REPUBLICAN PARTY OF MINNESOTA

Proposed 2016 State Convention Rules

Preface
The Constitution of the Republican Party of Minnesota (the Constitution) mandates several Convention rules that can
neither be debated nor amended.
I. General
1.

The business of this Convention shall be as outlined on the Official Agenda for the Convention. The Convention
shall adopt the agenda by a majority vote.

2.

Article XVII of the Constitution states:

The rules contained in the current edition of Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised
shall govern the Convention in all cases to which they are applicable and in which
they are not inconsistent with the constitution and bylaws of the Republican Party of
Minnesota, statutes of the State of Minnesota, or any special rules or order the party
may adopt.

3.

Article V, Section 4, of the Constitution provides:

Once the temporary organization has been established, the first order of business of
a state . . . convention shall be the seating of alternates. The permanent voting roll of
the convention shall be composed of the delegates of each BPOU who actually are
present, and in the absence of any delegate to the convention, an alternate shall be
seated in his/her stead during his/her absence according to the procedure
established by the constitution or bylaws of the BPOU. When a delegate returns to
the floor of the convention, he or she will be seated immediately.

4.

Once adopted these Rules shall neither be amended nor suspended except by a two-thirds () vote of the
Convention.

5.

The quorum is a majority of the delegates registered at the Convention as in attendance irrespective of whether
some may have departed. Once a quorum has been established there shall be no further question as to the
quorum.

6.

A minority report of any committee may be presented if concurred by two (2) or more members of that
committee, unless otherwise specified by the Constitution.

7.

No pages or sergeant-at-arms shall exhibit any outward sign of support for or engage in any activities on behalf
candidate or issues.

8.

Any and all materials distributed at the Convention must contain the name and physical address of the
organization or of the individual paying for that material. The sergeant-at-arms shall confiscate any material
not having such a disclosure.

9.

Pagers and cell phones must be set to either vibrate or turned off. Any items determined by the Chair to be a
disruption of the Convention may be confiscated or removed from the Convention floor.

10.

Any video presentations broadcast to delegates on the floor of the Convention must be screened and approved
by the state party Chair or designee.
II. Seating

11.

12.

If a Basic Political Organization Unit (BPOU) or affiliate organization does not have a procedure for establishing
the seating order of alternates in its constitution, bylaws, or by convention action, the seating order of
alternates shall be determined by the vote of that delegation. In a BPOU or affiliate organization which does
have such a procedure in its constitution, bylaws or as determined by Convention action, a higher priority
alternate shall be entitled to be seated in the place of a lower priority alternate.
a.

The voting strength of each BPOU or affiliate organization equals the number of its registered delegates
and seated alternates.

b.

The Credentials Committee Chair shall certify to the Convention Chair those official affiliate delegates
and alternates specified in article VI, Section 1B of the Constitution and listed in the addendum to the
party Bylaws. On any roll call or written vote those affiliate delegates shall vote as a separate group
and only the vote of those present and voting shall be counted.

The Credentials Committee Chair shall report any changes in the delegations prior to an endorsement when
requested by the Chair or when requested by a majority of seated delegates and alternates.
III. Speaking

13.

A delegate or seated alternate wishing to speak shall rise, address the Chair from a microphone, state his/her
name, BPOU, and the purpose for which he/she rises.

14.

Debate on any motion or subject shall be limited to two (2) minutes by each speaker except as provided in
Rules 16, 20 and 24. No person shall be allowed to speak more than twice upon the same subject. No person
shall be allowed to speak a second time until all those desiring to speak have had a first opportunity to do so.
Total time for debate of each motion shall not exceed ten (10) minutes with equal opportunity afforded to
affirmative and the negative speakers. Each speaker must identify whether they speak in the affirmative or the
negative before being allowed to speak on a motion or subject. At least two (2) speakers on each side of a
question shall be afforded the opportunity to speak to an issue before a motion to move the previous question
shall be in order. After there have been two (2) speakers on one side and the Chair has asked three (3) times
for a speaker on the opposing side, if there is no speaker on the opposing side, the debate will be ended.

15.

The Chair shall appoint a timekeeper for the purpose of timing debate and speeches during the Convention.

16.

The Chair at any time may invite any office holder or distinguished guest to address the Convention from the
podium for a period not to exceed five (5) minutes. Endorsed non-incumbent Republican Congressional
candidates shall address the floor for a period not to exceed five (5) minutes. Speakers indicated on the official
agenda shall not exceed ten (10) minutes, except at the discretion of the Chair.
IV. Voting

17.

