Constitutional Document: | Standing Orders |
---|---|
Proposer: | Nick Humberstone (Wandsworth) |
Status: | Accepted |
Submitted: | 11/21/2020, 00:43 |
Package RR-NH-1.2 EC Change to D2: Standing Orders
Motion Text
From line 61 to 63:
B3.2.3 Executive Committee Non-Portfolio Officers.
B3.2.3 Digital Communications Officer
B3.2.4 Press OfficerB3.2.5 Campaigns OfficerB3.2.6 Events OfficerB3.2.7 International OfficerB3.2.8 Equality and Diversity OfficerB3.2.9 Activist Training and Political Education OfficerB3.2.10 Liberation Officers (from each formerly constituted Liberation Group)B3.2.11 Under 18s Officer
B3.2.412 Democracy and Accountability Committee.
B3.2.513 Green Students Committee Co-Convenors.
From line 148 to 149:
D.2.3 Executive Committee Non-portfolio members
D.2.3 Elections OfficerD.2.3 Digital Communications OfficerD.2.4 Press OfficerD2.5 Campaigns OfficerD2.6 Events OfficerD2.7 International OfficerD2.8 Equality and Diversity OfficerD2.9 Activist Training and Political Education OfficerD2.11 Liberation Officers (from each formerly constituted Liberation Group)
D2.12 Under 18s Officer
D.2.413 Green Students Committee Co-convenors.
Insert from line 165 to 169:
and the Green Students Committee Co-Convenors providing they abide by the rules such as gender quotas, except in the case of Liberation Officers as stated in E1.2.
E1.2 Only those Young Greens who self-define as belonging to a specific Liberation group may be stand to be the Liberation Officer, Co-chair or committee member candidates for election for within that respective Liberation group.
From line 187 to 188:
E1.6.2 Executive Committee Non-Portfolio Officer
E1.6.2 Elections OfficerE1.6.3 Digital Communications OfficerE1.6.4 Press OfficerE1.6.5 Campaigns OfficerE1.6.6 Events OfficerE1.6.7 International OfficerE1.6.8 Equality and Diversity OfficerE1.6.9 Activist Training and Political Education OfficerE1.6.10 Liberation Officers (from each formerly constituted Liberation Group)E1.6.11 Under 18s Officer
E1.6.312 Member of the Democracy and Accountability Committee
From line 256 to 257:
convention, namely Executive Committee, Democracy and Accountability Committee members, and Co-Convenors of the Green Students Committee, and the Co-chairs and committee members (if any) of each Liberation Group.
Delete from line 316 to 320:
E4.7 Following the election of the aforementioned roles a number of Non- Portfolio positions will be reserved for candidates who are not self-defining men to ensure that EC shall comprise of no more than 50% of members who self-define as men. The number of roles reserved will be calculated based on the number of self-defining men elected to the Co-Chair and treasurer positions.
Delete from line 411 to 414:
E6.2 When advertising vacant EC Non-Portfolio positions, the Executive Committee are able to advertise specific available portfolio(s), as decided by a majority vote of EC plus the agreement of the Chair of the Democracy and Accountability Committee.
Young Greens Standing Orders 2020/2021
Section A: Young Greens Convention
A1.1 The Young Greens Convention shall be held once per year in Spring.
A1.2 The Young Greens Convention will take place for two days during a weekend.
A1.3 The Young Greens Convention shall not be held twice in the same Region
Block, defined in A1.4, consecutively.
A1.4 Within each five-year period, as determined by DAC, the Young Greens
Convention must take place within the bounds of at least three of these four
Region Blocks:
A1.4.1 The South East, and the South West
A1.4.2 The North East, the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber
A1.4.3 The Midlands, and Wales
A1.4.4 The East, and London
A1.5 Liberation groups will be allocated a session at convention where they will
provide a report to its membership on activities undertaken since last
convention and for any other purpose the group sees fit.
Section B: Annual General Meetings
Part 1: Competency of the Annual General Meeting
B1.1 The Young Greens Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held at Young Greens
Annual Convention.
B1.2 The Annual General Meeting is the highest decision-making body within the
Young Greens.
B1.3 There must be at least 25 members of the Young Greens at any General
Meeting for decisions to be binding.
B1.4 The AGM accepts/rejects/amends reports, motions, resolutions and changes to
the Constitution or Standing Orders, collectively referred to as 'papers'.
B1.5 The AGM ratifies decisions about joining or leaving partnerships and
membership within other organisations/networks.
B1.7 A General Meeting will be held at a bi-national autumn event.
Part 2: Organisation of the Annual General Meeting
B2.1 The Annual General Meeting agenda must be structured, organised and agreed
by the Executive Committee (EC) and Democracy and Accountability Committee
(DAC).
B2.2 DAC must appoint a chair and deputy chair for the Annual General Meeting.
The chair and deputy chair must not be proposers of any papers or amendments to
the Annual General Meeting.
B2.3 DAC must ensure that all members respect the Constitution and Standing
Orders.
B2.4 DAC must take Annual General Meeting minutes of all official business
including recording any votes, important discussions, and decisions.
B2.5 DAC must keep a record of newly adopted/amended documents and email the
Young Greens' Co-Chairs a copy of newly adopted/amended documents as well as the
minutes of the Annual General Meeting.
B2.6 DAC must inform EC to take note of any newly adopted papers.
B2.7 A prioritisation ballot will occur, conducted by DAC, on the first day of
Convention for attendees at the Annual General Meeting in order to decide the
order of papers taken.
Part 3: Motions and Reports
B3.1 It shall be the role of DAC to compile submitted papers, which consist of
B3.1.1 Changes to the Constitution or Standing Orders
B3.1.2 Resolutions, which note the priorities of the Executive Committee for the
upcoming term
B3.1.3 Motions, which insert entries into the Record of Policy Statements or
Record of Organisational Statements
B3.1.4 Reports, as outlined in B3.2
B3.1.5 Emergency Motions, as outlined in B3.10
B3.2 The Annual General Meeting must take note of mandatory annual reports by
the:
B3.2.1 Executive Committee Co-Chairs.
B3.2.2 Treasurer.
B3.2.3 Executive Committee Non-Portfolio Officers.
B3.2.3 Digital Communications Officer
B3.2.4 Press OfficerB3.2.5 Campaigns OfficerB3.2.6 Events OfficerB3.2.7 International OfficerB3.2.8 Equality and Diversity OfficerB3.2.9 Activist Training and Political Education OfficerB3.2.10 Liberation Officers (from each formerly constituted Liberation Group)B3.2.11 Under 18s Officer
B3.2.412 Democracy and Accountability Committee.
B3.2.513 Green Students Committee Co-Convenors.
B3.3 Annual reports detailed in B3.2 must be submitted to DAC at least 1 week
before the AGM.
B3.4 Individual members, EC and Affiliated Young Greens Groups have the right to
submit papers and amendments.
B3.5 For all submissions, there must be a named proposer and at least 3 other
co-proposers or at least one other co-proposer if submitting on behalf of an
Affiliated YG Group or recognised committee.
B3.6 Paper copies of the Constitution, Standing Orders, Record of Policy
Statements and Record of Organisational Statements must be made available for
members attending the General Meeting.
B3.7 The timescale for the submission of papers and amendments shall be as
follows:
B3.7.1 At least 8 weeks before the Annual General Meeting, EC must send out a
call including guidelines for submission of papers, all relevant dates and where
to find papers once they are posted on the members’ website.
