Annual Meeting

1. Chair (2-year term)

2. Co-Vice Chairs (2-term)

3.  Treasurer & Fundraising Officer (2-year term)

4. Communications Director (2-year term)

5. Membership Director (1-year term)

6. Policy Director (1-year term)

7. Field Director (1-year term)

8. At-Large Director (1 year-term)

9. At-Large Director (3 positions, 2-year terms)

1. Welcome/Call to Order

2. Reading of the Outreach & Inclusion Statement

   1. “The DFL seeks to end discrimination and bigotry in all its forms and to inspire broad participation in our party. As part of our commitment to outreach and inclusion, we will take affirmative steps to increase the participation of members of all underrepresented communities. When you vote today, remember this commitment includes electing members of underrepresented communities both to positions within the DFL party and to public office.”

3. Election of Annual Meeting Chair

4. Appointment of Meeting Officers by Chair

5. Approval of the Proposed Agenda

6. Approval of Minutes

   1. January 2023 Annual Meeting Minutes

   2. February 2023 General Membership Meeting Minutes- See Addendum I of Annual Meeting Minutes

7. Speakers as Recognized (2 mins/each)

8. Officer Reports

   1. Chair- Steven Frich

   2. Co Vice-Chairs

      1. Iola Kostrzewski

   3. Outreach and Inclusion Officer-Storm Novak

   4. Secretary and Administrative Officer- Brian Swancutt

   5. Treasurer and Fundraising Officer- Andrew Patricia Weston

   6. Membership Director

   7. Communications Director- Jenn Strater

   8. At-Large Director Reports

9. Speakers as Recognized (2 mins/each)

10. Committee Reports

    1. Political Support Committee -

    2. Pride Committee -

    3. Outreach and Inclusion Committee -

    4. Communications Committee-

    5. Membership Committee-

    6. Constitution, Bylaws, and Rules Committee -

11. Speakers as Recognized (2 mins/each)

12. Credentials Report #1

13. Adoption of Changes to Membership Meeting Standing Rules

14. Credentials Report #2

15. Constitution Report

16. Reading of the Outreach & Inclusion Reminder-

17. Board of Directors Elections

    1. Election of Officers

       1. Chair (2-year term)

       2. Co-Vice Chairs (2-term)

       3.  Treasurer & Fundraising Officer (2-year term)

       4. Communications Director (2-year term)

       5. Membership Director (1-year term)

       6. Policy Director (1-year term)

       7. Field Director (1-year term)

       8. At-Large Director (1 year-term)

       9. At-Large Director (3 positions, 2-year terms)

18. Announcements

19. Adjournment

Stonewall DFL

Membership Meeting Standing Rules

Members & Credentials

1. Seating. At in-person meetings, the members in good standing will be seated separately from all other participants.

2. Challenges. Challenges to credentials shall be heard by the Membership Director. Their ruling may be appealed to the general membership. An appeal or any other challenge relating to the roster, or any other motion relating to a member’s credentials, is a privileged motion and does not need a second. The mover may speak for up to 5 minutes, after which any member whose credentials the motion affects may speak for up to 5 minutes. The Membership Director may then report for 4 minutes. No other business should occur until this is resolved. The Membership Director may be overruled by a majority of voting members present. The Membership Director may delegate this responsibility if they are unable to fulfill these requirements.

Meeting Organization and General Rules

4. Credentials. The Membership Director shall arrange for credentialing of all members and visitors.

5. Meeting Chair. The Caucus Chair shall convene each membership meeting. Prior to the adoption of the agenda, the meeting shall elect one or more meeting chair(s) who shall preside for the remainder of the meeting. Any unqualified reference to the “chair” throughout these rules shall refer to the individual presiding over the meeting at that time.

6. Recording Officer. The Secretary or their appointee shall record the meeting minutes.

7. Other officers and assistants. The chair may appoint any parliamentarian, sergeant-at-arms, timekeeper, teller, and other officer or assistant necessary or convenient for the orderly and efficient conduct of business. Each officer and assistant listed in this rule must be as impartial as the chair with respect to any election or endorsement. The chair must replace any officer or assistant whose impartiality is reasonably subject to question with respect to any election or endorsement.

8. Voting Assistance. The chair must, upon request, assign a teller who will help any member in good standing who needs assistance to vote.

9. Counting Votes. The ordinary method of voting is by voice, or, if the chair is in doubt, by show of hands (or badges). Upon hearing a proper call for a division of the assembly, the chair must count (or direct the teller(s) to count) how many vote for and against the question, which shall be recorded in the minutes. The meeting will vote by written ballot on any contested election or endorsement. A member casting a written ballot must sign the ballot. The tellers may not count an unsigned ballot.

