Libertarian Party of Indiana Standing Rules
As created by the State Central Committee June 7th 2014; as amended by the State Central Committee February 21st 2015; at the State Convention April 23rd 2016; by the State Central Committee November 12th 2016, September 16th 2017, March 3rd 2018 and April 7th 2018; at the State Convention March 23rd 2019.
Chapter 1 – General Provisions
Section 1. Deadlines. Unless otherwise provided, all deadlines shall be 11:59 PM Eastern Time of the day in question.
Chapter 2 – County Organizations
Section 1. Notification of Officers, Bylaws and Standing Rules. County Organizations shall each year at least two (2) weeks prior to the Annual Business Meeting file with the Secretary of the LPIN a list of officers with contact information and a current copy of their bylaws and standing rules if those documents changed from the last filing. County Organizations shall file any change in their officers, bylaws and standing rules with the Secretary of the LPIN within thirty (30) days of the change. All such filings shall be upon a form provided by the Secretary of the LPIN for that purpose.
Chapter 3 – Affiliate Organizing Conventions
Section 1. Organizing Convention. The Temporary County Chairperson may call for an Organizing Convention to affiliate with the Libertarian Party of Indiana, and shall notify the State Central Committee at least forty-five (45) days before the selected date. Upon request for an Organizing Convention, the State Central Committee shall send notice of the date, time and location of said Organizing Convention to all Members of the LPIN in that county. The Organizing Convention must be attended by at least two (2) Members of the LPIN inhabiting said county.
Section 2. Adoption of County Bylaws. Bylaws shall be adopted at the Organizing Convention of the County Organization by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of Members of the LPIN from that county in attendance. These bylaws shall address the following matters: a. Name of the County Organization (the name shall be the Libertarian Party of ________ County); b. County Organization membership requirements (if different than membership in the LPIN); c. Provision for at least one annual County Convention to nominate candidates or elect County Organization Officers and Delegates to the Annual Business Meeting held at the State Convention; d. Procedures for selecting County Organization Officers and Delegates to the Annual Business Meeting held at the State Convention; e. Procedures for amending the County Organization’s bylaws; f. Procedures for nominating candidates for public office. g. Procedures for the notification of all members of the LPIN residing in the county at least thirty (30) days in advance as to the date, time and location of any convention of the County Organization.
Section 3. Adoption of LPIN Bylaws. After adoption of their own bylaws at the Organizing Convention, County Organizations shall adopt the LPIN Bylaws by majority vote, and certify such adoption by submitting a Petition for Affiliation to the State Central Committee on a standard form adopted by the State Central Committee. The Petition for Affiliation must be signed by the Chairperson and Treasurer of the County Organization, and filed with the Secretary of the LPIN.
Chapter 4 – Annual Business Meeting
Section 1. Order of Business. The order of business of the Annual Business Meeting shall be as follows. After the Call to Order, the first item of business is to credential and seat Delegates to the Annual Business Meeting. The second item of business is the reading and approval of the minutes of the first preceding Annual Business Meeting. The third item of business is to adopt rules for the Annual Business Meeting. The fourth item of business is to adopt an agenda for the Annual Business Meeting. The State Central Committee, or a committee appointed thereby, shall submit proposed rules and an agenda for initial consideration. The Delegates shall adopt rules and an agenda for the Annual Business Meeting by majority vote. The fifth item of business is the financial report by the State Central Committee, including a statement of the business conducted since the preceding Annual Business Meeting.
Section 2. Motions in Writing. All motions to amend the rules and/or the agenda proposed by the State Central Committee, to amend these bylaws, and/or to adopt or amend a platform shall be in writing, submitted to the Chairperson thirty (30) days prior to the beginning of the Annual Business Meeting. The State Central Committee shall promptly publish such proposals at least to Members of the LPIN with e-mail.
