uk dems constitution

8/14/2019 UK Dems Constitution

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CONSTITUTION

OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

COLLEGE DEMOCRATS

Preamble

In order to promote a better United States of America, with equality, opportunity, and freedom

within a just and strong society, we dedicate ourselves to organizing the participation of

Democratic college students at the University of Kentucky. In this mission, we call for full

participation of all students, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion,

physical handicap, socioeconomic status, or sexual orientation.

Understanding the importance of participation in the Democratic Party to the preservation of our

values and principles, we, Democratic college students, do hereby associate ourselves and adopt

this Constitution as the University of Kentucky College Democrats.

Article I. Name and Purpose

Section I. The name of this organization shall be the University of Kentucky

College Democrats, hereafter referred to as the UKDems

Section II. The UKDems pledges itself to support the philosophy and

candidates of the Democratic Party. Furthermore, the UKDems

declares its intention to support all efforts to increase the participation of

college students in Democratic affairs. To these ends, the UKDems

shall educate and train its members so that they may be better able to:i. Educate students about the philosophy of the Democratic Party;

ii. Assist in the election of local, state, and national Democratic

candidates;

iii. Effect political change on the local, state, and national level.

Article II. Policy

Section I. UKDems shall affiliate locally with the Democratic Party of Fayette

County and the Kentucky Federation of College Democrats, and nationally

with the Democratic National Committee of the United States and theCollege Democrats of America.

Section II. UKDems may endorse candidates for any national, state, local, or student

office.

Section III. All endorsements shall require a majority vote of those active organization

members present and voting at a general organization meeting except in

the endorsement of candidates for student office, which shall only require

a majority vote of the executive board.


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Section IV. UKDems will abide by the university rules and policies of the University

of Kentucky, including but not limited to the regulations of the Office for

Student Involvement

Article III. Membership and Privileges

Section I. Any currently enrolled student of the University of Kentucky is eligiblefor organization membership. Any person who submits his/her dues to the

Treasurer of UKDems shall be considered an active organization member

in good standing.

Section II. Only active organization members are entitled to a vote on endorsements

and elections.

Section III. Membership must be renewed every school year by submitting yearly

membership dues to the organization.

Section IV. Membership dues shall be determined by the UKDems Executive Board in

plenary session upon a full financial report of the UKDems Treasurer.

Section V. Any person, upon recommendation of the Executive Board and a majorityvote of those organization members present and voting at a general body

meeting, shall become an Honorary Member of the UKDems.

Section VI. Membership will not, however, be under any circumstances limited by

gender, sexual orientation, race, color, creed, religion, national origin, age,

or citizenship status.

Article IV. Executive Board

Section I. The Executive Board shall be the policy-making body of the UKDemsand shall act as the supervisory and administrative body of the

organization.

Section II. The Executive Board shall consist of the following voting and elected

positions: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Fundraising

Director, and Historian.

Section III. The Executive Board shall create or eliminate appointed Executive Board

positions by a 2/3 majority of a quorum of existing Executive Board

members. The creation of an elected Executive Board position shall

adhere to the constitutional amendment process as defined in Article X,

Section I. Upon creation of a new Executive Board position, a majority

vote of the Executive Board shall decide whether to fill said position

through appointment or election.

Subsection I. Elected positions shall be filled through an ad-hoc election

of the general membership according to guidelines set in

Article VII, Section VI, Subsection II.


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Section IV. Regular meetings of the Executive Board shall be held at the discretion of

the Board with at least two meetings being held each month. Meetings

shall be open to all active organization members, except when closed by a

majority vote of the Executive Board.

Section V. All Executive Board members shall be notified of any changes in the time

of an Executive Board meeting at least 24 hours in advance. Section VI. A quorum to conduct business at an Executive Board meeting shall be a

majority of the voting members of the Board unless there is a request for a

2/3 quorum by at least two Executive Board members, at which time, the

motion in question will be tabled until a 2/3 quorum can be reached.

Section VII. No member shall hold more than one position on the Executive Board at

any one time.

Section VIII. Executive Board decisions may be overruled by a 2/3 majority of active

UKDems members present and voting at a general membership meeting.

Section IX. If a voting member of the Executive Board cannot attend a meeting of the

Executive Board and wishes to assign a proxy, said member must notifythe President and at least one other board member who will be present at

that meeting.

Subsection I. One proxy may be assigned to only one officer at each

Executive Board meeting.

Section X. All Board votes are to be verbal except when a majority of the Board votes

for secret ballot.

Article V. Powers of the Elected Executive Board

Section I. President

Subsection I. The President shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the

UKDems.

Subsection II. The President shall define the agenda of the UKDems

during his/her tenure.

