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North Carolina Democratic Party
Plan of Organization
As Amended Jan 20th, 2007

1.00 PRECINCT ORGANIZATION

1.01 UNIT OF ORGANIZATION

The unit of organization of the North Carolina Democratic Party shall be the voting precinct.

1.02 COMPOSITION OF PRECINCT COMMITTEE

Precinct Committee. In each precinct, there shall be a precinct committee consisting of at least five active Democrats who reside in the precinct when elected by the active Democrats of the precinct present at the annual precinct meeting held in odd-numbered years.

The composition of the precinct committee should bear a reasonable relationship to the make-up of the active Democrats of said precinct as to gender, age, race, ethnic background and, where practical, geography. All Democratic county and city elected officials and Democratic members of the North Carolina General Assembly residing in the precinct shall be ex-officio, non-voting members of the precinct committee.

Precinct Officers. The precinct committee shall have as officers a chair, a vice chair, and a secretary/treasurer and any others as the body might desire. The vice chair must be of the opposite gender of the chair and should, where possible, be of a race other than that of the chair. No officers of the precinct committee shall be from the same immediate family residing in the same household.

Term of Office. The terms of office of the members and officers of the precinct committee shall expire on the date set for the next succeeding precinct meeting held in an odd-numbered year or when their successors shall be elected or appointed, whichever shall occur first. Newly elected officers shall take office immediately upon their election.

Vacancy and Succession for Precinct Officers and Committee Members. Vacancies occurring among the officers or members of the precinct committee shall be filled within thirty (30) days following creation of the vacancy. The precinct chair shall call a meeting of the remaining members of the precinct committee to fill that vacancy and any other vacancies that might be caused by the action of such committee in filling the vacancy. If, for any reason, there should occur a vacancy in the chair of the precinct committee, the vice chair or the secretary/treasurer, in that order, shall preside and in the absence of any of the foregoing officers, any member of the precinct committee may preside.

Removals. Officers and members of the precinct committee may be removed in accordance with Section 10.00.

1.03 DUTIES OF PRECINCT OFFICERS

Chair. The duties of the precinct chair shall include:
1. Preside at precinct meetings;
2. Establish reasonable political goals for the precinct;
3. Organize and execute a voter organizing plan;
4. Attend meetings of the county executive committee;
5. Recommend names of persons to serve as precinct elections officials;
6. Carry out other duties as may be assigned by the precinct or county executive committees;
7. Transmit all records pertaining to the office to successor within ten (10) days of vacating office.

Vice Chair. The duties of the precinct vice chair shall include:
1. Preside at precinct meeting in the absence of the chair;
2. Serve as the publicity chair for the precinct utilizing local newspapers, door-to-door leaflets, etc. to announce political activities and/or accomplishments to voters in the precinct;
3. Carry out other duties as may be assigned by the county executive committee;
4. Transmit all records pertaining to the office to successor within ten (10) days of vacating office.

Secretary/Treasurer. The duties of the precinct secretary/treasurer shall include:
1. Keep all records of the precinct committee;
2. Issue all meeting notices within the timeframe outlined in this Plan of Organization;
3. When there is a precinct treasury, maintain it at a chartered financial institution;
4. Provide assistance to the county party treasurer in fundraising efforts;
5. Prepare and file reports as may be required by law and/or by the county executive committee;
6. Preside at precinct meetings in the absence of the chair and vice chair;
7. Transmit all records pertaining to the office to successor within ten (10) days of vacating office.

Committee. The duties of the precinct committee members shall be assigned by the precinct chair.

1.04 PRECINCT MEETINGS

When Held. Annual precinct meetings shall be held on a date designated by the county chair that is within the two (2) week period designated by the state chair pursuant to Section 4.08. In presidential election years, there shall be no two (2) week period allowed and the precinct meeting shall be held on the exact date designated by the state chair pursuant to Section 4.08. The county chair shall designate the time for the precinct meetings. Weekday precinct meetings shall begin no earlier than 6:00 PM and no later than 7:30 PM. Weekend meetings shall be held between the hours of 10:00 AM and 7:00 PM.

In the event that a quorum is not present at the originally scheduled precinct meeting, there shall be a second meeting called within two (2) weeks of the original meeting date. The county chair shall set the date and time for the second meeting.

In the event that a quorum is not present for the second scheduled precinct meeting, that precinct shall be considered an unorganized precinct.

Location. The annual precinct meetings shall be held at the polling place of each precinct or other facility deemed appropriate by the precinct chair. If a meeting facility other than the precinct polling place is used, it must be approved in advance by the county chair and publicly announced seven (7) calendar days in advance of the meeting. The precinct chair shall also post notice of the meeting location at the regular polling place. In any case, the precinct meeting must be held in a public facility accessible to all registered Democrats residing in the precinct, except that when the county chair certifies that no public facility is available in the precinct, the precinct meeting may be held in a non-public facility accessible to all registered Democrats residing in the precinct.