B3.7.2 Submission for papers shall close exactly 4 weeks before the AGM.
B3.7.3 Following this, DAC must post all submissions at the earliest possible
moment.
B3.7.4 Exactly 1 week before the AGM, submission of amendments to papers will
close.
B3.7.5 Amendments may not substantially change the intention of the paper and
nor may they require changes to another section of the Constitution or Standing
Orders.
B3.8 Exactly 5 days before the Annual General Meeting, DAC must ensure that all
members are emailed (regardless of Annual General Meeting registration status)
copies of all papers and amendments to both as well as the reports detailed in
B3.2.
B3.9 The only amendments which shall be accepted from the floor during the AGM
are minor textual amendments (e.g. grammatical corrections) and friendly verbal
amendments (i.e. where both the proposer of the original paper and the proposer
of the verbal amendment agree to an amendment).
B3.10 Emergency motions, defined as being brought due to an event occurring past
the original motion deadline, will be accepted up until 17.00 on the day before
the AGM.
B3.11 The text of Emergency Motions should be submitted electronically or by
paper copy and the list of proposers by email and/or paper copy, both to the
Chair of DAC .
B3.12 Emergency Motions shall be prioritised at the AGM by DAC on the basis of
the number of co-proposers to each Emergency Motion.
Part 4: Motion Voting Procedures
B4.1 When debating a paper or amendment at the Annual General Meeting, the
proposer will be asked by the chair to propose the motion or amendment by
explaining what the paper or amendment is for and then giving a brief speech in
favour of the paper.
B4.2 Following this the chair will open debate on the paper or amendment by
asking for a limited number of brief alternating speeches in favour and against
the paper, firstly against and then in favour of the paper or amendment until
either no one wishes to make a speech or there has been sufficient debate on the
paper or amendment.
B4.3 If it is unclear if there has been sufficient debate a straw poll will be
taken by raising hands with the options either for more debate or move to a
vote.
B4.4 At any point before the vote is taken, any member can ask for
clarification, raise points of information or propose procedural motions (e.g.
minor textural amendments, taking by parts).
B4.5 If a paper or amendment has received lengthy debate the proposer may
request a brief right of reply before the vote is taken.
B4.6 When voting on paper proposals the possibilities are 'yes', 'no' or
'abstention'.
B4.7 Depending on the nature of the proposal, the following types of majority
may be required for a motion to be passed.
B4.7.1 Simple majority: majority of the votes cast in person.
B4.7.2 Two-thirds majority: two-thirds of the votes cast in person.
B4.7.3 Absolute two-thirds majority: two-thirds majority of the votes cast by
the entire membership of the body.
B4.8 Amendments to the Constitution including accompanying Byelaws or Standing
Orders will be accepted with a two-thirds majority.
B4.9 Unless otherwise stated in the Constitution or Standing Orders, everything
else will be accepted with a simple majority.
B4.10 DAC shall be responsible for counting the votes.
B4.11 Results of votes must be announced during the meeting.
Section C: Emergency General Meetings
C1.1 An Emergency General Meeting (EGM) may be called at any time by an absolute
two-thirds majority of EC, or by a minimum of 5% of the Young Greens membership
petitioning the EC for an EGM.
C1.2 The same procedure as for AGM paper submission, organisation and voting
shall apply to an EGM following Section B Parts 2,3,4, however the timescale
will be halved.
Section D: Autumn General Meeting
D.1 There will be a Young Greens General Meeting held in autumn.
D.2 The Autumn General Meeting consists solely of accountability sessions for
the following representatives elected in the annual ballot:
D.2.1 Executive Committee Co-chairs
D.2.2 Treasurer
D.2.3 Executive Committee Non-portfolio members
D.2.3 Elections OfficerD.2.3 Digital Communications OfficerD.2.4 Press OfficerD2.5 Campaigns OfficerD2.6 Events OfficerD2.7 International OfficerD2.8 Equality and Diversity OfficerD2.9 Activist Training and Political Education OfficerD2.11 Liberation Officers (from each formerly constituted Liberation Group)
D2.12 Under 18s Officer
D.2.413 Green Students Committee Co-convenors.
D.3 The Autumn General Meeting must take note of mandatory six-month progress
reports from those representatives.
D.4 The accountability session will take the form of a face-to-face Q&A with the
membership.
D.5 There must be at least 25 members of the Young Greens excluding employees at
any General Meeting for decisions to be binding.
D.6 Motions of no confidence may be put forward during the accountability
session and will pass with a two-thirds majority.
D.7 Motions of no confidence may be put forward during the accountability
session Censure and Commendations and will pass with a simple majority.
D.8 Every Young Green is eligible to vote at the Autumn General Meeting.
Section E: Internal Elections
Part 1: Candidacy
E1.1 All members of the Young Greens are eligible to be candidates for roles
within the Executive Committee, Democracy and Accountability Committee members
and the Green Students Committee Co-Convenors providing they abide by the rules
such as gender quotas, except in the case of Liberation Officers as stated in E1.2.
E1.2 Only those Young Greens who self-define as belonging to a specific
Liberation group may be stand to be the Liberation Officer, Co-chair or committee member candidates for election for within that respective
Liberation group.
E1.3 Members who hold a position on the Democracy and Accountability Committee
may not be candidates for any position other than Member of DAC, except for
Affiliated Group roles, until they no longer hold a position on DAC. Members of
DAC with an active role in an affiliated group must recuse themselves from
business involving that affiliated group.
E1.4 Candidates must have two nominees, who are members of the Young Greens in
accordance with Article 1 of the constitution, and may provide a candidate
statement, campaign video, and social media links if they wish.
E1.5 Members of the Young Greens may not: be a nominee for more than one of the
following positions at any one time; nor hold more than one of the following
posts at any one time in the Young Greens:
E1.5.1 Any EC role
E1.5.2 Democracy and Accountability Committee
E1.5.3 Green Students Committee Co-Convenor
E1.6 Members of the Young Greens may put themselves forward as a job share for
any of the following posts within the Young Greens annual ballot:
E1.6.1 Treasurer
E1.6.2 Executive Committee Non-Portfolio Officer
E1.6.2 Elections OfficerE1.6.3 Digital Communications OfficerE1.6.4 Press OfficerE1.6.5 Campaigns OfficerE1.6.6 Events OfficerE1.6.7 International OfficerE1.6.8 Equality and Diversity OfficerE1.6.9 Activist Training and Political Education OfficerE1.6.10 Liberation Officers (from each formerly constituted Liberation Group)E1.6.11 Under 18s Officer
E1.6.312 Member of the Democracy and Accountability Committee
E1.7 Should one part of the job share resign or be removed from their position
for whatever reason, their counterpart(s) will be able to either:
E1.7.1 advertise to co-opt a replacement for the exiting part of the job share
E1.7.2 continue to carry out their role without the exiting part of the job
share, without replacing them
E1.7.3 resign from their role
Part 2: Term of Office and Accountability
E2.1 All roles shall be elected for a term of office of 1 year, which should be
completed should the officer no longer fit the requirements described in
Constitution Clause 1.5.1 or 1.5.2 during their term, accepting variations as
described below.
E2.2 For all roles elected at the AGM in the annual ballot, the term of office
shall run until the following year’s AGM except in the cases of resignation or
removal by a vote of no confidence.
E2.3 A vote of no confidence shall occur for an individual role if the Democracy
and Accountability Committee are petitioned by 25% of the committee or other
body which the role is part of.
