2010.11.28 Proposed Bylaws
(to be voted on at the State Convention in March 2011)

Draft   11/16/10
Green Party of New Mexico
Bylaws, Rules and Regulations

1. Values and Purpose
1. Values
2. Purpose
2. Definitions
1. Organizational
1. State Central Committee
2. County Party Organization
3. Governing Bodies
4. Governing Boards
2. Herein
1. Locals
2. Operating Guidelines
3. State Platform
4. Statewide Ballot
3. Names and Emblem
1. Party Name
2. Local Names
3. Emblem
4. Qualification
1. Party Membership
1. Persons Registered to Vote
2. Individuals not Qualified to Register to Vote
2. Elective Party Office
5. Organization
1. State Level
1. State Conventions
2. Green Council
3. Steering Committee
2. Locals
1. Accreditation
2. Area
3. Members
4. Conventions
5. Meetings
6. Steering Committee
3. County
6. Governance
1. Annual State Convention
2. Special State Conventions
3. State Party Offices
1. Officers
2. Election of Officers
3. Vacancies in Offices
4. Recall of Officers
5. Officer Powers and Duties
1. Co-/chairs
2. Secretary
3. Treasurer
4. Representatives and Alternates to the Green Party of the United States
6. Terms of Office
4. Green Council
1. Executive Committee
2. Powers and Duties
3. Meetings
4. Votes
1. Allocation
2. By Alternate Representatives
3. By Electronic Mail or Telephone
4. Proxies
5. State Steering Committee
6. Local Offices
1. Officers
2. Delegates to a State Convention
3. Election of Officers
4. Vacancies in Offices
5. Recall of Officers
6. Duties and Powers
1. Co-Chairs
2. Secretary
3. Treasurer
4. Representatives and Alternates to the Green Council
5. State Convention Delegates and Alternates
7. Terms of Office
7. Local Steering Committee
7. State Conventions
1. Specification
2. Notification
3. Annual Convention
4. Special Conventions
8. Local Conventions
1. Specification
2. Notification
3. Annual Convention
4. Special Conventions
9. County Nominating Conventions
1. Specification
2. Notification
10. Nominations for Public Office
1. Regular Biennial Pre-Primary
2. Minor Party Non-Primary
3. County and Municipal
11. Voting Procedures
1. General Rule
2. Gender Balance
3. Officer and Nomination Elections Other than Federal Office when a Major Party
1. Single-Seat Contests
2. Multi-Seat Contests
3. “None of the Above” Voting Option
1. Pre-Primary Ballot
2. Non-Primary Ballots
3. Primary Ballot
4. Pre-Primary Nomination for Federal Office
5. Voting Percentage Calculations
12. Suspension of Rules
13. Amendment

APPENDIX A:  EMBLEM

The "UNIFORM RULES OF THE GREEN PARTY OF NEW MEXICO" set forth in this document were adopted by a Convention of the Green Party of New Mexico on _____________, to amend, replace and supersede in their entirety any and all existing Rules for the organization and governing of the New Mexico Green Party, beginning thirty (30) days after the filing of this document with the Secretary of State of the State of New Mexico.

• VALUES AND PURPOSE:

• Values: The Ten Key Values embodied in the internal structure and process and public activities of the Green Party of New Mexico at all levels are:
• Grassroots Democracy
• Social/Economic Justice
• Ecological Wisdom
• Nonviolence
• Decentralization
• Community-based Economics
• Gender Equity
• Respect for Diversity
• Personal and Global Responsibility
• Future Focus

• Purpose:  The purposes of Green Party of New Mexico shall be to:

