Bylaws of the Triangle Area Green Party

Adopted: 8 August 2004

Revised:

1. Name

   Triangle Area Greens

2. Purpose

   To further the improvement of society in solidarity with state, national, and international Green movements, and in keeping with the Ten Key values of:

   • Grassroots Democracy
   • Social Justice and Equal Opportunity
   • Ecological Wisdom
   • Non-Violence
   • Decentralization
   • Community-based Economics and Economic Justice
   • Feminism and Gender Equity
   • Respect for Diversity
   • Personal and Global Responsibility
   • Future Focus and Sustainability

3. Membership

   1. Membership is open to any resident of the Greater Triangle Area who signifies his/her commitment to Green politics by signing annually a membership pledge supporting the Ten Key values (Article II).

   2. Membership in the Triangle Area Greens requires committed participation. Any person may attend meetings of the party. In order to exercise voting privileges, a member or attendee MUST fulfill one of two conditions:

      1. Attend three meetings in a twelve-month period. Voting privileges may be exercised during the course of the third meeting. A meeting includes the regular monthly meetings of the party, and may include designated committee meetings by approval of the Co-chair(s).

      2. Voting privileges may also be extended to an attendee, upon nomination by a voting member and approval (using standard consensus rules) by vote of attending members. A member granted voting privileges in this manner may not nominate others for voting privileges or vote on the granting of voting privileges at that meeting.

   3. When speaking and writing publicly as Triangle Area Greens, members should seek to fairly represent the views of the Triangle Area Greens.

   4. Meetings of the Triangle Area Greens are open to all persons seeking membership and generally supportive of Green aims.

   5. Members are encouraged to make financial pledges every six months at a level defined by the incoming Treasurer, as laid out in Article IV, part d.

4. Organization

   1. The ultimate authority of the Triangle Area Greens resides in the membership as represented by the General Meeting, which shall be held no less frequently than monthly. The General Meeting consists of all members of the Triangle Area Greens, as defined above.

   2. Elected Personnel

      1. A minimum of one Co-chair and a maximum of two Co-chairs shall be elected by the Triangle Area Greens each January and July to a six-month term. The Co-chair(s) shall be responsible to the General Meeting.

         1. The Co-chair(s) will organize and facilitate the monthly meeting of the General Membership, and formulate its agenda. A proposed agenda will be published at least one week prior to the meeting.

         2. The Co-chair(s) will arrange for new elections at the end of their term.

         3. The Co-chair(s) will serve as the initial contact for inquiries by interested persons.

         4. Co-chair(s) will be responsible for fund-raising.

      2. A secretary of the Triangle Area Greens shall be elected each January and July to serve a six-month term. The responsibilities of he Secretary shall include:

         1. Recording and reporting the minutes of the General Meetings and other meetings of which the Co-chair(s) may request a record.

         2. Recording and preserving accurate and up-to-date membership rolls and contact lists.

         3. Supervising and recording the Triangle Area Greens correspondence and written representation such as pamphlets, posters and placards publicizing its political or events it may sponsor.

      3. A Communicator shall be elected each January and July to serve a six-month term. Whenever feasible, there should always be a second Communicator for assistance and backup. The responsibilities of the Communicator shall include:

         1. Maintaining the Triangle Area Greens web pages and listservs.

         2. Making the website and lists accessible to all Steering Committee members for posting the Triangle Area Greens General Meeting agendas, minutes, and other documents and communications.

         3. Keeping the website up-to-date.

         4. Maintaining an archive of the organization's minutes. The Communicator is NOT responsible for collection or contribution of material to the archives. Committees or individuals that generate archive material in the course of fulfilling the aims of the Triangle Area Greens are responsible for purveying such material to the Communicator.

      4. A Treasurer and Treasurer-elect shall be elected in August 2004. Each of them should learn the regulations governing political organizations as set by the N.C. State Board of Elections (SBoE). The Treasurer elect will succeed the Treasurer after six-months. At that time a new Treasurer-elect will be nominated and elected by the membership at a General Meeting. Thereafter Treasurer-elect shall be elected each January and July, learn the SboE regulations, work with the serving Treasurer, and succeed him/her at the end of the six-month term. The responsibilities of the Treasurer shall include:

         1. Maintaining the funds and assets of the Triangle Area Greens in good order.

         2. Collecting and recording membership contributions

         3. Collecting and distributing Triangle Area Greens funds for legitimate expenses, as defined by the steering committee.

         4. Working closely with the Treasurer of the North Carolina Green Party (NCGP).

         5. After August 2004, the Treasurer-elect, upon succeeding to the office of Treasurer, will be responsible for conducting a pledge appeal to the general membership.

   3. A Steering Committee shall carry out the will and decisions of the General Meeting between its meetings.

      1. The Steering Committee shall consist of the Co-chair(s), the Secretary, the Communicator, and the Treasurer of the Triangle Area Greens.

      2. The Co-chair(s) shall facilitate (chair) Steering Committee meetings.

      3. The Steering Committee members shall endeavor to be present at all Triangle Area Greens functions.

      4. The Steering Committee will meet at least once every six months in person, and this meeting will be announced at least 10 days in advance.

   4. Committees {This section to be rewritten once Committees are defined}

      1. Committees of the Triangle Area Greens shall be formed to implement the platform (Action Committees) and carry out organizational functions (Standing Committees).

      2. A Committee may be formed by a two-thirds of those members present at a General Meeting.

      3. All Committees shall elect Chairs, permanent or rotating, who will convene meetings, take prime responsibility for the Committee's work, communicate with other Triangle Area Greens, and report on its work to the General Meeting.

         1. Action Committee chairs shall be elected by the committee itself.

      4. Triangle Area Greens members are expected to support the work of the committees, and not oppose them publicly.

      5. All Triangle Area Greens committee meetings, including the Steering Committee, shall, in principle, be open to all members.

