Constitutional/Standing Orders Amendment: | Young Greens Standing Orders 2019/2020 |
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Proposer: | Nick Humberstone (Wandsworth) |
Status: | Accepted |
Submitted: | 07/18/2020, 22:24 |
D2-184: Young Greens Standing Orders 2019/2020
Motion Text
From line 184 to 186:
completed should the officer no longer fit the requirements described in Constitution ArticleClause 1.5.1 or 1.5.2 during their term, accepting variations as described below.
Young Greens Standing Orders 2019/2020
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 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 Structures and Procedures Committee (SPC).
B2.2 SPC must appoint a chair and deputy chair for the Annual General Meeting.
The chair and deputy chair must not be proposers of any motionspapers or
amendments to the Annual General Meeting
B2.3 SPC must ensure that all members respect the Constitution and Standing
Orders.
B2.4 SPC must take Annual General Meeting minutes of all official business
including recording any votes, important discussions, and decisions.
B2.5 SPC 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 SPC must inform EC to take note of any newly adopted papers.
B2.7 A prioritisation ballot will occur, conducted by SPC, 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 SPC 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 Non-Portfolio EC Officers.
B3.2.4 Structures and Procedures Committee.
B3.2.5 Green Students Committee Co-Convenors.
B3.3 Annual reports detailed in B3.2 must be submitted to SPC 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, SPC 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, SPC 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 SPC.
B3.12 Emergency Motions shall be prioritised at the AGM by SPC 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 SPC 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 the Senate, or 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 motion submission, organisation and voting
shall apply to an EGM following Section B Parts 2,3,4.
Section D: Autumn General Meeting
D.1 There will be a Young Greens General Meeting held at the autumn
D.2 The Autumn General Meeting consists solely of accountability sessions for
the following representatives elected in the annual ballot:
D.2.1 Young Greens Co-chairs
D.2.2 Treasurer
D.2.3 Non-portfolio EC members
D.2.4 Green Students Committee
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, Structures and Procedures Committee members and
the Green Students Committee Co-Convenors providing they abide by the rules such
as gender quotas.
E1.2 Only those Young Greens who self-define as belonging to a specific
Liberation group may be candidates for election within that respective
Liberation group.
E1.3 Members who hold a position on the Structure and Procedures Committee may
not be candidates for any other position other than SPC until they no longer
hold position on the SPC.
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 nominated for nor hold more than one
of the following posts in the Young Greens:
E1.5.1 Any EC role
E1.5.3 Structures and Procedures Committee
E1.5.4 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 Non-Portfolio Officer
E1.6.3 Member of Structures and Procedures 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
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 ArticleClause 1.5.1 or 1.5.2 during their term, accepting variations as described
below.
E2.2 For EC roles and other officers elected at the AGM 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
Structures and Procedures 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
Structures and Procedures Committee are petitioned by 5% of the Young Greens
membership.
E2.5 If the role a vote of no confidence is being petitioned for falls within
the Structures and Procedures 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.
Part 3: Election Timescale
E3.1 The following election timescale applies only to YG roles elected in the
“Annual Ballot” at convention, namely Executive Committee, Structures and
Procedures Committee members, and Co-Convenors of the Green Students Committee.
E3.2 Liberation Group Co-Chairs, Groups for the Regions of England and Wales,
Green Students Committee and any other affiliated Young Greens 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 roles and Structure and
Procedures Committee positions which 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 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 AGM voting will open in accordance with Standing
Orders D4.3.
E3.8 At 17.00 the day before the AGM applications will close for roles which
gained no applications as set out in D3.4.
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 D3.8 and the announcement of results (the exact time to be at the
discretion of SPC). 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 Structures and Procedures
Committee (SPC).
E4.4 SPC, or the ERO if authorised to do so by SPC, is responsible for counting
the votes.
E4.5 The counting of votes and electing of successful candidates for the
position of Co-Chair and Treasurer will take place before the counting for EC
Non-Portfolio position so that the gender balance criteria described below can
be applied.
E4.6 The following rules will apply to the elections of, separately, Co-chairs
in compliance with paragraph 1.2 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 Structures and Procedures will be carried out
such that no more than 50% 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 D5.2
which will only apply to roles explicitly mentioned.
E5.2 The amount spent on a campaign by a candidate in the annual Young Greens
ballot (EC, Structures and Procedures Committee, Green Students Committee Co-
Convenors) must not exceed £30. This includes leaflets, online campaigning and
similar expenditure the candidate has incurred as a result of being a candidate
for a 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 providing receipts are provided 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, Structures and Procedures 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 will be investigated by the
Electoral Returning Officer and the Structures and Procedures Committee who will
have the following options open to them:
E5.10.1 Any candidate suspected of breaking these rules may be suspended from
the election pending investigation by the Electoral Returning Officer and the
Structures and Procedures Committee. If the investigation cannot be completed by
the AGM, the election will be re-run.
