Labor Party Spring 2014 Convention - New Orleans, LA

[Adam Griffin]

Commune one, commune all to the Spring 2014 Labor Party Convention in swampy, tightly-packed New Orleans, LA!

Atlasia's most fabulous political party gathers at the gaping mouth of the Mississippi River to do the same thing as it did four months ago. We come to revise our methods of operation. We come to draft our ideals into a concrete, concise platform. We come to communicate with one another and become a more cohesive force. Perhaps most importantly, however: we come to take back the White Red House.

There are a number of items that we will address in the coming days – each of which are important and require your attention as a Laborite. These items include:

• Adoption of Party By-Laws COMPLETED
• Adoption of Party Platform
• Labor Party Presidential Endorsement COMPLETED
• Labor Party Senatorial Endorsements (COMPLETED)
• Fall 2013 Convention Location Selection
• Open Floor Discussions

As with any convention, it is important to have an orderly process. By my calculations, it could take the better part of a month to complete all of these tasks if we only do one at a time. For this reason, we will be conducting business side-by-side; not every aspect of this convention will be conducted at once, but if a particular item is taking too long we will begin working on another subject concurrently.

Due to this, I ask that all posts made by Party members within this thread use the following coded system when it pertains to your specific comment at the beginning of each post:

[BYL] - By-laws
[PLA] – Party Platform
[END] – Presidential Endorsement
[SEN] – Senatorial Endorsement
[CON] – Convention Location Selection

This will make record-keeping and reference for all much easier.


Radicalized bretzels, bread and roses - along with our convention's favorite of canine con carne - will be served by our robust Southron Decadancers this evening as our guests check in, with formal activities beginning sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, please sign in and feel free to go out and earn your beads!

[Adam Griffin]

The reason we haven't got business rolling yet is because, frankly, this convention should be one of the easiest and shortest that we've ever had. I'll need to double-check the by-laws, but the presidential and senatorial endorsements this time should both be automatic, so TNF & I are working on last-minute consultations on the by-laws and platform since we have some extra time to do so.

But please, feel free to get all hedonistic in the mean time.

[Adam Griffin]

[BYL] Presented is this convention's proposed set of by-laws for the Party. Only two minor changes have been proposed - the elimination of a time-frame governing when endorsements are to be given, and a correction to (current) Section VI Clause 2 that accidentally references a "clause c" that was removed in a previous revision of the by-laws.

If there are no objections within the next 24 hours, these by-laws will be approved pursuant to Section I, Clause 1-a of our current by-laws.

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[Adam Griffin]

[END] Pursuant to Section VI, Clause 1 of the Labor Party by-laws, the ticket of DemPGH/windjammer receives the endorsement of the Labor Party!

[Adam Griffin]

[SEN] Endorsement suggestion period is now open for the IDS & Mideast Senate races.

For those candidates who are unfamiliar with our endorsement process:

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This process will be open for one week, or until/unless all candidates request endorsement, at which point we will move immediately to an endorsement vote.


[SEN]
Senator bore receives the endorsement of the Labor Party for Northeast Senate!

Senator TNF receives the endorsement of the Labor Party for Midwest Senate!

Senator Tyrion receives the endorsement of the Labor Party for Pacific Senate!

[Adam Griffin]

I will second MadmanMotley's request for endorsement. We'll now have three candidates from which to choose.

[Adam Griffin]

[BYL] Seeing no objections within the 24-hour period, the proposed by-law changes are hereby adopted.

I. CREATION & AMENDMENT OF PARTY BY-LAWS

1. The Chair, along with two Party members appointed by the Chair, will have the initial task of creating any proposed changes to the by-laws and will be in charge of initial changes in subsequent conventions. By-laws are then presented to the members at the convention, with members allowed to make objections and suggest changes to the by-laws.
   a. If there are no objections within 24 hours, the by-laws will be automatically approved.
   b. If there are objections, 24 hours will be given for the members to discuss and make changes as a group; more time can be given by the Politburo if necessary.
   c. Then a 72 hour vote will take place to approve or reject the by-laws.

2. The Chair may, in circumstances and times outside the convention, place on a caucus ballot any revisions, retractions and additions to the Labor Party by-laws assuming the motion receives verbal support from at least 25% of the caucus. If said threshold is attained, a voting booth will be opened immediately to either approve or reject the changes.


II. CREATION & AMENDMENT OF PARTY PLATFORM

1. The Vice Chair, along with two Party members appointed by the Vice Chair, will have the initial task of creating the Party platform and will be in charge of initial changes in subsequent conventions. Platform is then presented to the members, who will then be allowed to make objections and suggest changes to the platform.
   a. If there are no objections within 24 hours, the platform will be automatically approved.
   b. If there are objections, 24 hours will be given for the members to discuss and make changes as a group; more time can be given by the Politburo if necessary.
   c. Then a 72 hour vote will take place to approve or reject the platform.

2. The Vice-Chair may, in circumstances and times outside the convention, place on a caucus ballot any revisions, retractions and additions to the Labor Party platform assuming the motion receives verbal support from at least 25% of the caucus. If said threshold is attained, a voting booth will be opened immediately to either approve or reject the changes.