E2.4 A vote of no confidence may also be called for any individual role if the
Democracy and Accountability Committee are petitioned by 5% of the Young Greens
membership.
E2.5 If the role which a vote of no confidence is being petitioned for falls
within the Democracy and Accountability Committee, then it shall instead be EC
that is petitioned by the members of the relevant committee, body, or general
membership.
E2.6 Complete anonymity shall be maintained throughout by the committee which is
petitioned, both relating to the petitioners and the vote.
E2.7 No member may sit on the same body for more than 5 terms consecutively,
irrespective of election or co-option.
E2.8 No member may hold the same post for more than 3 terms, irrespective of
election or co-option.
E2.9 EC voting members have a responsibility to attend EC meetings and to stay
accountable:
E2.9.1 Failure to attend four regularly scheduled meetings consecutively shall
either: initiate an automatic immediate committee-internal vote of no confidence
held via secret ballot by DAC, repeatable during a term; or result in the civil
resignation of the member at their discretion, prior to the vote of no
confidence.
E2.9.2 Failure to attend ten regularly scheduled meetings in total over the
course of one term shall either: initiate an immediate automatic committee-
internal vote of no confidence held via secret ballot by DAC, repeatable during
a term; or result in the civil resignation of the member at their discretion,
prior to the vote of no confidence.
E2.9.3 Failure to complete two individual quarterly reports in total over the
course of one term shall either: initiate an automatic immediate committee-
internal vote of no confidence held via secret ballot by DAC, repeatable during
a term; or result in the civil resignation of the member at their discretion,
prior to the vote of no confidence.
E2.9.4 Failure to complete a mandatory individual six-month progress report
shall either: initiate an automatic immediate committee-internal vote of no
confidence held via secret ballot by DAC; or result in the civil resignation of
the member at their discretion, prior to the vote of no confidence.
E2.9.5 Failure to complete a mandatory individual annual report shall result in
the ERO reporting this information at the final Convention Hustings if the
Candidate is standing for election again.
E2.10 If an individual EC voting member invokes three of the actions noted in
E2.9.1 through E2.9.4, but remains on EC, then DAC shall have the following
options available:
E2.10.1 Initiate immediate informal mediation to find the causes of the issues
at hand and offer support and guidance on various options available.
E2.10.2 Initiate another immediate committee-internal vote of no confidence
within EC.
E2.10.3 Initiate an online ballot, to be held within one month of the DAC
decision, open to all Young Greens members where a majority of voting members
may vote to remove the EC voting member.
Part 3: Election Timescale
E3.1 All processes and the election timescale described between Clauses E3.4 and
E3.11 (inclusive) apply only to positions elected in the “Annual Ballot” at
convention, namely Executive Committee, Democracy and Accountability Committee
members, and Co-Convenors of the Green Students Committee, and the Co-chairs and committee members (if any) of each Liberation Group.
E3.2 Co-Chairs,Committees, or other positions in Young Greens Affiliated Groups
shall be elected with a separate timescale to be decided by those respective
groups.
E3.3 The Elected International Delegate shall be elected in line with the
procedure below, with the process beginning three months prior to the event they
will be attending.
E3.4 At least 8 weeks before the AGM the Executive Committee must send out a
call for applications to all Executive Committee positions, all Democracy and
Accountability Committee positions, and Green Students Committee Co-Convenor
positions. This callout must set out the rest of the timescale and how to apply.
E3.5 Exactly 4 weeks before the AGM applications will close for all roles
elected at Convention except for roles that received no applications during the
initial period.
E3.6 As close as possible to 2 weeks before the start of the AGM a live online
video hustings will take place for all roles elected at Convention, which all
candidates for these roles are invited to take part in.
E3.7 Exactly 2 weeks before the start of the AGM voting will open in accordance
with Standing Order E4.3.
E3.8 At 17.00 the day before the AGM applications will close for roles covered
by E3.1 which gained no applications as of E3.5.
E3.9 A further in-person hustings shall be held at Convention; each candidate
has the right to participate in these as well as to submit a statement in
advance.
E3.10 Voting shall close during Convention between the in-person hustings
detailed in E3.9 and the announcement of results (the exact time to be at the
discretion of DAC). The time of this should be clearly identified on the
Convention Timetable and voting platform.
E3.11 The election of successful candidates shall be announced during
Convention.
Part 4: Electoral System and Gender Balance
E4.1 Every Young Green is eligible to vote at the Annual General Meeting and
associated elections where they have 1 vote.
E4.2 All positions shall all be elected using the Single Transferable Vote (STV)
system with a provision for negative voting (re-open nominations, acronym RON).
E4.2.1 Single Transferable Vote quota for election is calculated as follows:
total valid vote divided by one more than the number of seats up for election
plus one (or rounded up) to avoid ties: (TVV/(seats+1)) +1.
E4.3 Voting will take place via secret, secure online ballot arranged by an
Electoral Returning Officer (ERO), appointed by the Democracy and Accountability
Committee (DAC).
E4.4 DAC, or the ERO if authorised to do so by DAC, is responsible for counting
the votes.
E4.5 The counting of votes and electing of successful candidates for the
positions of Executive Committee Co-Chair and Treasurer will take place before
the counting for EC Non-Portfolio positions so that the gender balance criteria
described in E4.6, E4.7, E4.8, E4.9, and E4.10 can be applied.
E4.6 The following rules will apply exclusively to the election of Co-chairs in
compliance with Clause 1.1.1 of Constitution Byelaw 1.
E4.6.1 The candidate with the highest number of first preference votes will be
elected in the first round in which a candidate passes the quota required by the
STV method.
E4.6.2 If the successful candidate is not a self-defining man, the second
candidate elected by the STV method will be elected to the second Co-Chair
position, regardless of gender identity.
E4.6.3 If the first successful candidate is a self-defining man, all other self-
defining men will be excluded from the vote and their further preferences
allocated to the remaining candidates from whom the second Co-Chair will be
elected.
E4.7 Following the election of the aforementioned roles a number of Non-
Portfolio positions will be reserved for candidates who are not self-defining
men to ensure that EC shall comprise of no more than 50% of members who self-
define as men. The number of roles reserved will be calculated based on the
number of self-defining men elected to the Co-Chair and treasurer positions.
E4.8 The election of Green Students Committee Co-Convenors will take place
following the same rules as laid out for EC Co-Chairs in D4.6.
E4.9 The selection of the International Delegate will ensure that no more than
one delegate self-defines as a man.
E4.10 The election of members to the Democracy and Accountability Committee will
be carried out such that no more than 3 of the places are taken by self-defining
men with places reserved, as necessary, to ensure this.
Part 5: Campaigning Rules
E5.1 Candidates for any role in Young Greens elections, and proposers of papers,
are entitled to campaign and must all follow the same rules except for E5.2
which shall only apply to roles explicitly mentioned.
E5.2 The amount spent on a campaign by a candidate in the Young Greens annual
ballot (EC, Democracy and Accountability Committee, Green Students Committee Co-
Convenors) must not exceed £30. This includes leaflets, online campaigning and
similar expenditures the candidate has incurred as a result of being a candidate
for this position within the Young Greens. It also includes expenditure incurred
by the supporters of the candidate. At least 50% of all spending will be
reimbursed by the Young Greens provided that receipts are given to the Young
Greens Treasurer within 30 days of the close of elections. The same amount of
money will be reimbursed for every candidate running for any one role.
