2023 Rules Committee Report

The Libertarian Party of Florida Rules Committee is established by the LPF Bylaws Article III Section 2 with three members elected by majority vote of delegates at each Annual Business Meeting and three ex-officio members from the Executive Committee. The three elected members may not also be Executive Committee members. 

The 2022-2023 Rules Committee elected members are Greg Peele (Chair), Omar Recuero (Vice-Chair), and Matt Horvath (Secretary) with ex-officio members Steven Nekhaila, Josh Hlavka, and Ed Appler.

The Rules Committee met monthly via video chat on the LPF Discord server from March 2022 until December 2022, and then weekly on the same platform from December 2022 until March 2023.

COMMITTEE ACTIVITY

During the course of our term, the Rules Committee performed the following activity:

• Reconciled all 2020-2021 conflicting amendments to the LPF Constitution and Bylaws and submitted the completed version to the LPF Secretary published on the LPF website
• Received Motion #774 from the Executive Committee regarding charitable activity to review, conducted research on relevant state and federal law, and returned motion back to Executive Committee finding that it is in order with certain caveats regarding certain specific kinds of charitable activity not being tax-exempt to the party
• Conducted a review of the existing LPF Standing Rules and reconciled to the latest version at the start of the term
• Proposed rescinding standing rules to Executive Committee – all were adopted
  • Article V Section 4 – redundantly prescribes suspension of members, affiliates, and officers that conflicts with existing Bylaws
  • Article V Section 5 – prescribes participation of former party chair in an unnecessary yet problematic way conflicting with LPF Constitution
  • Article V Section 7 – redundantly prescribes suspension of officers that conflicts with existing Bylaws
  • Article VII (All Sections) – Sections 1 to 6 prescribe things that were already a power of the EC anyways or prescribed by LPF Constitution or inherent to RONR
• Provided advisory responses to three county affiliates regarding disputes in interpretation of county bylaws and whether proposed county bylaw amendments would be in order
• Created sample affiliate constitution and bylaws at the request of the LPF Affiliate Support Committee and provided them back to ASC for review and publication
• Gave informal advisory opinions and discussion to LPF members during public comment at Rules Committee meetings
• Attended LPF Executive Committee and provided advisory opinions when requested

• Reviewed and proposed resolutions for all recommitted 2022 ABM Rules motions
  • 2022-ABM-C01 – adopted as submitted
  • 2022-ABM-C02 – adopted with amendments for reconciliation
  • 2022-ABM-C03 – adopted with amendments to only retain deletions
  • 2022-ABM-C04 – adopted as submitted
  • 2022-ABM-C05 – adopted as submitted contingent on failure of 2023-ABM-B02
  • 2022-ABM-C06 – substituted 2023-ABM-C01 + 2023-ABM-B02
  • 2022-ABM-C07 – adopted as submitted
  • 2022-ABM-B01 – substituted 2023-ABM-C01 + 2023-ABM-B02
  • 2022-ABM-B02 – adopted as submitted
  • 2022-ABM-B03 – already passed at 2022 ABM
  • 2022-ABM-B04 – adopted as submitted
  • 2022-ABM-B05 – adopted with amendments for wordsmithing to clarify intent
• Drafted new LPF Constitution and Bylaws amendments to propose at 2023 ABM
• Considered but did not propose LPF Constitution amendments for the following topics:
  • County affiliate secession from LPF procedure and effects (currently legally ambiguous)
  • Effects of dissolution of LPF as a whole on county affiliates (currently legally ambiguous)
  • LPF secession from LNC procedure and effects (LPF Constitution Article I currently requires ¾ vote of delegates to amend to remove affiliation)
  • LPF withdrawal from LNC Region procedure (no procedure currently defined)
  • Enabling chartering of non-county affiliates – city, university, issue-based, etc. (no procedure currently defined, presumably allowed via EC vote)
  • Enabling county affiliates to charter their own sub-affiliates – (no procedure currently defined, presumably allowed by affiliate autonomy clauses)
  • Documents will be provided to next Rules Committee for consideration

AMENDMENT GUIDANCE AND FORMATTING

For the purposes of this Rules Report, we propose amendments as a set of changes to the existing documents that can each be independently applied if adopted except when otherwise noted.

New text to be added is underlined.

Existing text to be deleted is striked through.

Text moved from one location to another location is italicized, with underlines showing new text.

Amendments that are contingent on the passage or failure of other amendments or that have other riders such as taking effect at a future date are noted as such in the motion text. Only the motion text is normative and all other items are purely informative to assist in understanding the motion. If the stated mover is not present, another member of the Rules Committee may move the motion.

All motions included in this report were adopted unanimously by the Rules Committee.

AMENDMENT PROPOSALS

2022-ABM-C01 – CLARIFY MEMBERSHIP RULES

Title: Motion to Amend LPF Constitution Article II Sections 1 and 11 to Clarify Membership Rules

Mover: Greg Peele on behalf of Rules Committee

Motion: I move to amend the LPF Constitution Article II, Sections 1 and 11, adding and striking language as follows:

ARTICLE II MEMBERSHIP

Section 1. LPF membership is open to any LPF registered voter who signs the pledge: “I certify that I oppose the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals” and asks to be a member of the LPF.  Present members who signed a previous LPF membership pledge retain their membership and eligibility. Ineligibility under this article shall immediately terminate LPF membership and LPF membership request. Re-affirmation of this pledge and request for membership shall be required to reinstate a terminated membership.

Section 11. Any elected or appointed offices, seats, LPF committee memberships or positions held shall be immediately forfeited upon termination of membership. Members in good standing at the time of their termination may request to be members upon their demonstration of eligibility, and taking the NAP pledge. The LPF membership term resets to the current approval date.

Rationale:

This motion was originally moved by Tony Sellers on behalf of the Rules Committee in 2022 and was recommitted to Rules by the ABM delegates based on concerns about possible conflicts due to lack of reconciliation of the current LPF Constitution. We reviewed this motion and determined that it applies cleanly to the current LPF Constitution and also agree with its intent and effects. 

Mr. Sellers’ original rationale as originally submitted:

The sentences to be stricken from Section 11 are not as clear as possible.  We believe the replacements to be added to Section 1 are clearer.  Clarity is important, as is the ability to automate the membership processes. Termination of membership requests is key to automating the membership start and end processes and reflects current manual practice as expressed in the language to be removed from Section 11.

2022-ABM-C02 – PUBLIC NOTICE REQUIREMENT (AMENDED)

Mover: Greg Peele for the Rules Committee

Motion: I move to amend the LPF Constitution Article III, striking and inserting language as follows:

Section 5. Meetings of the Executive Committee

C. A quorum of the Executive Committee, shall be a majority of its seated members.

D. Notice of all Executive Committee Meetings including location and call-in or webinar information will be sent to all County Chairs published on the LPF’s public and functioning web site at least 14 days in advance to allow general membership attendance.

Rationale:

This motion was originally moved by Tony Sellers on behalf of the Rules Committee in 2022 and was recommitted to Rules by the ABM delegates based on concerns about possible conflicts due to lack of reconciliation of the current LPF Constitution.

We reviewed the original motion 2022-ABM-C02 and determined that the changes it made to Section 3(A) was already performed by adopted motion 2021-ABM-C04 and Section 5(F) was already performed by adopted motion 2021-ABM-C06, so these changes would be unnecessary and out of order. However, the deletion of the comma in Section 5(C) and the substantive change to public notice in Section 5(D) still applies cleanly and is appropriate and necessary so we adopted that particular change as submitted.

Mr. Sellers did not previously provide a written rationale for this motion. The primary reason for this change is to specify public notice requirements for party business in conformance with Florida Statute 103.095(2) which explicitly states such notice must be on the party’s “public and functioning web site” and to ensure such notice is visible to all LPF members – who per LPF Constitution Article II Section 6 and 7 have the right to attend and speak at such meetings – and not just County Chairs. In practice, the LPF Executive Committee has not followed the existing language and instead operates in accordance with the proposed language already.