Subsection III. The President shall create and submit an annual Platform

for the academic year during the month of August. The

Platform shall be adopted by a majority vote of the

Executive Board.

i. The Platform may be amended during the academic

year by a 2/3 vote of the Executive Board.

Subsection IV. The President will act as the official spokesperson for the

UKDems.

Subsection V. The President shall have the right to veto any decision

made by the Executive Board. The Board may override


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this veto with a 2/3 vote after a period of discussion

determined by a majority of the Board members present.

Subsection VI. The President may appoint or create any committees that

he/she sees fit.

Subsection VII. The President shall carry out the mandates, policies, and

directives of the Executive Board.Subsection VIII. The President shall be responsible for submitting an

outgoing memorandum to the College Democrats Archive.

Section II. Vice President

Subsection I. The Vice President shall assist the President in all official

duties.

Subsection II. The Vice President shall assume the responsibilities of the

President if the President, for any reason, cannot complete

the Presidential duties.

Subsection III. The Vice President shall coordinate all recruitment efforts.

Subsection IV. The Vice President shall assist all other Executive Boardmembers as needed.

Subsection V. The Vice President shall be responsible for submitting an


Section III. Secretary

Subsection I. The Secretary shall make weekly updates to the official

UKDems blog to detail the events of general organization

meetings and special programs carried out by the UKDems.

Subsection II. Should the UKDems be without official programming or

meetings for a week, Subsection I shall be considered null

and void.Subsection III. The Secretary shall ensure that all activities of the

organization are publicized to the media, general public,

and the membership.

Subsection IV. The Secretary shall maintain the official copy of the

UKDems Constitution and by-laws.

Subsection V. The Secretary shall perform such duties as the President

may assign and take on projects determined by the

Executive Board.

Subsection VI. The Secretary shall be responsible for submitting an


Section IV. Treasurer

Subsection I. The Treasurer shall be responsible for all financial and

monetary duties of the UKDems.

Subsection II. The Treasurer shall work with the Fundraising Director to

generate additional outside funds for the UKDems.

Subsection III. The Treasurer shall collect membership dues.


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Subsection IV. The Treasurer shall maintain a membership list of all

dues-paying members.

Subsection V. The Treasurer shall maintain an accurate accounting of the

UKDems budget.

Subsection VI. The Treasurer shall help construct the UKDems budget

and submit budget reports at least two times per semester tothe Executive Board.

Subsection VII. The Treasurer shall ensure that the UKDems are always in

good financial standing with all governmental and

institutional agencies.

Subsection VII. The Treasurer shall perform such duties as the President


Executive Board.

Subsection VIII. The Treasurer shall be responsible for submitting an


Section V. Fundraising DirectorSubsection I. The Fundraising Director will be responsible for generating

additional outside funds for the UKDems. He/she will

create a fundraising plan including contacting donors,

organizing fundraising events, and securing corporate

sponsorships and donations.

Subsection II. The Fundraising Director will be responsible for organizing

an Alumni Outreach Network for the UKDems.

Subsection III. The Fundraising Director shall develop programs and

events which connect the College Democrats with

philanthropic endeavors.Subsection IV. The Fundraising Director will be responsible for submitting

fundraising reports at least two times per semester to the

Executive Board.

Subsection V. The Fundraising Director is responsible for planning,

organizing, and executing all community service events for

the UKDems.

Subsection VI. The Fundraising Director shall perform such duties as the

President may assign and take on projects determined by

the Executive Board.

Subsection VII.The Fundraising Director shall be responsible for

submitting an outgoing memorandum to the College

Democrats Archive.

Section VI. Historian

Subsection I. The Historian shall act as chief photographer and

cinematographer of the UKDems.

Subsection II. The Historian shall direct and manage the UKDems new

media presence and endeavours.


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Subsection III. The Historian shall actively keep, maintain, and update the

College Democrats Archive, outlined in Article VIII,

Section III.

Subsection IV. The Historian shall perform such duties as the President


Executive Board.Subsection V. The Historian shall be responsible for submitting an


Article VI. Powers of the Appointed Executive Board.

Section I. Non-Voting Executive Board Members.

Subsection I. The voting members of the Executive Board may create or

eliminate non-voting positions pursuant to

Article I, Section III.

Subsection II. The powers of Appointed members of the Executive Board

shall be determined by the voting members of the

Executive Board.Subsection III. Appointed positions and the powers defined to them by the

Executive Board, shall be amended into the Constitution by

a 2/3 vote of the Executive Board.

Subsection IV. The Executive Board may decide to fill or leave vacant as

many or as few appointed positions as it sees fit.

Section II. Membership Director

Subsection I. The Membership Director is responsible for recruiting new

members and encouraging Democratic Party affiliation on

campus.Subsection II. The Membership Director will plan social events to foster a

sense of community within the organization.