E5.10.2 Any candidate found to have broken these rules, the Electoral Returning
Officer and the Structures and Procedures Committee may expel the candidate from
the current election with the election otherwise continuing as normal.
E5.10.3 Anyone shown to have broken the rules and to be acting on behalf of a
candidate will also lead to the expulsion of that candidate from this election.
E5.10.3 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, will be
investigated by the Structures and Procedures Committee who will have the
following options open to them:
E5.11.1 Any candidate suspected of breaking these rules may be suspended from
the election pending investigation by the Structures and Procedures Committee.
If the investigation cannot be completed by the AGM, the election will be re-
run.
E5.11.2 Any candidate found to have broken these rules may be expelled from the
current election with the election otherwise continuing as normal.
E5.12 Following any action as described in D5.11.1 or D5.11.2, the Structures
and Procedures Committee shall refer the case to the Complaints and Disciplinary
Committee 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 Structures and Procedures Committee who will have
the following options open to them.
E5.13.1 Any proposer suspected of breaking these rules may be suspended from
proposing the paper pending investigation by the Electoral Returning Officer and
the Structures and Procedures Committee and an alternative proposer must be
found by the remaining co-proposers.
E5.13.2 For serious breaches of these rules, Structures and Procedures 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-options
E6.1 Any vacant EC role may be co-opted by a majority vote of EC plus the
agreement of the Chair of the Structures and Procedures 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 Structures and Procedures
Committee.
E6.3 Any vacant SPC role may be co-opted by a majority vote of SPC, after a call
out has taken place.
E6.4 If it is not possible to co-opt for SPC roles in accordance with D6.3,
these roles may be co-opted by a majority vote of EC, after a call out has taken
place.
E6.5 Senate Representatives for the regions of England and Wales may be co-
opted, in the absence of an elected representative from the group they would
represent, by a majority vote of Senate plus the agreement of the Chair of the
Structures and Procedures Committee, after a call out to eligible members and a
hustings has taken place.
E6.6 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.
E6.7 If it is not possible to co-opt for Green Students Committee Co-Convenor
roles in accordance with D6.3, these roles may be co-opted by a majority vote of
EC plus the agreement of the Chair of the Structures and Procedures Committee,
after a call out and a hustings has taken place.
Supporters
- Hannah Clare (Brighton and Hove Green Party)
- Isaac Searle (Stratford-on-Avon District Green Party)
- Pau Jimenez Ingles (Newham)
- George Morris (Manchester)
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- George Morris
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From line 184 to 186:
completed should the officer no longer fit the requirements described in Constitution ArticleClause 1.5.1 or 1.5.2 during their term, accepting variations as described below.
Young Greens Standing Orders 2019/2020
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 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 Structures and Procedures Committee (SPC).
B2.2 SPC must appoint a chair and deputy chair for the Annual General Meeting.
The chair and deputy chair must not be proposers of any motionspapers or
amendments to the Annual General Meeting
B2.3 SPC must ensure that all members respect the Constitution and Standing
Orders.
B2.4 SPC must take Annual General Meeting minutes of all official business
including recording any votes, important discussions, and decisions.
B2.5 SPC 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 SPC must inform EC to take note of any newly adopted papers.
B2.7 A prioritisation ballot will occur, conducted by SPC, 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 SPC 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 Non-Portfolio EC Officers.
B3.2.4 Structures and Procedures Committee.
B3.2.5 Green Students Committee Co-Convenors.
B3.3 Annual reports detailed in B3.2 must be submitted to SPC 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, SPC 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, SPC 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 SPC.
B3.12 Emergency Motions shall be prioritised at the AGM by SPC 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 SPC 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 the Senate, or 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 motion submission, organisation and voting
shall apply to an EGM following Section B Parts 2,3,4.
Section D: Autumn General Meeting
D.1 There will be a Young Greens General Meeting held at the autumn
D.2 The Autumn General Meeting consists solely of accountability sessions for
the following representatives elected in the annual ballot:
D.2.1 Young Greens Co-chairs
D.2.2 Treasurer
D.2.3 Non-portfolio EC members
D.2.4 Green Students Committee
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, Structures and Procedures Committee members and
the Green Students Committee Co-Convenors providing they abide by the rules such
as gender quotas.
E1.2 Only those Young Greens who self-define as belonging to a specific
Liberation group may be candidates for election within that respective
Liberation group.
E1.3 Members who hold a position on the Structure and Procedures Committee may
not be candidates for any other position other than SPC until they no longer
hold position on the SPC.
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 nominated for nor hold more than one
of the following posts in the Young Greens:
E1.5.1 Any EC role
E1.5.3 Structures and Procedures Committee
E1.5.4 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 Non-Portfolio Officer
E1.6.3 Member of Structures and Procedures 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
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 ArticleClause 1.5.1 or 1.5.2 during their term, accepting variations as described
below.