2022-ABM-C03 – REMOVE REDUNDANT COMMITTEES (AMENDED)

Title: Motion to Amend LPF Constitution Remove Redundant Language on the Legislative Action Committee and to Remove Other Committee Details From Constitution Article III

Mover: Greg Peele for the Rules Committee

Motion: I move to amend the LPF Constitution Article III, Section 4, striking language as follows:

I(a) The Executive Committee shall be responsible for creating a committee to maintain a current contact list of experts in fields related to election issues or interest in Libertarian candidates for use as data and advisory sources.

(b) The Executive Committee shall establish a legislative review committee for the purpose of identifying Florida laws for change or repeal, and for making specific wording recommendations for use by Libertarian candidates and officers.

(c) LPF established committees may use an online platform as a forum for its meetings, providing notice of the meeting’s website address on the LPF website and manner in which non-committee LPF members may enter credentials to view, but not participate, in committee discussions and business.

Rationale:

This motion was originally moved by Tony Sellers on behalf of the Rules Committee in 2022 and was recommitted to Rules by the ABM delegates based on concerns about possible conflicts due to lack of reconciliation of the current LPF Constitution. We reviewed the original motion 2022-ABM-C03 and determined that it is still in order. The original motion also proposed moving clauses I(a)  and I(c) to the LPF Bylaws Article III, but after consideration we decided not to include these changes and consider them unnecessary.

Mr. Sellers did not provide a written rationale for the motion originally. Our rationale:

• The LPF Constitution does not prescribe committees, this is done in the LPF Bylaws Article III
• The LPF already defines a Legislative Action committee in LPF Bylaws Article III Section 8
• Section I(a) instructs the LPF EC to create a special committee for a particular topic. To date the LPF EC has never actually done this, showing that there is a lack of interest. The LPF EC can create a special committee at any time to do this if desired without a bylaw, or the delegates can amend the Bylaws to specify it as a standing committee, so there is no need for this clause.
• Section I(c) is a policy decision regarding LPF committees that is unnecessary as LPF committees inherently have the power to set their own meeting procedures to include online platforms (boards such as the EC are under stricter requirements per RONR and must explicitly provide for online participation). LPF Constitution Article II Section 10 already establishes that all LPF members have the right to observe LPF committee meetings. The LPF EC may at any time define a Standing Rule to more explicitly clarify the policy if they feel that is warranted.

2022-ABM-C04 – DEPUTY ELECTIONS AND DUTIES

Title: Motion to Amend LPF Constitution Article III to Provide for the Election of the Deputy Secretary and the Deputy Treasurer, and to Clarify Duties

Mover: Greg Peele for the Rules Committee

Motion: I move to amend the LPF Constitution Article III, striking language as follows:

A Deputy Secretary may be elected under the same conditions and procedures as the Secretary. If the Secretary office is vacant, the Deputy Secretary shall automatically become the Secretary.

to insert new subsections C and D into the LPF Constitution Article III, Section 3 as follows, and renumber:

C. A Deputy Secretary may be elected under the same conditions and procedures as the Secretary. In the event the Secretary office becomes vacant, the Deputy Secretary shall immediately assume the office and not be subject to a confirmation vote. 

D. A Deputy Treasurer may be selected by the same procedure as the Treasurer. The Chair and Vice Chair may not be elected Deputy Treasurer.  If there is a vacancy at Treasurer, the Deputy Treasurer shall immediately assume the office and not be subject to a confirmation vote. A Deputy Treasurer shall not serve concurrently on the LPF Audit Committee, and shall be ineligible for proxy in meetings of the Executive Committee, unless selected by the Treasurer.

to amend the LPF Constitution Article III, Section 4, subsection C, striking and adding language as follows:

D. The Secretary shall serve as recorder for all meetings of the party, conventions, and Executive Committee. The Secretary shall be the custodian of the minutes of all meetings, correspondence, committee reports, and the Constitution, Bylaws and Standing Rules, and shall make provision for legal service to the LPF. The Secretary of the LPF shall also serve as a member of the Membership Committee, and shall be responsible for maintaining party membership records.

The Secretary shall keep the Deputy Secretary appraised apprised in all aspects of the position to act in his or her the event of absence or incapacity by the Secretary. The Secretaryand may delegate certain tasks and responsibilities thereto of the office to the Deputy Secretary as deemed necessary and appropriate by the Secretary. The Deputy Secretary may serve as the proxy for the Secretary and may serve in lieu of the Secretary for any duration of absence during an executive committee meeting. The Secretary or Deputy Secretary sworn to an executive session may not be replaced during that executive session. 

and to amend the LPF Constitution Article III Section 4, subsection D, striking and replacing language as follows:

E. The Treasurer shall be custodian of all funds, receiving and disposing of the funds at the discretion of the Executive Committee and subject to the Standing Rules. 

The Treasurer shall keep the dDeputy tTreasurer appraised apprised in all aspects of the position to act in the event his or her of absence or incapacity by the Treasurer. The Treasurer and may delegate certain tasks and responsibilities thereto. of the office to the Deputy Treasurer as deemed necessary and appropriate by the Treasurer.Because there is personal liability, any time the Deputy Treasurer acts on behalf of the Treasurer they shall be considered ‘acting treasurer’ and subject and liable to the bookkeeping standards of the organization LPF and all applicable state and federal Bureaus laws and regulations. that govern the party

Rationale:

This motion was originally moved by Tony Sellers on behalf of the Rules Committee in 2022 and was recommitted to Rules by the ABM delegates based on concerns about possible conflicts due to lack of reconciliation of the current LPF Constitution. We reviewed the original motion 2022-ABM-C04 and determined, surprisingly given the large scope of changes in LPF Constitution Article III, that it is still in order and is appropriate to adopt. We note that 2023-ABM-C03 is intended to accommodate and complement these changes if also adopted.

Mr. Sellers’ originally submitted rationale is as follows: The amendment intends to restructure Article III, so language that is easier to find, to streamline the provisions whereby the party may elect a Deputy Secretary and Deputy Treasurer, and to assign duties to these positions. 

2022-ABM-C07 – AMENDMENTS AMONG US

Title: Motion to Amend LPF Constitution Article VIII Section 2(A) to Strike Text

Mover: Greg Peele for the Rules Committee

Motion: I move to amend the LPF Constitution Article VIII, Section 2(A) as follows:

A. Amendments must be published among on the LPF’s official, public, and functioning website for notification of all members in good standing, thirty (30) days prior to the Annual Business Meeting and passed by two-thirds of the members present at that meeting. 

Rationale:  

This motion was originally moved by Tony Sellers on behalf of the Rules Committee in 2022 and was recommitted to Rules by the ABM delegates based on concerns about possible conflicts due to lack of reconciliation of the current LPF Constitution. We reviewed the original motion and determined that the stray word ‘among’ is still present and should still be removed.

Mr. Sellers’ originally submitted rationale: The word was missed when removing old language regarding pre-internet communications.

2023-ABM-C03 – CLARIFY MEMBER RIGHTS IN AFFILIATES

Title: Motion to Amend LPF Constitution Article II Section 4 to Strike and Replace Text to Clarify Member Rights in Affiliates Elections and Votes

Mover: Greg Peele for the Rules Committee

Motion: 

Section 4. Members of the LPF are entitled to attend the annual business meeting of any the county affiliate in whose jurisdiction they reside, and to vote in all regular and special elections at any affiliate meeting on for all the elected positions in whose jurisdiction they reside including officers and other positions elected at-large, and to vote on the adoption and/or replacement of and any amendments to the and governing documents including the Constitution and Bylaws of any affiliate in whose jurisdiction they reside. Constitution and/or Bylaws thereof.