      6. Committees are responsible for defining a list of their responsibilities as a committee, and developing a committee mission statement. Both shall be submitted to the general membership at the earliest possible meeting.

5. Decision-making

   1. Consensus

      The Triangle Area Greens shall attempt to reach consensus before moving to other modes of decision-making. Consensus for purposes of this organization is defined as the approval by Aye vote of not less than 80% of eligible persons, with a maximum of 20% abstentions and no Nay votes. After a time limit agreed upon by the meeting in accordance with the Meeting Guidelines, and upon a motion and two seconds to the motion, the body may move to first-level fallback decision-making, as defined in Part B of this Section.

   2. First Level Fallback

      1. For decisions indisputably involving a choice between no action and one proposed action, a two-thirds majority shall be required for action.

      2. For decisions indisputably involving a choice between two possible actions or candidates, and where inaction is indisputably not an option, a simple majority (more than 50%) vote shall determine the choice. In the event of a tie vote, the presiding facilitator shall have the power to break the tie.

      3. For decisions indisputably involving a choice between three or more actions or candidates, the body shall use a system of instant runoff voting. Where one action or candidate is to be chosen, this shall operate as follows:

         1. Voters cast a single ballot. On this ballot the voter may specify ranked choices, up to a number as great as the number of available choices, in order of voter preference. The voter may not specify the same choice twice.

         2. On the first round of counting. All ballots are counted by first choice only. If any action or candidate achieves a simple majority (more than 50%), that action or candidate is the winner.

         3. If no action or candidate achieves a first-round majority, the action or candidate scoring the lowest number of votes is dropped, and all ballots having that action or candidate as first choice are scored by the next choice. If any action or candidate achieves a simple majority (more than 50%), that action or candidate is the winner.

         4. If no action or candidate achieves a second-round majority, the process repeats as needed to until one action or candidate achieves a majority.

         5. When only two actions or candidates remaining, and a tie vote occurs, the presiding facilitator shall have the power to break the tie.

      4. For decisions which must choose two or more actions or candidates from a field of three or more possible actions or candidates, the process shall operate as follows:

         1. Each voter casts ballots specifying ranked choices, as described in Part 3, subsection a.

         2. On the first round of counting, each ballot is scored one vote per specified selection, up to the number of actions or candidates. For example, if three seats are to be filled, each voter's first three choices are counted on the first round.

         3. Any action or candidate achieving more than 50% of the vote is a winner.

         4. The action or candidate scoring lowest on the first round is dropped for the second round.

         5. If needed (more than three actions or candidates), additional rounds of counting are performed until a sufficient number of actions or candidates receive more than 50% of the vote.

            1. In the event that an insufficient number of winners is can be selected in this manner, with no actions or candidates remaining to be eliminated, additional winners are determined by simple plurality.

            2. In the event a tie vote occurs at this stage, the presiding facilitator shall have the power to break the tie.

   3. Second-level fallback

      In the event that there is disagreement about whether inaction is an option, or about the number of options eligible to be voted upon, any disputed options shall be approved or disapproved for admittance to the ballot by a simple majority vote (more than 50%). This shall be done one proposed option at a time. The presiding facilitator shall have the power to break a tie vote.

   4. Basis of percentages and majorities

      The percentage and majority requirements in the fallback voting procedures are based upon the number of voters actually voting, not the number of eligible voters.

   5. Voting

      Voting shall not be compulsory. A voter may vote for fewer selections than the maximum allowed.

   6. Quorum requirements

      For decisions involving expenditure of funds above agreed upon spending limits, expulsion of members, election of officers, or revision of these bylaws, any meeting must have in attendance at least 10% of the eligible voters within the Triangle Area Greens. All of those in attendance must be present when the decision is made.

   7. Conduct of Meetings

      Fair treatment, sound decision-making and democratic procedure require efficiently run membership meetings. Meeting facilitators and meeting participants are therefore encouraged to observe the following guidelines:

      1. A meeting agenda should always be drawn up and circulated among the meeting participants, in advance when possible. Additions and corrections should be requested and dealt with at the start of the meeting. A time limit on each agenda item should be agreed upon before proceeding.

      2. The meeting facilitator should endeavor to hold the discussion of each item to the time allotted. A timekeeper may be appointed to aid the facilitator in this effort. Allotted times may be extended by general agreement.

      3. One person at a time should speak after being recognized by the meeting facilitator.

      4. Interrupting a speaker, private discussions, and cross-talking should be avoided.

      5. Speakers should endeavor, and the facilitator should act, to keep discussion focused on the question under consideration. In carrying this out the facilitator should interrupt a speaker who is deemed to have wandered off the topic.

      6. The judgment of the facilitator should normally be respected, but particular rulings may be questioned by participants and put to a vote if necessary.

6. Representation and Affiliation

   1. All Triangle Area Greens members may speak in the name of the Triangle Area Greens when supporting causes compatible with the Triangle Area Greens platform.

   2. Candidates for public office in the Greater Triangle Area and it towns who identify themselves as Triangle Area Greens must be members of the Triangle Area Greens in order to gain the endorsement of the Triangle Area Greens.

   3. Sanctions, including censure and expulsion, against members judged to be in violation of the Triangle Area Greens by-laws may be taken at a General Meeting by a two-thirds of members on two occasions within a three-month period.

   4. The Triangle Area Greens may affiliate with other progressive political organizations, including state and national Green Parties, by a two-thirds majority vote of members present at a General Meeting, prior to which the motion of affiliation has been publicized to members.

7. Rules Governing the By-laws

   These by-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of members present at a General Meeting, prior to which motion of the by-law amendment has been publicized to members.