10. Remote Participation.

    1. General Rules. Members may participate in membership meetings remotely by using teleconference technology. Member rights are the same regardless of attending in person or remotely, and members participating remotely count toward quorum. All participants shall be able to hear each other at the same time.

    2. Method. The Secretary shall arrange a teleconferencing session and distribute instructions to join with the meeting notice. The conference shall be accessible by PC, tablet/phone app, or through standard telephone call supplemented by email.

    3. Access to Conference Call. All meeting participants shall be required to pre-register with their full name and email address to access the virtual waiting room. Only Active Members in good standing, meeting officials, guest speakers, and candidates for party office shall be admitted from the virtual waiting room. At the discretion of the meeting chair(s), other visitors and new members may be admitted to the conference to observe but may not participate in proceedings or receive any electronic ballots.

    4. Remote Officer. The chair may appoint a Remote Officer who shall operate the electronic equipment and/or software used to facilitate the conference. They will act to ensure the orderly and full participation of remote attendees, including receiving and reporting votes, ensuring auditory and visual clarity, and alerting the chair of members seeking recognition. They shall maintain a method of ensuring that phone-only participants can access documents and electronic ballots distributed during the meeting.

    5. Speaking. Members may ask to speak in the meeting using a nonverbal indication, such as hand-raising function if enabled, or via a chat or email/text message to the chair or Remote Officer. If none of these are accessible, the participant may verbally seek recognition.

    6. Motions in Writing. Motions of more than 10 words shall be submitted in writing via chat or email to the secretary or Remote Officer. Motions of more than 10 words shall be displayed visually through presentation/screen sharing.

    7. Voting. Voice votes shall be taken by use of a yes/no indication. Votes taken by ballot shall be submitted through an electronic form distributed to meeting attendees, or through another authenticated method delivered to the chair or Remote Officer, such as email or text message.

    8. Personal privilege and etiquette. Members are encouraged to make points of personal privilege to address conditions hindering communication. Members must use the mute function when not speaking. The chair or Remote Officer may mute members if they transmit sound that interferes with meeting.

Speaking and Debate

13. Speaking in the Meeting. A member in good standing may ask to speak in the meeting by raising their hand or standing at a microphone. Members may only begin speaking when the chair calls on them. Speakers must identify themselves by name and may state their pronouns before speaking. The chair may also ask the speaker to state the reason they are asking to speak, including whether they intend to speak for or against a debatable motion.

14. General Limits. Except as these rules provide otherwise, each speaker may speak for up to 2 minutes per speech. Debate expires on any debatable motion when 3 speakers on each side have had the opportunity to speak.

15. Motions to Limit or End Debate. A motion to limit or extend debate may change debate limits in these rules. A motion for the previous question may end debate before limits have been met. Motions to limit, extend, or end debate are adopted by a two-thirds vote. No motion to limit or end debate (previous question) will take effect until at least one speech against the pending motion has been heard.

16. Guest Speakers. Guest speakers may address the meeting when no business is pending at the chair’s discretion. Each guest speaker may speak for up to 2 minutes.

Elections and Endorsements

18. Candidates. For these rules purposes, a “candidate” means a candidate for election or endorsement, nominated or intending to be nominated as these rules provide. Before nominations are opened, a prospective candidate qualifies as a “candidate” by giving written notice to that effect to the Caucus Chair, the Secretary, or during the meeting to the chair. A candidacy ends when the candidate withdraws, is dropped, or an election occurs under these rules.

19. Order of endorsements and elections. If a meeting’s agenda includes more than one election or endorsement, then the order is: (A) endorsements for public office, in the order in which each such office will appear on the general-election ballot; (B) elections for party office, in the order in which each such office appears in the Stonewall DFL constitution; then (C) at-large members.

20. Order among candidates. The chair will determine by lot, with each candidate or their representative present, the order in which candidates for the same office speak or answer questions.

21. Signs and other displays. No signs. Written literature may be distributed.

22. Literature. No candidate or member may distribute literature while the floor is frozen or while a written ballot or other counted vote is underway.

23. Nominations. The chair may open nominations without a motion or a vote (although a motion to open nominations is not out of order). Any member may nominate any eligible person (including, if eligible, themself) from the floor. A nomination must be made by name only and must not be accompanied by any speech or demonstration. The chair may close nominations if there are no further nominations after calling 3 times and allowing reasonable opportunity for further nominations. The meeting may reopen nominations by simple majority before, or by a two-thirds vote after, the question-and-answer session begins. If nominations are reopened after the question-and-answer session begins, then each newly nominated candidate who has not yet spoken may speak before the question-and-answer session resumes, and the chair must let the meeting decide by simple majority whether the question-and-answer session will restart.