Rationale: The original text of Article II Section 4 was adopted in 2020 as part of the LPF Member Bill of Rights amendment to ensure that LPF members will never be disenfranchised and excluded out of the county affiliates that the LPF charters and promotes, and in particular guarantees all LPF members the right to vote on elected positions and amendments to the governing documents in the county affiliate where they reside.

However, several inquiries from existing affiliates regarding this clause from 2020 to 2022 demonstrated several situations that were not explicitly envisioned by the text as written:

• Affiliates that elect district-based representatives such as precinct committeemen – who is entitled to vote for them?
• Affiliates that did not consider officers to be elected by the general membership
• Affiliates that have regular elections outside of the ABM due to explicit bylaws – for example one affiliate elected Secretary at a different meeting than other officers for handover continuity
• Affiliate special elections to fill vacancies – do members have the right to vote in this?
• Affiliates that can amend their governing documents at any time, not just during the ABM
• Affiliates that have governing documents beyond a Constitution and Bylaws 
• Affiliates that might adopt a new constitution or replace theirs outright rather than just amend
• Affiliates that might span multiple counties or have other definitions of jurisdiction

We interpreted the original text in light of its original intent plus centuries of parliamentary tradition regarding right of representation to find that LPF members have the right to vote on all elected positions in whose jurisdiction they reside including officers and special elections and to vote on any amendments to the affiliate’s governing documents. Affiliates may of course guarantee more rights than the minimum.  Our proposed text makes all of these definitions explicit and less open to interpretation to guarantee the rights we believe LPF members intended when adopting the original LPF Member Bill of Rights  in 2020.

2022-ABM-B02 – CONTINUOUS COMMITTEES

Title: Motion to Amend LPF Bylaws Article III Section 1 to Clarify the Committee Term of Service

Mover: Greg Peele for the Rules Committee

Motion: I move to amend the LPF ByLaws Article III, Section 1(B)  as follows by striking text.

B. Committees and Committee Chairs shall be appointed by the Chair of the LPF with the approval of the Executive Committee, unless otherwise provided in the Constitution or Bylaws. Each Committee shall consist of at least three members of the party (disregarding ex-officio members). Appointment terms shall last until the next Executive Committee election or until the committee member is removed or replaced, unless otherwise provided in the Constitution or Bylaws. Removal of persons on a committee shall need the approval of the Executive Committee. Actions of all Committees shall be reported on a regular basis to the Executive Committee. Special committees may be created by the Executive Committee and shall also follow these requirements unless otherwise provided upon their creation. The duties of all standing committees shall be stated in the Bylaws. Further clarification of duties may be added to the Standing Rules. 

Rationale: 

This motion was originally moved by Tony Sellers on behalf of the Rules Committee in 2022 and was recommitted to Rules by the ABM delegates based on concerns about possible conflicts due to lack of reconciliation of the current LPF Bylaws. We reviewed the original motion and determined that the motion remains in order and should be adopted.

Mr. Sellers’ originally submitted rationale: This will enable committees to provide continuous service after convention until the executive committee restaffs them.

We additionally note that the LPF EC can still add, remove, or replace committee members at any time (except the Rules Committee, who is elected) regardless of any notion of committee appointment terms.

2022-ABM-B04 – AFFILIATE SUPPORT NORMALIZATION

Title: Motion to Amend LPF Bylaws Article III to Strike Language, and to Conform the Affiliate Support Committee to the Traditional Standing Committee Structure

Mover: Tony Sellers for the Rules Committee

Motion: I move to amend the LPF Bylaws Article III, by striking the following:

Section 9. Affiliate Support Committee

 A. The Affiliate Support Committee shall be tasked with developing and maintaining documentation for starting and training county affiliates on statutory and rules compliance. The committee shall coordinate with the Rules Committee.

 B. The committee may be tasked with conducting training courses for county affiliates for best practices on running and growing county affiliates; soliciting, obtaining, and documenting feedback from county affiliates about their needs and about LPF performance; responding to informal inquiries from county affiliates, and assisting in creation of new affiliates in coordination with their Region Representative. The LPF Secretary may also direct the committee to provide assistance with credentialing and reaffiliation procedures. This committee shall have no Vice Chair. This committee shall adjourn sine die after 50% of the counties in the state of Florida are affiliated. 10 

Rationale: 

This motion was originally moved by Tony Sellers on behalf of the Rules Committee in 2022 and was recommitted to Rules by the ABM delegates based on concerns about possible conflicts due to lack of reconciliation of the current LPF Bylaws. We reviewed the original motion and determined that the motion remains in order and should be adopted.

Mr. Sellers’s originally submitted rationale: The committee is likely to continue adding value for our affiliates after affiliation. The Secretary may already designate any party member(s) they trust to assist with credentialing.

2022-ABM-B05 – CLARIFY CONVENTION SCHEDULE (AMENDED)

Title: Motion to Amend LPF Bylaws Article IV Sections 1 and 2 to Clarify Convention Scheduling and Agenda

Mover: Greg Peele for the Rules Committee

Motion: I move to amend the LPF ByLaws Article IV, Sections 1 and 2 as follows:

ARTICLE IV MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS, OBJECTS OF ACTION 

Section 1. Annual Convention Dates 

A. The Executive Committee shall set the date(s) of the Convention and Annual Business Meeting of the Libertarian Party of Florida and shall publish notice of the date at least (90) days before the start of the Annual Business Meeting. 

B. The officers of the Party at the time of the commencement of the Annual Business Meeting shall be the officers of the Annual Business Meeting, and shall preside. Officers elected during the Annual Business Meeting shall take office immediately following the close of the Annual Business Meeting in which they were elected. To comply with Florida Statute 103.095(3), the Libertarian Party of Florida Executive Committee shall elect a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Treasurer, and Secretary at the Annual Business Meeting immediately following the election of the officers by the assembled delegation. The will of the delegation shall be of the highest regard when the Executive Committee conducts the election of the officers, and the election shall be taken as a single vote on the slate of prevailing candidates elected by the delegation. 

B. The Chair shall submit the name of at least one Executive Committee member to the LP following LP Bylaws to create the initial LPF delegation. The delegation shall be amended upon further selection of delegates according to the LP Bylaws and the LPF Constitution and Bylaws. This process allows the LPF Convention to be scheduled between the date the first delegate(s) are submitted and the last date to amend the delegation.

Section 2. Agenda 

A. The Executive Committee shall set the agenda and business of the LPF Annual Business Meetings and conventions. 

B. The order of business must include the adoption of agenda. The meeting may amend the agenda by majority vote. 

C. The officers of the Party at the time of the commencement of the Annual Business Meeting shall be the officers of the Annual Business Meeting, and shall preside. Officers elected during the Annual Business Meeting shall take office immediately following the close of the Annual Business Meeting in which they were elected. To comply with Florida Statute 103.095(3), the Libertarian Party of Florida Executive Committee shall elect a Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary at the Annual Business Meeting immediately following the election of the officers by the assembled delegation. The will of the delegation shall be of the highest regard when the Executive Committee conducts the election of the officers, and the election shall be taken as a single vote on the slate of prevailing candidates elected by the delegation. 

Rationale:

This motion was originally moved by Tony Sellers on behalf of the Rules Committee in 2022 and was recommitted to Rules by the ABM delegates based on concerns about possible conflicts due to lack of reconciliation of the current LPF Bylaws. We reviewed the original motion and determined that the motion remains in order and should be adopted. We did make minor wordsmithing amendments to the original motion to clarify its intent that the delegation so created was initial and shall be amended to include the full list of delegates once finalized via our normal process. We also regularized capitalization and terminology.

Mr. Sellers’ originally submitted rationale: The content of the moved section 2(C) pertains more to the convention agenda than to the date of the convention.  The new Section 1(B) reminds us that we don’t have to have LPF conventions in February in LP convention years.

