Section 12. County Convention: Time and Notices.
(12.1) The annual convention of the Oʻahu County Democrats shall be held at least three (3) weeks prior to the State Convention in even-numbered years, and the time of the meeting shall be fixed by the OCC, which may provide that the convention be conducted by electronic means as may be necessary to protect the health and safety of the delegates. Special conventions may be called in accordance with the Oʻahu County bylaws, rules and convention rules. The officers of the OCC shall be elected in odd-numbered years. Oʻahu County State Central Committee Representatives are elected in even-numbered years in accordance with the Constitution of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi.
(12.1.1) The business and purposes of the County's Annual Convention in odd-numbered years shall be limited to and dedicated to the following work relating to Oʻahu County:
- Elect county officers and region chairs;
- Consider and vote on changes in the County platform and County Bylaws; and
- Consider and vote on resolutions that relate specifically and exclusively to
Oʻahu County issues and the work of Oʻahu County Committee and its committees.
(12.1.2) The business and purposes of the County's Annual Convention in even-numbered years shall be limited to and dedicated to the following work relating to the
State Party:
- Elect the County Representatives to the SCC;
- Consider and vote on proposals for the State Biennial Convention to amend the DPH Constitution, Bylaws, and Platform; and
- Consider and vote on resolutions addressing State-wide, National, or International policies that can be proposed to the delegates of the DPH Biennial Convention on behalf of Oʻahu County Democrats
(12.2) All delegates and alternate delegates to the County Convention shall be notified by mail or email
of the time and place thereof at least sixty (60) calendar days prior to the date of the County
Convention.
(12.3) The convention committees shall meet at least seven (7) days prior to the County Convention. These committees shall accept submissions at the convention committee meetings with a 2/3 vote of the convention committee members present.
(12.4) The delegate body of the Convention shall be comprised as follows.
- Each District shall have twenty four (24) delegates.
- The President, First Vice President, and District Council Person of each precinct shall be delegates to the O‘ahu County Convention.
- Delegates shall be elected at the time of the Precinct Elections as prescribed by the Constitution and Bylaws of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi.
- If fewer than twenty-four delegates are elected because the State House District has fewer than eight (8) precincts, a number of At Large delegates to the O‘ahu County Convention shall be allotted equal to the number of precincts in the district, multiplied by three (3), and then subtracted from twenty four (24).
- Elections of At Large delegates shall be held at the same time, and At Large delegates shall be elected by all district members present. If a district meets in more than one (1) location, At Large delegates for the district shall be allocated to each location at a percentage equal to the percentage of district precincts at each location.
- Each District shall make every effort to elect delegates composed of equal numbers of men and women.
- In addition to elected delegates, the District Chairperson of each district and
members of the Executive Committee of the Oʻahu County Committee shall be
delegates to the Oʻahu County Convention.
- Other Precinct officers shall not be precluded from running as a delegate.
- If, following the Precinct Elections, there remain vacant At Large delegate positions, the District Council shall be empowered to fill the remaining positions, up until ten (10) days prior to the convention, after that the District Chairperson shall be empowered, provided that;
- Best attempts are made to ensure gender equity is maintained; and
- District Council meetings to fill vacancies may be conducted by videoconference, phone or email; and
- Appointments shall be in writing.
- If an elected delegate cannot attend, they may appoint their own alternate provided
that they notify the District Chairperson in writing at least ten (10) days prior to the convening
of the convention and;
- The appointed alternate reside in the district; and
- A best effort is made to ensure the selected alternate is of the same gender as
the elected delegate; and
- An alternate shall act for no more than one (1) delegate at a time; and
- If the elected delegate does not appoint an alternate ten (10) days prior to the
convening of the Convention, the District Chairperson shall be empowered to
appoint the alternate, provided that a best effort is made to appoint an alternate
of the same gender as the elected delegate.
- Each delegate to the Oʻahu County Convention is entitled to one (1) vote.
- No official delegate shall be prevented from fully participating in the County Convention due to an inability to pay part or all of the established registration fee.
