2018 King County Democratic Convention
Proposed Rules

  1. Call to Convention
    The 2018 King County Democratic Convention shall be called under the authority of the Charter of the Democratic Party of Washington State and the 2018 Delegate Selection and Affirmative Action Plan. It shall be held on Sunday, April 22, 2018, commencing at 1:00 PM and concluding not later than 7:00 PM. The convention will be held at South Park IAM Hall, 9125 15th Pl South, Seattle, WA 98108. The County Chair shall issue the Call for the Convention that shall be provided at least ten (10) days prior to the scheduled meeting.
  2. Appointment of Convention Officials
    The King County Chair shall appoint the Temporary Chair of the Convention, Secretary, Sergeant-at-Arms and Parliamentarian.
  3. Eligibility to Vote or Participate.
    To vote in the King County Democratic Convention, the individual must be a resident, registered voter in the jurisdiction and sign a registration sheet stating that the individual is a Democrat, and agrees to recordation of and public display of their attendance at the King County Democratic Convention. Anyone who is 17 years old and who will be eligible to vote on November 6, 2018 will be considered a registered voter for this convention. Individuals who are not qualified to register to vote in the jurisdiction because of residence, citizenship, or age shall be allowed to participate in the platform discussion, but may not vote on rules, matters of order, or resolutions.
  4. Speakers at the Convention
    At the sole discretion of the Chair of the convention, other persons may be recognized to address the Convention without amendment of the agenda or suspension of the rules.
  5. Convention Committees
    The Convention Chair shall recognize the Co-Chairs of the Credential, Rules, and Platform committees to present the committee's report. The Co-Chairs may yield part of their time to others for the purpose of presentation and disposition of amendments and minority reports without losing their right to the floor.
  6. Report of Credentials Committee
    1. The report of the Credentials Committee shall be acted upon before the consideration of any other business. This report shall include the total number of individuals seated at the convention.
    2. After consideration and disposition of amendments, the Temporary Convention Chair shall put the question on the adoption of the Credentials Committee Report before the Convention body. Consideration of Convention business may proceed upon adoption of the Credentials Committee Report.
  7. Report of Rules Committee
    1. The report of the Rules Committee shall include a proposed agenda and rules and shall be provided to each delegate and alternate at least 10 days prior to the Convention.
    2. After consideration and disposition of amendments, the Temporary Convention Chair shall put the question on the adoption of the Rules Report.
  8. Election of Permanent Chair
    1. Candidates for Permanent Chair of the Convention shall be nominated and seconded. Candidates may use up to two (2) minutes to speak on their own behalf. The two (2) minutes may be allocated at the candidate's discretion to nominating speeches, seconding speeches, and the candidate's speech.
    2. A majority vote of the delegates present and voting shall be required to elect. If a majority is not achieved on the first vote, then the nomination list shall be reduced to the two receiving the highest totals and a succeeding vote shall be taken.
    3. Ties Decided by Lot
      In all voting for Permanent Chair ties shall be broken by lot.
    4. The Permanent Chair shall take the gavel on announcement of the vote and shall preside until adjournment. It shall be the responsibility of the Chair to conduct and expedite the business of the Convention. The Chair is authorized to appoint a person to temporarily perform the duties of the Chair in the absence of the Chair and to take such lawful action as may be necessary to preserve order throughout the Convention Hall.
    5. The Permanent Chair of the convention will appoint a permanent Secretary, Sergeant-at-Arms and Parliamentarian.
  9. Dissemination of Draft Platform
    The draft report of the Platform Committee shall be available on the King County Democratic Party website (http://www.kcdems.org).
  10. Presentation and Adoption of Platform at Convention
    1. The Convention shall adopt a platform that spells out the basic values and core beliefs of most King County Democrats.
    2. The proposed platform shall be presented by the Platform Committee. At the discretion of the Convention Chair, consideration of the platform may commence at any time without amendment of the agenda or suspension of the rules. The Convention Chair or a designee shall preside.
    3. A motion for adoption of the platform as presented will be placed on the floor by the Platform Committee. The Convention chair will entertain motions for debate. Sections will be considered in alphabetical order. (The Summary section is not separate, but will be considered as part of the section where each part appears.) Individual items (bulleted planks) within sections may be flagged for separate debate and possible deletion.
    4. Flagged items may either be kept or deleted in full; changes to language within an item shall not be in order. Grammatical or housekeeping changes may be brought directly to the Platform Committee table at the front of the hall and can be made by the Committee, by consensus. After each section has been considered for flagging (deletions), the remaining Platform shall be adopted by the delegates. Then the Chair will direct consideration of each flag, by section, in order. Once all flags relating to a section have been considered, that section is considered complete and may not be reopened.
    5. No debate a flagged item will begin within 15 minutes of the adjournment time designated in rule 1 or upon loss of a quorum as defined in rule 15. If the platform has not been adopted at that time, the platform as it has been amended at that point shall be presented to the body to be approved or disapproved as a whole. Remaining flags that have not been resolved will not be considered and the flagged item will remain in place.
  11. Resolutions
    Resolutions will not be considered at this convention. Resolutions submitted on the day of the Convention may be considered at the next General Meeting of the KCDCC, after review by a regular meeting of the KCDCC Platform & Resolutions Committee on the 2nd Tuesday of the Month. They must include full contact information of the author. Any resolutions passed by Legislative District Caucuses on March 24th (or at other meetings) should be sent to Sarajane Siegfriedt, KCD Platform & Resolutions Chair [email protected] for consideration at the next regular meeting of the KCD Platform & Resolutions Committee on the 2nd Tuesday, April 10th or May 15th. Resolutions considered at the April or May General Meetings will be eligible for consideration at the State Convention June 15th.
  12. Rules for Debate
    Debate on any question before the Convention not otherwise covered in these rules shall be limited in the following manner:
    1. Each speaker shall be limited to two (2) minutes.
    2. No more than two (2) speakers on each side of the question shall be recognized by the Chair.
    3. Commencing one hour prior to the designated adjournment time debate shall be limited to one (1) speaker on each side of the question for one (1) minute each.
    4. Motions to table and to postpone indefinitely shall not be entertained.
    5. Votes from the floor shall be demonstrated by display of delegate voting credential, rather than voice or standing vote.
    6. Any ten (10) credentialed attendees may demand a division of the body.
  13. Quorum
    A quorum shall consist of 40% of the number of voting members seated upon the report of the Credentials Committee. A quorum call shall not be entertained prior to two hours before the adjournment time designated in rule 1. Thereafter, in the event of a quorum call, the Chair shall ascertain the presence or absence of a quorum by visual estimate or roll call of the delegations. In the absence of a quorum, the chair shall immediately proceed, if necessary, to a vote on the platform without further amendment or debate and then to a motion to adjourn.
  14. Motion to Adjourn
    The meeting will adjourn not later than designated in rule 1 or consistent with the rules on quorum in rule 15 above. As long as a quorum exists, a motion to adjourn will not be in order unless the platform has been adopted and all resolutions have been considered.
  15. No Endorsements
    Except as otherwise provided in these rules, the Convention shall not endorse candidates. Positions on initiatives may be taken only through properly submitted resolutions.
  16. No Charter or Bylaws amendments
    The convention shall not consider any charter or bylaws amendments. This rule cannot be suspended at the convention because consideration of charter or bylaws amendments requires prior notice.
  17. Suspension of the Rules
    Provisions of these rules may be suspended only by a two-thirds vote.
  18. Robert's Rules
    In other matters not specifically covered herein, the 2018 Delegate Selection and Affirmative Action Plan, the Charter of the Democratic Party of the State of Washington, and Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised, shall prevail.