• Establish, develop and promote practices, movements and organizations and develop and promote governmental legislation and regulations that accord with its Ten Key Values.
• Nominate, support, and elect candidates for public office committed to its          Ten Key Values.
• DEFINITIONS
• Organizational:  For purposes of conformity with New Mexico Election Code, the following definitions apply:
• State Central Committee:  The Green Council is the State Central Committee.
• County Party Organization: The Local with the largest number of Members in the county is the County Party Organization.
• Governing Bodies: The Locals in the geographic area of each, and State Conventions and Green Council at the state level are the Governing Bodies.
• Governing Boards:  The Steering Committee of the Local with the largest number of Members in the county is the Governing Board of the County Party Organization and the State Steering Committee is the Governing Board of the State Party.
• Herein:
• Locals:  A Local is an organization accredited by the Green Council or State Convention for conducting Party activities within a contiguous group of complete voting precincts in one or more counties.
• Operating Guidelines:  The Operating Guidelines is a set of rules for the daily workings of the Party adopted and amended by the Green Council.
• State Platform:  The State Platform is a statement of Party values, principles and positions on issues of concern from local to global adopted and amended by the State Convention.
• Statewide Ballot: The general election ballot on which the office of President or Governor appears.                       
• NAMES  AND EMBLEM            
• Party Name:  The name of the Green Party organization shall be the "Green Party of New Mexico" also referred to herein as the “State Party”.
• Local Names: The name of each Local in the State of New Mexico shall be the "Green Party of _____________________" with the appropriate name inserted.
• Emblem:  The official emblem of the Green Party of New Mexico and of          each Local shall be a modified Zia symbol rising over a mountainscape,          as shown in Appendix A.
• QUALIFICATION
• Party Membership
• Persons Registered to Vote:  Any individual recorded on the voting records of the Secretary of State as registered to vote in New Mexico whose Political Party affiliation is "Green" shall be a Member of the Green Party of New Mexico and of the Local in which region the voter is so registered, and shall be eligible to participate in Green Party affairs in accordance with these Bylaws, Rules and Regulations. 
• Individuals not Qualified to Register to Vote: Individuals who are dedicated to supporting the Ten Key Values of the Green Party of New Mexico but are not qualified to register to vote, may participate as full Party Members to the degree permitted by state legal requirements.
• Elective Party Office:  No individual shall be qualified for election to a Party office unless they are a Member or an individual excepted by these Rules.
• ORGANIZATION
• State Level:   
• State Conventions:  A State Convention shall consist of:
• One delegate from each Local
• One additional delegate from each Local for each percent of total Green Party Members in the State of New Mexico registered to vote within its region;
• The delegates to Special State Conventions shall be those of the prior State Convention unless the Co-Chairs of a Local petition the State Council for a recalculation of the number of delegates to a State Convention assigned to the Locals.
• Green Council: The Green Council shall consist of the state Co-Chairs, Secretary and Treasurer and Representatives from each Local equal to the number of digits in the number of voters registered to vote “Green” within the area of the Local.
• Steering Committee:  The State Officers shall constitute a State Steering Committee.
• Locals: 
• Accreditation:  A Local shall be accredited by the Green Council or by a State Convention.  Locals having Green Council members as of the date of the adoption of these Rules are accredited at that time without having to apply.
• Area: The area a Local represents shall be a contiguous group of complete voting precincts in one or more counties as approved by the Green Council and may be changed when a new Local is approved.
• Members: A Member of the Green Party of New Mexico is considered a member of the Local in which region the person is registered to vote.
• Conventions:  A Local Convention shall consist of all Members of the Local.
• Meetings:  A Local meeting shall consist of all members of the Local.
• Steering Committee:  The Officers and representatives to the Green Council from the Local shall constitute a Local Steering Committee.
• County:  A County Convention shall consist of all Members registered to vote in the county.
• GOVERNANCE
• Annual State Convention: The Annual State Convention shall have the following powers and duties:
• Duty to elect the Officers of the State Party and representatives to the Green Party of the United States
• Power to amend the Operating Guidelines
• Power to adopt and amend State Party Rules
• Power to adopt and amend the New Mexico State Party Platform
• Power to recall State Officers with 75% supermajority
• Power to settle factional differences.
• Power to resolve disputes presented to it involving a Local’s election if the State Convention finds that the Local’s election was improperly held.
• Power to prescribe votes on Green Party of the United State proposals.
• Power to conduct any other proper State Party business
• Power to delegate of any part of its authority to the Green Council except for Rules and platform changes.
• Power to change the Party Name and Emblem.
• Special State Conventions: 
• Power to elect Presidential Electors as provided by the New Mexico Election Code.
• Power to conduct a Special Election to fill a vacancy on the statewide ballot or in Presidential Electors
• Power to hold recall elections for State Officers.
• Power to conduct any proper State Party business.
• State  Party Offices
• Officers: The officers of the State Party organization shall be:
• Two Co-Chairs
• A Secretary
• A Treasurer
• Vice Chairs designated by the Green Council, if any
• Representatives to the Green Party of the United States as allocated to the State Party by the Green Party of the United States
• Alternate Representatives to the Green Party of the United States up to the number of Representatives, if any
• Election of Officers: Officers and Representatives to the Green Party of the United States shall be elected at the Annual State Convention.
• Vacancies in Offices:

• Any vacancy in the office of Co-Chair shall be filled by nomination from the membership of the Green Council and approval by the Green Council. 
• A vacancy in any office other than Co-Chair shall be filled by nomination of a qualified replacement by the Co-Chairs and approval by the Green Council. 