(12.5) Elected federal, state and County officials, or officials who may have been appointed to fill a vacant position of an elected official, who currently serve in office and are not precinct presidents, precinct first vice presidents, or precinct district councilpersons, shall have all the rights and privileges of a delegate subject to the following requirements:
- Be a member of the Democratic Party in good standing; and
- Have attained their present office in a partisan election as a Democrat or have been
appointed to fill a vacant position of an elected official, or have attained their present office in a
non-partisan State or County election, provided they are Democratic Party members in good standing and residents of Oʻahu.
(12.6) Former Democratic Governors, Lt. Governors, Oʻahu Mayors, State Party Chairs, and Oʻahu County Committee Chairs, and the current state party chair who are not precinct presidents, precinct first vice presidents, or precinct district councilpersons, shall have all the rights and privileges of delegates so long as they are members of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi in good standing and residents of Oʻahu and ran for their elected office as a member of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi.
(12.7) The Co-Chairs and members of the Convention Committees of Rules, Platform, Credentials and Resolutions shall be appointed by the County Chairperson, in keeping with the Party's commitment to gender equity, from among the Convention delegates with the concurrence of the Oʻahu County Committee.
(12.8) Voting members of the Convention Committees of Rules, Platform, Credentials and Resolution shall be delegates to the Oʻahu County Convention. If at all possible the voting members shall be evenly divided among the regions. The members shall be appointed by the County Chairperson according to a process approved by the Oʻahu County Committee. Each committee shall not exceed 5% of the total eligible county convention delegates.
(12.9) All members of the Oʻahu County Democrats are invited to attend and voice their opinions in the Convention Committee meetings that take place prior to the annual County Convention.
(12.10) A member of the Executive Committee shall serve as co-chair of the annual
Oʻahu County Convention
Section 13. County Convention Rules.
(13.1) The Oʻahu County Committee may adopt rules for the proper conduct of Oʻahu County Convention business not inconsistent or in conflict with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi and, except for rules regarding submission format and deadlines, are subject to amendment by Convention delegates.
(13.2) The platform and resolutions adopted by delegates at conventions of the Oʻahu County
Democrats shall remain in force and effect until rescinded or amended by a two-thirds roll call
vote of the full membership of the Oʻahu County Committee or by a majority of votes cast by
delegates at an annual or special convention, or until they come into conflict with the platform or
resolutions of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi.
(13.3) Resolutions adopted at a county convention in a non State Convention year will not be referred by Oʻahu County to a future State Convention.
(13.4) Resolutions adopted may be edited & reformatted by the secretary as needed to correct spelling and grammar and to conform with the convention submission rules, the posted and published resolutions of the county, and the format described in Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised.
Section 14. Adoption and Amendment of Oʻahu County Bylaws.
(14.1) Proposals to amend or revise these bylaws may be adopted by a two-thirds vote at any annual or special Oʻahu County Convention or at any regular meeting of the
Oʻahu County Committee by a majority of all its members, provided that the amendment
has been submitted in writing at the previous regular meeting. The OCC shall submit the proposed bylaws or bylaw changes to the State Central Committee within ninety (90) calendar days of adoption. Upon the determination by the State Central
Committee that the proposed bylaws or bylaw changes are not inconsistent or in conflict with the
Constitution and Bylaws of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi, the bylaws of the Oʻahu County Democrats and bylaw changes shall become effective.
(14.2) In the event the State Central Committee fails to ratify the proposed bylaws or bylaw changes,
the OCC may at the next State Convention appeal for ratification of the same by the Convention.
(14.3) In the event the OCC fails to submit the proposed bylaws or bylaw changes for ratification, or
if the same are not ratified in accordance with this section, then the duly ratified Bylaws of the
Oʻahu County Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi shall remain applicable to the Oʻahu County Democrats and the Oʻahu County Committee.
(14.4) Impossibility Provision. In the event of an emergency, such provisions of these
bylaws as deemed necessary may be suspended by a two-thirds vote of the Oʻahu
County Committee at a regular or special meeting so long as notice is given and posted
on the public website two weeks in advance. Any suspension under this provision must
describe a compelling interest for the suspension and include specific dates when the
suspension begins and ends.
Section 15. Parliamentary Procedure Guidance.
The rules of parliamentary procedure as set forth in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, shall guide the Oʻahu County Committee and govern all proceedings not provided for in these bylaws, so long as the rules of parliamentary procedure are reasonably applicable and not
inconsistent or in conflict with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi.
As ratified by the State Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi November 22, 2020