24. Speeches. Each candidate for Caucus Chair and Vice Chair may speak for up to 5 minutes, which they may divide among one or more speakers in their favor. A candidate who declines the nomination may not speak. Each candidate for any other position may speak for up to 1 minute 30 seconds.

25. Demonstrations Prohibited. No demonstrations shall be permitted, including but not limited to any use of a moving demonstration; a whistle, air horn, bullhorn, amplifier, loudspeaker, or other artificial noisemaking; a strobe light, light show, or other non-static visual display, or a spotlight or other projected light; a fragrance, incense, or other noticeable smell; a shower of balloons, confetti, glitter, water, or any other substance; and any other intrusive sensation.

26. Question-and-answer session. A question-and-answer session follows the candidates’ speeches.

    1. Length. The question-and-answer session lasts 20 minutes for a contested election for Chair and Vice Chairs, 15 minutes for a contested election for any other office. The meeting may limit or extend these times, or cancel the session altogether, by a two-thirds vote.Asking Questions. Any member in good standing may submit a question or questions to the secretary before the question-and-answer period begins. Each question must: (i) be written legibly on a single piece of paper with only the one question on it; (ii) be signed legibly by a member in good standing; (iii) identify the office to which it relates; (iv) be concise, without a preamble or other extraneous material; (v) be general enough in nature that all the candidates can answer it on substantially equal terms, or be rephrased by the chair to become similarly answerable by all candidates; (vi) not cast an aspersion upon or otherwise personally attack any candidate or candidates; and (vii) be capable of being answered within 1 minute.

    2. Drawing Questions. The Secretary will randomly draw the questions. The secretary must exclude a question if it: (i) does not satisfy this or any other applicable rule; (ii) substantially overlaps an earlier question. (iii) reasonable limits may be placed on this by the secretary to allow participation from multiple question submitters.

    3. Answers. Each candidate must answer the question asked within 1 minute. Each candidate may answer the last question even if time otherwise expires.

    4. Order, rotation. The chair will determine by lot, with each candidate the order in which the candidates answer the first question. The order then rotates so that the candidate who answered the preceding question first answers the pending question last and each other candidate advances one place in the rotation.

27. Voting. For uncontested elections, the meeting may elect by acclamation. Otherwise, the vote must occur by written ballot. Any printed ballot, or any list posted for the members, must list all the candidates. These rules apply to both officer elections and endorsement votes unless otherwise stated.

    1. Freezing the floor. With at least 2 minutes notice, the chair may freeze the floor, in which case no person may enter the area where the members are seated until the chair unfreezes the floor (usually not later than the tellers have collected all the ballots). The chair and the sergeants-at-arms must strictly enforce the freeze.

    2. Ballots. The teller(s) will distribute and collect the ballots. Returned ballots must be signed.

    3. Counting. Each candidate or campaign may appoint one observer who may accompany the tellers while the votes are counted. An observer must not handle the ballots.

    4. Drop rule.

       1. Endorsement votes. a candidate is dropped if they get less than 10 percent of the votes on the 1st ballot, or less than 20 percent on the 2nd ballot, or less than 30 percent on the 3rd ballot, or less than one-third on the 4th or any later ballot, as long as the two candidates with the most votes (or, in the case of a tie for the second most votes, the candidates with the most and second most votes) are not dropped. A 60% affirmative vote is required for endorsement.

       2. Caucus officer elections. There is no drop rule for caucus officer elections as the winner is who receives the most votes. If there is a tie between candidates for the most votes, then a revote is taken. If there is still a tie after a revote, the winner is determined by random selection.

e. Number of Ballots.

1. Endorsement votes. If no candidate receives 60% of votes after 5 ballots, there is no endorsement in that race.

2. Officer/other elections. Unless there is a tie, there is only one ballot required for all other elections.

f. Ballot Retention. The ballots must be retained by the Meeting Chair until the later of the following: (i) the deadline to file a challenge to the election has passed; or (ii) if a challenge is filed, the challenge is resolved.

Amendments, Subordination, and Continuity of Rules

28. Amendment. The Stonewall DFL Membership may amend these rules by means of a motion of which previous notice was given by a two-thirds vote, or by simple majority with a favorable report from the Stonewall DFL Constitution, Bylaws, and Rules Committee.

29. Suspension. A motion to suspend these rules takes a two-thirds vote.

30. Subordination. The rules contained in the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these rules and rules to which they are subordinate.

Restatement and Continuity. These rules supersede every prior version of the Stonewall DFL Membership meeting rules. These rules shall continue in effect from year to year and do not expire.