2023-ABM-B01 – REGIONAL AMENDMENT PROCEDURE

Title: Motion to Amend LPF Bylaws Article IV Sections 5 to Insert Subsection for Procedure and Agenda Item to Amend Number and Compositions of LPF Regions 

Mover: Greg Peele for the Rules Committee

Motion: I move to amend the LPF Bylaws Article IV Section 5 to append a new appropriately-numbered subsection with the following text (notionally as subsection G):

ARTICLE IV MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS, OBJECTS OF ACTION 

Section 5. Annual Conventions 

G. Amendments to the number and composition of Regions are adopted by a majority vote of delegates at an Annual Business Meeting prior to the election of Regional Representatives at that meeting. If no regional amendment is adopted, the Regions for the current Executive Committee will continue in effect for the new Executive Committee elected at that meeting. 

Rationale: The LPF Constitution Article III prescribes the existence of Regions for the purposes of electing Regional Representatives but does not give any guidance on the number and composition of these Regions nor on how to change them.

The current 14 Regions have been grandfathered in via custom and prior actions of the Executive Committee. In the absence of any codified procedures, the LPF Executive Committee may amend the number and composition of Regions at any time via a majority vote and this has been done before. While the EC cannot remove existing Regional Representatives this way, they could in principle create new vacancies to fill, and force existing Representatives to represent different areas than elected from. While by custom regions are contiguous counties, nothing actually currently requires this.

All of this is clearly not a good idea. In this proposed amendment, we codify that the number and composition of Regions is solely the decision of the delegates at the LPF ABM, and therefore cannot be modified by the Executive Committee. Since the Executive Committee duties and powers remain the same regardless of Region definitions, this is not a matter of member rights or affiliate autonomy, and therefore a simple majority of delegates is sufficient to adopt it and no special notice provisions are necessary. We do ensure that any such amendment must occur before Regional Representative elections to avoid any gamesmanship from not respecting election results and similar problems to the EC case.

By design, the allowable number and composition of regions is wide open to anything the delegates wish to adopt, including extreme corner cases such as defining 0 regions (to only have the 4 officers plus any defined Directors At-Large), making all regions consist of the entire state (effectively making all Regional Representatives elected at-large), allowing county affiliates to organize their own regions organically, or any other number of procedures so long as a majority of delegates accept the final results. 

In the likely case that no majority of delegates agree to a regional map change in 2023, this motion would also codify the existing 14 regions as being the official regions moving forward.

2023-ABM-C01 – AFFILIATE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Title: Motion to Amend LPF Constitution Article IV to Codify Affiliate Rights, Responsibilities, and Procedures as a substitute for Motion 2022-ABM-C06 and Motion 2022-ABM-B01

Mover: Greg Peele for the Rules Committee

Motion: I move to amend the LPF Constitution Article IV, by replacing Section 1 as specified and then appending new sections following it:

Section 1. Organizations of LPF voters in counties with no LPF affiliate choose to become affiliated parties of the LPF shall apply for official designation on a standard petition form for County Affiliates, as adopted by the Executive Committee and subject to the Bylaws and Standing Rules. 

Section 1. Any organization of LPF voters in a Florida county with no current LPF affiliated county political party executive committee (henceforth county affiliate) may petition to become a county affiliate of the LPF following the new affiliate organizational process prescribed in the Bylaws.

A. A new county affiliate petition is approved by a majority vote of the Executive Committee or of the delegates at the Annual Business Meeting provided that it meets all conditions of affiliation prescribed by the LPF Constitution and Bylaws.

B. Once a new county affiliate petition is approved, the county shall be considered the official LPF county political party executive committee for all applicable purposes under state law. No other petitions for county affiliates in that county shall be considered so long as the approved county affiliate remains affiliated.

Section 2: Every affiliate shall submit an annual affirmation of reaffiliation to the LPF Secretary if the affiliate was affiliated at any point during the preceding calendar year.

A. The affirmation of reaffiliation must meet all requirements prescribed in the LPF Constitution and Bylaws to be considered timely and sufficient.

B. Any affiliate that fails to submit timely and sufficient reaffiliation as determined by the LPF Secretary shall automatically be disaffiliated at the adjournment of the next LPF Executive Committee regular business meeting after the deadline if no other action is taken by the LPF Executive Committee.

C. The LPF Executive Committee can grant by a ⅔ vote one extension to the reaffiliation deadline until the next Executive Committee regular business meeting for an affiliate to correct deficiencies in reaffiliation.

D. The LPF Executive Committee can accept reaffiliation incorrectly determined to be deficient by the LPF Secretary by a ⅔ vote at the next meeting following the reaffiliation deadline so long as the affiliate followed all reaffiliation requirements prescribed in the LPF Constitution and Bylaws.

Section 3:  The autonomy of any affiliate shall not be abridged by the LPF Executive Committee, any other committee or agent of the LPF, or any other affiliate except as explicitly provided in the LPF Constitution and Bylaws.

Section 4. Affiliates can be disaffiliated for violating any conditions of affiliation prescribed in the LPF Constitution or Bylaws by a ⅔ vote of the Executive Committee or a ⅔ vote of LPF delegates at the Annual Business Meeting. The Executive Committee of the affiliate being considered for disaffiliation shall have the right to speak for up to thirty (30) minutes on behalf of their affiliate prior to any disaffiliation vote.

Section 5. Upon disaffiliation, the former affiliate’s Chair, Treasurer, and Executive Committee members shall return all assets owned by the affiliate and all assets owned by or leased from the LPF. These assets shall be provided to the LPF Executive Committee within four (4) weeks of the final notice of disaffiliation to be held in escrow for the next future affiliate in that jurisdiction. Assets to be provided include but are not limited to:

• Web content, web services, email accounts and services, document and file storage, social media accounts, domain names, and any other cloud services owned by the affiliate
• Administrative account access and credentials for all accounts and services owned by the affiliate
• Materials, equipment, and property owned by the affiliate
• Data, records, warranties, and transaction receipts for the affiliate 
• Checking, savings, and monetary assets held in the affiliate’s name

Section 6. No member of any disaffiliated organization shall continue to use the Libertarian Party or Libertarian Party of Florida name, associated brands, and electronic credentials and systems except to communicate that the organization has ceased operation as an LPF affiliate or to complete returning assets to the LPF. 

Rationale: This motion is intended, in tandem with companion motion 2023-ABM-B02, to act as a substitute for a pair of recommitted motions 2022-ABM-C06 and 2022-ABM-B01. Motion 2022-ABM-C06 was originally moved by Tony Sellers on behalf of the Rules Committee in 2022 and was recommitted to Rules by the ABM delegates based on concerns about possible conflicts due to lack of reconciliation of the current LPF Constitution. We reviewed the original motion and determined that while it remained in order and identified a valid problem, we did not believe the original motion was the correct solution and prepared these two motions as substitutes.

The core problem being solved is to rigorously prescribe both the rights and duties of LPF county affiliates to balance the strong expectations of affiliate autonomy long guaranteed by the LPF with the  need to safeguard party branding, assets, and donor funds against misuse to promote adversarial organizations including members and candidates of rival political parties and to ensure funds raised for the LPF stay within the LPF. Currently, the LPF Constitution prescribes almost nothing about county affiliates except their existence, while the LPF Bylaws that do prescribe county affiliate policy primarily focus on internal processes such as reaffiliation and autonomy and do not deal at all with duties and responsibilities of the affiliate. Affiliation is a voluntary contract between two organizations with rights and duties flowing both ways, and our governing documents need to reflect that.

