ADP Bylaws - Article VI

ARTICLE VI
OTHER COMMITTEES

SECTION 1. Council (Committee) of County Chairs. There shall be a Council of County Chairs composed of the elected chairpersons of each of the fifteen (15) county party organizations.

a) The duties of the council shall include the following: serve as a support group for training and working with county chairs to assist in finance, media relations, and other administrative skills. The council shall also serve as an adjunct to the state party chair to facilitate the aims and goals of the state party organization.

b) The council shall meet at each meeting of the state party committee. In addition, the council shall also meet at least quarterly at time other than during the state committee meetings. The time and place of such meetings shall be set by the council through a convener who shall be chosen by the county chairs at the first meeting following the state re-organization meeting.

SECTION 2. Standing Committees. Standing Committees of the State Committee shall be the Affirmative Action Committee, Bylaws Committee, Communications Committee, Credentials Committee, Election Integrity Committee, Finance Committee, and Resolutions Committee. The determination of the personnel, size, and other details of the composition of Standing Committees shall be the duties of the State Chair.

a) It shall be the duty of the Affirmative Action Committee to undertake the responsibilities stated in Article IX, Section 1 of these bylaws.

b) It shall be the duty of the Bylaws Committee to keep the bylaws of the Party consistent with the aims and policies of the Party and to propose changes in the bylaws. The Bylaws Committee shall report to the State Committee and shall recommend approval, rejection, or amendment of all bylaw amendments.

c) It shall be the duty of the Communications Committee to help create media awareness of the activities of the Party and to assist in any communications and voter outreach programs of the Party.

d) It shall be the duty of the Credentials Committee to approve the credentials of all State or Executive Committee members at meetings of these committees and to review and approve all proxies in accordance with Article VIII, Section 6 of these bylaws. All challenges of members or proxies shall be referred to the Credentials Committee for resolution. The Credentials Committee shall oversee all vote counts. In the event that a ballot is required, the Credentials Committee shall count the ballots, determine the intent of the voter and resolve any conflicts regarding the validity of any ballot cast.

e) It shall be the duty of the Election Integrity Committee to represent the Party in all efforts to assure the integrity of the election process in consultation with the State Chair.

f) It shall be the duty of the Finance Committee to assist the State Chair in raising funds for the State Party.

g) It shall be the duty of the Resolutions Committee to review all resolutions proposed to the State Committee in accordance with these bylaws. The Resolutions Committee shall report to the State Committee and shall recommend approval, rejection, or amendment of all resolutions. The Resolutions Committee shall establish and publish the procedures for the proposition of resolutions that are consistent with these bylaws.
SECTION 3. Special Committees. Special Committees of the State Committee shall be the, Coordinated Campaign Committee, Delegate Selection Committee, Platform Committee, and other such committees as may be appointed by the State Chair or as may be directed by the State Committee. The determination of the personnel, size, and other details of the composition of Special Committees shall be the duties of the State Chair, except the Coordinated Campaign Committee, the composition of which shall also be determined in conjunction with the Democratic National Committee.
a) It shall be a duty of the Coordinated Campaign Committee to raise funds to support the activities of the State Party’s Coordinated Campaign.
b) It shall be the duty of the Delegate Selection Committee to ensure that the rules for delegate selection for conventions and meetings are kept consistent pursuant to Article XI of these bylaws and to undertake selection of delegates in accordance with those rules.
c) It shall be the duty of the Platform Committee, which shall be chaired by the Educational Coordinator, to draft a platform that shall be submitted to the Executive Committee for additions and changes prior to its submission to the State Committee, and such endorsed document shall be available one (1) month prior to the meeting of the State Committee at which it is to be considered for approval.
SECTION 4. Committee Statements. No committee shall be authorized to issue any statement on behalf of either the State Committee or the Executive Committee or as coming from the Party, and any statement of report issued by any committee in its own behalf shall be confined within the scope of its duties.

SECTION 5. Funds. All funds for committees are under the internal control of the Party and fall within the duties of the Treasurer.

SECTION 6. Democratic Clubs. The State Committee shall certify any Democratic club which has been recognized by the Democratic County Committee in which the club members reside, under rules established by the bylaws of their Democratic County Committee.

SECTION 7. Statewide Caucuses. The ADP encourages broad participation and diversity. In recognition thereof, provision is hereby made for official recognition of Statewide Caucuses.
Definition: A Caucus is a group of Democrats whose members join together to organize the communities they represent within the ADP for activities, goals and purposes consonant with the overall activities, goals and purposes of the ADP and the Democratic National Committee.

Procedure:
(a) A prospective Caucus may apply to the Executive Board of the State Committee for official recognition as a Caucus of the ADP. Applications must be signed by a minimum of twenty current members of the State Committee and must be presented to the Executive Board 30 days prior to any quarterly meeting of the State Committee, for consideration at the Quarterly meeting. A prospective Caucus may apply to the Executive Board no more than twice during any two-year period between one biennial organizational meeting and the next

(b) Provided that all criteria for Caucus recognition herein set forth are met, the Executive Board shall recognize an applicant Caucus as a Caucus of the ADP, unless, upon the vote of two-thirds of all the members of the Executive Board, the activities, goals, and purposes of the Caucus are found to be specifically detrimental to the activities, goals, and purposes of the ADP. If a Caucus application is rejected, the Executive Board must immediately in writing provide the applying Caucus the reason for the denial.

Conditions of Recognition and/or Maintaining Recognition. A Caucus will not be recognized as a Caucus of the ADP or will immediately lose its recognition upon a determination by the Executive Board (given in writing to the Caucus with the Caucus having a reasonable opportunity to challenge the determination and/or to remedy same) that any of the following Prerequisite Conditions do not or no longer exist or that any of the following Revocation Events have occurred, or for such other stated reason as the Executive Board finds in the best interest of the ADP.

Prerequisite Conditions:

1. Minimum current 20 State Committee members as enrolled members residing
in at least 3 Arizona counties.

2. The Caucus has adopted by-laws.

a. Requiring members to be registered Democrats.

b. Stating that one of the purposes of the caucus is to elect Democrats
and to work to strengthen the ADP.

c. Which are not in conflict with, or in contradiction to, the by-laws of the ADP.

3. Agreement by the Caucus to follow the Bylaws of the ADP.

4. The Caucus shall not be nor operate as a political action committee (“PAC”) as PACs are defined by and subject to either the Arizona Revised Statutes or by the United States Code.

Revocation Events
5. The Caucus fails to remain in compliance with the above Prerequisite Conditions.

6. Caucus endorsement of any candidate for public office during the pre-primary or primary period.

7. Caucus endorsement or effort on behalf of candidates other than Democratic candidates.

Benefits of Recognized Caucus Status. At such time as a Caucus is officially recognized as a Caucus of the ADP, the Caucus shall be entitled to further normal benefits of ADP recognition, such as meeting announcements by the ADP on its website and elsewhere, meeting time, space and facilities at State Committee meeting venues at no charge to the Caucus, opportunity to report from the floor at State Committee meetings. Although a Caucus may identify itself as a Caucus recognized by the ADP, such recognition shall in no way entitle a Caucus to speak on behalf of the ADP as a whole, and the Caucus shall take care that no such impression is given in its activities or statements.

State Committee Membership. At such time as the Caucus shall have 75 members in good standing, the caucus shall be entitled to select one of its members to be a member of the Executive Committee of the ADP.