Section 3. Membership Required. All Delegates and Alternate Delegates to the Annual Business Meeting at the State Convention shall be Members of the LPIN for not less than twenty (20) continuous days as of the starting date of the State Convention and currently in good standing as of the starting date, subject to verification by the Credentials Committee, and must inhabit the counties for which County Organizations they serve as Delegate or Alternate Delegate. In case a Member of the LPIN inhabits more than one county, such Member shall choose one (1) county from which to serve as a Delegate or Alternate Delegate to the Annual Business Meeting, and no Member shall claim to inhabit more than one (1) county in the same ninety (90) day period.
Section 4. Selection of Delegates by County Organizations. Delegates to the Annual Business Meeting at the State Convention shall be selected by affiliated County Organizations according to their bylaws. Each affiliated County Organization shall be allocated one (1) Delegate for every ten (10) Members of the LPIN, or fraction thereof, who inhabit said county as of December 31st of the preceding year, plus one (1) Delegate for every thousand (1,000) votes cast, or fraction thereof, in said county for the Libertarian Party candidate in the last Secretary of State race. The Credentials Committee shall fill county Delegate vacancies with Members of the LPIN from said counties who have been appointed by the highest ranking county officer in attendance and are in attendance at the Annual Business Meeting, such approval by the Annual Business Meeting not to be unreasonably withheld. The LPIN Officers, Directors, SCC Members, County Chairpersons, and Temporary County Chairpersons are automatically considered delegates, with voting and speaking privileges, and do not count against their home county’s delegate allocation.
Section 5. Selection of Other Delegates. Members of the LPIN attending the Annual Business Meeting from counties with no County Organization shall be allocated one (1) Delegate for every thousand (1,000) votes cast, or fraction thereof, in said county for the Libertarian Party candidate in the last Secretary of State race. Such members may submit to the Credentials Committee their request to be seated as Delegates to the Annual Business Meeting. The Credentials Committee shall bring the request to the full Annual Business Meeting during the meeting’s first item of business, approval of which should not be unreasonably withheld. After all Affiliated and Unaffiliated County Delegates have been seated, the Delegates may, by two/thirds vote, allow all properly submitted Alternate Delegates who have checked in and been verified by the Credentials Committee to be seated as full Delegates, provided they meet all other requirements.
Section 6. List of Delegates. At least two (2) weeks prior to the Annual Business Meeting, each Chairperson of an affiliated County Organization shall submit to the Credentials Committee of the State Central Committee a list of Delegates and Alternate Delegates who have been selected in accordance with the County Organization’s bylaws. The Credentials Committee shall be responsible for verifying the membership of each such delegate. No voting by proxy shall be permitted.
Section 7. Nomination of Candidates. The nominee for any race shall be chosen by majority vote. If no candidate has attained a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes and any candidates with less than 5% shall be struck from subsequent ballots. This procedure shall be repeated after every ballot in which no candidate has received a majority vote, until one candidate attains a majority. None of the above shall always be an option on these ballots. A completed Candidate Application form is required before any candidate will be considered for nomination by the Annual Business Meeting or the State Central Committee.
Section 8. Delegates to National Convention. In years when a national Libertarian Party convention is to be held, the Annual Business Meeting shall elect Delegates and Alternate Delegates to the national Libertarian Party convention. Delegates and Alternate Delegates to the national convention must be a current LPIN member, and shall be elected in order of the number of votes they receive. Delegates and Alternate Delegates to the national convention of the Libertarian Party, not otherwise elected at the Annual Business Meeting, may be appointed at the national convention by the highest ranking Officer of the LPIN in attendance at the national convention.
Chapter 5 – State Central Committee Meetings
Section 1. Notice of Meetings. A tentative “yearly” schedule of dates for all State Central Committee meetings shall be posted no later than forty-five (45) days after the Annual Business Meeting to the Wild Apricot membership portal, and shall be updated as details are set. Members of the State Central Committee and County Chairpersons shall be emailed notice. Instructions for members to take part in electronic meetings shall be posted on the Wild Apricot membership portal as soon as such meeting details are set.
Chapter 6 – Finances
Section 1. Fiscal Year. The fiscal year of the LPIN shall begin on January 1st of each year and end on December 31st of the same year.