LPF Standing Rules

as revised March 4, 2012

ARTICLE I Membership

Section 1. The LPF shall supervise the efforts to provide party registration under state and federal voting laws.

Section 2. Members registered for the meetings have the privilege of delegate voting at the Annual Business Meeting, the right of appointment to committees, the right to attend committee meetings as observers or witnesses, the right to nomination and election to party office, and the right to nomination to an office for which they are qualified by law 

Section 3. Membership shall be issued annually. This membership shall be credentials for all meetings and Annual Business Meetings of the LPF and for membership in local affiliates, subject to procedures adopted by the county affiliates.

Section 4. All General ($0), Student ($15), and Sustaining ($25) members are required to have a signed pledge card on file with the Secretary. All members having sixty (60) days tenure may vote at the State Annual Business Meeting. Student members and above are entitled to the "Florida Liberty" newsletter. Effective July 1, 1996, the LPF adopts the Unified Membership with, and the fee schedule of, the National Libertarian Party, for those categories above student membership. (Amended by Executive Committee, 5-25-96, by Convention, 3-29-08)

Any non-dues paying "General Member" of the party may fully participate in the business and affairs of the party without any monetary encumbrance."  Amended November 2011

 

 

ARTICLE II Fees & Donations

Section 1. The membership fee may be set or changed by the general membership.

Section 2. Donations should be made to the LPF in keeping with the laws governing donations to political parties and candidates. Such funds shall be expended at the discretion of the Executive Committee.

Section 3: "The Executive Committee shall have authority to raise and expend funds for purposes relating to party business, in accordance with the party By-Laws, Article IV, Section 6. The Executive Committee may delegate authority to the Chair to expend funds relating to party business. (added November 2011)

ARTICLE III County Affiliates

Section 1. Any county may call an organizational meeting to affiliate with the LPF.

Section 2. The Constitution and By-Laws of the LPF must be approved by a majority vote.

Section 3. An application for affiliation must be signed by the elected officers and filed with the LPF Secretary.

Section 4. Any additional By-Laws or Standing Rules adopted by the county affiliate shall be filed with the LPF Secretary.

Section 5. The petition to affiliate should list members of the LPF paying dues. County affiliates are required to send to the LPF Executive Committee:

A. Copy of their annual audit, that was also sent to their local county elections office prior to April 1. The audit will not require preparation by a C.P.A. RE: State statute 103.121 (2 

B. Annual list, prior to April 1, of officers with title, mail address, email address, and phone number. (Subsections A & B added by Executive Committee 9 MAR 2008)

Section 6. No county affiliate shall endorse a candidate for state-wide office who has opposition by a candidate endorsed or nominated by the LPF.

Section 7. The county affiliate may petition the LPF or its officers or committees on any political matter.

 

ARTICLE IV Election of Officers, Directors, Candidates

Section 1. All candidates for office and political office may be asked to confirm certain basic principles before the convention. This may be delegated to the Nominating Committee for candidates for party office (including Delegates to the National Convention of the Libertarian Party and Presidential Electors) and to the Electoral Victory Committee for Candidates for political office, and includes confirming that they are members of the State Party and registered to vote in the state as Libertarians. (Passed by the Executive Committee 1-16-93, delineating 2 committees, Executive Committee, 7-10-93, amended by the Executive Committee 3-6-96 and 7-27-96)

Section 2. All candidates for officers, directors, and political office shall file intention forms with the nominating committee or with the secretary as nominated from the floor. These will be provided by the committee.

Section 3. Such forms should be on file before the Executive Committee names a person to fill the vacancy.

Section 4. Candidates nominated must be able to serve if elected.

Section 5. Delegates and Alternates to the National Convention of the Libertarian Party, not otherwise elected at an LPF convention, may be designated by a majority vote of those members of the LPF Executive Committee in attendance at the National Convention. (Passed by the Executive Committee, 6-5-96)

Section 6: Notice of all party meetings shall be provided and include the time, date, and place (or telephone conference number, internet URL, and login information where applicable) at least fourteen (14) days prior to the meeting date. Notice of meetings, including the above referenced information, shall be published on the official Libertarian Party of Florida website at http://www.lpf.org at least fourteen (14) days prior to the meeting date." (added November 2011)

Section 7: In a presidential election year, the Executive Committee shall nominate presidential electors equal to the total number of U.S. Representatives and Senators in the State of Florida. The list of presidential elector nominees shall be presented to the Governor prior to September 1st, or as required by law.  (added November 2011)

 

ARTICLE V Executive Committee Meetings

Section 1. The Executive Committee shall meet at such time and place as directed by the Chairperson, or at the written request of one-third or more of the Executive Committee, or by the written request of a county affiliate. Notice shall be given in such manner to insure a quorum.