• Recall of Officers: 
• If an Officer fails in the duties listed in Section 6(C)(6), the Green Council may initiate a recall process on that officer by placing a legal notice in the statewide newspaper of record calling for a recall election without specifying by name the officer and notifying the officer by registered mail and by other forms of communication if necessary. 
• A recall election shall be conducted in a Special State Convention or a Green Council meeting.
• Officer Powers and Duties: The officers shall have the following powers and duties:
• Co-Chairs:
• Power to call, with proper notice, a State Convention at such times the Co-Chairs deem as proper and shall have the duty to call such meetings when required by these Rules;
• Duty to convene and chair the Green Council at regular intervals or when requested to do so by five (5) or more Green Council members from three (3) or more Locals;
• Duty to appoint chairperson(s) and a secretary for each State Convention.
• Duty to appoint a facilitator(s) to manage and suggest process for each meeting of the Green Council ;
• Duty to perform the tasks in connection with State Conventions specified in Section 7;
• Power to act as general spokespersons for the State Party and the duty to use this charge with great responsibility and sensitivity to the consensus of the State Party;
• Duty to act in accordance with the decisions of the Green Council and State Conventions;
• Duty to specify the week for Locals to hold meetings to elect officers and delegates
• Secretary: 
• Duty to preserve all of the minutes of State Conventions and the Green Council in a form that can be effectively archived and shall pass such minutes along to their successor.
• Duty to preserve an updated record of the Operating Guidelines and inform the Green Council when adoption of a proposal or decision would violate the Operating Guidelines.
• Duty to file all appropriate documents with the Secretary of State as required by any applicable laws of the State of New Mexico.
• Duty to make notifications of meetings of the Green Council and of State Conventions as required in Sections 6(D)(3) and 7(B)(1)
• Treasurer:
• Duty to keep the financial accounts of the State Party in a form that can be effectively archived and shall pass such records along to their successor. 
• Duty to prepare financial reports required to be filed with the Secretary of State
• Duty to assure tax reports are properly prepared and filed as needed.
• Representatives and Alternates to the Green Party of the United States: 
• Duty to transmit official communications and other relevant information and concerns back and forth between the Green Party of the United States and the Green Council and State Conventions.
• Duty of Alternate Representatives to act as Officers in the absence of the Representative for which he or she is an alternate.
• Terms of Office: The terms of all elected officers and elected representatives of governing bodies shall begin on the first day after that person's election and end when that person's successor is elected or upon that person’s    resignation. When an officer is appointed to fill a vacancy, the term of office will last only to fulfill the term of the officer whom they are replacing.
• Green Council:          
•  Executive Committee:  The Green Council shall serve as the executive committee of the Green Party of New Mexico
• Powers and Duties:  The Green Council shall have the following powers and duties:
• Power  to act as the State Convention in between State Convention meetings with the exception of platform changes and changes in Rules except to meet specific legal challenges. If decisions can not be made by consensus, actions can be approved by the following schedule:
• 75% for recall of State Party Officers;
• 66 2/3% for endorsements or substantive proposals; motions to close or extend debate, table, or send to committee;
• 50% + 1 for meeting-specific process motions not already specified.
• Power to develop and amend a set of "Operating Guidelines" that establishes rules for the daily workings of the Green Party of New Mexico all provisions of which shall remain in effect unless specifically amended by a 2/3 supermajority of the Green Council.
• Duty to determine the number of Delegates to State Conventions and to the Green Council from each Local in accordance with Sections 5(A)(1)(b) and 5(A)(2).
• Power to appoint non-voting delegates to State Conventions from areas not in an accredited Local.
• Power to establish qualifications and procedures for accrediting Locals and to accredit, withdraw accreditation and reaccredit Locals.
• Meetings: The Green Council shall meet a minimum of four times each year. Meetings shall be called by the Green Council or by the State Co-Chairs. The State Secretary shall notify each member of the Green Council of the date, time and place of meetings, in writing, at least thirty days prior to the meeting.  A quorum of the Green Council shall consist of at least one member who is a state Officer and a majority of Representatives from the Locals.
• Votes:
• Allocation:  The votes at meetings of the Green Council shall be allotted one vote to each representative from the Locals  and one each to the state Co-Chairs, Secretary, and Treasurer.
• By Alternate Representatives: Any Alternate Representative(s) from a Local may be a full voting member(s) of the Council when replacing the Local's Representative(s).
• By Electronic Mail or Telephone:  Votes on issues important to decide upon before the next meeting of the Green Council may be made by electronic mail and/or telephone.  Such votes can be initiated by one-third of all current Green Council members submitting a request to the State Co-Chair(s), or by the State Co-Chair(s), and the vote shall be carried out by the State Co-Chair(s).
• Proxies:  Proxy votes can be accepted under the following conditions:
• The Green Council has written notification of the proxy from another Green Council member prior to the meeting.
• The member giving the proxy specifies whether the nature of the proxy is general or specific.
• A proxy held by a Council member from a Local other than the member’s is a specific proxy.
• Any Green Council member holds no more than one proxy.
• A proxy is not held by an Alternate Representative of a Local.
• State Steering Committee: The State Steering Committee shall have the power to:
• Conduct business on matters arising between meetings of the Green Council and matters referred to it by the Green Council.
• Place items on a Green Council meeting agenda.
• Local Offices