Subsection III. The Membership Director shall perform such duties as the



Subsection IV. The Membership Director shall be responsible for

submitting an outgoing memorandum to the College

Democrats Archive.

Section III. Webmaster

Subsection I. The Webmaster shall maintain the official webpage and

blog of the UKDems.

Subsection II. The Webmaster shall perform such duties as the



Subsection III. The Webmaster shall be responsible for submitting an



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Article VII. Executive Board Elections

Section I. Election Commission

Subsection I. The Election Commission, hereafter referred to as the

Commission, is responsible for all election procedure,

including but not limited to: certifying candidacies,monitoring candidate behavior, responding to complaints,

proctoring the election, counting ballots, certifying election

results, and all election-related communication to the

general membership.

Subsection II. The Commission shall consist of a minimum of three

individuals and a maximum of five individuals. Positions

on the Commission will be first offered to officers on the

Executive Board of the most senior status at the University

of Kentucky, who will not be running for elected office, in

order of rank. Remaining positions will be offered to, theremaining Executive Board members who are not running

for elected office in the UKDems during the election. The

Commission shall be formed at the confirmation by a

majority vote of the Executive Board.

Subsection III. Members of the Commission may not run for elected office

in the UKDems during the election for which they serve on

the Commission or declare their intention to lobby for

appointed positions until after the results of the election

have been announced.

Subsection IV. Should all members of the Executive Board be running forelected office, the Executive Board may nominate

individuals to the Commission to be confirmed by a

majority vote of the membership at a general organization

meeting.

Subsection V. Members of the Commission may not endorse any

candidate for a position on the Executive Board and must

remain strictly neutral while serving on the Commission.

Subsection VI. A member of the Election Commission can be removed

only by a unanimous vote of the rest of the Commission.

All other decisions and rulings of the Commission require

simple majority vote.

Subsection VII. The Election Commission shall be formed no less than

one month before a scheduled election.

Section II. Voter Eligibility

Subsection I. In order to vote in the election, the voter must be a

dues-paid member in good standing by the candidate

registration deadline.


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Subsection II. Dues can only be submitted in person by the person seeking

membership. Dues must be paid directly to members of the

election commission. Dues can only be given to an

Executive Board member at official College Democrats

events in which dues are being accepted in order to qualify

for membership prior to the formation of the ElectionCommission.

Section III. Registration of Candidacy

Subsection I. Candidates must be members in good standing before the

registration deadline.

Subsection II. In order to register a candidacy with the Commission, the

member must submit a candidacy statement declaring the

intent to run for an elected position on the Executive Board.

If this statement exceeds 300 words, it shall be truncated by

the Commission before publication to the membership.

This statement must be sent via email to an addressspecified by the Commission or submitted in writing to the

Commission in person.

Subsection III. The deadline for the registration of candidacy shall be set

by the Commission but shall be no later than 10 days from

the election.

Subsection IV. The Commission must notify candidates of the certification

of their candidacy. All candidates must meet the

constitutional requirements for office. Any candidate who

fails to meet the requirements for office will be notified by

the Commission and permitted to run at such a time as theyrectify the situation.

Subsection V. Once the Commission has certified all candidacies, the

statements must be publicized to the membership via email

at least once and by at least five days from the election.

Subsection VI. A candidate may only run for one position.

Subsection VII. If no candidate exists for a specific Executive Board

position after the deadline for registration of candidacy, that

position will be open to nominations beginning the day

after the registration deadline and continuing until the day

of elections.

Subsection VIII. The new Executive Board may appoint any unfilled

positions of the voting Executive Board that are vacant

pursuant to Article VII, Section VI.

Section IV. Campaign Rules

Subsection I. The use of official UKDems property for campaign

purposes is strictly forbidden. UKDems property includes

but is no limited to: the CSI locker and its contents, any


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version of the membership list, any version of the email

list, the listserv, sign-in sheets, Facebook group and pages,

and website. Regardless of how any of these resources are

procured, they are strictly forbidden from use for campaign

purposes.

Subsection II. While candidates are permitted to contact members, if anymember reports to the Commission that they are being

harassed or are contacted after informing a candidate that

they no longer wish to be contacted, the candidate making

such contact may be removed from the ballot.

Subsection III. Any violation of these rules will be litigated on a case by

case basis at the commissions discretion.

Section V. Election Procedures

Subsection I. All candidates will be able to view a ballot box, should one

be used, at the outset of the election to confirm that it is

empty.Subsection II. In order to vote in the election of a position, the member

voting must be present for the entirety of the the election

session.

Subsection III. Candidates will be guaranteed a minimum of two minutes

for a speech and one minute for question and answer from

the audience to be proctored by the Commission.

