Androscoggin County
Republican Party
(Click
on “Bylaws” to view in PDF)
ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY REPUBLICAN
COMMITTEE
BYLAWS
ARTICLE I —NAME
The name of this organization shall
be: THE ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY
REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE.
ARTICLE II—MEMBERSHIP
1. The membership of the County Committee
shall, in part, consist of 5 members from each of the Municipalities in the
County. And, in addition, a Municipality shall be entitled to an additional
Committee member for every 350 Republican enrolled voters, according to the
most current official figures available from the office of the Secretary of
State on January 1 of each even numbered year.
2. In addition to the members of the
Republican State Committee, elected from Androscoggin County, the Chair of each
City/Town Committee and all Republican State Legislators, who reside in
Androscoggin County, shall be voting members of the Androscoggin County
Republican Committee.
3. The County Committee may elect not
more than 5 associate members from each of the towns and not more than 7
associate members from each of the cities amongst the municipalities in
Androscoggin County. An associate member may vote in the absence of any voting
member of the County Committee from the same municipality. The total number of
votes cast by residents of a municipality shall not exceed the number of
members from the municipality as provided in the first two paragraphs of this
Article.
An associate member
shall be first eligible to vote at a meeting of the County Committee held at
least 14 days subsequent to the time when such associate member was elected.
The voting right of associate members from the same municipality shall be based
on seniority of membership or, if the same, the earliest month and day (not
year) of birth. The voting right of
proxy votes supercedes those of Associate Members.
4. The
County Committee may elect persons at least 10 years old as honorary members
with full rights as Committee Members except the right to vote.
5. The
terms of office of all members, Associate Members and Honorary Members, with
the exception of the Incumbent officers, shall expire upon the election of a
new County Committee at the Republican State Convention, every even numbered
year.
6. It
shall be determined at the Republican State Convention County Caucus that all
towns have duly authorized members serving on the County Committee. In the
event that any vacancies exist from any of the towns, the County Committee will
determine which towns are not fully represented and request such towns to
submit their nominations within a 60-day period. Upon receipt of such nominations,
the County Committee shall have the power to add these names to their list of
members.
7. In
the event that there is unreasonable delay on the part of the Town to submit
nominations for members to the County Committee to fill the vacancies described
in Paragraph 6, the County Chair shall contact the Town Chair or Town Committee
to ascertain the delay beyond the 60-day limit. In case there is no selection,
the matter will be referred to the Executive Committee, who may nominate
members to serve on the County Committee. The County Committee may fill these
vacancies at a regular or special meeting.
ARTICLE Ill—OFFICERS AND ELECTIONS
1. The
officers of this County Committee shall consist of a Chair, Vice Chair,
Secretary, Treasurer and Finance Director, whose terms shall continue until
such time as officers are chosen as provided in these Bylaws.
2. These
officers shall be elected biennially by the members of the County Committee at
their first meeting held within 30-days following the election of members at
the State Convention. These members may be chosen from outside the membership
of the County Committee. The first meeting of the County Committee shall be
called by the incumbent Chair of the County Committee as provided in Article
IX.
3. Should
a duly elected officer of the County Committee, namely the Chair, Vice Chair,
Secretary, Treasurer, Finance Director and elected Members of the State
Committee fail to attend 50% of the County Meetings, in a 12 month period, a
vacancy shall be deemed to exist. The County Committee shall instruct the
Secretary to inform the absent officer of their non-attendance, and after due
notice has been given, the County Committee shall proceed to fill that vacancy
within a 60-day period.
4. All
County Committee Officers, State Committee Members and other Members elected to
serve on the County Committee, as well as our County Republican State
Legislators, are voting Members of the County Committee. Vacancies that occur
on this Committee will be addressed in Article VII.
5. Voting
members from the County Towns, or their Alternate, shall attend the monthly
meetings in order to complete the Committee’s business.
6. The
State Committee members shall be elected at the County Caucus of the Biennial
State Convention. The County Chair shall also be a voting member of the State
Committee in accordance to the State and County Bylaws. Vacancies in these
positions are addressed in Article VII.
ARTICLE IV—DUTIES OF THE COUNTY COMMITEE
1. The
County Committee shall be responsible for the welfare of the Republican Party
in the County of Androscoggin. They shall take whatever steps are necessary to
strengthen the Party by encouraging all persons to register and enroll in the
Republican Party and to vote in all countywide elections. They shall encourage
and support all Republican Candidates and Issue such publicity and arrange such
rallies and other meetings to show their support as a Republican County
Committee. The County Committee shall provide proper information to the public,
to the best of their ability, cooperate with the State and Local Committees,
and do other acts in further Republican support.
ARTICLE V —OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES
1. The
Chair shall preside over all meetings of the Committee, shall be responsible
for the orderly functioning of the Committee and shall appoint such
subcommittees as deemed necessary. As the leading representative of the
Republican County Committee, the Chair is also responsible for assisting in the
recruitment of candidates for public office. In addition to supplying direction
and leadership for the performance of organizational activities, the Chair
shall work closely with the State Republican Organization.