• Officers:  The Officers of the Local shall include:
• Two Co-Chairs;
• A Secretary;
• A Treasurer;
• Such Vice Chairs as may be elected by the Local
• Representatives to the Green Council
• Alternate Representatives to the Green Council, if any, up to the number of Representatives.

• Delegates to a State Convention:
• The Local shall have the number of Delegates to State Conventions allocated to it by the Green Council.
• The local may elect Alternate Delegates up to the number of Delegates.

• Election of Officers:  Officers of Locals shall be elected at a Local Convention held in accordance with Section 8, in which meeting Local Officers are elected following election of Representatives to the State Convention.   

• Vacancies of Offices: Any vacancy occurring in the office of a Local shall be filled by the nomination of a qualified replacement by the Co-Chairs and approval by the Local Steering Committee.. 
• Recall of Officers: A Local shall establish a rule for recall of Local officers and representatives to the Green Council.
• Duties and Powers
• Co-Chairs: 
• Duty to set, with proper notice, the date of the election of Local officers.
• Duty to appoint a facilitator(s) to manage and suggest process for each meeting of the Local.
• Power to act as general spokespersons for the Local.
• Duty to act in accordance with and as spokesperson for the decisions and general consensus of the Local.
• Duty to file petitions as required by any applicable laws of the State of New Mexico and the county or counties in which the Local operates.
• Secretary:
• Duty to record and maintain all of the minutes of the Local in a form that can be effectively archived and pass such minutes to their successor.
• Duty to preserve an up-to-date record of all supplementary rules and regulations for the operation of the Local, and inform the Local when adoption of a proposal or decision would violate the Supplementary Rules and Regulations
• Duty to file all appropriate documents with the County Clerk(s) and Secretary of State as required by any applicable laws of the State of New Mexico and the county or counties in which the Local operates.
• Duty to submit to the State Secretary the name(s) of the Local’s elected Delegate(s) and Alternate(s) to the Annual State Convention prior to the Annual State Convention.
• Treasurer: Duty to keep the financial accounts of the Local in a form that can be effectively archived and pass records of such accounts to their successor.
• Representatives  and Alternates to the Green Council: 
• Duty to inform themselves of the views and positions of the Local.
• Duty to vote as directed on proposals before the Green Council.
• Duty to accurately communicate official matters and other relevant information back and forth between the Local and the Green Council.
• State Convention Delegates and Alternates:
• Duty to inform themselves of the views and positions of the Local.
• Duty to vote as directed on proposals before the Green Council.
• Duty to accurately communicate official matters and other relevant information back and forth between the Local and the Green Council.
• Terms of Office:  The terms of all elected officers and elected representatives and delegates of governing bodies shall begin on the first day after that person's election and end when that person's successor is elected or upon that person’s resignation. When an officer is appointed to fill a vacancy, the term of office will     last only to fulfill the term of the officer whom they are replacing.
• Local Steering Committee: The Local Steering Committee shall have the power to:
• Conduct business on matters arising between meetings of the Local and matters referred to it by the Local.
• Place items on a Local meeting agenda.
• State Conventions:
• Specification:
• At least thirty (30) days prior to a State Convention, the Co-Chairs of the State Party shall:
• Fix the time, date, and public place for holding the Annual Convention
• Announce the number of Delegates to the State Convention from each Local
• Fix the week for holding Local Conventions to elect delegates to the State Convention.
• Place for consideration proper business and approve the agenda of the Convention
• A Member shall be registered “Green” continuously from the date the Co-Chairs fix the date of the Convention through the date of the Convention to be able to vote in the Convention.
• Notification:
• Promptly after fixing of a State Convention, the Secretary of the State Party shall notify in writing the Co-Chairs of all Locals and all Green Council Members of the Convention Specifications.
• At least fourteen days prior to a State Convention the Co-Chairs of the Locals shall publish notice of the Convention in a newspaper of general circulation specifying the time, public place, and date for holding the Convention.
