Bylaws, Rules and Regulations
Bylaws, Rules and Regulations
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Bylaws of the Democratic Committee of Chemung County, NY
Amended June 11, 2024
ARTICLE I
NAME AND PURPOSE
Section 1. The organization of the Democratic Party in Chemung County shall be known as the “Chemung County Democratic Committee, hereinafter referred to as the “County Committee”.
Section 2. The purpose of this organization shall be to work together as a unified group with shared Party goals and values and advise, nominate, support and elect Democratic candidates to public office.
Section 3. All public meetings at all levels of the Democratic Committee are open to voters who are registered as Democrats in Chemung County regardless of race, color, creed, age, religion, ethnic identity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or economic status.
Section 4. No test of membership in nor any oaths to the Democratic Party of New York shall be required or used that has the effect of requiring prospective or current members to support discrimination on the grounds of race, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, ethnic identity, ability or economic status.
Section 5. The time and place for all meetings of the Chemung County Democratic Committee on all levels shall be publicized fully and in such manner as to assure timely notice to all interested persons. Such meetings shall be held in places accessible to all Party members and large enough to accommodate all interested persons.
Section 6. The Democratic Committee, on all levels, shall support the broadest possible registration without discrimination on grounds of race, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic identity, age, ability, or economic status.
Section 7. The County Committee shall publicize fully and in such manner as to assure notice of all interested parties a full description of the legal and practical procedures for selection of the Party’s officers and representatives on all levels. Upon election or appointment to the County Committee, all committee members shall receive an up to date copy of the County Committee By-Laws.
ARTICLE II
MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. Biennially, in each even numbered year, in the primaries for each election district, there shall be two members elected by each election district in Chemung County who shall be enrolled Democrats at the time of the election and throughout their term of office and shall be elected to the County Committee in the same manner provided by NYS Election Law Section 2-106.
Section 2. As far as practicable, the members shall be equally divided between the sexes.
Section 3. All committee persons must be registered with the Secretary of the County Committee in order to be able to vote.
Section 4. Each member of the County Committee shall reside in Chemung County and be enrolled in the Democratic Party.
Section 5. Upon election or appointment to the Committee, each member shall support and respect the efforts of all members of the Committee in the pursuit of Committee goals.
Section 6. In between the full county committee meetings, the Executive Committee shall have the authority to appoint members to a vacancy on the committee. Upon appointment, the appointee shall have full voting rights.
ARTICLE III
ORGANIZATION AND MEETING
Section 1. The elected members of the County Committee shall meet at least once in each quarter of the calendar year.
Section 2. The Chairperson of the last County Committee shall fix the time and place within the County of Chemung, for the organization meeting as provided by law, and the Secretary of the last County Committee shall notify each member of said County Committee via personal email or mail of the time and place of such meeting at least five days in advance thereof.
Section 3. The County Committee shall organize at such meeting, after the adoption of rules, by the election of the following officers: One Chairperson, Two Executive Vice-Chairpersons, One Recording Secretary, One Corresponding Secretary, One Treasurer, and One Assistant Treasurer. Such voting shall be by weighted vote, defined as the gubernatorial vote in the district on the Democratic line as defined in New York State Election Law, 2-104. One of the Executive Vice-Chairpersons shall be of the opposite sex from the Chairperson, one shall be a resident of a town and one shall be a resident of the City of Elmira. In addition, at the request of the Chair, there may be a Parliamentarian appointed by the Chairperson who must be a registered Democrat, but does not require being a member of the Committee. The Parliamentarian shall not be a member of the Executive Committee.
Section 4. At the organization meeting, the Secretary of the last County Committee shall preside, call the roll of the elected members and preside over the election of a Chairperson. Immediately upon the election of the Chairperson, the meeting shall be turned over to the Chairperson who shall preside at the election of the other officers.
Section 5. In accordance with NYS Election Law 2-112 (2), each of the officers of the County Committee shall be enrolled Democrats and a resident of Chemung County.
Section 6. Officers of the County Committee shall hold their respective offices for a period of two years from the date of the last organizational meeting in which they were elected.
Section 7. Meetings of the County Committee may be called at any time by the Chairperson, and shall be called upon the request of not less than twenty (20) members in writing to the Chairperson and Secretary, and notice of said meeting shall be given as in Section 2, Article III of these rules.