E2.2 For EC roles and other officers elected at the AGM 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
Structures and Procedures 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
Structures and Procedures Committee are petitioned by 5% of the Young Greens
membership.
E2.5 If the role a vote of no confidence is being petitioned for falls within
the Structures and Procedures 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.
Part 3: Election Timescale
E3.1 The following election timescale applies only to YG roles elected in the
“Annual Ballot” at convention, namely Executive Committee, Structures and
Procedures Committee members, and Co-Convenors of the Green Students Committee.
E3.2 Liberation Group Co-Chairs, Groups for the Regions of England and Wales,
Green Students Committee and any other affiliated Young Greens 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 roles and Structure and
Procedures Committee positions which 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 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 AGM voting will open in accordance with Standing
Orders D4.3.
E3.8 At 17.00 the day before the AGM applications will close for roles which
gained no applications as set out in D3.4.
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 D3.8 and the announcement of results (the exact time to be at the
discretion of SPC). 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 Structures and Procedures
Committee (SPC).
E4.4 SPC, or the ERO if authorised to do so by SPC, is responsible for counting
the votes.
E4.5 The counting of votes and electing of successful candidates for the
position of Co-Chair and Treasurer will take place before the counting for EC
Non-Portfolio position so that the gender balance criteria described below can
be applied.
E4.6 The following rules will apply to the elections of, separately, Co-chairs
in compliance with paragraph 1.2 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 Structures and Procedures will be carried out
such that no more than 50% 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 D5.2
which will only apply to roles explicitly mentioned.
E5.2 The amount spent on a campaign by a candidate in the annual Young Greens
ballot (EC, Structures and Procedures Committee, Green Students Committee Co-
Convenors) must not exceed £30. This includes leaflets, online campaigning and
similar expenditure the candidate has incurred as a result of being a candidate
for a 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 providing receipts are provided 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, Structures and Procedures 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 will be investigated by the
Electoral Returning Officer and the Structures and Procedures Committee who will
have the following options open to them:
E5.10.1 Any candidate suspected of breaking these rules may be suspended from
the election pending investigation by the Electoral Returning Officer and the
Structures and Procedures Committee. If the investigation cannot be completed by
the AGM, the election will be re-run.
E5.10.2 Any candidate found to have broken these rules, the Electoral Returning
Officer and the Structures and Procedures Committee may expel the candidate from
the current election with the election otherwise continuing as normal.
E5.10.3 Anyone shown to have broken the rules and to be acting on behalf of a
candidate will also lead to the expulsion of that candidate from this election.
E5.10.3 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, will be
investigated by the Structures and Procedures Committee who will have the
following options open to them:
E5.11.1 Any candidate suspected of breaking these rules may be suspended from
the election pending investigation by the Structures and Procedures Committee.
If the investigation cannot be completed by the AGM, the election will be re-
run.
E5.11.2 Any candidate found to have broken these rules may be expelled from the
current election with the election otherwise continuing as normal.
E5.12 Following any action as described in D5.11.1 or D5.11.2, the Structures
and Procedures Committee shall refer the case to the Complaints and Disciplinary
Committee 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 Structures and Procedures Committee who will have
the following options open to them.
E5.13.1 Any proposer suspected of breaking these rules may be suspended from
proposing the paper pending investigation by the Electoral Returning Officer and
the Structures and Procedures Committee and an alternative proposer must be
found by the remaining co-proposers.
E5.13.2 For serious breaches of these rules, Structures and Procedures 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-options
E6.1 Any vacant EC role may be co-opted by a majority vote of EC plus the
agreement of the Chair of the Structures and Procedures 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 Structures and Procedures
Committee.
E6.3 Any vacant SPC role may be co-opted by a majority vote of SPC, after a call
out has taken place.
E6.4 If it is not possible to co-opt for SPC roles in accordance with D6.3,
these roles may be co-opted by a majority vote of EC, after a call out has taken
place.
E6.5 Senate Representatives for the regions of England and Wales may be co-
opted, in the absence of an elected representative from the group they would
represent, by a majority vote of Senate plus the agreement of the Chair of the
Structures and Procedures Committee, after a call out to eligible members and a
hustings has taken place.
E6.6 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.
E6.7 If it is not possible to co-opt for Green Students Committee Co-Convenor
roles in accordance with D6.3, these roles may be co-opted by a majority vote of
EC plus the agreement of the Chair of the Structures and Procedures Committee,
after a call out and a hustings has taken place.
Supporters
- Hannah Clare (Brighton and Hove Green Party)
- Isaac Searle (Stratford-on-Avon District Green Party)
- Pau Jimenez Ingles (Newham)
- George Morris (Manchester)
Likes
- George Morris
Comments