E5.3 Candidates and proposers may use the contact details of people they know
personally to directly canvass for support, via their own networks, in the run
up to the election but must not use details of members they only know via
official Young Greens channels – for example those they have gleaned through
previously holding an elected position within the Young Greens or those they
have gained from mailing lists.
E5.4 Candidates and proposers may campaign online and use social media to
canvass for support but only strictly in a personal capacity.
E5.5 Candidates and proposers may not use official Young Greens or Green Party
communication channels such as administrative email and Facebook privileges.
E5.6 Each candidate is entitled to their submitted nomination statement being
circulated amongst the membership via email and posting on the Young Greens
website.
E5.7 Campaigns must focus on the benefits of the candidate they are supporting,
not the flaws of the candidates opposing them. Negative campaigning is not
permitted.
E5.8 Bribery, coercion and mistreating of members is strictly forbidden.
E5.9 Any member, regardless of candidate status, can report a suspected breach
of these rules to the Electoral Returning Officer in the case of electoral
breaches, Democracy and Accountability Committee in the case of motions, or,
where they feel that is inappropriate, to Young Greens Staff.
E5.10 Any suspected electoral breach of these rules shall be investigated by the
Electoral Returning Officer and the Democracy and Accountability Committee who
have the following options open to them:
E5.10.1 Suspension of a candidate from the current election, who is suspected to
have breached these rules, pending investigation by the Electoral Returning
Officer and the Democracy and Accountability Committee. If the investigation
cannot be completed by the AGM, the election will be re-run.
E5.10.2 Expulsion from the current election of a candidate found to have broken
these rules, by the Electoral Returning Officer and the Democracy and
Accountability Committee - the election shall otherwise continue as normal.
E5.10.3 Expulsion from the current election of a candidate where it has been
found that person(s) acting on their behalf have breached these rules.
E5.10.4 Additionally, Candidates removed from the current election due to the
actions of themselves or others will still be eligible to be a candidate for
future elections to any position within the Young Greens.
E5.11 Any suspected non-electoral breaches, during an election and by a
candidate, of the Young Greens Constitution, Young Greens Standing Orders, Green
Party Constitution, Green Party Standing Orders, Green Party Code of Conduct or
any other organisational policies of the Green Party of England and Wales and
Young Greens, including anti-harassment and Safe Space policies, shall be
investigated by the Democracy and Accountability Committee who shall have the
following options open to them:
E5.11.1 Suspension of a candidate from the current election, who is suspected to
have breached these rules, pending investigation by the Democracy and
Accountability Committee. If the investigation cannot be completed by the AGM,
the election will be re- run.
E5.11.2 Expulsion from the current election of a candidate found to have
breached these rules with the election otherwise continuing as normal.
E5.12 Following any action as described in E5.11.1 or E5.11.2, the Democracy and
Accountability Committee shall refer the case to the Complaints and Disputes
Subcommittee for full investigation as described in Article 5 of the
Constitution, from 5.6 onwards.
E5.13 Any suspected breach of these rules in relation to the proposal of papers
will be investigated by the Democracy and Accountability Committee who will have
the following options open to them:
E5.13.1 Suspension of a proposer suspected of breaking these rules may be
suspended from proposing the paper pending investigation by the Democracy and
Accountability Committee and an alternative proposer must be found by the
remaining co-proposers.
E5.13.2 For serious breaches of these rules, the Democracy and Accountability
Committee may rule the paper or amendment Out of Order and remove it from the
General Meeting agenda.
E5.14 A person is accountable to these rules from the opening of the nominations
period, however, may only announce their candidacy and begin publicly
campaigning after the close of nominations.
Part 6: Co-Ooptions
E6.1 Any vacant EC role may be co-opted by a majority vote of EC plus the
agreement of the Chair of the Democracy and Accountability Committee, after a
call out and a hustings has taken place.
E6.2 When advertising vacant EC Non-Portfolio positions, the Executive Committee
are able to advertise specific available portfolio(s), as decided by a majority
vote of EC plus the agreement of the Chair of the Democracy and Accountability
Committee.
E6.3 Any vacant DAC role may be co-opted by a majority vote of DAC, after a call
out has taken place.
E6.4 If it is not possible to co-opt for DAC roles in accordance with E6.3,
these roles may be co-opted by a majority vote of EC, after a call out has taken
place.
E6.5 Vacant Green Students Committee Co-Convenor roles may be co-opted by a
majority vote of the Green Students Committee after a call out by the Green
Students Committee has taken place.
E6.6 If it is not possible to co-opt for Green Students Committee Co-Convenor
roles in accordance with E6.5, these roles may be co-opted by a majority vote of
EC plus the agreement of the Chair of the Democracy and Accountability
Committee, after a call out and a hustings has taken place.
E6.7 Gender balance criteria as defined under section E4.5 through to E4.10
should also apply to any co-options.
Section F: Exceptional Democratic Accountability
Measures
F1 The General Meetings defined in Sections B, C, and D shall all be held in-
person, with in-person democratic functions.
F2 In exceptional circumstances in-person functions may not be possible and when
this is the case these protocols shall be followed in order:
F2.1 No less than three voting members of the Executive Committee shall bring
forward a motion to a meeting of the Executive Committee, expressing intent and
reasoning to invoke Exceptional Democratic Accountability Measures (hereafter
referred to as "Exceptional Measures" or colloquially as "EDAM").
F2.2 The Executive Committee shall vote on whether or not to invoke Exceptional
Measures, invocation shall require a two-thirds majority.
F2.3 If Exceptional Measures are invoked, then the Co-Chairs of the Executive
Committee shall inform the Chair or Co-Chairs of the Democracy and
Accountability Committee of the decision, alongside documents which shall
provide all reasoning and minutes of debate.
F2.4 The Democracy and Accountability Committee shall thoroughly review the
declaration of Exceptional Measures and shall vote on whether or not to ratify
the decision, ratification shall require a simple majority of the whole
Committee.
F2.5 If Exceptional Measures are ratified, then the Executive Committee and the
Democracy and Accountability Committee shall move to F3.
F3 After ratification of Exceptional Measures, the Executive Committee and the
Democracy and Accountability Committee shall explore solutions of all nature and
produce official planning documents, all solutions must be permitted under the
conditions listed in F4. After a maximum of two weeks or after mutual agreement,
F4 shall be implemented.
F4 Following thorough exploration, investigation, and planning, the Executive
Committee shall inform the Democracy and Accountability Committee of any
decision taken immediately after a vote to:
F4.1 Postpone a General Meeting by up to 6 weeks after the normal period.
F4.2 Hold a General Meeting and all associated functions online in accordance
with regular timescales.
F4.3 Postpone a General Meeting by up to 6 weeks after the normal period and
hold the event and all associated functions online.
F4.4 Waive Exceptional Measures and carry out a General Meeting in the normal
fashion.
F5 Once the Democracy and Accountability Committee has been informed, it shall
vote to ratify or reject the decision that has been made.
F5.1 Should the decision be ratified by a majority, the agreed actions come into
effect immediately.
F5.2 Should the decision be rejected by a majority, the process shall return to
either F3 or F4, at the discretion of the Democracy and Accountability
Committee.
F6.1 The membership of the Young Greens of England and Wales must be informed
regularly of progress at the end of each set of processes outlined in F2, F3,
F4, and F5.
Supporters
- Rosie Rawle (Oxfordshire)
- Annie Prins (Solihull)
- Heloise Hunter (West Central London)
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From line 61 to 63:
B3.2.3 Executive Committee Non-Portfolio Officers.