Section 8. A quorum to conduct business at any duly called meeting of the County Committee shall consist of not less than one-third of the elected and appointed members of the County Committee entitled to vote at such meeting and such quorum must be present in person. For the bi-annual organizational meeting (NYS Election Law 2-112) the quorum shall be one-half of the elected and appointed members of the County Committee entitled to vote at such meeting. If no quorum is present, but at least nine members of the Executive Committee are present, they may by majority vote to waive the quorum.
Section 9. Voting shall be in accordance with Section 2-104 of New York State Election Law and reflect the weighted vote of each member of the committee, unless there be an election or endorsement without opposition or for routine matters where there is no objection from the members of the committee.
Section 10. A Committee person may be represented by a designated proxy in writing signed by such committee person, which proxy will be filed with the Secretary of the County Committee before the opening of the meeting for which such proxy is given. No such proxy shall be valid which designates as proxy one who does not reside in the County and who is not an enrolled Democrat, except that at the organization meeting, no proxy shall be valid unless voted by a person from the town or city legislative district in which the election district represented is situated.
Section 11. Order of Business at all organizational meetings of the County Committee, the following shall be the Order of Business:
A. Calling of Roll
Filling of Vacancies
Election
Reports of Officers
Reports of Committees
Unfinished Business
New Business
Section 12. In all cases not provided for by law or these Rules, the authority for parliamentary procedures for the County Committee and the Executive Committee shall be the most recent edition of “Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised”.
ARTICLE IV
OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES
Section 1. The Chairperson of the Chemung County Democratic Committee shall be recognized as the chief executive of the Democratic Committee in Chemung County and will serve as the official spokesperson of the Chemung County Democratic Committee. The Chairperson of the Chemung County Democratic Committee shall convene and call the meetings of the Chemung County Executive Committee on a minimum quarterly basis and shall be responsible for the holding of all countywide committee meetings in accordance with these bylaws. The Chairperson shall also appoint any other officers or committees not specifically provided for in these bylaws but deemed necessary to carry out the objectives of the Party. The Chairperson of County Committee shall also perform any other duties as required by NYS Election Law and the Rules of the NYS Democratic Committee.
Section 2. There shall be two Executive Vice-Chairpersons of the Chemung County Democratic Party, one of whom shall serve in the absence of the Chemung County Chairperson until such time as a vacancy is called. The Vice-Chairpersons shall be responsible for the calling of a meeting in the case of a vacancy of the Chemung County Democratic Chairperson and shall be responsible and carry out such other duties as are assigned to them by the Chairperson of the County Committee.
Section 3. The Treasurer of the Chemung County Democratic Committee shall be responsible for the keeping of all financial records for the Chemung County Democratic Committee. The Treasurer shall, at each monthly meeting, make a financial report as to the financial status of the Party, a copy of which will be distributed to the Recording Secretary, and Committee Members present at said meeting. The Treasurer will be responsible for the filing of all financial reports required by the New York State Board of Elections. The Treasurer shall assume such other fiscal responsibilities as is assigned to him/her either by the bylaws and /or the Chairperson of the Chemung County Democratic Committee.
Section 4. The Assistant Treasurer shall assist the Treasurer in all his/her duties, act in his/her place when the Treasurer is absent and shall carry out such other duties as may be assigned to him/her either by the Treasurer or by the Chairperson of the Democratic Committee.
Section 5. The Recording Secretary of the Chemung County Democratic Committee shall be responsible for the keeping of the minutes of the Executive Board meetings and of all full County Committee meetings. The Recording Secretary shall also be responsible for the keeping of minutes for any special meeting called by the Chemung County Democratic Committee or the Chemung County Democratic Executive Board.
Section 6. The Corresponding Secretary shall be responsible for the calling of meetings and shall carry on the correspondence between the Chemung County Democratic Committee and any persons or organizations as directed by the Chairperson of the Chemung County Democratic Committee. The Corresponding Secretary shall be responsible for the keeping of accurate files of all correspondence and the filing of minutes and bylaws of the Democratic Party.
Section 7. Duties of the Towns Chairperson shall include assisting the various Town Committees as requested by each Town Chairperson. The Town Chairperson shall call at least four (4) meetings of the Chairpersons of the Towns annually.
Section 8. Duties of the City Chairperson shall be defined by the City Committee and shall call quarterly meetings of the City Committee as set forth in Article VI, Section 5.