III. ESTABLISHMENT & MANAGEMENT OF CONVENTIONS

1. The Labor Party Convention will start one month before the Atlasia Presidential Election, with the location of the convention rotating among the five regions of Atlasia in the following order: Mideast, Imperial Dominion, Pacific, Northeast and Midwest.

2. Establishing the next Labor Party Convention shall employ the following process: Each Member is given 24 hours to nominate one city in the given region assigned for the next convention, with the top three (3) nominations being placed on the ballot. Members will be given 24 hours to select their choice.

3. Each Labor Party Convention will have the following agenda:
  a. Updates and amendments of the Party by-laws
  b. Updates and amendments of the Party platform
  c. Endorsements for the upcoming Atlasia Federal Elections
  d. Special and irregular business put forward by the Politburo
  e. Establishment of the date and city for the upcoming convention

IV. ELECTION OF THE POLITBURO

1. Members will have 48 hours to declare that they wish to seek the following positions, beginning on the fourth Friday of February, June and October: Chair, Vice-Chair, General Secretary & Attorney-at-Law. There will then be 72 hours for campaigning, followed by a 48 hour election.

V. ROLES OF THE POLITBURO

1. Chairman
  a. The official leader of the Labor Party, unless there is a Labor Party President
  b. Is in charge of the convention process
  c. Officiates Party voting
  d. Gives the Vice Chairman and the General Secretary goals and objectives for their given jobs
  e. Is in charge of Party political strategy
  f. Is allowed to create and/or appoint other Party officials as he or she sees fit
  g. Is in charge of creating and updating the by-laws at the Party convention with the assistance of a personally-appointed committee
  h. Ensures insubordination by other members of the Politburo is handled within the caucus

2. Vice Chairman
  a. Takes over for the Chairman temporarily if the Chairman requests a leave of absence or has been absent for 48 hours
  b. Is in charge of Party recruitment in order to grow the Party
  c. Responsible for keeping up with business at the Federal and regional levels, and makes sure that the Labor Party has an official stance on each issue; this will be done in collaboration with the rest of the Politburo and the advice of the Party
  d. Deals with logistics and personnel
  e. Is in charge of creating and updating the platform at the Party convention with the assistance of a personally-appointed committee

3. General Secretary
  a. Takes over for the Chairman or Vice Chairman if either the Chairman and Vice Chairman both have requested a leave of absence or both have been absent for 48 hours
  b. Is in charge of candidate recruitment for all levels of government
  c. Is in charge of GOTV operations for both the Party and allied factions, which includes supporters not officially registered with the Party
  d. Serves as a Whip for the Senate, working with Senators to find common ground and support for bills proposed by the Party

4. Attorney-At-Law
 a. The legal advisor for the Politburo, the Labor Party at-large and all Labor Party members
 b. Shall serve as prosecutor or defense attorney for any and all legal cases set forth by individuals, regional governments or the federal government against the Labor Party or its members, as well as cases on behalf of the Labor Party or any of its members that do not seek action against the Party
 c. The Attorney-At-Law shall have sole discretion in accepting cases on behalf of Labor Party members that do not directly pertain to affairs regarding the Party

VI. ENDORSEMENT PROCEDURE

1. All Labor Party candidates in compliance with Sections VII-1a & VII-1b are automatically endorsed by the Party.

2. If there are not enough Labor Party members running in a given election, the Party will then endorse candidates from other parties who agree with the Party's principles and values, allowing our Party to endorse a maximum number of candidates equivalent to the number of open seats in an election.

3. In order to be eligible to receive the endorsement of the Labor Party, the candidate from the other party has to declare that he or she wishes to receive our Party’s endorsement during the endorsement suggestion period, which begins two weeks before the election and ends one week before the election. The candidate must also have a Laborite second the endorsement nomination in order to be placed on the endorsement ballot.

4. Endorsement voting will begin immediately following the endorsement suggestion period and will last for 72 hours. Votes for each non-Party candidate shall be cast and counted either as an affirmative, negative or abstention. An abstention ballot is counted against a candidate's affirmative percentage as it applies in Section VI-6.

5. A non-Party candidate must receive affirmative preference from at least 60% of all endorsement ballots cast in order to receive the endorsement of the Party. In the event there are more candidates with 60%+ affirmative preference than available endorsements, they will be awarded from highest percentage affirmative preference downward.

VII. PRIMARY PROCEDURE

1. All Labor Party candidates are automatically endorsed by the Party, except for the following situations in which there will be a Labor Party Primary:
  a. If there are more Labor Party members running than open spots in a given election
  b. A Labor Party member is a presidential candidate on a cross-party ticket

2. Primaries will take place two (2) weeks before the respective election. Voting will last for 72 hours.

3. The loser is strongly encouraged not to run as an independent, as doing so will result in a loss of position within the Politburo, a denial of access to Labor primaries or the endorsement of the party in the subsequent three (3) Federal elections

[Adam Griffin]

[SEN]

Since all three candidates who are running are requesting our endorsement, can't we just start the voting process?

