Charter Res. 15A (Voting apportionment §3.6)

Resolution to amend the Democrats Abroad Charter by changing the method of apportioning DPCA Voting Members to Country Committees
Proposed by Katie Solon (International Chair)

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Democrats Abroad Charter shall be amended as follows:

Excluding the last sentence thereof, the text of Section 3.6(a), including paragraphs ( i) through (iii) thereof, shall be struck replaced as follows:

1. Votes shall be apportioned to Country Committees annually in accordance with the certification required under Section 5.4(e), calculated as follows:

1. 1. The Chair of each Country Committee shall be allocated one (1) vote;
  2. The Vice Chair of each Country Committee shall be allocated one (1) vote;
  3. In addition to the votes allocated to the Country Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs, each Country Committee shall receive one (1) additional vote for every 1,000 verified members of the Country Committee. That vote would be carried by a Voting Representative.
The last sentence of Section 3.6(a) shall be amended as follows:
A hypothetical example of the calculations table demonstrating how votes are apportioned to Country Committees based on their population of verified members is attached hereto as Schedule A, which is an integral part of this Charter.
Sections 3.6(e) and (f) of the shall be amended as follows:

1. (e) Subject to subparagraphs (f) and (h) of this section, Nno DPCA Member may cast in excess of two (2) four (4) votes (including proxies) of the total number of votes determined under Section 3.6 (a) and (b). Subject to the foregoing and to Subsection (f) below pertaining to Representatives, the votes of a Country Committee shall be cast by the Chair or, in the absence of the Chair, by the Vice Chair and Voting Representative(s) if any. If both the Chair and Vice Chair of a Country Committee with no Voting Representatives are present in person at a meeting, each shall have one-half of such votes.
  
  If in any vote to be decided on the basis of Country Committees, there is a division among its DPCA members (including Voting Representatives), the fractions resulting from such divisions shall be counted as fractions in the vote of the DPCA. This rule shall not apply for the selection of delegates to the National Convention or the election of DNC members.
2. (f) Each Country Committee shall have the option to elect Non-voting Representatives, and shall be required to elect ~~at least~~ the minimum number of Voting Representatives necessary to enable it to cast all its votes. Such election(s) shall be held at the same time as the election of a Country Committee's Chair and Vice Chair. If a Country Committee has more than one (1) Voting Representative, gender balance shall apply. The term of a Voting Representative shall be the same as for Officers of the Country Committee. All Voting Representatives shall be entitled and expected to attend all Democrats Abroad meetings during the same two (2) year term as for the Country Committee Chair and Vice Chair offices. -~~If a Country Committee is entitled to less than five (5) votes,~~ the Non-Voting Representatives, if any, shall have the right to speak at DPCA meetings but not to vote, except under Section 3.7 below. If a Country Committee is entitled to five (5) or more votes, the distribution of votes among the Chair, Vice Chair, and Voting Representative(s) (if any) shall be determined by the Country Committee at the time of election, failing which by the Country Committee Chair; provided, however, that a Voting Representative shall have no less than one (1) vote nor more votes than the Country Committee Chair or Vice Chair.
New subsections (g) and (h) shall be added at the end of Section 3.6, to wit:

1. (g) A "Country Committee Voting Delegation" consists of "DPCA Members" those persons who have been selected to represent the members of a Country Committee within the DPCA and who hold the right to vote in the DPCA, and these persons are the Country Committee's Chair, principal Vice Chair, and Voting Representative(s), if any.
2. (h) With effect from the time of each Country Committee's 2018 leadership elections, or March 31, 2018, whichever occurs first, and continuing thereafter:
  1. the total number of positions in the Country Committee Voting Delegation shall be equal to the number of votes allocated to that Country Committee pursuant to this Section;
  2. each member of the Country Committee Voting Delegation shall be allocated one (1) such vote;
  3. each vote allocated to a member of the Country Committee Voting Delegation may be cast only by that person or that person's valid proxy-holder; and
  4. during the period of any vacancy in the Country Committee Voting Delegation, the vote that would otherwise be allocated to the vacant position may not be the subject of any proxy, or otherwise re-allocated or cast by any other person.

Section 3.7(d) of the shall be amended as follows:
1. (d) The vote of a DPCA Mmember may not be divided among multiple proxy-holders. Proxies shall be given for the full vote of a DPCA member. If a proxyholder cannot accept a full proxy due to the limitations imposed by Section 3.6(e) or Section 3.7(g), the International Secretary may assign a proxy of partial voting weight.

The current text of Schedule A to the DPCA Charter shall be deleted and replaced as follows:

Schedule A: Vote Calculation Method
CCs with 1000 verified members: Chair, Vice Chair + 1 Voting Representative = 3
CCs with 2000 verified members: Chair, Vice Chair + 2 = 4
CCs with 3000 verified members: Chair, Vice Chair + 3 = 5
CCs with 4000 verified members: Chair, Vice Chair + 4 = 6
CCs with 5000 verified members: Chair, Vice Chair + 5 = 7
CCs with 6000 verified members: Chair, Vice Chair + 6 = 8
CCs with 7000 verified members: Chair, Vice Chair + 7 = 9
CCs with 8000 verified members: Chair, Vice Chair + 8 = 10
CCs with 9000 verified members: Chair, Vice Chair + 9 = 11
CCs with 10,000 verified members: Chair, Vice Chair +10 = 12
And so on.

Proposed: March 15, 2017