Event Central

The 5th Congressional District will convene a convention to select delegates to the Democratic National Convention. The 5th Congressional District will select the following:

1 Male Obama delegate
2 Female Obama delegates
1 Male Obama alternate
1 Male Clinton delegate

Call to Convention:

CALL

2008 FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION

1. Call. Pursuant to the authority provided by the Virginia Democratic Party Plan, the Congressional District Democratic Committee (“District Committee”) hereby calls a Convention to be held at 11:00 a.m., on Saturday, May 17, 2008, at the Nelson County Middle School in Lovingston, Virginia.

2. Incorporated Documents. All appropriate provisions of the Virginia Democratic Party Plan (“State Party Plan”) as amended through February 18, 2008, and the Procedures Guide issued by the Democratic Party of Virginia dated February, 2008, are incorporated into this Call by reference and made a part hereof.

3. Purposes. The purposes of the District Convention shall be to elect Delegates and Alternates to the National Convention (“National Delegates and Alternates”), to elect a Democratic elector from the Fifth Congressional District, and to nominate a candidate for Congress from the Fifth Congressional District. The Fifth District Committee having established a prefiling deadline of March 3, 2008 for persons wishing to be considered for nomination for Congress from the Fifth Congressional District, and only one candidate – Thomas Perriello – having prefiled, Thomas Perriello is deemed to be the Democratic candidate for Congress from the Fifth Congressional District.

4. Selection of District Convention Delegates. The delegates to the District Democratic Convention shall be selected by county and city caucuses as follows. Delegates to the District Convention shall be those elected by city or county caucuses to be held at one of the two following times: Saturday, April 19, beginning at 12:00 noon, or Monday, April 21, 2008, beginning at 7:30 PM. If any locality holds a convention in addition to the caucus, such convention shall be governed by the appropriate provisions of the State Party Plan and the Guidelines.

5. Allocation of District Convention Delegates. The delegates to the Fifth District Democratic Convention shall be allocated as follows:

Delegates Alternates

Clinton Obama Clinton Obama

Albemarle 11 23 5 12
Appomattox 1 2 1 1
Bedford County 5 3 2 2
Bedford City 1 1 1 0
Brunswick 1 3 0 2
Buckingham 1 3 1 1
Campbell 5 5 2 3
Charlotte 1 2 0 1
Charlottesville 4 11 2 6
Cumberland 1 1 0 1
Danville 3 9 1 5
Fluvanna 3 4 1 2
Franklin 7 5 3 3
Greene 1 2 1 1
Halifax 2 6 1 3
Henry 3 5 2 2
Lunenburg 1 2 0 1
Martinsville 1 3 1 1
Mecklenburg 2 4 1 2
Nelson 2 3 1 2
Pittsylvania 4 8 2 4
Prince Edward 1 4 1 1

6. Rules of District Convention Delegate Selection.

a. Participation and Outreach. Participation in Virginia's Democratic delegate selection process is open to all registered voters who wish to participate as Democrats. All meetings shall be open to all members of the Democratic Party regardless of race, sex, age, color, creed, national origin, religion, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, economic status, or disability, and all meetings should be publicized fully. Each District and local committee should conduct outreach programs to encourage full participation by all Democrats in the State Central Committee election process, including notice, publicity and education programs. Such outreach should be directed to all Democratic constituencies, including group such as ethnic minorities, young people, persons over 65 years of age, lesbians and gay men, persons with a high school education or less, persons with disabilities and persons of low and moderate income.

b. County and City Calls. Each County and City Democratic Committee shall provide a copy of its call to caucus to the State Democratic Party and to the Fifth Democratic Committee Chair by April 3, 2008.

c. Filing. Any Democrat wishing to be a delegate to the District Convention must file a certificate of candidacy with the Chairperson of the local county or city Democratic committee, or a designated representative, by the filing deadline, which will be 5 days before the caucus. For caucuses to be held on Saturday, April 19, 2008, the filing deadline is 5:00 PM on Monday April 14, 2008. For caucuses to be held on Monday, April 21, 2008, the deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16, 2008. Only those delegate candidates who have filed by the deadline will appear on the ballots distributed at the caucuses. Each County and City Committee shall provide notice of the filing deadline and of the date, time and place of the caucus at least seven days but not more than two weeks prior to the caucus. If the number of Democrats prefiling to be a delegate to the District Convention from a locality does not exceed the number of delegates allotted to that locality, those persons will be deemed elected delegates, and the local committee caucus may be canceled. A delegate candidate must indicate a Presidential preference on his or her prefiling form.