The original motion achieved three things: 

1. Clarify that as a voluntary agent of a political party under contract, choosing to use the apparatus of a county affiliate to promote a rival political party or any of its members or candidates breaks that contract and contradicts the basis for affiliation – organizations that wish to support candidates from multiple parties should generally become PACs instead
2. Provide a process for what happens if a county affiliate is disaffiliated whether by action of the LPF or by inaction of the county affiliate failing to reaffiliation, including a process to return assets to the LPF
3. Clearly state that the use of LPF assets and official branding is provided by the affiliation contract and is no longer available after disaffiliation – promoting an organization as an agent of the official Libertarian Party after disaffiliation is fraudulent and therefore actionable even under the strict standards of the NAP

While in order, we did not believe this approach was defensible without the LPF Constitution rigorously defining the uniqueness of county affiliates and process for forming new ones (proposed in our rewrite of Section 1), defining what annual reaffiliation actually contractually means (Section 2) with processes for handling reasonable delays or inadvertent errors so affiliates are not disaffiliated over mere mistakes, and defining what disaffiliation means and its process (Section 4). We took the existing proposal for return of assets and ending use of LPF branding from 2022-ABM-C06 and split it into Section 5 and Section 6 with some wordsmithing to clarify the language and intent. 

The requirement to not promote other parties using LPF party assets was included in the separate motion 2023-ABM-B02 as part of a more general list of conditions of affiliation prescribed in the LPF Bylaws Article I, and in that proposal we also more clearly specified what that entailed. If this proposal is not adopted, 2023-ABM-B02 will automatically be out of order and not considered as well.

To balance these changes out, we adopted the existing guarantee of affiliate autonomy from the LPF Bylaws Article I Section 3 to become the new Section 3 in this proposal to ensure affiliate autonomy is guaranteed at the highest constitutional level.  We also clarified that any returned assets would be held in escrow for the next affiliate, not available for use by the LPF itself, which matches existing custom.

2023-ABM-B02 – AFFILIATE PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS

Title: Motion to Amend LPF Bylaws Article I to Codify Affiliate Procedures and Conditions of Affiliate as a substitute for Motion 2022-ABM-C06 and Motion 2022-ABM-B01

Mover: Greg Peele for the Rules Committee

Motion: Contingent on the adoption of 2023-ABM-C01, I move to amend the LPF Bylaws Article I by striking and inserting text in Section 1 as specified, striking remaining Sections 2 through 9, and replacing with new Sections 2 through 4 as follows:

ARTICLE I COUNTY AFFILIATES 

Section 1. Affiliate Autonomy

The LPF shall not initiate any political action in any existing county affiliate’s political domain without the affiliate’s written permission. except aside from get out the vote, voter registration drives, fundraising, conducting LPF business meetings, and  , or establishing new county affiliates. vetting and supporting multi-county or statewide state wide candidates for office. The LPF may provide additional support to candidates seeking to serve a district fully contained in a county with the affiliate’s permission, or if there is no affiliate in that county. 

Section 2. A county affiliate may request political information and action from the LPF. 

Section 3. The autonomy of an affiliated party shall not be abridged by the LPF Executive Committee, or other officer, committee or agent of the LPF – except as provided in the Constitution and Bylaws. 

Section 4. County affiliates shall notify the LPF Secretary of any changes to their officers or to their Constitution, ByLaws, or equivalent governing documents within 14 days or by the annual reaffiliation deadline, whichever comes first. The LPF Secretary shall notify affiliates of any deficiencies, including ineligibility of their officers to serve or any provisions of their governing documents that have irreconcilable conflicts with the Law, LPF Constitution, or ByLaws and provide at least 30 days for affiliates to correct the identified deficiencies after said notice. Any affiliate that fails to meet these requirements shall be considered on probation. Once the corrected documentation, including a new petition to affiliate, is approved by the Executive Committee, a county affiliate may be restored to good standing by a majority vote of the executive committee.¹ 

Section 5. The Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer positions of LPF county affiliates shall at all times be LPF members and LPF registered voters. No affiliate officer positions may be combined except those of Secretary and Treasurer, and all four officer positions must be filled prior to affiliation and in a timely manner when vacancies occur. Affiliates must report officer positions compliant with these provisions to the Secretary of LPF upon affiliation application, and upon subsequent requests from the Secretary of LPF for record-keeping and affiliation renewal purposes. No affiliate’s rules shall restrict or abridge the rights of persons who are both LPF members and LPF voters to participate meaningfully in party business. 

Section 6. The LPF Rules Committee shall be the final arbiter of any disputes or conflicts of Section 5. 

C.Section 7. County affiliated parties Organizations petitioning to become affiliates shall be required to ratify the Constitution and Bylaws of the LPF along with a standard petition form adopted by the Executive Committee, subject to all specifications in the Standing Rules. 

Section 8. Suspension of county affiliated parties shall be reserved to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall have the power to suspend affiliate status from any organization by two-thirds vote. Such notification of suspension is subject to a written appeal within thirty (30) days of the notification of suspension. Failure to appeal shall be interpreted as an act of secession by the affiliate. 

Section 9. The affiliate may appeal to the next Annual Business Meeting for reinstatement.

Section 2. New Affiliates

Organizations of LPF voters seeking to become affiliates shall conduct an organizational meeting in coordination with their LPF Regional Representative (or an LPF Director At-Large if vacant) to adopt initial affiliate governing documents and to elect the initial affiliate executive committee in accordance with the adopted governing documents.

A. The proposed affiliate’s governing documents shall be subordinate to the LPF Constitution and Bylaws and shall be required to adopt the LPF Constitution and Bylaws by reference and meet all conditions of affiliation. The LPF sample affiliate constitution and bylaws may be used to meet this requirement.

B. All LPF voters residing in the proposed affiliate’s jurisdiction shall be eligible to vote and participate in the organizational meeting.

C. The elected organizational secretary shall submit a petition to affiliate with the LPF to the LPF Executive Committee on the standard form designated by the Executive Committee for this purpose to include: 

• Executive committee members’ names, voter IDs, and contact information
• Draft minutes of the organizational meeting and any subsequent meetings 
• The adopted organizational governing documents
• If the same organization was previously affiliated with the LPF at any point during the prior calendar year, the annual fiscal audit for the prior calendar year 

D. Any organization petitioning to become an affiliate may conduct additional meetings to correct any deficiencies in the petition to affiliate and resubmit as needed.

E. Any organization petitioning to become an affiliate may use the Libertarian Party of Florida name and branding with the permission of their LPF Regional Representative (or of the LPF Executive Committee if vacant) solely to communicate their intent to form a new affiliate of the LPF.

Section 3. Affirmation of Reaffiliation

Affiliates shall submit annually to the LPF Secretary an affirmation of reaffiliation as prescribed in the LPF Constitution to remain affiliated with the LPF no later than March 31 of each year if they were affiliated with the LPF at any point during the prior calendar year.

A. The affirmation of reaffiliation shall be submitted to the LPF Secretary on the standard form designated by the Executive Committee for this purpose to include:

• Executive committee members’ names, voter IDs, and contact information
• The minutes of the affiliate’s most recent annual business meeting 
• The approved annual fiscal audit for the immediately prior calendar year
• The affiliate’s current governing documents
• Any approved amendments to the affiliate’s governing documents not otherwise communicated to the LPF previously

B. An affiliate may request that the LPF Executive Committee grant an extension to the reaffiliation deadline to complete the affirmation of reaffiliation and correct deficiencies therein. The LPF Executive Committee may grant one such extension by a ⅔ vote to the date of the next LPF Executive Committee regular business meeting.

Section 4. Conditions of Affiliation

A. Affiliates shall prescribe in their governing documents a process to conduct an Annual Business Meeting to, at minimum, conduct regular executive committee elections as prescribed in the affiliate’s governing documents and to consider amendments to the affiliate’s governing documents.

B. Affiliates shall guarantee all LPF members residing in the affiliate’s jurisdiction the right to participate in affiliate business as prescribed in the LPF Constitution Article II.

C. Affiliates shall maintain a public and functioning website and shall publish their current governing documents and public notice of all business meetings to this public and functioning website.

D. Affiliates can prescribe additional member rights, processes, elected or appointed positions, or any other policies beyond the minimum required by the LPF Constitution and Bylaws provided that no member or registered voter of any other political party may vote, be nominated for any elected or appointed position, or otherwise have authority to make decisions regarding the affiliate’s business. 

