Union County Young Democrats
Constitution
We, the Union County Young Democrats of America, join together in order to encourage our youth to have a genuine and intense interest in governmental affairs, from the Federal to Municipal level, to educate young voters of governmental and political issues, to promote their involvement in the Democratic Party, to promote the acquisition of political power by young people, to promote the policies and practices which are consistent with the highest principles of liberty, justice, and freedom for all, regardless of race, religion, or sex, and to increase the efficiency of popular government and to provide the highest degree of justice and social welfare for the citizens of our county. We will pursue these ideas through support of the Democratic Party and its ideas, ideals, and candidates. With that which is stated above, we establish this constitution.

ARTICLE I
Name
The name of this organization will be the Union County Young Democrats.
Section 1: Union County Young Democrats will be chartered with, and affiliated with the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, and by and through the New Jersey State Young Democrats will be affiliated with the Young Democrats of America.
Section 2: Union County Young Democrats will be chartered with the Union County Democratic Organization and work as closely as possible with all levels of the Democratic Party.

ARTICLE II
Membership
Section 1: Any person who is older than the age of fifteen (15) and not exceeding the age of thirty-five (35) may be accorded regular membership in this organization and as such, said member must reside in or be registered to vote in or attend either a scholastic or college level school in Union County.
Section 2: Membership will not be affected by race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or physical handicap.

ARTICLE III
Officers
The Union County Young Democrats will be comprised of the Union County Young Democrats Executive Board and the remaining members. The Executive Board will consist of the officers of the Union County Young Democrats. The organization will have four (4) officers and two (2) state committee people.
Section 1: The four (4) voting officers will be: Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer.
Section 2: All powers of the committee shall be bestowed onto the Chairperson. In the absence of the chairperson, rank of power is as follows.
  1. Vice-Chairperson
  2. Secretary
  3. Treasurer
  4. Vice-Chair of Fundraising Committee
  5. Vice-Chair of Recruitment Committee
  6. Parliamentarian
ARTICLE IV
Officer Duties
Section 1: The Chairperson will be the chief executive officer for the organization. He/she will preside over all chapter meetings. The Chairperson will have all of the following duties and powers. The absence of a specific power or duty from this list is not necessarily a denial of its existence.
  1. Establish administrative procedures not otherwise provided for by the Constitution or By-Laws of this chapter.
  2. Act for and on behalf of the county chapter when they are not in session.
  3. Attend all meetings of the State Young Democrats. When the attendance of the Chairperson is not possible he/she will appoint a suitable replacement and give said person his/her voting proxy.
  4. Establish the agenda for each meeting of the county chapter (general and executive).
  5. Serve as delegation chair to the State Young Democrats state convention.
  6. Have a two hundred dollar ($200) transaction limit without approval of the Executive Board.
  7. Appoint chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of all task forces and committees not already assigned to the standing and adjunct, except that the Chairperson shall not appoint the chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of the Recruiting and the Fund-raising Committees. The Vice-Chair, Treasurer, and the two (2) State Committeepersons shall retain titles stated in the previous sentence respectively.
  8. Be an ex-officio member of all committees.
  9. Remove anyone from any appointed position without the approval of the Executive Board or the general body.

Section 2: The Vice-Chair will have all the following duties:
  1. Chair the Recruiting Committee.
  2. Act as Chair Pro-Tempore in the absence of the Chairperson.
  3. In a case where the Chairperson’s office becomes vacant, the Vice-Chair will become the Chairperson automatically and will assume all powers, duties and responsibilities associated with that position. The office of the Vice-Chair then is vacant and a nomination by the Vice-Chair with a second from a member of the general body will then be placed for a vote. Passage of such a nomination will require a simple majority of those present.
  4. Assist the Chair.

Section 3: The chapter Secretary shall have all the following duties and powers:
  1. Keep accurate minutes of all chapter meetings (general and Executive Board).
  2. Assure publicity for all upcoming events and meetings.
  3. Keep an accurate mailing list and phone directory of all members.
  4. See to all correspondence of the chapter as directed by the Chair.

Section 4: The chapter Treasurer will be the chief financial officer of the organization and shall have all the following duties:
  1. Chair the Fundraising committee.
  2. Appoint a Director of Fundraising, pending the approval of the Executive Board.
  3. Be responsible for developing fundraising ideas and soliciting donations.
  4. Maintain accurate financial records for the organization.
  5. Coordinate all financial activities, including any tax responsibilities with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
  6. Advise the chapter Chairperson and the Executive Board of the financial condition of the chapter.
  7. If deemed necessary by the Executive Board, the Treasurer will file any reports for the State Democratic Party or the State Ethics Commission or election reports in a timely manner.
  8. Write Checks and make deposits as directed by the Executive Board. The Treasurer will not have the right to make financial transactions without the approval of the Executive Board.