• Annual Conventions: The Annual Convention shall be held not later than the third Sunday of March for the purpose of electing State Party officers and Representatives to the Green Party of the United States and conducting business properly placed for consideration.
• Special Conventions: A special State Convention may be called only for the purposes of:
• Executing the powers of Section 6(B)
• Considering any proper State Party business requiring action by a State Convention.
• Local Conventions:
•  Specification:
• At least thirty (30) days prior to a Local Convention:
• The Co-Chairs of the Local shall fix the time, date, and public place for holding the Convention
• The Co-Chairs of the Local shall approve the agenda of the Convention.
• The Co-chairs or the Steering Committee of the Local shall appoint a chairperson(s) and a secretary of the Convention.
• A Member of the Local shall be registered “Green” with the County Clerk continuously from the date of the State Co-chairs’ Specification through the date of the Convention to be eligible to vote in the Convention.
• Notification:
• At least fourteen (14) days prior to Local Conventions the Co-Chairs of the Local shall cause notice of the Local Convention to be published in a newspaper of general circulation specifying the time, public place, and date for holding the Convention.
• The Secretary of each Local shall notify, to the extent economically reasonable, Members registered to vote in the area served by the Convention of the time, date and location and agenda of the Convention
• Annual Conventions:  A Local shall call a Local convention during the time period set in the State Co-Chairs’ Specification for the purpose of electing Local officers and delegates to the Annual State Convention and conducting business properly placed for consideration.
• Special Conventions: A special Local Convention may be called only for the purposes of considering any proper Local business requiring action at a Local convention.
• County nominating conventions:  In each county the Local with the greatest number of Members in the county as determined by the Green Council in making the determination in 6(D)(2)(c) shall call a County Nominating Convention during the time period set in the State Co-chairs’ Specification for the purpose of nominating candidates for public office and conducting business properly placed for consideration.
• Specification:
• At least thirty (30) days prior to a County Convention:
• The Co-Chairs of the Local shall fix the time, date, and public place for holding the Convention
• The Co-Chairs of the Local shall approve the agenda of the Convention.
• The Co-chairs or the Steering Committee of the Local shall appoint a Chairperson(s) and a Secretary of the Convention.
• A person shall be registered to vote in the county and shall be registered “Green” with the County Clerk continuously from the date of the Local Co-chairs’ Specification through the date of the Convention to be eligible to vote in the Convention.
• Notification: At least fourteen (14) days prior to the Convention the Co-Chairs of the Local with the most Members in the county shall cause notice of the Convention to be published in a newspaper of general circulation specifying the time, public place, and date for holding the Convention.
• Nominations for public office: 
• Regular Biennial State Pre-Primary:
• Regular Biennial State Pre-Primary nominations shall be made during the Annual State Convention in election cycles when the State Party is qualified as a major party under New Mexico Statutes.
• Regular Biennial State Pre-Primary nominations shall be made in even-numbered years.
• Nominations of candidates for public office shall be made in accordance with the New Mexico Election Code and Primary Election Law.  The New Mexico Election Code and Primary Election Law is hereby incorporated into this Section.
• Minor Party Non-Primary:
• In election cycles when Green Party of New Mexico is qualified as a minor party, nominations of candidates for public office shall be made using the following procedure and according to the provisions of the New Mexico Election Code. The New Mexico Election Code is hereby incorporated into this Section.
• At least one week prior to the date fixed for the Annual State Convention, candidates for offices other than those wholly contained within the boundaries of         a single county shall provide to the Secretary of the State a notice of intent to be a candidate, and an affidavit that the candidate is not seeking any other office in this election.
• County and Municipal:
• Nominations for public office wholly contained in a county shall be made at a County Nominating Convention.