Section 2. The Executive Committee may without meeting, conduct business by communication, voting on questions put to them by or with the approval of the chairperson. Such vote shall be kept by the Secretary until the next meeting and then such vote shall be incorporated in the minutes. A majority vote of the committee shall prevail. If a majority of affirmative votes is not recorded within fifteen (15) days, the question will have failed to pass. (Amended by the Executive Committee, 7-10-93)

Section 3. Proxy voting shall not be allowed, but members can vote on specific questions by written notice. Voting by telephone can be conducted if no objection is raised.

Section 4. The Executive Committee, after review with the affiliate concerned, may, by a two thirds vote, suspend the affiliation of a county party, a member of the party, or an officer or director of the Executive Committee.

Section 5. The immediate past Chairperson shall serve on the Executive Committee and be entitled to all due notices, but shall not have the right to vote unless entitled to vote because of election to another Executive committee position. (Amended by the Executive Committee, 7-10-93)

Section 6. Non-attendance of a member at three (3) meetings per term can be construed by the Executive Committee as resignation of that member and grounds for replacement by the Executive Committee until the next annual meeting of the party. (Passed by the Executive Committee, 10-4-92)

7. Upon suspension of an officer of the party or a member of the executive committee, the officer or member may appeal the suspension in writing within 30 days. If no appeal is made by the suspended officer or member, they shall be removed from office upon expiration of the 30-day appeal period. If an appeal is made, the executive committee shall review the appeal and vote upon removal at the next regularly scheduled executive committee meeting. A 2/3 majority vote for will be required to remove the suspended officer or member. Should the vote fail, the suspension will be lifted.  (Added November 2011)

8. The Executive Committee shall elect its officers at the convention immediately following the election of the Executive Committee by the delegation. (Added March 4, 2012)

 

 

ARTICLE VI Convention Rules

Section 1. A minority report may be made by two members or 10% of the committee on any plank of the platform or changes under the Rules Committee. There shall be a limit of two minority reports on any one of the items. The highest number of votes shall determine the rank of the reports.

Section 2. The Chairperson of the committee shall decide the order of business and the appearance of persons before the committee.

 

 

ARTICLE VII Statement of Principles, Platform & Policy

Section 1. The Statement of Principles of the party and Platform of the Libertarian Party may be ratified by the LPF.

Section 2. A supplement party platform for Florida politics may be presented to any annual convention.

Section 3. The LPF may adopt resolutions to present to the National Libertarian Party convention.

Section 4. The affiliates reserve the right to adopt local platforms.

Section 5. A vote of two-thirds of the general membership shall be required to veto the Statement of Principles and subject the LPF to suspension from the National Party.

Section 6. A vote of two-thirds of the general membership shall be required before the LPF will not actively support the National platform or candidate.

 

ARTICLE VIII Spokesmanship

Section 1. The Chairperson shall speak for and at the direction of the Executive Committee and the Party.

Section 2. Persons speaking for the LPF shall have the express approval of the Chairperson or reserve their comments to personal comments.

Section 3. Candidates may only publicly label themselves as Libertarian candidates after being nominated by the convention or after receiving conditional approval from the appropriate state or county Executive Committee. (Approved by the Executive Committee, 1-12-92)

Section 4:  The Executive Committee, upon consideration of the recommendations by the Nominating Committee, shall have authority and responsibility to select LPF endorsed candidates for which the party may provide financial and logistical campaign support, and conduct campaign activities, in accordance with applicable law. Amended November 2011

 

 

ARTICLE IX Proprietary Use of 'LPF' (Entire Article added at NOV 2007 Executive Committee Meeting) 

Section 1. In recognition of the fact that the label "LPF" is frequently used to refer to the Libertarian Party of Florida, the members of the the LPF should adhere to the following guidelines:

A. Any website, discussion forum, email list server, or other similar entity, including, but not limited to, Yahoo groups and Google groups (hereinafter "web entities") that use the label "LPF" in its name shall be owned and operated only by current members of the Executive Committee of the Libertarian Party of Florida and its recognized affiliates;

B. Each web entity shall be owned, when practicable, by three current members of the Executive Committee of the Libertarian Party of Florida, one of which shall include the current Chair of the Libertarian Party of Florida, and, if the web entity is limited in scope to a county where an affiliate is recognized, the Chair of the local affiliate of the Libertarian Party of Florida;

C. If ownership cannot be practically shared due to the nature of the web entity, the Chair of the Libertarian Party of Florida, and, if applicable, the Chair of any local affiliate, shall be moderators of the web entity;

D. If the conditions of b. and c. cannot be satisfied, the operator or owner of the web entity shall seek the written authorization of the Chair of the Libertarian Party of Florida, and, if applicable, the Chair of any local affiliate to create or continue operating said web entity.

