[Lnc-business] Informational purposes: former draft of procedures for online balloting

[Joe Bishop-Henchman]

Colleagues,

I've attached (and pasted below) language providing procedures for 
online balloting, aiming to deviate as little as possible from our 
existing Bylaws and Rules. It was developed by the Bylaws Committee for 
the "rump" convention option and subsequently refined by a group of 
volunteers from the Committee in anticipation of being asked to do so by 
the LNC, although that did not come to happen. It's technically in the 
form of a Bylaws amendment. The Bylaws Committee is not empowered to do 
anything with this language given the approach the LNC has taken, so the 
mechanics of nomination and balloting are left in some fashion to the 
Chair, the Secretary, the Credentials Committee, the Convention 
Oversight Committee, the LNC itself, and the delegates themselves.

I share this in case any of those parties may find anything in here of 
benefit or use.

JBH



PROVIDING FOR SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF CONDUCTING THE FIRST SITTING OF 
THE 2020 REGULAR CONVENTION

1.	Pursuant to the LNC action of May 9, 2020 bifurcating the 2020 
Regular Convention business between first online sitting beginning May 
22, 2020 and second sitting as specified by the LNC, these procedures 
address the business of the 2020 Regular Convention.

2.	This action will be submitted for ratification by the next in-person 
sitting of the Regular Convention.

3. 	All affiliate parties shall ensure that the Credentials Committee 
has received, if they have not already, the names, email addresses, and 
phone numbers of all delegates and alternates chosen to the 2020 Regular 
Convention. The names and contact information received by the 
Credentials Committee from the affiliate parties shall constitute the 
credentials report, and all such delegates shall be presumed present for 
electronic balloting upon the adoption of that report by the Credentials 
Committee. Delegation Chairs shall be permitted to substitute alternate 
delegates with primary delegates between any one round of voting, which 
shall be deemed, once confirmed by the Credentials Committee, to 
automatically be added to the credentials report. A delegate is 
determined to be present for quorum purposes, for any particular vote by 
casting a vote for that office.

4.	Nominations shall be made via email from delegates to their 
Delegation Chair, who shall communicate the names and total number of 
nominations of each candidate to the Secretary; in the alternative, 
software or other electronic system provided by the LNC Secretary may 
permit nominations to be made. Each delegate is entitled to one 
nomination for each office to be filled. Nominations must be made by at 
least thirty (30) credential delegates. Nominations shall close one (1) 
hour before the start of the electronic ballot for that particular 
election; provided that any candidate that was not successful for the 
office of President shall be deemed automatically nominated for Vice 
President if they communicate to the Secretary that they would accept 
the nomination for that office; and further provided that nominations 
for the office of Vice President shall not close until two (2) hours 
after the conclusion of the final ballot for President.

5.	Electronic balloting shall take place via method selected and 
utilized by each Delegation Chair, and the Libertarian National 
Committee shall make available the option of utilizing suitable 
software, combination of software, or other electronic means, provided 
that such method shall:
a.	permit all credentialed delegates to vote in a matter that is 
sufficiently verified and secure;
b.	inform delegates via e-mail or other electronic means of when ballots 
are sent and how long they have to vote;
c.	send an electronic receipt once a ballot is cast to that delegate 
with their votes, and to their Delegation Chair that the particular 
delegate has voted; and
d.	at the end of each round of balloting, send each Delegation Chair a 
running total of the votes cast by their delegation for each election.

Any such balloting system should to the extent possible be secure, 
preserve the anonymity of particular delegates’ votes, and create a 
sufficient audit trail to be available for inspection and auditing if 
discrepancies should arise. Each electronic ballot shall be a single 
question or election. For election ballots, delegates shall have three 
(3) hours to vote or until all delegations have completed their tallies, 
whichever occurs first, and only one (1) electronic ballot shall be 
conducted at a time unless the system clearly annotates what the ballot 
being cast is being cast for, and in that event, not more than two (2) 
ballots shall be cast at the same time. Ballots shall not begin prior to 
noon Eastern Time nor conclude after 11 P.M. Eastern Time.

6.	In the event of a technical difficulty which impedes the casting of 
any votes or the functioning of the elections system, including, but not 
limited to, the tabulation of votes or the auditing functions, the 
Libertarian National Committee shall have the ability to declare, by a 
three-fourths (3/4) vote, that a technical difficulty has arisen, and 
either (i) extend the period for that particular election or (ii) to 
declare a particular vote and election void, and then redo that 
election. The Libertarian National Committee shall be in continuous 
session during the Regular Convention.

7.	The Chair shall, via public livestream or other suitable method, 
announce each ballot, the options nominated or available on that ballot, 
and if applicable and available, the results of any previous ballot(s). 
At the discretion of the Chair, nominating speeches for any office can 
be livestreamed, or, in the alternative, a link to pre-recorded 
nominating speeches, can be provided.

8.	Ballots for all nominations and offices shall be conducted under the 
usual procedures regarding successive elimination ballots. Votes shall 
be recorded including the numbers for each state delegation, and these 
results shall be displayed in a manner that allows each delegation to 
review for accuracy. In the event of any discrepancy between the totals 
the delegation chair received and the totals posted, the Delegation 
Chair and Secretary shall endeavor to resolve the discrepancy, and, if 
they are not able to do so, the National Committee shall resolve that 
discrepancy.

9.	The Chair may certify and report the results of the nomination for 
President to Vice President prior to the adjournment sine die of the 
2020 Regular Convention, upon the conclusion of those ballots, if such 
certification is needed to meet any ballot access or filing deadlines. 
All voting shall be completed and all results shall be announced before 
adjournment sine die of the 2020 Regular Convention business session, 
regardless of this date and time.



------------
Joe Bishop-Henchman
LNC Member (At-Large)
joe.bishop-henchman at lp.org
www.facebook.com/groups/189510455174837
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