TEMPORARY RULES FOR ASSEMBLED CAUCUS
Greene County Democratic Committee
1.
The Caucus will be convened at 11:00 am on May 10, 2014 in the County Administration Building, 40 Celt
Road, Stanardsville, VA. The Caucus shall be conducted in conformity with the Party Plan of the Democratic Party of
Virginia, the Call to Convention of the Fifth District Democratic Committee, the Call to Convention issued by the
Chair of the Greene County Democratic Party, and Roberts’ Rules of Order.
2.
Order of Business:
Call to Order
Election of a Permanent Chair of the Meeting
Approval of Permanent Rules
Appointment of Secretary
Speeches on behalf of any qualified Congressional candidate, or on behalf of sending a “No Candidate” or an
“Uncommitted” delegation, as requested, with a total of 10 minutes allotted for all speakers for a candidate, or
for any “No Candidate” or “Uncommitted” delegation.
Separation of participants into caucuses: for each candidate, No Candidate, and Uncommitted
Calculation of proportion of participants in each caucus
Determination of number of delegates and alternates to be allotted to each caucus
Election of delegates and alternates
Adjournment
3.
To participate in the Caucus, each participant must certify that he or she is a Democrat, is a registered voter in
Greene County; believes in the principles of the Democratic Party; and does not intend to support any candidate who is
opposed to a Democratic nominee in the next ensuing election.
4.
To participate in the Caucus, participants must have received a certification form or be in line to receive a
certification form no later than 11:00 am. Sign-in will begin at 10:00 am, one hour before the meeting starts. The
clock in the meeting room will be the official clock for determining when sign-in will close.
5.
At the appropriate time, participants will be directed to separate into caucuses based on the Congressional
candidate whom they support or to form a caucus for “No Candidate” and for "Uncommitted". The Permanent Chair
of the Caucus will designate a Leader of each candidate caucus.
6.
The Leaders of the candidate caucus will obtain a count of the number of participants in the caucus by
collecting the certification forms from caucus participants. The certification forms will be given to the Chair of the
Caucus. The Chair of the Caucus will then calculate the number of delegates and alternates that each caucus can elect.
This calculation will be based on the number of participants in a candidate caucus divided by the sum of the people
participating in all of the candidate caucuses (the Pro Rata Share), multiplied by four (the number of Delegates
allocated for this locality). The Caucus Chair will calculate the number of alternates that each candidate caucus can
elect by multiplying the Pro Rata Share by two (the number of Alternates for this locality). (See endnote for details of
this calculation.) These results will be known as the Caucus Allotment of Delegates and the Caucus Allotment of
Alternates.
7.
When the numbers of delegates and alternates (the Caucus Allotments) for each candidate caucus have been
determined, each caucus will elect delegates and alternates to fill these delegate and alternate "slots". Only those
people who have filed to be delegates (or alternates) may be nominated or elected. Filers do not have to be present at
the caucus. Even if a Caucus Allotment is greater than the number of filed delegates for that candidate, the caucus
may elect only delegates who have filed; this may result in some delegate seats not being filled.
8.
All voting shall be by secret paper ballot. Printed ballots will be prepared ahead of time, one with names of
filers preferring one congressional candidate (to be used in that candidate's caucus), one with filers preferring the other
congressional candidate (to be used in that candidate's caucus), one containing names of “No Candidate” filers (to be
used in the “No Candidate” caucus), and one containing names of “Uncommitted” filers (to be used in the
“Uncommitted” caucus). Any vote cast for any person who did not file will be invalid (voting for someone who did
not file will NOT invalidate any votes that that participant may have cast for filed candidates).
9.
Participants may vote for no more than the Caucus Allotment of Delegates. Ballots which contain votes for
more than the Caucus Allotment of Delegates will be invalid. There will be only one ballot.
10.
Within any candidate caucus, a participant may move the adoption of a slate of delegates and alternates. Such
a motion shall be subject to a majority vote by the participants in the caucus; if the motion passes, the slate of delegates
and alternates shall be deemed elected.
11.
The ballots shall be counted in each candidate caucus as directed by the caucus Leader, and the results shall be
announced in the caucus. The ballots may be examined by any participant in the caucus. The candidates for delegate
shall be ranked by the number of votes received. The top vote getters will be deemed elected as Delegates. The next
candidates for delegate will be elected as Alternates, up to the Caucus Allotment of Alternates. For example, if there
are 10 candidates for delegate in a caucus, and the caucus is permitted to elect 4 delegates and 2 alternates, the top 4
vote getters will be elected as Delegates and the next 2 vote getters will be elected as Alternates. If there is a tie, the
tie will be broken by lot, the method to be determined by the Chair of the Caucus. When the counting is complete, the
Leader of the candidate caucus shall report the results to the Chair of the Caucus and shall give the ballots to the Chair
of the Caucus, who shall keep them for at least 30 days. It shall be the duty of the Chair of the Caucus to report the
results of the meeting to the Chair of the Fifth District Democratic Committee, and to submit a list of delegates and
alternates to the Chair of the Fifth District Credentials Committee.
12.
A challenge to any delegate or alternate elected at the caucus must be submitted in writing to the Chair of the
Fifth District Credentials Committee not more than 10 days after the election of such delegate or alternate. The
Credentials Committee shall begin hearing challenges within 7 days after the deadline for filing such challenges. The
rules and procedures of the Credentials Committee shall provide for adequate notice for meetings and hearings.
Lisa L. Hystad
Chair, Greene County Democratic Committee
Footnote: Method of determining Caucus Allotments of Delegates and Alternates.
Step 1. Determine the Pro Rata Share of each caucus by dividing the number of participants in each caucus by the total of all
participants in all caucuses, to obtain a percentage (example: 6 divided by 17 equals 0.35.)
Step 2. For each caucus, multiply the Pro Rata Share by the number of delegates allocated to your county/city, your Allocation of
Delegates; this should be carried to two decimal places (example: 0.35 times 5 delegates equals 1.75).
Step 3. Use the whole number (before the decimal point) to determine the number of delegates each caucus has "won" (one, in
this example).
Step 4. If the total number of delegates thus assigned is less than the total allotment of delegates for the city or county, the Chair
will look at the decimal remainder of the calculation in Step 2. The caucus having the highest remainder will be assigned
an additional delegate. For example, assume that a locality is entitled to 5 delegates. 24 people come to the meeting. 10
favor Candidate A; 8 favor Candidate B; and 6 favor “No Candidate”. Candidate A’s Caucus Allotment would be 2.08
delegates; Candidate B’s Caucus Allotment would be 1.66 delegates; No Candidate’s Caucus Allotment would be 1.25
delegates. Under Step 3, above, Candidate A would receive 2 delegates, Candidate B would receive 1 delegate, and No
Candidate would receive 1 delegate. However, that leaves one delegate to be allocated. Because the decimal remainder
for Candidate B is higher than the decimal remainders for Candidate A and No Candidate, Candidate B would receive the
remaining delegate. The final Caucus Allotments would be 2 for Candidate A, 2 for Candidate B, and 1 for No Candidate.
Step 5. If the total number of delegates now assigned is still less than the total allotment of delegates for the city or county, the
Chair will look for the second highest decimal remainder. The caucus having this second highest remainder will be
assigned an additional delegate. However, this is not helpful if in the above example Candidate B and No Candidate each
had 7 supporters, and each received 1.45 delegates. In this case they would be tied to receive the extra delegate, and the
extra delegate would need to be allotted to either Candidate B or No Candidate as decided by lot in a manner determined
by the Caucus Chair.
Step 6. The same process will then be used to calculate and assign Alternates.