There shall be no voting by proxy or under unit rule in this Convention.

18.

The vote on all questions shall be by voice vote except:

a.

If Division of the Assembly is called for, or at the discretion of the Chair, a rising vote shall be taken.

19.

b.

A roll call by BPOU shall be taken at the discretion of the Chair, or, upon the request of ten (10) or more
BPOUs, each BPOU request to be a majority vote of the delegates present from the BPOU. Such roll
call vote shall be taken in alphabetical order followed by numerical order of the BPOUs and the vote
of each BPOU announced from the floor by the BPOU leader, or by a person duly designated by the
BPOU delegation. If any delegation is not ready to report their vote when called by the Convention
Chair, they will be put to the end of the queue and the next delegation will be called to report.

c.

Contested elections will be voted by secret ballot and results reported by the Chief Teller.

d.

Ballot envelopes for each delegation shall contain one ballot per delegate allotted, irrespective of how
many delegates are present.

If there is a dispute as to the vote of any BPOU, the Chair shall appoint a Chief Teller and a sufficient number of
tellers to canvass the vote of that BPOU and the Chief Teller shall report the same to the Convention.
V. Platform Resolutions

20.

Amendments from the floor are not permitted. Amendments to the Platform Committee Report must be
submitted in writing to the Platform Committee no later than Friday, May 20 at 12:00 p.m. noon.

21.

The Platform Committee report may be considered at any time in the course of the Convention, following
adoption of these rules, where any lapse in the agenda or delay for counting votes permits.

22.

Article VI, Section 5 (D) of the Constitution provides:

All motions related to the platform committee report shall be voted upon at the state
convention in the manner prescribed in the convention rules and need to be adopted
by a minimum of 60% of the last credentials report.

23.

24.

Consideration of the Platform Committee report will proceed platform section by platform section. The
consideration of each platform section will be conducted in three stages:
a.

Delegates will be asked if there are any resolutions within the platform section on which debate is
desired. A delegate moving that a resolution be pulled for debate shall, after receiving a second, have
up to thirty seconds to briefly explain his or her reason for the motion, which shall immediately be
followed by a vote on whether to pull the resolution for debate. An affirmative vote of 15% of the
seated delegates and alternates, as of the final credentials report, is required to pull a resolution from
that section for debate.

b.

The Convention will proceed to vote to approve the recommendations of the committee for all
resolutions in the platform section not pulled for debate. If any section fails to receive 60% approval,
the resolutions in that section will be voted on one at a time without debate and without regard for
committee recommendation.

c.

The Convention will then proceed to debate and vote, without regard for committee recommendation,
on each of the resolutions pulled for debate.

Debate on any resolution shall be limited to a total of four (4) minutes, one (1) minute for each speaker and
with equal opportunity afforded to pro and con speakers. No person shall be allowed to speak a second time
upon the same resolution, until all others wishing to be recognized on the resolution have been heard. No
person shall be allowed to speak more than twice on the resolution. Debate shall be limited to delegates and
seated alternates.

VI. Judicial Nominations

25.

Article V, Section 3(C), and Article VI, Section 6, of the Constitution set forth the requirements for endorsements
of candidates for the Minnesota Supreme Court and Minnesota Court of Appeals.

26.

Following the report of the Judicial Election Committee, the Convention shall consider by majority vote whether
to endorse candidates for each office of the Minnesota Supreme Court and the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The
chair or designee of the Judicial Election Committee shall present the committees report to the Convention for
each particular office of the Minnesota Supreme Court and the Minnesota Court of Appeals that is subject to the
upcoming election and shall recommend for each particular office whether or not the Convention should
endorse a candidate for that office.

27.

If the Convention votes affirmatively to consider the endorsement of a judicial candidate for a given office, an
individual vote shall be held for the endorsement of nominees for that office.

28.

Except where they conflict with the special rules stated in Article V, Section 3(C), of the Constitution, the
provision of Article V, Section 3, and Article VI, Section 6, of the Constitution shall apply to endorsing candidates
for the Minnesota Supreme Court and the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
VII. Delegates and Alternate Delegates At-Large to the National Convention

29.

The Convention shall elect 11 delegates and 11 ranked alternate delegates to the Republican National
Convention pursuant to RNC Rule 16(a)(2). Each at-large delegate and alternate shall be allocated and bound
to the candidates for the Republican nomination for President of the United States on a proportionate basis
pursuant to RNC Rules 16(c)(2) and (3).

30.

At-large delegates and their alternates shall be allocated and bound as follows: Rubio 5; Cruz 4; Trump 2.

31.