Section 5: State Committeeman & State Committeewoman along with the Chair shall serve as representatives to the Young Democrats of New Jersey. State Committee persons stated above will also serve as vice-chairpersons for both Fundraising and Recruitment committees as appointed by the Chair respectively.

Section 6: The chapter Parliamentarian will ensure all Union County Young Democrats’ meeting proceedings follow Roberts Rules of Order.

ARTICLE V
Executive Board
The Union County Young Democrats Executive Board will be the chief policy making body for the chapter.
Section 1: The Executive Board will have all the following powers necessary for the proper and legal execution of all duties of the Union County Young Democrats. The absence of any such specific powers not herein mentioned does not deny its existence. The Boards duties are as follows:
  1. Solely responsible for the continuation and conduct of the Union County Young Democrats.
  2. It may hold additional meetings above those prescribed in this constitution if notification is given seven (7) business days prior to any such meeting.

Section 2: The Executive Board will meet no less than six (6) times during the course of one (1) fiscal year.

ARTICLE VI
General Body
The Union County Young Democrats general body will meet no less than four (4) times during the course of one (1) year. One-fourth (1/4) of the general body membership will constitute a quorum. Simple majority of the general body shall consist of the majority of those present. Two-thirds (2/3) majority shall consist of two-thirds (2/3) of all those present.

ARTICLE VII
Elections
Section 1: Elections of officers will be held at the first meeting in June of each year. All terms are for one (1) year.
Section 2: The order of elections will be as follows: Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer.
Section 3: Nominations for officers shall be taken from the floor. All nominations must be members in good standing. Elections shall be held by open ballot. However, a general body member may make a motion for a closed ballot election. A closed ballot election will be held if a simple majority of those present votes for said type of election. The person with the highest vote total for each office shall assume that office immediately.

ARTICLE VIII
Voting
Section 1: A majority vote as defined above, is required for all issues requiring a vote, unless otherwise stated specifically for that issue.
Section 2: All votes conducted shall be open voice vote. The decision of the vote is then left to the discrepancy of the Chair. Division of vote may be called within one (1) minute following the Chair’s decision
Section 3: Division votes shall be conducted by a standing tally vote. All members will be asked to stand for the issue. Members must vote yay, nay, or abstain for that particular vote.
Section 4: No member shall be coerced to vote in a particular manner. Any such action will be in violation of this constitution.
Section 5: Voting for impeachment hearings will be conducted through a closed vote. Ballets will be tallied by a member of the serving committee as selected by the Executive Board.

ARTICLE IX
Committees
There will be two (2) standing committees. These committees will be the Fundraising committee and the Recruiting committee. In addition to these two committees, an Elections committee shall exist from one (1) month prior to Primary Election Day and shall be disbanded upon the completion of General Election Day. Limitations for amount of those serving on the committee will be based upon the discretion of each chairperson respectively.
Section 1: The Fundraising committee’s duties shall be prescribed as the following herein:
  1. Generation of funds for the committee.
  2. Engage in creating new and effective ways of generating funds.
  3. Deem all fundraising methods and transactions legal and in good moral standing.
Section 2: The Recruiting committee’s duties shall be prescribed as the following herein:
  1. Actively recruit the youth.
  2. Create and plan events to recruit the youth.
  3. Run voter registration efforts.
Section 3: The Elections Committee’s duties shall be prescribed as the following herein:
  1. Work within the time frame allotted.
  2. Provide volunteers for all campaign and election related events as deemed by the Chair.
ARTICLE X
Forming New Committees
Chair or the Executive Board can form adjunct committees at any time for any reason they deem necessary.

ARTICLE XI
Number of Offices
No one person may hold more than one office in the Union County Young Democrats organization.

ARTICLE XII
Impeachment
Only the elected officers may be subject to impeachment. The Chair reserves the right to remove anyone from an appointed position. Procedures for impeachment will be as follows:
  1. Any person holding an elected office within the chapter may be impeached if found guilty of failure to adequately perform his/her duties.
  2. The person shall be notified of the charges against them no less than thirty days (30) prior to the meeting in which the impeachment will be discussed.
  3. Members of the Executive Board who are not charged with negligence of their duties shall appoint a committee and chairperson to hear the testimony of the person or persons charged. The findings of the committee shall be final.

ARTICLE XIII
Constitutional Amendments
Amendments to this constitution must be submitted in writing to the chapter Chair and chapter Secretary at least two weeks (14 days) prior to the meeting at which the amendment will be considered. The Chair is obligated to place the amendment on the agenda for that meeting. The amendment will be considered approved if two-thirds (2/3) of the Executive Board and two-thirds (2/3) of the general body (in attendance) vote in favor of the amendment.




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