d. Declaration. All candidates for delegate, and all persons participating in the caucuses, shall sign a Declaration form which includes an affirmation that the person is a resident of, and registered to vote in, the jurisdiction holding the caucus; does not intend to support any candidate who is opposed to the Democratic nominee in the next ensuing general election; is a Democrat; is not a member of any other political party; and has not participated and will not participate in the nominating process of any other political party for the 2008 general election.

e. Certification of District Delegates. Within five days after each caucus, each county and city Democratic Committee Chair shall provide the State Democratic Party, the Chair of the District Committee, and the Chair of the District Credentials Committee with a certified list of delegates and alternates, including the name, address, telephone number, fax number and/or e-mail address (if available), and the person’s Presidential candidate preference.

f. Rules and Notice. Each county and city Democratic Committee within the Congressional District shall establish rules for its caucuses in conformity with this call, the State Party Plan, and the Guidelines. Such rules shall be adopted in a timely manner and may provide for required public notification of the time, place and method of Delegate selection in a newspaper of general circulation in the district between seven and fourteen days prior to the Caucus. The notice shall be at least two columns wide and three inches in length and published as a paid political advertisement. Instead of a newspaper notice, a committee may provide notice by placing notice on the State Party website, its local website, and providing a press release to all relevant newspapers of general circulation.

g. Filing Fees. Each person who prefiles to be a delegate or alternate to the Congressional District Convention shall be asked to pay an administrative fee to the Fifth District Democratic Committee in the amount of $5.00, plus such other fee as the county or and city Democratic Committee shall decide, not to exceed $10.00. This fee shall be voluntary, and no party member shall be excluded from participation in a convention because of not paying a fee. Any Democrat who desires to participate in a convention but who chooses not to pay the requested fee shall be permitted to participate.

7. District Convention Rules and Committees. The District Democratic Convention shall be governed by the rules developed by the Temporary Rules Committee and rules developed by the permanent Rules Committee and adopted by the Convention. The District Chair shall appoint the members of the Temporary Committees on Credentials and Rules, and shall appoint a convener of each committee. Each committee shall be composed of at least 5 members, to be appointed to be representative of the entire District.

The District Convention shall elect Permanent Committees on Credentials and Rules. Each committee shall be composed of at least 5 members. The membership of the Permanent Committees shall be apportioned in the same manner as the temporary committees.

8. Filing vacancies in Delegations. Vacancies in each jurisdiction’s delegation may be filled by majority vote of that delegation from that jurisdiction’s alternates who have the same preference for President. If there are not enough alternates with the same Presidential preference in that jurisdiction, the delegation may select any other alternate with the same Presidential preference, regardless of what jurisdiction that alternate lives in.

9. National Delegate and Alternate Allocations. The Convention will select one male delegate with a preference for Barack Obama, two female delegates with a preference for Barack Obama, one male delegate with a preference for Hillary Clinton, and one male alternate with a preference for Barack Obama.

10. National Delegates and Alternates Prefiling Deadline. Any person wishing to be elected as a District-level Delegate or Alternate to the National Convention or as a Congressional District Elector shall prefile with the Congressional District Chair (with a copy to the Democratic Party Chair) by 5:00 PM on May 2, 2008.

11. State Convention Committees. The Convention shall select one person from the District to serve on the Temporary Credentials Committee, the Temporary Rules Committee and the Temporary Resolutions Committee for the State Convention on June 13 and 14, 2008.