B3.2.3 Digital Communications Officer
B3.2.4 Press OfficerB3.2.5 Campaigns OfficerB3.2.6 Events OfficerB3.2.7 International OfficerB3.2.8 Equality and Diversity OfficerB3.2.9 Activist Training and Political Education OfficerB3.2.10 Liberation Officers (from each formerly constituted Liberation Group)B3.2.11 Under 18s Officer
B3.2.412 Democracy and Accountability Committee.
B3.2.513 Green Students Committee Co-Convenors.
From line 148 to 149:
D.2.3 Executive Committee Non-portfolio members
D.2.3 Elections OfficerD.2.3 Digital Communications OfficerD.2.4 Press OfficerD2.5 Campaigns OfficerD2.6 Events OfficerD2.7 International OfficerD2.8 Equality and Diversity OfficerD2.9 Activist Training and Political Education OfficerD2.11 Liberation Officers (from each formerly constituted Liberation Group)
D2.12 Under 18s Officer
D.2.413 Green Students Committee Co-convenors.
Insert from line 165 to 169:
and the Green Students Committee Co-Convenors providing they abide by the rules such as gender quotas, except in the case of Liberation Officers as stated in E1.2.
E1.2 Only those Young Greens who self-define as belonging to a specific Liberation group may be stand to be the Liberation Officer, Co-chair or committee member candidates for election for within that respective Liberation group.
From line 187 to 188:
E1.6.2 Executive Committee Non-Portfolio Officer
E1.6.2 Elections OfficerE1.6.3 Digital Communications OfficerE1.6.4 Press OfficerE1.6.5 Campaigns OfficerE1.6.6 Events OfficerE1.6.7 International OfficerE1.6.8 Equality and Diversity OfficerE1.6.9 Activist Training and Political Education OfficerE1.6.10 Liberation Officers (from each formerly constituted Liberation Group)E1.6.11 Under 18s Officer
E1.6.312 Member of the Democracy and Accountability Committee
From line 256 to 257:
convention, namely Executive Committee, Democracy and Accountability Committee members, and Co-Convenors of the Green Students Committee, and the Co-chairs and committee members (if any) of each Liberation Group.
Delete from line 316 to 320:
E4.7 Following the election of the aforementioned roles a number of Non- Portfolio positions will be reserved for candidates who are not self-defining men to ensure that EC shall comprise of no more than 50% of members who self-define as men. The number of roles reserved will be calculated based on the number of self-defining men elected to the Co-Chair and treasurer positions.
Delete from line 411 to 414:
E6.2 When advertising vacant EC Non-Portfolio positions, the Executive Committee are able to advertise specific available portfolio(s), as decided by a majority vote of EC plus the agreement of the Chair of the Democracy and Accountability Committee.
Young Greens Standing Orders 2020/2021
Section A: Young Greens Convention
A1.1 The Young Greens Convention shall be held once per year in Spring.
A1.2 The Young Greens Convention will take place for two days during a weekend.
A1.3 The Young Greens Convention shall not be held twice in the same Region
Block, defined in A1.4, consecutively.
A1.4 Within each five-year period, as determined by DAC, the Young Greens
Convention must take place within the bounds of at least three of these four
Region Blocks:
A1.4.1 The South East, and the South West
A1.4.2 The North East, the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber
A1.4.3 The Midlands, and Wales
A1.4.4 The East, and London
A1.5 Liberation groups will be allocated a session at convention where they will
provide a report to its membership on activities undertaken since last
convention and for any other purpose the group sees fit.
Section B: Annual General Meetings
Part 1: Competency of the Annual General Meeting
B1.1 The Young Greens Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held at Young Greens
Annual Convention.
B1.2 The Annual General Meeting is the highest decision-making body within the
Young Greens.
B1.3 There must be at least 25 members of the Young Greens at any General
Meeting for decisions to be binding.
B1.4 The AGM accepts/rejects/amends reports, motions, resolutions and changes to
the Constitution or Standing Orders, collectively referred to as 'papers'.
B1.5 The AGM ratifies decisions about joining or leaving partnerships and
membership within other organisations/networks.
B1.7 A General Meeting will be held at a bi-national autumn event.
Part 2: Organisation of the Annual General Meeting
B2.1 The Annual General Meeting agenda must be structured, organised and agreed
by the Executive Committee (EC) and Democracy and Accountability Committee
(DAC).
B2.2 DAC must appoint a chair and deputy chair for the Annual General Meeting.
The chair and deputy chair must not be proposers of any papers or amendments to
the Annual General Meeting.
B2.3 DAC must ensure that all members respect the Constitution and Standing
Orders.
B2.4 DAC must take Annual General Meeting minutes of all official business
including recording any votes, important discussions, and decisions.
B2.5 DAC must keep a record of newly adopted/amended documents and email the
Young Greens' Co-Chairs a copy of newly adopted/amended documents as well as the
minutes of the Annual General Meeting.
B2.6 DAC must inform EC to take note of any newly adopted papers.
B2.7 A prioritisation ballot will occur, conducted by DAC, on the first day of
Convention for attendees at the Annual General Meeting in order to decide the
order of papers taken.
Part 3: Motions and Reports
B3.1 It shall be the role of DAC to compile submitted papers, which consist of
B3.1.1 Changes to the Constitution or Standing Orders
B3.1.2 Resolutions, which note the priorities of the Executive Committee for the
upcoming term
B3.1.3 Motions, which insert entries into the Record of Policy Statements or
Record of Organisational Statements
B3.1.4 Reports, as outlined in B3.2
B3.1.5 Emergency Motions, as outlined in B3.10
B3.2 The Annual General Meeting must take note of mandatory annual reports by
the:
B3.2.1 Executive Committee Co-Chairs.
B3.2.2 Treasurer.
B3.2.3 Executive Committee Non-Portfolio Officers.
B3.2.3 Digital Communications Officer
B3.2.4 Press OfficerB3.2.5 Campaigns OfficerB3.2.6 Events OfficerB3.2.7 International OfficerB3.2.8 Equality and Diversity OfficerB3.2.9 Activist Training and Political Education OfficerB3.2.10 Liberation Officers (from each formerly constituted Liberation Group)B3.2.11 Under 18s Officer
B3.2.412 Democracy and Accountability Committee.
B3.2.513 Green Students Committee Co-Convenors.
B3.3 Annual reports detailed in B3.2 must be submitted to DAC at least 1 week
before the AGM.
B3.4 Individual members, EC and Affiliated Young Greens Groups have the right to
submit papers and amendments.
B3.5 For all submissions, there must be a named proposer and at least 3 other
co-proposers or at least one other co-proposer if submitting on behalf of an
Affiliated YG Group or recognised committee.
B3.6 Paper copies of the Constitution, Standing Orders, Record of Policy
Statements and Record of Organisational Statements must be made available for
members attending the General Meeting.
B3.7 The timescale for the submission of papers and amendments shall be as
follows:
B3.7.1 At least 8 weeks before the Annual General Meeting, EC must send out a
call including guidelines for submission of papers, all relevant dates and where
to find papers once they are posted on the members’ website.
B3.7.2 Submission for papers shall close exactly 4 weeks before the AGM.
B3.7.3 Following this, DAC must post all submissions at the earliest possible
moment.
B3.7.4 Exactly 1 week before the AGM, submission of amendments to papers will
close.
B3.7.5 Amendments may not substantially change the intention of the paper and
nor may they require changes to another section of the Constitution or Standing
Orders.