The Republican Party of Minnesotas Representatives to the Republican National Committee (RNC), the party
Chair, the National Committeeman and the National Committeewoman, shall be allocated and bound to the
presidential candidates pursuant to the Paragraph 3.3 of the Minnesota State Executive Committee Binding
Resolution to Approve the 2016 National Convention Delegate Allocation Process, Sep. 17, 2015, as follows:
Rubio 1; Cruz 1; Trump 1. No at-large alternates shall be elected for the RNC Representatives.

32.

The Nominations Committee, pursuant to Article VI, Section 3, of the Constitution, shall place in nomination
each person reported out of the Committee who seeks to stand for election as an at-large delegate or alternate.
The Committee also shall report whether it deems the candidates to be qualified or unquailed to receive the
endorsement or be elected. Nominations from the floor are not allowed.

33.

The requirements to stand for election either as an at-large delegate or alternate are the following:
a.

Is eligible to vote in Minnesota on Nov. 8, 2016;

b.

Submits the following to the Nominations Committee no later than 8:00 p.m., Thursday, May 19, 2016:
i. the 2016 Republican National Convention Delegate and Alternate Delegate Self-Nomination Form;
ii. the Affidavit of Agreement to the Rules for the 2016 Republican National Convention; and
iii. a resume (optional).

c.

Submits to the Nominating Committee, no later than 9:00pm Friday, May 20 at, a nominating petition
containing the printed names and signatures of a minimum of two percent (2%) of the State
Convention Delegates.

34.

d.

Declares the presidential preference to which the candidate agrees to be bound on the first ballot or
as otherwise provided by RNC rules;

e.

Selects either the position of at-large delegate or at-large alternate (but not both positions);

f.

Meets with the Nominations Committee at times and locations that Committee designates but not later
than 10:00 pm, Friday, May 20, 2016; and

g.

Is placed in nomination by the Nominations Committee.

The election of at-large delegates and at-large alternates will proceed as follows:
a.

The Nominations Committee shall group the candidates into lanes according to the candidates
presidential preference and choice of delegate or alternate status. The Committee will determine by
lot the order in which the candidates will appear on the ballots and address the Convention.

b.

Six (6) separate ballots will be prepared listing the at-large nominees by presidential lane and by
delegate or alternate positions as follows:
i. Rubio lane delegates,
ii. Rubio lane alternates;
iii. Cruz lane delegates,
iv. Cruz lane alternates,
v. Trump lane delegates,
vi. Trump lane alternates.

c.

The voting will be conducted in three rounds in the order the presidential candidates ranked in the
Precinct Caucus Presidential Preference Vote, with each voting round consisting of one ballot listing
nominees for delegate in a presidential lane and another ballot listing nominees for alternate in that
presidential lane.
i. The first round of voting will consist of one ballot listing all of the nominees for the Rubio lane
delegates and a separate ballot for the Rubio lane alternates. Votes may be cast for no more and
no fewer than five (5) delegates and no more and no fewer than five (5) alternates.
ii. The second round of balloting will consist of one ballot listing all of the nominees for the Cruz lane
delegates and a separate ballot for the Cruz lane alternates. Votes may be cast for no more and no
fewer than four (4) delegates and no more and no fewer than four (4) alternates.
iii. The third round of balloting will consist of one ballot listing all of the nominees for the Trump lane
delegates and a separate ballot for all of the Trump lane alternates. Votes may be cast for no more
and no fewer than two (2) delegates and no more and no fewer than two (2) alternates.

d.

Each nominee for at-large delegate may address the Convention for up to one minute in the same order
the nominees appear on their respective ballots. The nominees for delegate in the Rubio lane shall
address the Convention first, followed by the nominees for alternate in the Rubio lane. While the Rubio
delegate and alternate ballots are being counted, nominees for Cruz lane delegates may address the

Convention, followed by nominees for Cruz lane alternates. While the Cruz ballots are being counted,
Trump nominees for delegate and alternate may address the Convention in the same manner.
e.

Following the speeches by nominees for delegate and for alternate in the first presidential lane, the
District Chairs or their designees shall receive master boxes containing envelopes for each BPOU,
which contain one presidential lane delegate ballot and one alternate ballot for each allotted State
Convention delegate. The BPOU chairs or their designees shall distribute a delegate ballot and an
alternate ballot to each present delegate or seated alternate in their delegation. The BPOU chairs or
their designees shall collect all of the ballots, put them in the appropriate envelopes and give the
envelopes to the District Chairs or their designees. The District Chairs or their designees shall put the
BPOU envelopes into the appropriate District master boxes and give them to the convention tellers.
The Chief Teller shall collect all of the envelopes and supervise the tabulation of the ballots according
to the process set forth in Section IV of these Rules. The Chief Teller or the Convention Chair shall
announce the winners of that round of voting at the discretion of the Convention Chair. This process
shall be repeated for each presidential lane.

