to the Surplus Vote Percentage multiplied by the number of votes allocated to them. Do not reallocate surplus NOTA votes.
d. If no candidate achieves the threshold in this round, continue eliminating the last place candidate and allocating their votes to the next preference, until a second candidate has received the threshold, or until NOTA has received 66% and no candidates can be elected.
3. The Secretary shall tally all votes, and may be assisted by Tellers at the request of the Secretary, appointed by the Executive Committee. The Secretary shall certify the results of the Election to the Convention.