ARTICLE V
EXECUTIVE AND STANDING COMMITTEES
Section 1. There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the Officers of the Chemung County Democratic Committee, a Towns Chairperson, A City Chairperson of the City of Elmira, and the elected or appointed chair of each Town, or such other person as the Town Committee may elect. In addition, there will be one member on the Executive Committee from each of the council districts within the City of Elmira. Each such Executive Committee member shall serve at the pleasure of the majority of the Committee persons who elected such member or until the County Committee members have designated a new appointment for the election of the Executive Committee members, in which event the member shall continue in office until his/her successor is duly elected. The appointment for the election of members of the Executive Committee shall be reviewed by the County Committee at each meeting held for the purpose of organizing the County Committee. In addition, the State committee persons shall also serve as voting members of the Executive Committee.
a) The voting members of the Executive Committee shall be; the seven (7) Executive Officers as defined in Article IV, sec. 1-6; six (6) City of Elmira District Leaders; the State Committee Representatives; one (1) representative from each of the eleven (11) Towns as described above; the Towns Chair; and the Elmira City Chair. The previous County Chair will be a non-voting member of the Executive Committee.
b) Alternates for any of the elected town or council positions on the Executive Committee shall be elected by their respective committees. If a regular member of the Executive Committee is unable to attend the Executive meeting or holds more than one position on the Executive Committee, an alternate shall be able to attend and act in their place.
c) Members or alternates of the Executive Committee must be enrolled Democrats and residents of Chemung County.
d) A quorum to conduct business at a meeting of the Executive Committee shall consist of nine (9) members or alternates present in person.
e) All voting at Executive Committee meetings shall be in person and not by proxy. Voting at meetings of the Executive Committee shall be on the basis of one vote for each committee person present except in the questions of fund raising, endorsements, or the allocation of funds to candidates in which case any voting member of the Executive Board may call for a weighted voting. When weighted voting is called for, the Chairperson must have the roll called for weighted voting. Weighted voting shall be conducted in the same manner as at the full County Committee meetings. No member of the Executive Committee may cast weighted votes for more than one position on the Committee and in the event of holding more than one position must allow an alternate to cast their second vote. Weighted voting means the proportion of votes each member has based on the number of Democratic voters who voted in the last gubernatorial election in the election district he/she represents. Any weighted voting must be done by roll call vote.
f) The Executive Committee shall hold regular quarterly meetings. Additional meetings may be called by the Chairperson of the County Committee at any time. The Corresponding Secretary of the County Committee shall give at least three days’ notice in writing by mail or email of all regular and additional meetings of the Executive Committee. A special meeting of the Executive Committee of the County Democratic Committee may be called by written petition to the County Chairperson by nine members of the Executive Board. When such petition is delivered to the County Chairperson, a special meeting shall be called within ten (10) days of receipt of the request of the special meeting. All rules pertaining to notice of meetings shall apply to the calling of the special meeting.
g) All Executive Committee members who miss three (3) consecutive regularly scheduled meetings of the executive committee without being excused by the County Chair, or his/her designee, may be subject to removal of office upon review by said committee except where such removal would violate State Election Law.
h) When the County Committee is not in session, the Executive Committee shall have the power and perform the duties of the County Committee to the extent permitted by law and the bylaws.
Section 2. The Audit Committee shall be a standing Committee. This Committee shall consist of four members with two (2) representatives from the City of Elmira and two (2) representatives from the towns. They shall be appointed by the County Chairperson. The County Chairperson shall be an ex-officio member of the Committee. These members need not be members of the County Committee. The Audit Committee shall meet to informally audit financial transactions during the year. A report will be given to the County Committee. In addition, every two years, or upon the change in Treasurer, a professional audit will be conducted. The Audit Committee will periodically check the State Board of Elections website to assure that required financial reports have been filed by the Treasurer.
Section 3. The Fund Raising Committee shall be a standing Committee. This Committee shall consist of at least four (4) members, appointed by the County Chairperson. These members need not be members of the County Committee, but must be registered Democrats. The County Chairperson and the Treasurer shall be ex-officio members of this Committee. This Committee shall have the responsibility for raising funds for the County Committee.
Section 4. There shall be a Rules and Bylaws Committee consisting of a Chair, three members appointed by the Chairperson of the County Committee, and the Commissioner of Elections. The committee shall be responsible for monitoring the County Committee’s compliance with Election Law and to make recommendations and/or proposals regarding changes in these bylaws to the Executive Committee and the County Committee.
Section 5. The Chair at his/her discretion will fill and create Standing Committees as needed. Each standing Committee, where practical, shall have equal representation from both sexes.
Section 6. The County Chair and /or Treasurer shall be allowed to authorize expenditures of up to a maximum of five hundred dollars ($500.00) for the purpose of normal operating expenses of the County Committee. Authorization of contributions to any endorsed candidate must be approved by the full County Committee. In between meetings, the Executive Committee is authorized to act on behalf of the full County Committee for such purpose.