Since all Senate endorsement votes are done at once and with a 7-day open endorsement request period where not all candidates have requested as of yet, no.

[Adam Griffin]

Endorsement voting on the Mideast and IDS Senate races will begin after midnight ET tonight. I'm allowing a bit more time for each of the candidates to make an additional speech or appeal to the caucus if they would like.

Please keep in mind the parameters of the upcoming vote. I'll choke a bch who doesn't follow instructions.

[quote]4. Endorsement voting will begin immediately following the endorsement suggestion period and will last for 72 hours. Votes for each non-Party candidate shall be cast and counted either as an affirmative, negative or abstention. An abstention ballot is counted against a candidate's affirmative percentage as it applies in Section VI-6.

5. A non-Party candidate must receive affirmative preference from at least 60% of all endorsement ballots cast in order to receive the endorsement of the Party. In the event there are more candidates with 60%+ affirmative preference than available endorsements, they will be awarded from highest percentage affirmative preference downward.

[Adam Griffin]

[SEN] Endorsement voting on the Mideast and IDS Senate races is now open. Voting will last for 72 hours.

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IDS SENATE:

[  ] Maxwell (Democratic-Republican)
[  ] North Carolina Yankee (Federalist)

MIDEAST SENATE:

[  ] Benconstine (The People's Party)
[  ] DC Al Fine (Federalist)
[  ] MadmanMotley (Democratic-Republican)

[Adam Griffin]

IDS SENATE:

[X] Maxwell (Democratic-Republican)
[  ] North Carolina Yankee (Federalist)

MIDEAST SENATE:

[  ] Benconstine (The People's Party)
[X] DC Al Fine (Federalist)
[  ] MadmanMotley (Democratic-Republican)

[Adam Griffin]

[SEN] The results of the Labor Senatorial endorsement vote are as follows:

Ballots Cast: 18


IDS SENATE:

North Carolina Yankee (Federalist) 72%
Maxwell (Democratic-Republican) 39%

MIDEAST SENATE:

Benconstine (The People's Party) 78%
DC Al Fine (Federalist) 39%


North Carolina Yankee and Benconstine receive the endorsement of the Labor Party.

[Adam Griffin]

[CON] We will now begin the process of selecting our convention location for October 2014's convention.

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Pursuant to the by-laws, nominations for cities in the Pacific Region shall be accepted for the next 24 hours. Each member may nominate one city, with the top 3 being placed on the ballot. The voting will begin immediately after that, and also will last for 24 hours.

[Adam Griffin]

[CON] Since there were only 3 cities that were mentioned more than once during the location nomination period, those will be the 3 cities according to the by-laws that we vote upon. This vote will last for 24 hours.

Fall 2014 Labor Party Convention Location

[  ] Honolulu, HI
[  ] San Francisco, CA
[  ] Seattle, WA

[Adam Griffin]

May I say that I am very glad to be back, Comrades.

Welcome back! Glorious news, indeed. I only wish you had returned in time to vote in the presidential.

[Adam Griffin]

[CON] San Francisco shall be the location of the Fall 2014 Labor Party Convention!

[Adam Griffin]

Comrades,

Seeing as it is impossible for me to actually vote in this election, you must know that I am supporting the entire Labor ticket resolutely in spirit!

[CON] San Francisco shall be the location of the Fall 2014 Labor Party Convention!

California here I come!

[Adam Griffin]

[PLA] Let's get back to platform discussion, so we can wrap this convention up.

[Adam Griffin]

[PLA] Whenever by-laws time comes around, I can never remember any of the stuff that needs to be looked at, but the platform process is one of those. It outlines an all-or-nothing sort of approach for approval. Although by-laws are great in that you keep them loose so that you say what can and cannot be done (without ruling out other options for action explicitly), I'm beginning to think we may need to adopt a line-item vote in our by-laws. Thoughts?

[Adam Griffin]

What the hell: I'll seek term #4 as Labor Party Chair (RIP ME ).

[Adam Griffin]

[PLA] What the hell?

What the hell. Since no one is really engaging in the way we need to be engaging on this, I am putting the initially proposed platform up for a vote. You can read the entire nine-page platform here. This vote will be open for 24 hours. If it does not pass, then we will come back to revising any sections as need be.

[Adam Griffin]

Aye

[Adam Griffin]

[PLA] With voting now closed, adoption of the platform fails, 7-6-3.

[Adam Griffin]

Voting for the Labor Party Politburo has begun! Voting will last for 48 hours:

Chair:

[  ] Adam Griffin
[  ] Write-in:

Vice-Chair:

[  ] TNF
[  ] Write-in:

General Secretary:

[  ] Barnes
[  ] Write-in:

Attorney-At-Law:

[  ] Write-in:

[Adam Griffin]

Chair:

[X] Adam Griffin
[  ] Write-in:

Vice-Chair:

[X] TNF
[  ] Write-in:

General Secretary:

[X] Barnes
[  ] Write-in:

Attorney-At-Law:

[X] Write-in: Bacon King