Unorganized Precinct. A precinct that did not meet on the originally scheduled meeting date or on the second meeting date shall be considered not organized and shall not be entitled to send delegates to the county convention or be represented on the county executive committee until the county chair has appointed an acting precinct chair and has called a special meeting for the purpose of organizing the precinct and the precinct is organized in accordance with this section. The acting precinct chair shall preside over the special meeting called by the county chair for the purpose of organizing the precinct.

Newly Created Precincts. Any precinct created by the county board of elections between annual precinct meetings shall be considered an unorganized precinct. The county chair shall appoint an acting precinct chair and shall schedule a precinct meeting, pursuant to this section for the purpose of organizing said precinct.

Order of Business – Odd-Numbered Years. The order of business at the annual precinct meeting held in odd-numbered years shall be:
1. The election of three (3) active Democrats of the precinct as precinct officers;
2. The election of two (2) other active Democrats of the precinct as members of the precinct committee;
3. The election of active Democrats of the precinct as delegates to the county convention;
4. The chair, or presiding officer, and the secretary/treasurer shall certify to the county chair the names, addresses, race, gender, telephone numbers and email addresses of the precinct officers, the members of the precinct committee, and the delegates to the county convention elected at the annual precinct meeting within five (5) days;
5. Other business related to the affairs of the precinct.

Order of Business – Even-Numbered Years. The order of business at the annual precinct meeting held in even-numbered years shall be:
1. The election of active Democrats from the precinct as delegates to the county convention;
2. The chair, or presiding officer, and the secretary/treasurer shall certify to the county chair the names, addresses, race, gender, telephone numbers and email addresses of the delegates elected to the county convention at the annual precinct meeting within five (5) days.

Called Meetings. Additional meetings may be called in accordance with Section 11.01.

Presiding Officers. In the event that the chair, vice chair, secretary/treasurer or precinct committee member are not present at the precinct meeting, any active Democrat residing in the precinct may preside.

1.05 QUORUM REQUIRED TO ORGANIZE PRECINCT AND TO ELECT PRECINCT OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE PRECINCT COMMITTEE

A quorum for a precinct meeting held for the purpose of organizing the precinct or electing precinct officers and members of the precinct committee at the annual precinct meeting shall consist of five (5) active Democrats residing in such precinct. In precincts having one hundred (100) or fewer registered and active Democrats, five percent (5%) of such registered and active Democrats shall be sufficient to comprise the precinct committee and to constitute a quorum at a precinct meeting held for the purpose of organizing the precinct or electing precinct officers and members of the precinct committee at the annual precinct meeting.

1.06 VOTING AT PRECINCT MEETINGS

Each active Democrat residing in the precinct and present at any precinct meeting, shall be entitled to cast one vote at said meeting.

1.07 REPRESENTATION AT COUNTY CONVENTION AND ON COUNTYEXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

No precinct shall be entitled to send delegates to any county convention unless those delegates were elected at a precinct meeting at which a quorum was present. No precinct shall be entitled to representation on the county executive committee unless a precinct committee and precinct committee officers were elected at a precinct meeting at which a quorum was present.

1.08 VOTES AT COUNTY CONVENTION

Each precinct shall be entitled to cast at any county convention one (1) vote for every one hundred (100) Democratic votes, or major fraction thereof, cast by the precinct for the Democratic nominee for Governor at the last gubernatorial election; provided that every precinct shall be entitled to cast at least one vote at the county convention.

1.09 DELEGATES TO THE COUNTY CONVENTION

Each precinct shall elect at least one (1) delegate for each vote to which said precinct is entitled at the county convention, and the precinct may elect no more than two (2) delegates for each vote. If the precinct elects less than one (1) delegate for each vote to which it is entitled, then the precinct vote at the county convention shall be limited to the number of delegates selected.

1.10 ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF PRECINCT ORGANIZATION

A county that seeks to organize precincts in a manner other than that outlined in this section may do so by the following process:

Submit a detailed written plan describing the alternative method of organizing to the state chair by November 1st of an even-numbered year. Said plan must be approved by a majority vote of the county executive committee before submission to the state chair.

1. State chair shall review the proposed alternative method of organizing and offer either a favorable or unfavorable recommendation to the full state executive committee at its first meeting in the odd-numbered year following submission by the county.
2. State executive committee shall consider the recommendation of the state chair and, by a majority vote, either approve or disapprove of the alternative method of organizing.
3. The state chair is encouraged to work with any county submitting a proposed alternative method of organizing to make minor modifications to the plan so as to result in a favorable recommendation by the state chair to the state executive committee.
4. Said approval by the state executive committee shall only be valid for the precinct organization that begins in the odd-numbered year in which the state executive committee approves the alternative method of organizing.
5. Counties using an approved alternative method of organizing must submit requests for re-approval pursuant to the timeframes outlined herein.

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