B3.8 Exactly 5 days before the Annual General Meeting, DAC must ensure that all
members are emailed (regardless of Annual General Meeting registration status)
copies of all papers and amendments to both as well as the reports detailed in
B3.2.
B3.9 The only amendments which shall be accepted from the floor during the AGM
are minor textual amendments (e.g. grammatical corrections) and friendly verbal
amendments (i.e. where both the proposer of the original paper and the proposer
of the verbal amendment agree to an amendment).
B3.10 Emergency motions, defined as being brought due to an event occurring past
the original motion deadline, will be accepted up until 17.00 on the day before
the AGM.
B3.11 The text of Emergency Motions should be submitted electronically or by
paper copy and the list of proposers by email and/or paper copy, both to the
Chair of DAC .
B3.12 Emergency Motions shall be prioritised at the AGM by DAC on the basis of
the number of co-proposers to each Emergency Motion.
Part 4: Motion Voting Procedures
B4.1 When debating a paper or amendment at the Annual General Meeting, the
proposer will be asked by the chair to propose the motion or amendment by
explaining what the paper or amendment is for and then giving a brief speech in
favour of the paper.
B4.2 Following this the chair will open debate on the paper or amendment by
asking for a limited number of brief alternating speeches in favour and against
the paper, firstly against and then in favour of the paper or amendment until
either no one wishes to make a speech or there has been sufficient debate on the
paper or amendment.
B4.3 If it is unclear if there has been sufficient debate a straw poll will be
taken by raising hands with the options either for more debate or move to a
vote.
B4.4 At any point before the vote is taken, any member can ask for
clarification, raise points of information or propose procedural motions (e.g.
minor textural amendments, taking by parts).
B4.5 If a paper or amendment has received lengthy debate the proposer may
request a brief right of reply before the vote is taken.
B4.6 When voting on paper proposals the possibilities are 'yes', 'no' or
'abstention'.
B4.7 Depending on the nature of the proposal, the following types of majority
may be required for a motion to be passed.
B4.7.1 Simple majority: majority of the votes cast in person.
B4.7.2 Two-thirds majority: two-thirds of the votes cast in person.
B4.7.3 Absolute two-thirds majority: two-thirds majority of the votes cast by
the entire membership of the body.
B4.8 Amendments to the Constitution including accompanying Byelaws or Standing
Orders will be accepted with a two-thirds majority.
B4.9 Unless otherwise stated in the Constitution or Standing Orders, everything
else will be accepted with a simple majority.
B4.10 DAC shall be responsible for counting the votes.
B4.11 Results of votes must be announced during the meeting.
Section C: Emergency General Meetings
C1.1 An Emergency General Meeting (EGM) may be called at any time by an absolute
two-thirds majority of EC, or by a minimum of 5% of the Young Greens membership
petitioning the EC for an EGM.
C1.2 The same procedure as for AGM paper submission, organisation and voting
shall apply to an EGM following Section B Parts 2,3,4, however the timescale
will be halved.
Section D: Autumn General Meeting
D.1 There will be a Young Greens General Meeting held in autumn.
D.2 The Autumn General Meeting consists solely of accountability sessions for
the following representatives elected in the annual ballot:
D.2.1 Executive Committee Co-chairs
D.2.2 Treasurer
D.2.3 Executive Committee Non-portfolio members
D.2.3 Elections OfficerD.2.3 Digital Communications OfficerD.2.4 Press OfficerD2.5 Campaigns OfficerD2.6 Events OfficerD2.7 International OfficerD2.8 Equality and Diversity OfficerD2.9 Activist Training and Political Education OfficerD2.11 Liberation Officers (from each formerly constituted Liberation Group)
D2.12 Under 18s Officer
D.2.413 Green Students Committee Co-convenors.
D.3 The Autumn General Meeting must take note of mandatory six-month progress
reports from those representatives.
D.4 The accountability session will take the form of a face-to-face Q&A with the
membership.
D.5 There must be at least 25 members of the Young Greens excluding employees at
any General Meeting for decisions to be binding.
D.6 Motions of no confidence may be put forward during the accountability
session and will pass with a two-thirds majority.
D.7 Motions of no confidence may be put forward during the accountability
session Censure and Commendations and will pass with a simple majority.
D.8 Every Young Green is eligible to vote at the Autumn General Meeting.
Section E: Internal Elections
Part 1: Candidacy
E1.1 All members of the Young Greens are eligible to be candidates for roles
within the Executive Committee, Democracy and Accountability Committee members
and the Green Students Committee Co-Convenors providing they abide by the rules
such as gender quotas, except in the case of Liberation Officers as stated in E1.2.
E1.2 Only those Young Greens who self-define as belonging to a specific
Liberation group may be stand to be the Liberation Officer, Co-chair or committee member candidates for election for within that respective
Liberation group.
E1.3 Members who hold a position on the Democracy and Accountability Committee
may not be candidates for any position other than Member of DAC, except for
Affiliated Group roles, until they no longer hold a position on DAC. Members of
DAC with an active role in an affiliated group must recuse themselves from
business involving that affiliated group.
E1.4 Candidates must have two nominees, who are members of the Young Greens in
accordance with Article 1 of the constitution, and may provide a candidate
statement, campaign video, and social media links if they wish.
E1.5 Members of the Young Greens may not: be a nominee for more than one of the
following positions at any one time; nor hold more than one of the following
posts at any one time in the Young Greens:
E1.5.1 Any EC role
E1.5.2 Democracy and Accountability Committee
E1.5.3 Green Students Committee Co-Convenor
E1.6 Members of the Young Greens may put themselves forward as a job share for
any of the following posts within the Young Greens annual ballot:
E1.6.1 Treasurer
E1.6.2 Executive Committee Non-Portfolio Officer
E1.6.2 Elections OfficerE1.6.3 Digital Communications OfficerE1.6.4 Press OfficerE1.6.5 Campaigns OfficerE1.6.6 Events OfficerE1.6.7 International OfficerE1.6.8 Equality and Diversity OfficerE1.6.9 Activist Training and Political Education OfficerE1.6.10 Liberation Officers (from each formerly constituted Liberation Group)E1.6.11 Under 18s Officer
E1.6.312 Member of the Democracy and Accountability Committee
E1.7 Should one part of the job share resign or be removed from their position
for whatever reason, their counterpart(s) will be able to either:
E1.7.1 advertise to co-opt a replacement for the exiting part of the job share
E1.7.2 continue to carry out their role without the exiting part of the job
share, without replacing them
E1.7.3 resign from their role
Part 2: Term of Office and Accountability
E2.1 All roles shall be elected for a term of office of 1 year, which should be
completed should the officer no longer fit the requirements described in
Constitution Clause 1.5.1 or 1.5.2 during their term, accepting variations as
described below.
E2.2 For all roles elected at the AGM in the annual ballot, the term of office
shall run until the following year’s AGM except in the cases of resignation or
removal by a vote of no confidence.
E2.3 A vote of no confidence shall occur for an individual role if the Democracy
and Accountability Committee are petitioned by 25% of the committee or other
body which the role is part of.
E2.4 A vote of no confidence may also be called for any individual role if the
Democracy and Accountability Committee are petitioned by 5% of the Young Greens
membership.
E2.5 If the role which a vote of no confidence is being petitioned for falls
within the Democracy and Accountability Committee, then it shall instead be EC
that is petitioned by the members of the relevant committee, body, or general
membership.
E2.6 Complete anonymity shall be maintained throughout by the committee which is
petitioned, both relating to the petitioners and the vote.