Candidates for President and Vice President will be offered

an additional two minutes of minimum speech time. The

Commission shall be responsible for determining maximum

times on a per election basis.Subsection IV. Ballots must be counted in public view of candidates and

voters.

Subsection V. A recount of ballots shall be conducted during the election

meeting at the request of any candidate.

Subsection VI. Voting shall be conducted by secret ballot.

Subsection VII. An Executive Board Election shall occur once a year in

the month of April.

Subsection VIII. The Commission shall outline and decide on a procedure

for breaking any ties.

Subsection IX. The precise format of the election shall be decided by

the Commission but must be in compliance with the

aforementioned rules. A brief of the election format must

be publicized at least once to the membership and all

candidates.

Section VI. Vacancies

Subsection I. If a Board member in an elected position takes a leave of

absence, the Executive Board can appoint a proxy until the


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officers and their contact information, event history,

previous budgets, CDA officers and the specifics of

UKDems relationship with them, how to maintain basic

operations, outgoing memorandum from previous officers,

bank account information, donor lists, donor history,

the membership list, platforms, and usernames and logininformation for all official UKDems accounts.

Subsection III. The Archive shall be kept in digital format at infinitum.

The print version of the Archive shall consist of no less

than the previous years vital information, to be determined

by the Historian.

Subsection IV. The digital version of the Archive shall be kept online via

an online service, the login information of which will be

given to the new Board by a date no later than the

final day of the previous Executive Boards administration.

Subsection V. The keeping, maintaining, and updating of the Archive ischarged specifically to the Historian, however it is the

general responsibility of all of the Executive Board to

ensure the Archives survival, maintenance, and regular

updating either personally or through cooperation with the

Historian.

Article IX. Removal

Section I. Grounds for Impeachment

Subsection I. Grounds for impeachment shall be unethical orincompetent behavior.

Subsection II. Grounds found by 5 of the voting members of the

Executive Board shall also constitute good and sufficient

cause.

Subsection III. If an Executive Board member misses 3 board meetings

without sufficient cause in one semester, the President shall

notify said member that the Executive Board shall be

required to vote on whether to request the resignation of

said member. The Board member must be given one (1)

week prior to the vote. Unless said member can give

sufficient cause, to be judged by the Executive Board, to

miss the next meeting, said vote shall be held with or

without the presence of said member. If the Board votes to

request resignation, the President shall submit written

notice to said member. If said member refuses to resign or

does not respond within one (1) week, the Executive Board

shall automatically impeach said member.


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Section II. Impeachment Process

Subsection I. Any officer charged with impeachable offenses shall be

notified and given ample time, determined by a majority

vote of the Executive Board, to mount a defense.

Subsection II. After the time period set by the Executive Board expires,

the impeachment shall be put to a vote.Subsection III. An officer will be removed by a 2/3 vote of the Executive

Board.

Section III. Vote of No Confidence

Subsection I. Any member in good standing may make a motion of No

Confidence to the Executive Board as a whole. Grievances

with specific members of the Executive Board must be

aired by the membership to the Executive Board during an

Executive Board meeting where a 2/3 quorum of Executive

Board members exists. These grievances shall be

adjudicated by the Executive Board pursuant to theimpeachment process defined in Article IX, Section II.

Subsection II. After a motion of No Confidence, a petition period of two

(2) weeks shall be allotted. At the next general

organization meeting following the final day of the two (2)

week period, a Petition of No Confidence containing

signatures of 1/3 of the total active membership must be

presented, upon validation of the petition the matter will be

put to a vote.

Subsection III. If a vote of No Confidence passes by 2/3 of the total active

membership, an Election Commission pursuant to ArticleVII, Section I shall be formed to plan a new election within

the next 30 days.

Article X. Amendments

Section I. Amendment Procedure

Subsection I. Amendments to the constitution shall be adopted upon a 2/3

vote of the Executive Board, with a 2/3 vote of the active

membership present at either a general organization

meeting or a special constitutional session.

Subsection II. The President may call for a Special Constitutional Session

in order to amend the current constitution or ratify a new

constitution. The Executive Board and total active

membership must be given at least one (1) week notice

prior to a Special Constitutional Session.

Section II. Exceptions

Subsection I. The amendment procedure outlined in Article X, Section I

may be disregarded with respect to changes to the


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constitution which affect only grammar, spelling, layout,

syntax, or other non-content/intent altering changes.

Subsection II. Pursuant to Article VI, Section I, Subsection III, the

Amendment procedure in Article X, Section I may be

disregarded.

Subsection III. All excepted amendments delineated inArticle X, Section II, require a 2/3 majority vote of the

Executive Board to be adopted.

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