E. No affiliate shall endorse, contribute money or in-kind donations to, or otherwise actively support the election of any candidate who is a member or registered voter of any other political party or who is not a registered LPF voter or member and is opposing a candidate who is a registered LPF voter or member.

F. No affiliate shall endorse, contribute money or in-kind donations to, or otherwise actively support any partisan club, partisan political committee, or political party executive committee of any political party other than the LPF.

G. Due to shared regulatory requirements affecting the LPF and all of its affiliates, an affiliate may only raise or expend funds for federal campaigns after coordination with the LPF for each such campaign.

Rationale: 

This motion is intended, in tandem with companion motion 2023-ABM-C01, to act as a substitute for a pair of recommitted motions 2022-ABM-C06 and 2022-ABM-B01. Motion 2022-ABM-B01 was originally moved by Tony Sellers on behalf of the Rules Committee in 2022 and was recommitted to Rules by the ABM delegates based on concerns about possible conflicts due to lack of reconciliation of the current LPF Bylaws. We reviewed the original motion and determined that while it remained in order and identified a valid problem, we did not believe the original motion was the correct solution and prepared these two motions as substitutes.

The original motion 2022-ABM-B01, which itself was a substantial rewrite of LPF Bylaws Article I, accomplished the following things:

• Rewrite to codify and harden the annual reaffiliation requirement and procedures associated with it, including how to handle deficiencies in reaffiliation
• Terminate an affiliate’s ability to use LPF branding and resources if they currently are suspended in accordance with the procedure on deficiencies, except to use their LPF affiliate subdomain

While we agree with the overall intent, we believe the original motion gave far too much unchecked power to the LPF Secretary to unilaterally decide on whether an affiliate met the reaffiliation criteria and whether an affiliate can use LPF branding (which was unlikely to be honored in any case) and was likely to lead to substantial reaffiliation conflicts every April, already a flaw of the current process now.

With motion 2023-ABM-C01, we proposed a more comprehensive framework for new affiliation, rights and autonomy of affiliates, annual reaffiliation, disaffiliation, and the consequences of disaffiliation that apply in all circumstances. With that in mind since this motion is contingent on 2023-ABM-C01 being adopted, we proposed a full rewrite of LPF Bylaws Article I to explicitly spell out new affiliation procedure (previously never codified and handled solely by custom), rework reaffiliation procedure details, and remove clauses in the Bylaws that are now redundant with the adopted changes to the Constitution.

In this proposed amendment, we modify Section 1 to note that the LPF EC can hold its own meetings in a county (including an ABM) without affiliate approval, and that the restrictions only apply to affiliated counties. We also adjust the language so it applies cleanly to non-county affiliates if the LPF ever decides to do that. The existing Section 2 and Section 3 are now redundant as they are now present at a higher tier in the LPF Constitution Article IV presuming 2023-ABM-C01 is adopted.

We propose Section 2 to explicitly spell out the new affiliation process (up to now never codified), Section 3 to rework the reaffiliation process to solve the same problems that the original motion did, and Section 4 to explicitly spell out the conditions of affiliation. These are the actions that can justify the LPF Executive Committee moving toward disaffiliation. We do not include the original motion’s provisions on suspension as we believe this to be counterproductive to an affiliate trying to correct deficiencies; they will be forced to implement the suspension changes rather than actually solving the deficiencies. We believe it is only appropriate to deal with limitations on branding and return of assets upon actual disaffiliation, which is prescribed in 2023-ABM-C01 if adopted.

Of particular note in the proposed Section 4, this incorporates the original proposal from 2022-ABM-C06 as Subsection E to discourage official support of candidates from rival political parties and support of non-LPF candidates running against LPF candidates. However, our proposal is slightly less restrictive as it does not preclude support of NPA candidates not running against an LPF candidate. We also include a similar Subsection F to disallow direct support to partisan organizations and rival political parties. We include a Subsection G to accomplish the same effect as motion 2022-ABM-C05 regarding coordination with the LPF on federal campaign expenditures; we will only consider 2022-ABM-C05 if this proposed motion fails.

Section 4 also codifies  the existing mandatory conditions of affiliation including the adoption of and subordination to the LPF Constitution and Bylaws (currently already in effect), honoring member rights as currently required by LPF Constitution Article II Member Bill of Right, and requiring a public and functioning website as required by Florida Statute 103.095(2) and ensuring that our affiliates meet the standards of transparency we would expect using such website.

This, especially when combined with 2023-ABM-C01, is a fairly comprehensive change but our intent is to primarily codify actual existing practice of the LPF as it stands today with needed changes to resolve the problems the previous Rules Committee attempted to address. We hope the delegates find the end result much more readable and easier for LPF County Affiliates to understand what is required and what the processes are.

If these amendments are adopted, the next Rules Committee should do a rigorous clean up of the Standing Rules to process all sections invalidated or inconsistent with these changes.

2022-ABM-C05 – AFFILIATE PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS

Title: Motion to Amend LPF Constitution Article IV to Add Language Regarding Campaign Finance Law 

Mover: Greg Peele for the Rules Committee

Motion: Contingent on the failure to adopt 2023-ABM-B02, I move to amend the LPF Constitution Article IV, by appending a new section:

Section [number]. County affiliates shall not raise or expend funds for federal campaigns except following coordination with the LPF.

Rationale:

This motion was originally moved by Tony Sellers on behalf of the Rules Committee in 2022 and was recommitted to Rules by the ABM delegates based on concerns about possible conflicts due to lack of reconciliation of the current LPF Constitution. We reviewed the original motion and determined that the motion remains in order, could be adopted as submitted, and addresses a legitimate problem. We agree with the assessment that federal election law creates cross-organizational risk for expenditures on federal campaigns as the same campaign limits are shared across the LPF and all of its county affiliates. This motion does not forbid counties from expending funds on federal candidates, but makes sure they are required to discuss it with the LPF first so they understand the consequences of doing so and ensure that they are prepared to handle them.

We did however address the same problem as part of more general conditions of affiliation in the LPF Bylaws Article I Section 4(G) as part of our proposal 2023-ABM-B02. So we only will consider adopting this motion if 2023-ABM-B02 is not adopted so that we do not redundantly prescribe the same thing in two locations.

Mr. Sellers’ originally submitted rationale: Campaign finance law is complex.  Federal campaign finance law limits contributions and independent expenditures in the aggregate for state parties and their subdivisions, creating cross-organization risk.  State statute forbids solicitation of funds by parties for specific candidates. Specific, separate accounts should be used for federal spending.

2023-ABM-C02 – EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE READABILITY IMPROVEMENTS

Title: Motion to Amend LPF Constitution Article III to Improve Readability

Mover: Greg Peele for the Rules Committee

Motion: I move to amend the LPF Constitution Article III by striking, adding, and moving text as follows:

ARTICLE III OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Section 1. The Officers of the LPF shall be a Chairperson, a Vice-ChairVice Chairperson, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. The duties and election of the Officers shall be specified in the By-Laws. 

Section 2. The Executive Committee shall be composed of the Officers, three (3) Directors-at-Large Directors At-Large, one (1) Regional Representative for each region elected at the Annual Business Meeting within the provision of the BylawsBy-Laws. ¹³ The powers and duties of the Executive Committee shall be prescribed in the Bylaws and Standing Rules, to provide the control and management of all the affairs, properties, and funds of the LPF consistent with this Constitution. Additional duties may be prescribed in the Bylaws and Standing Rules.  Deficit spending shall be prohibited.

Section 3. Executive Committee Elections

A. Election of Executive Committee. The Chair, Vice-Chair, and odd-numbered Directors At-Large odd numbered Directors-at-large shall be regularly elected in odd-numbered odd numbered years or in the case of a vacancy. The Secretary, Treasurer, and even-numbered Directors At-Large even numbered Directors-at-large shall be regularly elected in even-numbered even numbered years or in the case of a vacancy. 