Section 7. The Ethics Committee shall be a standing committee for the purpose of considering and adjudicating allegations of ethics violations by CCDC committee members. This Committee shall be comprised of five members appointed by the CCDC Chair within one month of the biennial organizational meeting. No Executive Committee member shall serve on the Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee shall hold at least one annual meeting. Any other meetings shall be held on an as needed basis.
ARTICLE VI
MUNICIPAL AND LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT COMMITTEES AND THEIR DUTIES
Section 1. The members of the County Committee within an Assembly District shall constitute the Assembly District Committee in Chemung County.
Section 2. The members of the Executive Committee shall elect the members of the Judicial, Congressional, and the Senatorial District Committees.
Section 3. The members of the County Committee elected by the election districts of the several towns of the County, of the several villages of the County, of the several legislative districts of the City of Elmira shall constitute respectively the Democratic Town, Village, City Legislative, and City Committees for all purposes required by the statutes or otherwise.
a) The members of the Town, Villages, and City Committees shall meet at the conclusion of the first meeting of the County Committee and organize by the selection of a Chairperson. At said committees discretion a Vice Chair, or Vice Chairs, may be also elected at this meeting, or at any time as they so desire.
Section 4. The Village and Town Committees shall call all required caucuses for the nomination of officers in their respective municipalities. In the event said Committees fail to call such caucuses, or in the event that there is no member of such Committee available to make such call, then said caucuses shall be called by the Chairperson of the County Committee.
Section 5. It is recommended that the City Committee shall hold at least three (3) meetings a year. Special meetings shall be called upon petition of five (5) members of the City Committee. Upon receipt of a petition for a special meeting, the City Chairperson must call a special meeting of the City Committee within five (5) days of receipt of the petition for a special meeting.
ARTICLE VII
VILLAGE PARTY NOMINATIONS
Section 1. All village Democratic committees within Chemung County may choose either a primary or a caucus as the means of making party nominations to village offices, but in so choosing must comply with the provisions of NYS Election Law 6-202 and as further provided in these bylaws. The Village of Horseheads is an exception where the Board of Elections conducts the elections.
Section 2. In the event of a village caucus, the Chairperson of the Village shall call the meeting to order when it shall be organized by the selection by a majority vote of all present entitled to vote at such caucus, and the caucus shall be held open at least fifteen minutes after the organization thereof. No persons shall be entitled to vote at such caucuses unless his or her name appears upon the enrollment books of the district. In the event that there is no Village Committee, the Chair of the County Committee shall designate an enrolled member of the Democratic Committee residing in the village as the Village Election Chair. The Village Election Chair shall be responsible for the running of the Village Caucus or Primary.
Section 3. The Caucus or Primary will be conducted in the following manner:
a) There shall be an elected Secretary to canvass the voters and a Teller.
b) Candidates and delegates and officers of the organization or committees shall be chosen by ballot.
c) The meeting shall be held open not less than one hour for the voting thereat.
d) The Teller shall keep a poll list of the name and residences of each person voting and assist the Secretary in the canvass of votes.
e) An elector shall be appointed watcher for each candidate or set of candidates or delegates requesting the same.
f) The Secretary shall publicly announce the number of votes cast for each candidate and the results of the canvass at the completion thereof. If the caucus occurs in a village whose population at the time of the most recent decennial census exceeds five thousand people, the Secretary shall further file the oaths, the poll list and a statement of results in the office of Village Clerk, as applicable, and the papers so filed shall be public records and open to inspection and examination by any voter of the State.
ARTICLE VIII
SPECIAL ELECTIONS
Section 1. Party nominations for an office to be voted for at special election shall be made by the Party Committee representing the unit of representation for which said office is to be filled.
ARTICLE IX
DESIGNATION OF CANDIDATES
Section 1. Designation of candidates for party and public office shall be made by petition and primary as directed by law except as otherwise provided in these bylaws.
ARTICLE X
REMOVAL OF COMMITTEE MEMBER
Section 1. In accordance with NYS Election Law Section (2-116), a Member or Officer of a Party Committee may be removed by such Committee for disloyalty to the party, or corruption in office after notice is given and a hearing upon written charges to be heard by the Ethics Committee which shall report its findings to the Exective and full Committees. Should the complainant or respondent be a member of the Ethics or Executive Committee, he or she shall recuse himself/herself. The action of any Committee in removing a member thereof, as herein provided for, may be reviewed in summary proceeding before the Supreme Court, or by Justice thereof, upon a petition of the person so removed. Any Committee member may submit a written complaint to the Ethics Committee Chair, who, upon review, will forward to the Ethics Committee. Such complaint shall include date of occurrence and supporting facts. Both complain tent and respondent will be invited to attend the meeting where the complaint will be reviewed.