• At least one week prior to a County Nominating Convention, candidates for a public office wholly contained in that county shall submit to the Secretary of the Convention a statement of intent to be a candidate.
• The Chairperson(s) and Secretary of the Convention shall certify to the County Clerk the names of Party nominees as per state statute.  No candidate shall be certified to an office if “None of the Above:” won the election.
• VOTING PROCEDURES:
• General Rule:  Except as otherwise provided herein, all matters determined by vote at a State Convention or by a Local shall be determined by majority vote
• Gender Balance: Gender balance shall be sought in all offices with more than one member,
• Officer and Nomination Elections Other than Federal Office when a Major Party.: Elections for officers, including the election of officers of the Green Party of New Mexico and the election of officers of Locals, and nomination of candidates for public office other than federal office shall, if there is more than one candidate, be Ranked Choice/Instant Runoff Vote pursuant to which each voter shall rank in order of the voter’s preferences as many of the candidates as the voter desires.
• Single Seat Contests: For single seat contests, the vote shall be counted as follows:
• Each vote is assigned to the voter’s first preference candidate and the votes are tallied. If any candidate has a majority, that candidate is elected.
• If no candidate has a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is declared defeated. Each of that candidate’s votes is assigned to the candidate who is each voter’s next preference, if any, that has not been declared defeated. The votes are tallied again. If any candidate has a majority, that candidate is elected.
• Step (b) is repeated until one candidate has a majority or only one candidate remains.
• Ties are resolved by declaring defeated the candidate having the lowest assigned random number.
• Multi-Seat Contests: For multi-seat contests, the vote shall be counted as follows:
• Each vote is assigned to the voter’s first preference candidate and the votes are tallied.
• Any candidate(s) who has as much or more than the number of votes equal to the total votes divided by one more than the number of seats, plus one vote, are declared elected.  If all seats have not been filled, Section (c) is performed.
• Each vote for each elected candidate elected in the last tally is multiplied by the ratio of candidate’s number of votes in excess of the number needed to be elected divided by the number needed to be elected and assigned to the candidate that is each voter’s next preference, if any, who has neither been declared defeated nor elected.
• The votes are tallied again. If any additional candidate(s) have satisfied the criterion of section (b), they are declared elected. If candidates have not been elected to all seats, section (c) is repeated. If no additional candidate has satisfied the criterion of section (b), the candidate with the fewest votes is declared defeated. Each of that candidate’s votes (which may be non-integer) is assigned to the candidate who is each voter’s next preference, if any, who has neither been declared defeated nor elected.
• The votes are tallied again and section (b) is repeated.
• Ties are resolved by declaring defeated the candidate having the lowest assigned random number.
• ”None of the Above” Voting Option:
• Pre-Primary Ballot: For each office on the Pre-Primary ballot other than federal office, the ballot option "None of the Above" shall be placed after the last candidate’s name. Notwithstanding the number of votes for "None of the Above," candidates who receive at least 20% of the pre-primary convention's vote shall be certified for the primary ballot as per state statute.
• Non-Primary Ballots:  For each office on the State and County Convention ballots, the ballot option “None of the Above” shall be placed after the last candidate’ name. If “None of the Above” receives the greatest number of votes cast for an office, no candidate shall be certified for that office.
• Primary Ballot:  For each office on the Primary ballot, the option "None of the Above" shall be placed after the last candidate’s name. If "None of the Above" receives the greatest number of votes cast for an office, no candidate shall be nominated for that office.
• Pre-Primary Nomination for Federal Office:  Elections for nomination to federal office when the Green Party is a major party shall be by plurality vote and, if no candidate has a majority, by a runoff election of the top two vote getters.
• Voting Percentage Calculations:  Abstentions shall not be included in calculating voting percentages.
• suspension of rules