35.

At-large delegates and alternates shall be elected by a plurality vote of the Convention. The at-large delegate
nominees receiving the most valid ballots cast allotted in each presidential lane shall be elected as at-large
delegates. The at-large alternate nominees receiving the most valid ballots cast allotted in each presidential
lane shall be elected as at-large alternates.

36.

All of the at-large alternates shall be ranked in each presidential lane according to the number of valid ballots
cast received. The state party shall maintain a record of the ranking of the at-large alternates. If a vacancy
among the at-large alternates occurs for any reason, the next highest ranking at-large alternate in the affected
presidential lane shall be added as the last member of the delegation in that lane.
VIII. Presidential Electors

37.

Article VI, Section 9, and Article VII, Section 3, of the Constitution set forth the requirements for the nomination
and election of Presidential Electors.

38.

The Convention shall nominate two (2) at-large Presidential Electors. All persons wishing to be nominated for
at-large Presidential Elector shall have his/her name, personal resume and nomination form presented to the
Nominating Committee prior to 4:00 pm, Thursday, May 19, 2016 and appear before the Committee at a time
and place the Committee designates.

39.

Voting shall follow the procedure set forth in Section IV of these Rules. The order of presenting names of
nominees for Presidential Elector shall be determined by the Nominating Committee by lot. After all candidates
have been placed in nomination by the committee, each person nominated shall be given one (1) minute to
address the Convention. There shall be no nominations from the floor.

40.

No seconding speeches shall be required or allowed. Each voting delegate must vote for two (2) nominees. Any
ballot containing more or fewer than two different nominees names shall be invalid. The first two (2)
nominees receiving at least a simple majority of the valid ballots cast will be the two (2) at-large Presidential
Electors. In the event two (2) nominees are not selected on the first ballot, balloting shall continue excluding
those candidates already achieving at least a majority vote. Any candidate failing to receive at least 20% of the
vote on the first ballot, 25% of the vote on the second ballot, or 30% of the vote on subsequent ballots, shall
cease to be considered a candidate for at-large Presidential Elector.

41.

Each Congressional District shall place in nomination one (1) nominee for Presidential Elector by forwarding
that persons name to the Secretary of the State Convention. Each Congressional District Elector-Nominee shall
be nominated by the affirmative vote of the Convention.

42.

Article VI, Section 9 (C), of the Constitution provides for the nomination of substitute Congressional District
Elector-Nominees if necessary:
If the Congressional District fails to select a Congressional District Elector-Nominee
or a Congressional District Elector-Nominee is unable or unwilling to serve as a
Presidential Elector prior to being nominated by the State Convention, a substitute
Congressional District Elector-Nominee shall be placed in nomination in accordance
with the Constitution or Bylaws of the Congressional District. If no provision exists
in the Congressional Districts Constitution or Bylaws for a substitute Congressional
District Elector-Nominee, the Presidential Elector to be placed in nomination by the
Congressional District shall instead be nominated by the State Convention Delegates
in the manner provided for an at-large Presidential Elector as set forth above.

43.

If a Congressional District Elector-Nominee is not nominated by the affirmative vote of the Convention, a
substitute Congressional District Elector-Nominee shall be placed in nomination and affirmed in accordance
with substitution process set forth in these Rules.
IX. Constitution

44.

Article XV of the Constitution provides for amendments to the Constitution.

45.

The Constitution and Bylaws Committee shall present its report of proposed amendments to the
Convention for its consideration. Any member of the Committee shall have the privilege of addressing
the Convention when its report is being considered. No new amendments shall be considered on the
floor. No debate shall be in order as to whether to consider new amendments to the Committee report.
Debate over any amendment proposed by the Committee shall be allowed subject to Rule 14.

46.

The Constitution may be amended by a majority vote of the Convention, provided that any proposal
for amendment shall be referred to and reported out of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee.

47.

Voting on Constitutional amendments shall be as follows:

a.

At a time to be designated by the Convention Co-Chairs, each delegate and seated alternate
shall be given a ballot to vote on each proposed change to the Constitution.

b.

Any amendment that receives a majority vote shall be adopted.

IX. Adjournment

48.

A motion to adjourn the Convention shall be debatable until all items on the agenda have been considered on
the Convention floor.