NORTHSIDE DEMOCRACY FOR AMERICA

Official Bylaws Document // Label: NDFA

Effective Date: August 6, 2011

[SUMMARY] How to Join the Steering Committee

Want to help steer the ship? While our mission demands fiscal responsibility out in the world, stepping into leadership inside NDFA requires a highly specific path. Here is how you get onto the Steering Committee in 5 steps:

  1. Earn & Maintain Voting Rights: You must be 15 or older, have attended 3 membership meetings, and logged 3 approved campaign activities in the past year.
  2. Secure a Nomination: Attend the spring membership meeting during an even-numbered year (right after the primary). Nominate yourself or let someone else do the honors. You must be present, or have submitted your willingness in writing beforehand.
  3. Make Your Pitch: Take the floor at the nomination meeting to speak on your own behalf and state your commitment to the progressive cause.
  4. Win the Paper Ballot: Survive the secret paper ballot vote at the very next monthly meeting, securing at least 50% of the total cast votes.
  5. Loss: Say goodbye to your free time. As a fiscally responsible organization aiming for progress rather than commercial gain, your only return on investment here is the absolute loss of personal leisure hours, traded happily for the endless management of local campaign liaisons, meeting agendas, and treasury reports.
MISSION: Northside Democracy For America (NDFA) has a mission to elect socially progressive, fiscally responsible, and ethically committed Democrats to office at all levels of government, with the overarching goal of increasing the progressive nature of government. To accomplish this, we have established the following bylaws.

Bylaw 1 – Membership

  • Section 1: Monthly meetings are open to all who follow meeting procedures.
  • Section 2: Voting members must be 15+ years old, participate in 3 campaign activities, and attend 3 meetings within the preceding year. Active members can petition the Steering Committee to substitute extra campaign activities to maintain status.
  • Section 3: Campaign activities must support NDFA adopted/endorsed candidates or designated featured events.
  • Section 4: Activities only count toward voting membership status after you have attended at least one membership meeting.
  • Section 5: Attendance and activity tracking must be verified by a Steering Committee member or designee.
  • Section 6: The Steering Committee holds the right to remove consistently disruptive members in writing. Appeals are handled privately via the Committee, bypassing the general meeting floor.

Bylaw 2 – Leadership

  • Section 1: Mandatory officers include a Chair and a Treasurer. Additional roles may be created by the Steering Committee as needed.
  • Section 2: Delineated Duties:
      A) The Chair presides over meetings and keeps the collective membership informed.
      B) The Treasurer manages all cash inflows/outflows, keeps accounts, and files financial reports on time.
  • Section 3: The Steering Committee consists of the core officers and up to 8 at-large members (capped strictly at 10 total members).
  • Section 4: The Steering Committee determines the official agenda for all monthly meetings.
  • Section 5: The Steering Committee delegates administrative roles (like Membership Chair). The committee remains jointly responsible for ensuring all officer tasks are executed cleanly.
  • Section 6: Board members commit to regular attendance at both general and steering meetings, assume operational tasks, and must maintain active voting member status.
  • Section 7: Election Protocol (Held every 2 years in even-numbered springs after the primary):
      A) Nominations happen live at a membership meeting; self-nominations are allowed. Absent members must signal willingness in advance.
      B) Candidates may speak on their own behalf at the nomination meeting.
      C) Voting occurs at the following meeting. Members can submit a paper proxy to another voting member or assign it to a Steering Committee member.
      D) Elections use secret paper ballots (no hands). Counts are immediate and open to observers. Winners need a >50% majority.
      E) Results take effect immediately.
  • Section 8: If an officer or member cannot fulfill duties, the remaining committee holds absolute discretion to retain or remove them.
  • Section 9: Resignations can trigger a Special Election at the discretion of the committee, which must be publicly announced to the membership.