B. Regional Representatives for each region shall be regularly elected at each Annual Business Meeting by a majority of delegates present that reside in the region.  Any LPF member may be elected to any Regional Representative seat regardless of region of residence.  These Executive Committee members shall take office upon the close of the Annual Business Meeting and serve thereafter until the final adjournment of the Annual Business Meeting at which their terms expire. Each LPF region may select up to two (2) Alternate Regional Representatives. The first alternate selected shall be the higher ranked of the two alternate(s).  

C. Each LPF region may select up to two (2) Alternate Regional Representatives elected using the same procedure at the Regional Representative. The first alternate selected shall be the higher ranked of the two alternate(s). When a Regional Representative seat is vacant, the highest-ranked remaining and willing Alternate Regional Representative for that seat shall automatically assume the seat without requiring a vote.

A Deputy Secretary may be elected under the same conditions and procedures as the Secretary. If the Secretary office is vacant, the Deputy Secretary shall automatically become the Secretary.

B. All offices and seats vacant at any point during an Annual Business meeting or for which the current member was not elected to that office or seat at its previous regularly scheduled election shall also be elected at that Annual Business meeting.

A. Executive Committee seats shall not be combined and all Executive Committee seats shall be filled.

B. The officers shall be ranked, in order, as follows: the Chairperson, the Vice Chairperson, the Secretary, and the Treasurer. The highest ranked remaining officer shall preside over the LPF and its meetings. If all offices are vacant, each Director at large in order of their seat number shall preside. If all offices and Directors at large are vacant, the Regional Representatives shall elect a chairperson pro-tempore from their ranks to fill offices as described below. 

C. A Deputy Secretary may be elected under the same conditions and procedures as the Secretary. If the Secretary office is vacant, the Deputy Secretary shall automatically become the Secretary.

D. A Deputy Treasurer may be selected by the same procedure as the Treasurer. The Chair and Vice-Chair may not be elected Deputy Treasurer.

E. Regional Representatives for each region shall be regularly elected at each Annual Business Meeting by a majority of delegates present that reside in the region.  Any LPF member may be elected to any Regional Representative seat regardless of region of residence.

F. Each LPF region may select up to two (2) Alternate Regional Representatives elected using the same procedure at the Regional Representative. The first alternate selected shall be the higher ranked of the two alternate(s). When a Regional Representative seat is vacant, the highest-ranked remaining and willing Alternate Regional Representative for that seat shall automatically assume the seat without requiring a vote.

G. No person may concurrently hold more than one Executive Committee seat, alternate seat, deputy position, or any other position described in this section. Election or appointment to any seat or position described in this section shall constitute automatic resignation from that person’s current position if any.

H. Individuals elected or appointed to any position described in this section shall assume that position immediately if the position is currently vacant and at the final adjournment of the Annual Business Meeting during which they were selected otherwise and shall serve until the final adjournment of the next Annual Business meeting during which their position is regularly elected.

Section 4. Executive Committee Vacancies

AC. Every LPF Executive Committee office and seat shall be deemed vacant following the rules provided in Florida law for political party office vacancies. In addition to those rules, unexcused absence from three regular monthly Executive Committee meetings or six bi-weekly Executive Committee meetings since the most recent Annual Business Meeting shall be considered a vacancy. 

B. The officers shall be ranked, in order, as follows: the Chair, the Vice-Chair, the Secretary, and the Treasurer. The highest ranked remaining officer shall preside over the LPF and its meetings. If all officer seats are vacant, each Director At-Large in order of their seat number shall preside. If all offices and Directors At-Large are vacant, the Regional Representatives shall elect a chair pro-tempore from their ranks to fill offices as described below. 

CD. The presiding officer shall appoint a qualified and willing LPF member to temporarily fill any vacant Executive Committee seat until the next election for that seat. The appointee shall be vested immediately with the duties and powers of the office or seat. The LPF shall notify the Florida Department of Elections of this change in the filing certificate within five (5) days to satisfy the requirements of Florida Law.

DE. Each LPF region may, by the same procedure for election of Regional Representative, select up to two (2) Alternate Regional Representatives.  The first Alternate selected shall be the higher ranked of the two Alternate(s).  Should a Regional Representative any seat become vacant with no willing Deputy or Alternate available to , the higher-ranked Alternate shall immediately assume the seat and not be subject to a confirmation vote.  Should no Alternate exist, the Executive Committee shall conduct a special election for the seat elect a Regional Representative at the next Executive Committee meeting for which the agenda is not already published if it is prior to the next Annual Business Meeting.

F. Should a regional representative seat become vacant, and an elected alternate be available to serve, the higher-ranked alternate shall immediately assume the seat and not be subject to a confirmation vote.  If no elected alternate is available, the executive committee shall elect a replacement at the next executive committee meeting for which the agenda is not already published.

G. If the Annual Business Meeting will occur within 60 days, the vested appointee will retain the office until that meeting. If the Annual Business Meeting will not occur within 60 days, the Executive Committee shall, at its next regularly scheduled meeting, elect a qualified LPF member to the office. The election shall be by voice vote in order of nomination. The vested appointee shall be the first nominee voted upon. 

EH. Any member elected or appointed to serve on the Executive Committee or other LPF committee shall be a member of the LPF, and shall, upon request, show proof of registration with the State of Florida to vote in the LPF.

Section 54. Executive Committee Duties 

A. All Executive Committee members are corporate directors of the LPF and shall, along with other duties assumed by them, serve in a fiduciary capacity.  Among these responsibilities, Executive Committee members shall, as is timely, offer such necessary and conforming motions and points of order to ensure that the LPF adheres to law, and where not in conflict with the law, its own rules.  The Directors At-Large Directors-at-Large have a primary obligation of fiduciary duty in this regard.

B. The Chair shall be the head of the LPF, presiding over all meetings of the party, convention, and Executive Committee. The Chairperson is the official spokesperson for the LPF, subject to the dictates of the constituted authorities of the Executive Committee and Convention. 

C. The Vice-Chair shall serve as presiding officer in the absence of the Chair; shall be responsible for the committee work of the LPF; shall represent the committees at executive sessions; and shall serve as ex officio member of all committees. 

D. The Secretary shall serve as recorder for all meetings of the party, conventions, and Executive Committee. The Secretary shall be the custodian of the minutes of all meetings, correspondence, committee reports, and the Constitution, Bylaws and Standing Rules, and shall make provision for legal service to the LPF. The Secretary of the LPF shall also serve as a member of the Membership Committee, and shall be responsible for maintaining party membership records.

The Secretary shall keep the Deputy Secretary appraised in all aspects of the position to act in his or her absence or incapacity and may delegate responsibilities thereto. The Deputy Secretary may serve as the proxy for the Secretary and may serve in lieu of the Secretary for any duration of absence during an executive committee meeting. The Secretary or Deputy Secretary sworn to an executive session may not be replaced during that executive session.

E. The Treasurer shall be custodian of all funds, receiving and disposing of the funds at the discretion of the Executive Committee and subject to the Standing Rules. The Treasurer shall keep the deputy treasurer appraised in all aspects of the position to act in his or her absence or incapacity and may delegate responsibilities thereto. In so much as there is personal liability to the governing bodies, any time the deputy Treasurer acts on behalf of the Treasurer they shall be considered ‘acting treasurer’ and subject to the bookkeeping standards of the organization and state and federal Bureaus that govern the party.

F. The rRegional rRepresentatives shall be responsible for forming lawful county affiliates in their defined region and their county of residence, communicating and coordinating between the affiliates in their defined region and the LPF, and reporting monthly to the LPF Executive Committee. 

The Regional Representative shall keep their Alternate Regional Representative(s) apprised in all aspects of the position to act in event of absence or incapacity by the Regional Representative.  The Regional Representative may delegate to the Alternate Representative certain tasks and responsibilities of the office as deemed necessary and appropriate by the Regional Representative.