E2.7 No member may sit on the same body for more than 5 terms consecutively,
irrespective of election or co-option.
E2.8 No member may hold the same post for more than 3 terms, irrespective of
election or co-option.
E2.9 EC voting members have a responsibility to attend EC meetings and to stay
accountable:
E2.9.1 Failure to attend four regularly scheduled meetings consecutively shall
either: initiate an automatic immediate committee-internal vote of no confidence
held via secret ballot by DAC, repeatable during a term; or result in the civil
resignation of the member at their discretion, prior to the vote of no
confidence.
E2.9.2 Failure to attend ten regularly scheduled meetings in total over the
course of one term shall either: initiate an immediate automatic committee-
internal vote of no confidence held via secret ballot by DAC, repeatable during
a term; or result in the civil resignation of the member at their discretion,
prior to the vote of no confidence.
E2.9.3 Failure to complete two individual quarterly reports in total over the
course of one term shall either: initiate an automatic immediate committee-
internal vote of no confidence held via secret ballot by DAC, repeatable during
a term; or result in the civil resignation of the member at their discretion,
prior to the vote of no confidence.
E2.9.4 Failure to complete a mandatory individual six-month progress report
shall either: initiate an automatic immediate committee-internal vote of no
confidence held via secret ballot by DAC; or result in the civil resignation of
the member at their discretion, prior to the vote of no confidence.
E2.9.5 Failure to complete a mandatory individual annual report shall result in
the ERO reporting this information at the final Convention Hustings if the
Candidate is standing for election again.
E2.10 If an individual EC voting member invokes three of the actions noted in
E2.9.1 through E2.9.4, but remains on EC, then DAC shall have the following
options available:
E2.10.1 Initiate immediate informal mediation to find the causes of the issues
at hand and offer support and guidance on various options available.
E2.10.2 Initiate another immediate committee-internal vote of no confidence
within EC.
E2.10.3 Initiate an online ballot, to be held within one month of the DAC
decision, open to all Young Greens members where a majority of voting members
may vote to remove the EC voting member.
Part 3: Election Timescale
E3.1 All processes and the election timescale described between Clauses E3.4 and
E3.11 (inclusive) apply only to positions elected in the “Annual Ballot” at
convention, namely Executive Committee, Democracy and Accountability Committee
members, and Co-Convenors of the Green Students Committee, and the Co-chairs and committee members (if any) of each Liberation Group.
E3.2 Co-Chairs,Committees, or other positions in Young Greens Affiliated Groups
shall be elected with a separate timescale to be decided by those respective
groups.
E3.3 The Elected International Delegate shall be elected in line with the
procedure below, with the process beginning three months prior to the event they
will be attending.
E3.4 At least 8 weeks before the AGM the Executive Committee must send out a
call for applications to all Executive Committee positions, all Democracy and
Accountability Committee positions, and Green Students Committee Co-Convenor
positions. This callout must set out the rest of the timescale and how to apply.
E3.5 Exactly 4 weeks before the AGM applications will close for all roles
elected at Convention except for roles that received no applications during the
initial period.
E3.6 As close as possible to 2 weeks before the start of the AGM a live online
video hustings will take place for all roles elected at Convention, which all
candidates for these roles are invited to take part in.
E3.7 Exactly 2 weeks before the start of the AGM voting will open in accordance
with Standing Order E4.3.
E3.8 At 17.00 the day before the AGM applications will close for roles covered
by E3.1 which gained no applications as of E3.5.
E3.9 A further in-person hustings shall be held at Convention; each candidate
has the right to participate in these as well as to submit a statement in
advance.
E3.10 Voting shall close during Convention between the in-person hustings
detailed in E3.9 and the announcement of results (the exact time to be at the
discretion of DAC). The time of this should be clearly identified on the
Convention Timetable and voting platform.
E3.11 The election of successful candidates shall be announced during
Convention.
Part 4: Electoral System and Gender Balance
E4.1 Every Young Green is eligible to vote at the Annual General Meeting and
associated elections where they have 1 vote.
E4.2 All positions shall all be elected using the Single Transferable Vote (STV)
system with a provision for negative voting (re-open nominations, acronym RON).
E4.2.1 Single Transferable Vote quota for election is calculated as follows:
total valid vote divided by one more than the number of seats up for election
plus one (or rounded up) to avoid ties: (TVV/(seats+1)) +1.
E4.3 Voting will take place via secret, secure online ballot arranged by an
Electoral Returning Officer (ERO), appointed by the Democracy and Accountability
Committee (DAC).
E4.4 DAC, or the ERO if authorised to do so by DAC, is responsible for counting
the votes.
E4.5 The counting of votes and electing of successful candidates for the
positions of Executive Committee Co-Chair and Treasurer will take place before
the counting for EC Non-Portfolio positions so that the gender balance criteria
described in E4.6, E4.7, E4.8, E4.9, and E4.10 can be applied.
E4.6 The following rules will apply exclusively to the election of Co-chairs in
compliance with Clause 1.1.1 of Constitution Byelaw 1.
E4.6.1 The candidate with the highest number of first preference votes will be
elected in the first round in which a candidate passes the quota required by the
STV method.
E4.6.2 If the successful candidate is not a self-defining man, the second
candidate elected by the STV method will be elected to the second Co-Chair
position, regardless of gender identity.
E4.6.3 If the first successful candidate is a self-defining man, all other self-
defining men will be excluded from the vote and their further preferences
allocated to the remaining candidates from whom the second Co-Chair will be
elected.
E4.7 Following the election of the aforementioned roles a number of Non-
Portfolio positions will be reserved for candidates who are not self-defining
men to ensure that EC shall comprise of no more than 50% of members who self-
define as men. The number of roles reserved will be calculated based on the
number of self-defining men elected to the Co-Chair and treasurer positions.
E4.8 The election of Green Students Committee Co-Convenors will take place
following the same rules as laid out for EC Co-Chairs in D4.6.
E4.9 The selection of the International Delegate will ensure that no more than
one delegate self-defines as a man.
E4.10 The election of members to the Democracy and Accountability Committee will
be carried out such that no more than 3 of the places are taken by self-defining
men with places reserved, as necessary, to ensure this.
Part 5: Campaigning Rules
E5.1 Candidates for any role in Young Greens elections, and proposers of papers,
are entitled to campaign and must all follow the same rules except for E5.2
which shall only apply to roles explicitly mentioned.
E5.2 The amount spent on a campaign by a candidate in the Young Greens annual
ballot (EC, Democracy and Accountability Committee, Green Students Committee Co-
Convenors) must not exceed £30. This includes leaflets, online campaigning and
similar expenditures the candidate has incurred as a result of being a candidate
for this position within the Young Greens. It also includes expenditure incurred
by the supporters of the candidate. At least 50% of all spending will be
reimbursed by the Young Greens provided that receipts are given to the Young
Greens Treasurer within 30 days of the close of elections. The same amount of
money will be reimbursed for every candidate running for any one role.
E5.3 Candidates and proposers may use the contact details of people they know
personally to directly canvass for support, via their own networks, in the run
up to the election but must not use details of members they only know via
official Young Greens channels – for example those they have gleaned through
previously holding an elected position within the Young Greens or those they
have gained from mailing lists.
E5.4 Candidates and proposers may campaign online and use social media to
canvass for support but only strictly in a personal capacity.
E5.5 Candidates and proposers may not use official Young Greens or Green Party
communication channels such as administrative email and Facebook privileges.