E. If any member operates a web entity that frequently includes discussion that references the LPF or could reasonably be mistaken by a member of the general public as authorized communication by the LPF, such member should cause to be included within the web entity a disclaimer similar to the following in form and meaning: "The contents of this site (group, etc.) are not authorized or approved by the the Libertarian Party of Florida or any of its affiliates."

Section 2. The LPF recognizes and respects the rights of others to use the label "LPF" to accurately refer to the Libertarian Party of Florida. The LPF also asserts its right to maintain control over any use of the label "LPF" that may cause confusion as to the source and authenticity of any content included in any web entity.

Section 3. The LPF, through the Chair, shall designate members to serve as owners and moderators of web entities. Said members will serve in such roles at the discretion of the Chair and may be removed from such position at any time by the Chair.

Section 4. The owners of any web entity shall have the authority to terminate said entity, but shall take all reasonable action to preserve the contents and history of such web entity prior to its termination.

Section 5. The owners and moderators of any web entity should establish and publish policies consistent with the purposes of the web entity and consistently enforce said policies. Said enforcement should be at the discretion of the owners or moderators, subject to the authority of the Chair of the Libertarian Party of Florida to remove and change the owners or moderators of any web entity.

Section 6. All archives, document stores, electronic data, etc. that were created by, at the direction of, or authorized by the LPF remain its property and such archive or web entity should be owned and operated as directed in 1. However, the LPF expressly acknowledges the right of any person to compile and publish public information, so long as the compilation or publication cannot be reasonably mistaken as action taken by or authorized by the LPF.

 

ARTICLE X Annual Convention Agenda

Section 1. The Executive Committee shall manage all conventions.

Section 2. Any members may request the Executive Committee to include on the agenda any item. Such request shall be in writing to the Chairperson thirty (30) days prior to the convention, or within seven (7) days following the announced date and place of the convention, whichever is closest to the convention date.

Section 3. The agenda must include all items required by the By-Laws and Standing Rules.

Section 4. The Rules Committee may establish and publish convention rules to supplement existing requirements and Standing Rules. The Chairperson may exercise this right unless one third of the delegates object.

 

ARTICLE XI Annual Convention Dates

Section 1. Unless the Executive Committee sets a different date, the annual convention of the LPF shall be held in the fall of each year.(Amended by the Executive Committee, 8-19-00)

 

Section 2. Special meetings of the LPF may be called by the Executive Committee or by two (2) county affiliates, or by twenty-five percent (25%) of the county affiliates, whichever is the largest.

 

ARTICLE XII Annual Convention Delegates & Procedures

Section 1. Motions to be offered in the business meetings should be reduced to writing, signed by the maker and seconded, and filed with the Secretary; except for routine matters, agenda items or short wording, or with leave of the Chairperson to omit written motions.

Section 2. The Annual Meeting Minutes (after approval by the Executive Committee) as well as any Committee reports to the Annual Meeting, including amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws, shall be printed and distributed at the next Annual Meeting. (Passed by the Executive Committee, 1-16-93; amended 3-25-95)

 

ARTICLE XIII Nomination of Political Candidates

Section 1. Nominees for political office must be members of the LPF.

Section 2. Endorsement of political candidates may be made regardless of party affiliation, unless said candidate is opposed by a nominee of the LPF.

Section 3. The LPF will refund to each candidate for political office all party assessment fees paid to the LPF by the state from that candidate’s qualifying fees, provided the candidate has been endorsed by the LPF in accordance with its By-Laws and Standing Rules to run as a Libertarian. (Passed by the Executive Committee, 3-13-99)

 

ARTICLE XIV Amendments To the Standing Rules

Section 1. Adoption of the Standing Rules will be consistent with the adoption of the Constitution.

Section 2. The Standing Rules may be changed by a majority vote of the delegates to the annual convention or by two-thirds vote of the Executive Committee.