G. The Alternate Regional Representatives shall assist their rRegional rRepresentative in duties tasked to them, and shall serve as proxy for their Regional Representative regional rep in eExecutive cCommittee meetings if present and the rRegional rRepresentative is absent.  Alternates shall not serve under more than one Regional Representative simultaneously.

H. Executive Committee members shall present a written monthly report to the Executive Committee describing the performance of their duties. All such written reports shall be accessible to all LPF members. In addition, Executive Committee members may present verbal reports during regular business meetings.

I. (a) The Executive Committee shall be responsible for creating a committee to maintain a current contact list of experts in fields related to election issues or interest in Libertarian candidates for use as data and advisory sources. 

(b) The Executive Committee shall establish a legislative review committee for the purpose of identifying Florida laws for change or repeal, and for making specific wording recommendations for use by Libertarian candidates and officers. 

(c) LPF established committees may use an online platform as a forum for its meetings, providing notice of the meeting’s website address on the LPF website and manner in which non-committee LPF members may enter credentials to view, but not participate, in committee discussions and business.

Section 5. Meetings of the Executive Committee 

A. The powers and duties of the Executive Committee are prescribed by the Constitution, Bylaws and Standing Rules, and by the direction of the party at the Annual Business Meeting. 

AB. The Executive Committee shall meet as prescribed in the Standing Rules. 

BC. A quorum of the Executive Committee, shall be a majority of its seated members.

CD. Notice of all Executive Committee Meetings including location and call-in or webinar information will be sent to all County Chairs at least 14 days in advance to allow general membership attendance. 

DE. The Executive Committee EC shall make readily available to all members all records of the party EC including the current cConstitution, bBylaws, sStanding rRules, meeting minutes, agendas and financial reports.

EF. The Executive Committee EC shall publish on the LPF’s public and functioning website the full text of make readily available all motions being considered for an electronic vote without meeting as prescribed in the Bylaws and Standing Rules. 

FG. SPECIAL MEETINGS – Special meetings of the Executive Committee may be called by the Chair or 2/3 of the Executive Committee EC at any time, provided the purpose of the meeting, time, date and contact information is published on the LPF’s public and functioning website given at least 24 hours in advance. No business outside the scope of or inconsistent with the publicly notified purpose for the Only items listed in the notice for a special meeting shall be acted upon at the special meeting. 

Rationale:

Conducting the reconciliation of the LPF Constitution in 2022, we encountered the most difficulty deconflicting multiple conflicting amendments made to Article III in 2020, 2021, and proposed in 2022 regarding Executive Committee structure and duties. While we were able to complete the reconciliation and salvage a final result that we believe to accurately reflect the will of the delegates and is legally defensible, the end result of Article III is charitably described as a hot mess in terms of document flow, grammar, spelling, and other stylistic inconsistencies. We prepared this motion to try to fix that.

In most cases, the changes are primarily related to document order and flow, harmonizing the article to use the same terms, spelling, capitalization, and hyphenation across all instances of the same concept. We also attempted to generalize redundant parallel sections into single more general sections and remove unenforced or ill-defined clauses. We reorganized sections regarding selection of the Executive Committee to distinguish between regular elections scheduled at ABMs (Section 3) and procedures for filling vacancies outside of ABMs (Section 4).

As a particularly common flaw, the terms and formatting used for Chair and Vice-Chair and the capitalization and hyphenation of Director At-Large were extremely inconsistent from section to section, and even sometimes in the same sentence. Similarly, the names of the governing documents were also inconsistently capitalized and hyphenated e.g. “By-Laws” vs “Bylaws.” We normalized all instances to the observed actual practice of the current Executive Committee. We also unpacked “EC” to “Executive Committee” and ensured that “Regional Representative” was always spelled out with capitalization.

We note that three different places specified in different ways that the duties of the EC are prescribed in the Bylaws and/or Standing Rules, and all three of them are wrong because they’re prescribed right here in Constitution Article III. We do however add a clause to allow for additional duties in Bylaws.

Note that other motions will affect Article III and therefore the end results if adopted. As follows:

• 2022-ABM-C02 – corrects public notice requirement in Section 5(C) if adopted, we assume it would pass and made correlated corrections in Section 5(E) and 5(F) for similarly correcting requirements on electronic motions and special meetings 
• 2022-ABM-C03 – strikes unnecessary Section 4(I)
• 2022-ABM-C04 – replaces Section 3(C) for Deputy Secretary Election, Section 3(D) for Deputy Treasurer, and amends Section 5(D) and Section 5(E) to improve clarity of duties

As for actual substantive changes, we proposed the following:

• Section 2 – remove ill-defined and unenforced prohibition on deficit spending
• Section 3(B) – generalize rule that offices vacant during an ABM or whose current occupant was not regularly elected at previous regular election are always up for election at that ABM
• Section 3(G) – generalize rule that you can’t hold multiple positions concurrently
• Section 3(H) – generalize rule that you are seated immediately if position is vacant and at the adjournment of the meeting you’re elected otherwise (codifies current actual practice)
• Section 4(A) – rework absence rule to only apply to regular meetings and be independent of meeting frequency (miss 3 and you’re out), clarify this is annually for multi-year positions
• Section 4(C) – clarify that Chair appointments to fill vacancies are temporary until special elections to fill the position or the next ABM, whichever happens first
• Section 4(D) – generalize Alternate Regional Representative rules for automatic promotion to also apply to Deputy positions and anything else with similar rules
• Section 4(H) – removed unnecessary clause on EC giving verbal reports as this is inherently a power of the EC and you would only need a rule to stop it
• Section 5(E) – require email motions to be published on website so members can see them
• Section 5(F) – require same public notice for special meetings as regular meetings, clarify scope

FUTURE WORK FOR RULES

As daunting as this Rules Report may be, it only represents a small fraction of changes that need to be proposed to sanitize the LPF governing documents and ensure that all appropriate processes and procedures for the LPF are well defined. For the next Rules Committee, we suggest considering the following items:

• Going line by line in the Constitution and Bylaws to correct spelling, grammar, hyphenation, capitalization, and ensure consistent terminology is used everywhere
• Consider 2023 floor motion proposals reworking role and structure of Regional Representatives and formalizing as appropriate based on delegate actions
• Reviewing and rewriting Constitution Article IX for candidate endorsements and support
  • This type of clause is legally necessary, but the current wording is confusing and non-intuitive even to the current Rules Committee, much less the EC and county affiliates, so it ends up being unenforceable by accident
• Prescribing voluntary county affiliate secession in a legally defensible way while protecting the LPF’s interests and assets – the right to join is also the right to leave, and we should reflect that in our affiliation procedure to match our political principles
• Providing a legally defensible path for county affiliates to retain their assets and structure and gain independence if the LPF itself is dissolved
• Determining if the LPF chartering other kinds of affiliates (not just county affiliates) is desired and providing for that in affiliation procedures
  • Other parties have partisan political clubs, municipal clubs, and issue-based and identity-based party groups, we probably want to consider the same
• Prescribing a procedure for the LPF to withdraw from its LNC Region
  • Lack of codified procedure leaves this up to EC majority vote currently
• Determining hypothetical effects of terminating affiliation with LNC if done by amending LPF Constitution Article I and then updating Constitution to account for that if appropriate
• Chartering the LPF Convention Committee as an explicitly permanent standing committee in LPF Bylaws Article III rather than implicitly popping into existence by Article IV
• Reviewing and reconsidering which committees need to be standing committees in LPF Bylaws Article III vs. special committees created as needed by the LPF EC and whether any existing committees can be merged to consolidate volunteer activity
• Continue cleaning up the Bylaws and Standing Rules to remove redundant, obsolete, and overspecific sections that do not help the party recruit and elect candidates or grow members