2. The
Vice Chair shall preside over the meetings of said Committee in the absence of
the Chair and shall perform the duties of the Chair when absent, if authorized
to do so by the full Committee.
3. The
Secretary shall keep a proper and accurate record of the doings of the
Committee, attend to the correspondence on behalf of the Committee, notify the
membership of the various County meetings, send out Press Releases prior to
meetings, take proper minutes at each meeting, and perform such duties as are
usually performed by the Secretary of such Committees. The Secretary shall
maintain a current voting list of all members and alternates for Roll Call, if
taken.
4. The
Treasurer shall receive and keep strict account of all money paid to said
Committee, and make regular reports to the membership on the status of the
treasury of this County Committee as requested by the Chair or the full
Committee. It is the Treasurer’s responsibility, to pay the bills of the
Committee when authorized by the Chair or by a vote of the Executive Committee
and money shall not be disbursed without their approval. It is also the
Treasurer’s responsibility to keep orderly bank statements, register all
deposits and to file with the Secretary of State, yearly.
5. The
Finance Director shall direct and organize the fund raising efforts of the
County Committee. This should be done with the full cooperation of the Officers
and Membership of this County Committee.
ARTICLE VI—EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
1. There
shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the Officers of the County
Committee, the members of the State Committee for Androscoggin County and their
most recent former County Chair. It shall be the duty of the Executive
Committee to disburse all funds of the County Committee for political purposes.
The Treasurer shall pay no bill or disburse any money without the approval by the
Executive Committee, as attested by the Chair. In the absence or inability of
the Chair to act, by the Vice Chair of this Committee.
2. At
any meeting of the Executive Committee, a majority of the Members shall
constitute a quorum.
3. Meetings
of the Executive Committee shall be called by the Chair, or in the Chair’s
absence or inability to act, by the Vice-Chair. Members of the Executive
Committee shall be notified of such meeting either in written form, E-mail
(unless the member specifies otherwise), or by telephone at least forty-eight
hours prior to such meeting by the Chair, Vice Chair of this Committee.
ARTICLE VII—VACANCIES
1. Should
a vacancy occur in the position of the County Chair, the Vice Chair shall
assume the position of Chair. If the Vice Chair informs the Secretary within
five days that that person docs not wish to serve in the position of Chair, an
election shall be held at the next scheduled meeting of the County Committee
with proper notification of the vacancy to fill the vacated position. The Vice
Chair may remain in that elected position without change of status.
2. Should
a vacancy occur in the position of Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, or Finance
Director, an election shall be held at the next scheduled meeting with proper notification
to fill the vacated position.
3. Should
a vacancy occur on the County Committee, the Secretary shall notify the Town
Committee to elect a successor to fill that vacancy. Chair, a written petition consisting of at least 10 members of
the County Committee and filed with any member of the Executive Committee, such
member of the Executive Committee may instruct the Secretary to call a Meeting.
If the Secretary fails to do so, such member of the Executive Committee shall
be empowered to call such a meeting.
2. The
Chair is encouraged to hold meetings in different towns of the County
periodically, to promote attendance among members and encourage new members to
become involved in Republican Party business and the affairs of the Committee.
3. It
is the responsibility of both a Town Chair (when possible) and a Town Secretary
to inform the County Chair when a vacancy of the Town Chair occurs or a new
Town Chair is elected. It is also the responsibility of each Town Chair to keep
the County Chair informed of Town Committee activity,
4. The
Secretary shall notify each duly elected member of any meeting of the Committee
in either written form or by Email, according to each member’s preference, at
least one week before the meeting is to be held. This notice shall contain the
time and place of said meeting, and so far as possible, the purpose(s} of the
meeting. The Secretary shall also announce the meeting in a press release to
the local newspaper(s).
ARTICLE X—QUORUM
Twelve (12) voting members of the County
Committee shall constitute a Quorum. Any meeting of said Committee attended by
less than that required by a quorum, shall not conduct any business, but may
meet and adjourn said meeting to a later date.
ARTICLE XI —RULES AND AMENDMENTS
1. “ROBERT’S
RULES OF ORDER” shall prevail at all meetings of this County Committee.
2. These
By Laws may be amended at any County Committee meeting by a two-thirds vote of
the voting membership present, provided a notice in writing, of the proposed
amendment, is either mailed or Emailed, according to each member’s preference,
to all duly elected members at least one week prior to such meeting.
All revisions and amendments are
listed. Article II, Sec. 3 (Membership) was amended on August 20,2001. Article
VI, Sec. 1 was amended in 2004. Article VI, Sec 3 Article IX, See. 3, and
Article XI, Sec. 2 were amended and approved by the Androscoggin County Members
on November 20,2006. Article III, Sec. 1 and Sec 6, Article VII, Sec I; Article
TX, Sec I were amended and approved on February 11, 2008
All revisions and amendments are now incorporated in
this final draft
SCOTT KAUFFMAN ROSEMARIE
BUTLER
CHAIRMAN SECRETARY