Any procedural provisions of these Rules may be suspended by a majority vote of Members present at a duly called meeting of the Green Council, a Local or a Convention.

• AMENDMENT

These Bylaws, Rules and Regulations may be amended by a majority vote of the Representatives present at any State Convention.

Appendix A

EMBLEM

2008.05.13 Energy!

The transition to a local, renewable energy economy is happening in
Santa Fe right now in a deep and meaningful way: County commissioner
Paul Campos and City councilor Chris Calvert have drawn up a joint
resolution to fund a study on the feasibility of a municipally owned
electric grid that would be based totally on renewable energy. This
would be a grounbreaking and landmark decision, not only in New Mexico,
but the country in general.

The first challenge will obviously be PNM who will stand to lose
millions of dollars in revenue and will undoudtedly be working all their
angles to derail the deal. (A successful renewable grid will also mean
the end of coal fired power plants, but that's another story.) The second
challenge will be bringing the commissioners and councilors onboard as
they will have to vote to implement and will have to feel confident in
their position. The third challenge will be our dear local media who can
kill an initiative with bad data or bad reporting or both - we all know
that drill. Having said that, I feel we have a lot of positive support
from both the New Mexican and the Reporter and certainly the smaller
papers and public radio. Again, this will be a long haul and letters to
the editor, etc. will be very important. The fourth challenge will be the
business community and here I feel the outreach can be of great benefit
as a locally owned grid, based on renewables, will have a huge positive
impact on the local economy, both immediately and over time. The
educational component with both the business community and the community
at large will be a wonderful opportunity for more organizing and
outreach.

This move away from centralized fossil fuel energy toward local renewable
energy is in a deep sense a political one. This is where the Greens among
us will have an important role to play. Basically this is a transition to
a democratic - small "d" economy. Along with IRV and all the other Green
value based political reforms, this will bring more coherent structure to
our local democracy. As we head into crises of peak fossil fuel, climate
disruption, water shortages, economic melt down, and a corporate assault
on all the last drops of profit within our local communities, survival
will depend on strong, coherent, democratic local structures. I see the
transition to local energy in all its forms as key and the underpinning
of local food production, green building, and the growing local democracy
movement. The coming County elections are critical and we will need to
begin holding indepth candidate forums soon. We have our work cut out for
us and I know the Green Party's participation will be critical. We've
won important battles already, and we can keep right on winning even bigger battles in these critical times.

Consider this an appetizer. I'll follow up with articles on the
specifics of a renewable energy based municipal grid - very exciting - and the battle against
oil/gas drilling. It's wonderful to see what a few committed people with
vision have done. It will be more and more wondeful to see what they (we)
can do as our survival becomes literally dependent upon it.

2008.03.25

IRV: Instant Runoff Voting

RANKED CHOICE VOTING  aka instant runoff voting.

The Santa Fe Charter Review Commission (with support from local Greens) worked diligently to come up with seven amendments to the City Charter, and the city council unanimously sent them forward to be on the ballot on March 4th, 2008. The amendments will bring a more democratic and more accountable city government, and voters are encouraged to vote in support of all seven of them.

One of the amendments is Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), also known as Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), which is a simple to use, full-choice voting system whereby when three or more candidates run for a single seat, voters are allowed to rank the candidates in order of preference, 1-2-3, etc., rather than simply choose one favorite (or not so favorite!) candidate.

RCV eliminates the "spoiler" problem in which a candidate who cannot win him or herself gets enough votes to throw the election to some other candidate who is favored by a minority.

RCV has been shown to increase voter turnout, since voters are allowed to express their complete set of preferences and thus feel empowered. It encourages more candidates to run for office and promotes positive issue-based campaigns, discouraging mud-slinging among candidates who must compete for second and third-place votes from each others' supporters. It also more accurately gauges the true level of support that exists for each candidate since voters are no longer afraid that a vote for their favorite candidate may help his or her political opposite.

The Green Party of Santa Fe wholeheartedly supports the adoption of RCV in Santa Fe, and our RCV Action Team is working to educate voters about the importance of having RCV in Santa Fe (and around the country!)

Does RCV sound like a good idea to you? Then come help out the Green Party RCV Team - we'll be handing out RCV literature and bumper stickers, talking to people about RCV, and working to get out the vote on March 4th.

To learn more about RCV and how it works, visit:
http://www.fairvote.org http://www.votingmatters.net
Or contact Rick Lass at 920-0540 or ricklass@newmmexico.com