13. Filing Deadlines and Locations. All documents to be filed with District Chair or State Party Chair must be post-marked by the stated deadlines. All papers to be filed with the Chair of the District Committee shall be filed by mail to Fred Hudson, P.O. Box 84, Free Union, VA 22940 (address), by fax to 434 964 1292 or by email to fredwhudson@yahoo.com. All papers to be filed with the State Democratic Party or its chair shall be filed at: Democratic Party of Virginia, 1108 East Main St., 2nd Floor, Richmond Va., 23219 (phone, 804/644-1966). All documents to be filed with the Chair of the Credentials Committee may be filed by mail to Tom Proulx, 950 Avon Road, Afton, VA 22920, by fax to 540-456-6849, or by email at proulx@cfw.com.

Adopted by the Fifth District Committee, this 1st day of April, 2008.


___________________________________
Fred Hudson, Chair

PRELIMINARY DRAFT REPORT OF THE TEMPORARY RULES COMMITTEE
FOR THE
FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION

May 17, 2008

CONVENING OF CONVENTION

The Fifth District Convention will convene at the Nelson County Middle School, Lovingston, Virginia, at 11:00 a.m. on May 17, 2008.

The Convention will be called to order by the Chair of the Fifth Congressional District Democratic Committee (“District Committee”) who shall serve as temporary Convention Chair.

ORDER OF BUSINESS

1. Call to order

2. Introduction of Temporary Chair and Secretary

3. Election of Permanent Rules and Credentials Committees, which will meet immediately following their election

4. Welcoming address, introductions and announcements

5. Report of the Permanent Credentials Committee

6. Election of Permanent Chair and Permanent Secretary

7. Report of the Permanent Rules Committee

8. Appointment by Permanent Chair of Head Teller, at least three Assistant Tellers, Parliamentarian and Sergeant-at-Arms.

9. Nomination of candidate for Congress. There being only one candidate to have prefiled – Thomas Perriello – by the deadline of March 3, 2008, Thomas Perriello is deemed to be the Democratic candidate for Congress from the Fifth Congressional District. The candidate, and other speakers on his behalf, may address the Convention for up to a total of 15 minutes.

10. Election of Fifth District Elector. Only persons who have prefiled to be Elector may be chosen. The Fifth District Committee will provide printed ballots for use in electing the Elector. All ballots shall be counted under the supervision of the Tellers.

11. While votes are being counted, speeches by any statewide candidates present.

12. Break into caucuses for selection of National Convention Delegates and Alternate. The Convention will select one male delegate with a preference for Barack Obama, two female delegates with a preference for Barack Obama, one male delegate with a preference for Hillary Clinton, and one male alternate with a preference for Barack Obama. The Convention Chair will name a Temporary Chair for the Barack Obama Caucus and a Temporary Chair for the Hillary Clinton Caucus. The Caucuses shall then choose their own Permanent Chairs. Only persons who have prefiled to be National Convention Delegates and Alternate may be chosen. The Fifth District Committee will provide printed ballots for use in the Caucuses. All ballots shall be counted under the supervision of the Tellers. In the Obama Caucus, slate voting is permitted, subject to the following rules:

A. A slate must include only one male candidate for delegate, no more than two female candidates for delegate, and one male candidate for alternate.
B. If a slate is not a complete slate, caucus participants may NOT add additional names to complete the ballot. In other words, if the participant votes for a slate, he or she may not also vote for individuals. Any ballot that is a mixed ballot, containing votes for both a slate and individuals, shall be void.

13. Call back into session to announce Delegate and Alternate vote results.

14. Adjournment.

PERMANENT COMMITTEES

There shall be two permanent committees of the Convention: Rules and Credentials, each of which shall consist of at least 5 members. If there is a credentials contest, the Temporary Secretary shall include on the temporary roll the names of the credentials contestants recommended by the Temporary Credentials Committee in its report to the Permanent Credentials Committee.

MISCELLANEOUS RULES

It shall be the responsibility of the Chair to conduct and expedite the business of the Convention, and to preserve order and decorum. Each delegate is called upon and directed to assist in completing the business of the convention in an orderly and timely manner. The Chair may recognize special guests at appropriate times.

Except as set forth in these rules, the Convention shall be governed by the Virginia Democratic Party Plan, as amended and Roberts Rules of Order.

Respectfully submitted,



Temporary Rules Committee Chair