Section 2. In addition, Committee Members who choose to actively and publicly support non Democratic Party candidates, where there are Democratic candidates running for a specific elected office, shall take a leave of absence from the Committee through the entirety of the campaign, unless there is no Democratic candidate running in that specific election.
ARTICLE XI
VACANCIES
Section 1. Where a vacancy occurs in the County Committee, such vacancy shall be filled by the remaining members of said Committee in ‘accordance with NYS Election Law 2-118, by the selection of an enrolled Democrat qualified for election.
Section 2. When a vacancy exists in the position of County Chairperson, the Vice-Chairpersons shall call for a special meeting of the County Committee within thirty (30) days of the occurrence of the vacancy. At the County meeting, an election shall be held for the purpose of electing a new County Chairperson.
ARTICLE XII
ELECTION COMMISSIONER
Section 1. In accordance with New York State and Chemung County laws the Democratic Commissioner of Elections shall be selected upon the appointment by the County Legislature with the recommendation of the Democratic County Committee.
Section 2. The Commissioner, if not already a member of the Executive Committee, shall serve as a non-voting member of the Executive Committee.
Section 3. In accordance with the recommendation of the State Board of Elections, there shall be no expectation that the Commissioner will carry and witness petitions for offices where he or she would be required under law to make rulings on the validity thereof. Petitions for offices that by law are forwarded to the State Board of Elections for review may be carried by the Commissioner.
ARTICLE XIII
AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS
Section 1. These rules may be amended from time to time by submitting proposed amendments to the Executive Committee. Upon approval by the Executive Committee, the proposed amendments will be forwarded to the full County Committee at least 5 days prior to the meeting for which they shall be acted upon. A majority vote (NYS Election Law Sec. 2-114) of those persons present will be necessary to have the amendment become effective.
Section 2. Proposed changes by any member of the County Committee to the bylaws must be submitted to the Rules and Bylaws Committee which shall make recommendations to the Executive Committee and the County Committee. A majority vote of the Executive Committee is required before consideration of proposed changes by the full committee unless two-thirds of the County Committee shall discharge the Executive Committee of its duty regarding said changes.
ARTICLE XIV
CODE OF ETHICS AND PROCESS FOR COMPLAINTS
The Chemung County Democratic Committee hereby adopts the following code of Ethics:
Section 1. Dual Office Holding: the County Chair shall not simultaneously hold elected office and the office of County Chair.
Section 2. Conflict of Interest: A conflict of interest is defined as a situation where a committee member (or his/or her family) is are involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another interest and/or create the appearance of impropriety. No committee member shall derive personal benefit from any action of decision made in their official capacity as a committee member or officer of the CCDC.
Section 3. Confidentiality-sharing, distribution, disbursing or disseminating information about plans, strategies, finances or any other information the CCDC deems solely for the use of the committee and its members with anyone not a member of the CCDC shall be a breach of confidentiality.
Section 4. Misappropriation of Funds-theft or deliberate mishandling of CCDC funds, property or the funds of a political campaign shall be deemed a violation of the Code of Ethics.
Section 5. Abusive Behavior physical or verbal abuse of any committee member by another committee member shall not be tolerated. This shall include any behavior that a reasonable person would interpret as aggressive, threatening, intimidating and any related conduct that unreasonably disrupts the CCDC’s ability to execute its mission.
PROCESS FOR FILING COMPLAINTS:
Section 1. An ethics violation shall include but not be limited to any action that does not explicitly adhere to the Code of Ethics as set forth above. Any member of CCDC may submit a complaint of violation of the Code of Ethics to the Chair of the Ethics Committee. All complaints must be filed in writing within 30 days of the discovery of the matter.
Section 2. The Ethics Committee shall meet to review any written complaint it receives within 60 days of the receipt of the written complaint.
Section 3. The Ethics Committee shall provide a written response to the complaint and shall keep records of any complaint it receives.
Section 4. The Ethics Committee may dismiss any complaints that are deemed outside the scope of the Ethics Committee's jurisdiction.
Section 5. After fully investigating a complaint, the Ethics Committee will provide its findings to the CCDC Chair who will forward to the Executive Committee.
Section 6. The CCDC will not tolerate retaliatory action of any kind against a member for filing a good faith complaint under this policy.