Bylaw 3 – Voting

  • Section 1: A valid vote requires at least half of the voting members present (or via proxy) to cast a vote or formally abstain.
  • Section 2: Items requiring a membership vote:
      A) Candidate endorsements and adoptions.
      B) Leadership elections.
      C) Bylaw changes. Individual sections can be temporarily suspended by a 2/3 vote for a single specified purpose.
  • Section 3: Endorsement and Adoption Steps:
      A) Candidates must leave the room during debates and votes regarding their specific race.
      B) Endorsements require a 75% affirmative vote from participating members.
      C) Adoption requires prior endorsement and a 90% affirmative vote from participating members.
      D) Revoking or deactivating an endorsement/adoption requires a 75% affirmative vote.
      E) Abstentions are permitted and are excluded from percentage calculations.
      F) Votes generally happen the month *after* a candidate presentation to ensure adequate research time.
      G) Under tight election timelines, the Steering Committee can call an immediate vote. The window stays open for 1 week via secret named ballots (seen only by the committee) to allow absent members to participate or present members to change their minds. Only initial totals are read at the meeting.

Bylaw 4 – Endorsement and Adoption of Campaigns

  • Section 1: Core Definitions:
      A) Endorsement: The candidate can publicly list NDFA support, and volunteer hours count toward member voting status. No resources or volunteers are guaranteed.
      B) Adoption: NDFA actively commits organizational resources. A dedicated NDFA liaison is appointed to manage operations and coordinate volunteers.
  • Section 2: Candidates must be pitched by an active voting member and invited by the Steering Committee to present. No single-issue "litmus tests" are allowed.
  • Section 3: Endorsements are unlimited. A maximum of 4 campaigns can be actively adopted per election cycle.
  • Section 4: Revocation is automatic if a candidate dies, withdraws, or loses a primary. Other environment-driven revocations require a 75% floor vote.
  • Section 5: Adoption status can be set to "inactive" via a 75% vote if an adopted primary winner faces no real challenge in the general election. Inactive adoptions do not count against the 4-candidate adoption cap.
  • Section 6: NDFA only engages with election-based issues and referenda, including voter turnout initiatives.

Bylaw 5 – Quorum

  • Section 1: Steering Committee quorum requires a simple majority of its sitting members.
  • Section 2: General membership quorum requires at least 30% of all registered voting members to be present.

Bylaw 6 – Meetings

  • Section 1: NDFA meets monthly on an agreed day (traditionally the first Thursday). Floor time is allocated for member announcements and ideas.
  • Section 2: The Steering Committee meets ahead of time to weave member input directly into the official monthly meeting agenda.

Bylaw 7 – Decision Making Procedures

  • Section 1: Decision-making emphasizes consensus and debate. Robert’s Rules of Order are explicitly discouraged and completely omitted.
  • Section 2: Formal votes can only be held during regular monthly meetings. Special situation decisions can be introduced by the Steering Committee as needed.
  • Section 3: Votes must be announced to membership via notice prior to the meeting. If an unscheduled vote surfaces during a meeting, a post-meeting notice must go out to allow non-present voting members to log their decisions.
  • Section 4: Items up for decision require an introductory overview by a Steering Committee member or designee to outline arguments and alternatives.
  • Section 5: Discussion Leader Obligations:
      A) Present alternative actions and expected outcomes clearly.
      B) Maintain an open format encouraging broad attendance participation.
      C) Keep the debate strictly on topic and running on schedule.
      D) Drive the floor toward a clean point of closure or actionable resolution.
      E) Formally call the vote when structural criteria are met.

Bylaw 8 – Funds

  • Section 1: All NDFA financial capital rests under the sole custody and responsibility of the elected Treasurer.
  • Section 2: Funds must strictly serve to back official NDFA operational activities.
  • Section 3: Fundraising and distributions must strictly comply with all relevant campaign finance and election laws.
  • Section 4: Members may choose to contribute directly to endorsed or adopted campaigns. These separate donations are not NDFA funds, bypass the Treasurer entirely, and escape NDFA oversight.

Bylaw 9 – Changes in By-Laws

  • Section 1: Substantive changes are drafted by a dedicated review committee. Membership on this committee is open to any voting member, provided one Steering Committee member is included.
  • Section 2: Proposed revisions must be published on the web page or distributed at least 1 week prior to the debate meeting.
  • Section 3: Minor typographical or grammatical adjustments can be solved immediately via floor consensus.
  • Section 4: Approved shifts take effect right after the conclusion of the meeting where the passing vote was recorded.
  • Section 5: Changing the bylaws demands a strict two-thirds (2/3) supermajority of cast votes to pass.
  • Section 6: The current active bylaws must remain fully transparent and posted publicly on the web page.
* * * END OF FILE * * *