E5.6 Each candidate is entitled to their submitted nomination statement being
circulated amongst the membership via email and posting on the Young Greens
website.
E5.7 Campaigns must focus on the benefits of the candidate they are supporting,
not the flaws of the candidates opposing them. Negative campaigning is not
permitted.
E5.8 Bribery, coercion and mistreating of members is strictly forbidden.
E5.9 Any member, regardless of candidate status, can report a suspected breach
of these rules to the Electoral Returning Officer in the case of electoral
breaches, Democracy and Accountability Committee in the case of motions, or,
where they feel that is inappropriate, to Young Greens Staff.
E5.10 Any suspected electoral breach of these rules shall be investigated by the
Electoral Returning Officer and the Democracy and Accountability Committee who
have the following options open to them:
E5.10.1 Suspension of a candidate from the current election, who is suspected to
have breached these rules, pending investigation by the Electoral Returning
Officer and the Democracy and Accountability Committee. If the investigation
cannot be completed by the AGM, the election will be re-run.
E5.10.2 Expulsion from the current election of a candidate found to have broken
these rules, by the Electoral Returning Officer and the Democracy and
Accountability Committee - the election shall otherwise continue as normal.
E5.10.3 Expulsion from the current election of a candidate where it has been
found that person(s) acting on their behalf have breached these rules.
E5.10.4 Additionally, Candidates removed from the current election due to the
actions of themselves or others will still be eligible to be a candidate for
future elections to any position within the Young Greens.
E5.11 Any suspected non-electoral breaches, during an election and by a
candidate, of the Young Greens Constitution, Young Greens Standing Orders, Green
Party Constitution, Green Party Standing Orders, Green Party Code of Conduct or
any other organisational policies of the Green Party of England and Wales and
Young Greens, including anti-harassment and Safe Space policies, shall be
investigated by the Democracy and Accountability Committee who shall have the
following options open to them:
E5.11.1 Suspension of a candidate from the current election, who is suspected to
have breached these rules, pending investigation by the Democracy and
Accountability Committee. If the investigation cannot be completed by the AGM,
the election will be re- run.
E5.11.2 Expulsion from the current election of a candidate found to have
breached these rules with the election otherwise continuing as normal.
E5.12 Following any action as described in E5.11.1 or E5.11.2, the Democracy and
Accountability Committee shall refer the case to the Complaints and Disputes
Subcommittee for full investigation as described in Article 5 of the
Constitution, from 5.6 onwards.
E5.13 Any suspected breach of these rules in relation to the proposal of papers
will be investigated by the Democracy and Accountability Committee who will have
the following options open to them:
E5.13.1 Suspension of a proposer suspected of breaking these rules may be
suspended from proposing the paper pending investigation by the Democracy and
Accountability Committee and an alternative proposer must be found by the
remaining co-proposers.
E5.13.2 For serious breaches of these rules, the Democracy and Accountability
Committee may rule the paper or amendment Out of Order and remove it from the
General Meeting agenda.
E5.14 A person is accountable to these rules from the opening of the nominations
period, however, may only announce their candidacy and begin publicly
campaigning after the close of nominations.
Part 6: Co-Ooptions
E6.1 Any vacant EC role may be co-opted by a majority vote of EC plus the
agreement of the Chair of the Democracy and Accountability Committee, after a
call out and a hustings has taken place.
E6.2 When advertising vacant EC Non-Portfolio positions, the Executive Committee
are able to advertise specific available portfolio(s), as decided by a majority
vote of EC plus the agreement of the Chair of the Democracy and Accountability
Committee.
E6.3 Any vacant DAC role may be co-opted by a majority vote of DAC, after a call
out has taken place.
E6.4 If it is not possible to co-opt for DAC roles in accordance with E6.3,
these roles may be co-opted by a majority vote of EC, after a call out has taken
place.
E6.5 Vacant Green Students Committee Co-Convenor roles may be co-opted by a
majority vote of the Green Students Committee after a call out by the Green
Students Committee has taken place.
E6.6 If it is not possible to co-opt for Green Students Committee Co-Convenor
roles in accordance with E6.5, these roles may be co-opted by a majority vote of
EC plus the agreement of the Chair of the Democracy and Accountability
Committee, after a call out and a hustings has taken place.
E6.7 Gender balance criteria as defined under section E4.5 through to E4.10
should also apply to any co-options.
Section F: Exceptional Democratic Accountability
Measures
F1 The General Meetings defined in Sections B, C, and D shall all be held in-
person, with in-person democratic functions.
F2 In exceptional circumstances in-person functions may not be possible and when
this is the case these protocols shall be followed in order:
F2.1 No less than three voting members of the Executive Committee shall bring
forward a motion to a meeting of the Executive Committee, expressing intent and
reasoning to invoke Exceptional Democratic Accountability Measures (hereafter
referred to as "Exceptional Measures" or colloquially as "EDAM").
F2.2 The Executive Committee shall vote on whether or not to invoke Exceptional
Measures, invocation shall require a two-thirds majority.
F2.3 If Exceptional Measures are invoked, then the Co-Chairs of the Executive
Committee shall inform the Chair or Co-Chairs of the Democracy and
Accountability Committee of the decision, alongside documents which shall
provide all reasoning and minutes of debate.
F2.4 The Democracy and Accountability Committee shall thoroughly review the
declaration of Exceptional Measures and shall vote on whether or not to ratify
the decision, ratification shall require a simple majority of the whole
Committee.
F2.5 If Exceptional Measures are ratified, then the Executive Committee and the
Democracy and Accountability Committee shall move to F3.
F3 After ratification of Exceptional Measures, the Executive Committee and the
Democracy and Accountability Committee shall explore solutions of all nature and
produce official planning documents, all solutions must be permitted under the
conditions listed in F4. After a maximum of two weeks or after mutual agreement,
F4 shall be implemented.
F4 Following thorough exploration, investigation, and planning, the Executive
Committee shall inform the Democracy and Accountability Committee of any
decision taken immediately after a vote to:
F4.1 Postpone a General Meeting by up to 6 weeks after the normal period.
F4.2 Hold a General Meeting and all associated functions online in accordance
with regular timescales.
F4.3 Postpone a General Meeting by up to 6 weeks after the normal period and
hold the event and all associated functions online.
F4.4 Waive Exceptional Measures and carry out a General Meeting in the normal
fashion.
F5 Once the Democracy and Accountability Committee has been informed, it shall
vote to ratify or reject the decision that has been made.
F5.1 Should the decision be ratified by a majority, the agreed actions come into
effect immediately.
F5.2 Should the decision be rejected by a majority, the process shall return to
either F3 or F4, at the discretion of the Democracy and Accountability
Committee.
F6.1 The membership of the Young Greens of England and Wales must be informed
regularly of progress at the end of each set of processes outlined in F2, F3,
F4, and F5.
Supporters
- Rosie Rawle (Oxfordshire)
- Annie Prins (Solihull)
- Heloise Hunter (West Central London)
Comments
Democracy and Accountability Committee:
1. Create and account and/or sign in to younggreens.discuss.green
2. Find the amendment you'd like to amend
3. Write a comment making it clear what you'd like to change, including the relevant Section, clause number, and line number if possible
4. State the exact wording which you'd like to be adopted
5. Add your name and local party
6. Share the link with others, you need 3 supporters for the amendment to be voted on at the EGM
7. Supporters need to clearly show support in a reply or in a comment, and state name and local party
8. Any questions contact alldac@younggreens.org.uk