[Lnc-business] Amending Articles of Incorporation

[Tim Hagan]

The amendment would have to be transmitted to all of the 142,482 
members. The ones without a good e-mail address would have be snail 
mailed, which could be a significant cost.

My understanding is that the Article of Incorporation govern the LNC, 
Inc., but not the Libertarian Party. Is that not true?

---
Tim Hagan
Treasurer, Libertarian National Committee

On 2020-04-30 13:24, Joe Bishop-Henchman via Lnc-business wrote:
> Colleagues,
> 
> I would like to put forward a mechanism that I don't believe has come
> up yet, that can be used in tandem with several of the options under
> consideration. That's amending our "other" governing document, the
> Articles of Incorporation.
> 
> Articles of Incorporation are usually general documents that are
> usually rarely amended except in "break the glass" situations. The LNC
> is incorporated in the District of Columbia, and the Articles of
> Incorporation establish that we will have Bylaws, among other things.
> DC law authorizes electronic meetings if they are authorized by the
> organization's Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws. DC Code §
> 29–405.01(e).
> 
> Under DC law (DC Code § 29–408.03), amending the Articles of
> Incorporation is a two-step process. First, the Board (the LNC) must
> approve the amendment. Second, it must be transmitted to and approved
> by the members by majority vote, so long as at least 10% of all
> members participate in the vote. (This is usually done at other orgs
> by mail or email.)
> 
> So if we wanted to move straight to online ballots, or postpone with
> the subsequent fallback option of online ballots, we could move to
> amend the AofI to state that "Remote participation and online
> balloting is authorized for conventions where (insert appropriate
> caveats), notwithstanding the Bylaws or RONR." If the LNC approves, it
> would then go to the membership and they decide, up or down.
> 
> This approach would remove the worry that states will remove us from
> the ballot for not complying with our internal rules, or of RONR not
> allowing us to proceed electronically unless authorized by our
> internal rules. Page 11 of RONR acknowledges that Articles of
> Incorporation supersede Bylaws and RONR.
> 
> I have spoken to Mr. Hall, who identified no issues with it and agrees
> it's an option we can consider.
> 
> JBH
> 
> ------------
> Joe Bishop-Henchman
> LNC Member (At-Large)
> joe.bishop-henchman at lp.org
> www.facebook.com/groups/189510455174837