Party rules, version 2

These are on file with Middletown's Town Clerk and Connecticut Secretary of State: Proposed Rules for the Middletown Town Committee Of the Independent Party of Connecticut 1. The Voting Membership of the Middletown Town Committee of the Independent Party of Connecticut shall be selected by eligible electors specified below. 1.1a Electors eligible to elect the Middletown Town Committee shall include electors of the City of Middletown who are members of the Independent Party of Connecticut, and who have not been a member of a major party in the ninety days prior to the date of a given caucus, signing of a petition, or request for email notification . 1.1b Electors eligible to elect the Middletown Town Committee shall also include any Middletown elector who has previously appeared on a ballot on the Independent Party of Connecticut line. 1.1c The members of any minor party providing voting privileges to the Middletown members of the Independent Party of Connecticut shall receive, in return, full voting privileges in the election of the Middletown Town Committee for those members who are also electors of the City of Middletown. 1.2 The Town Committee will comprise of representatives that number one per every 10 eligible electors specified above, not to exceed 9 representatives. 1.3 The Town Committee will be elected annually to a one-year term. 1.4 Amendments to section 1 require a two-thirds majority at a caucus called under the rules below, or by petition or the current Voting Membership. 2. Meetings for the purpose of electing committee members, officers, amending rules, or nominating candidates within the jurisdiction of Middletown shall be preceded by fifteen days notice on the official Middletown Independent Party website ( http://independentpartyct-middletown.blogspot.com ), except in the case where a vacancy occurs less than fifteen days prior to September 20th (so that vacancies may be filled in a timely manner in order to prevent the recall of absentee ballots and other measures costly to the City of Middletown). 2.1 Electors in the Voting Membership may request to be placed on an email list that will coincide with the notice placed on the party website. 2.2 Meetings shall be open to the public. 2.3 A minimum of one meeting shall convene each calendar year, not to occur later than Labor Day. 2.4 Meetings can be called by the Chairman of the Party. 2.5 Meetings can be called by a petition of a majority of the eligible electors specified in section 1 submitted to the Secretary of the Party. 3. The officer of Chairman shall be elected to a two year term by the Town Committee. 3.1 The chairman will convene caucuses for party business. 3.2 The chairman will appoint a temporary chairman and temporary secretary to preside over party meetings. 3.3 The chairman will co-sign, along with the secretary, applications for petitioning candidates wishing to run on the party line. 4. The officer of Secretary will be elected to a two year term by the Town Committee. 4.1 The Secretary will guarantee the proper communication of party documents to include meeting notices, election of officers, rule changes, and nomination of candidates. 4.2 The secretary will co-sign, along with the chairman, applications for petitioning candidates wishing to run on the party line. 5. Nominations for public office require the endorsement the Town Committee 5.1 Vacancies for ballot nominations shall be filled by a party caucus on fifteen days notice - unless such notice should cause the caucus to occur after September 20th. 5.2 Offices where slates of candidates are elected shall be selected through the competition of ordered lists where the number of candidates selected from such lists shall reflect the proportion of votes for such list, and the top-most entries on a list will be selected if support exists for only a fraction of the list. 5.2.1 An example for rule 5.3 would be the case where there are eight common council members being selected, and two slates are nominated, slate A(R1,R2,R3,R4,R5,R6) and slate B(D1,D2,D3,D4), and slate A receives 60% of the vote and slate B receives 40%. 5 slate A members (R1 to R5) would be nominated and 3 slate B members (D1 to D3) would be nominated. 6. Party Rules can be amended by a two-thirds majority at a caucus.