Pursuant to the authority provided by the Virginia Democratic Party Plan, the Fifth Congressional District Democratic Committee (“District Committee”) hereby calls a Convention to be held at 12:00 noon Saturday, May 13, 2017, at the following location:

Northside Library
705 Rio Rd W
Charlottesville, VA 22901

1. Incorporated Documents. All appropriate provisions of the Virginia Democratic Party Plan (“State Party Plan”), as amended are incorporated into this Call by reference and made a part hereof.

2. Purposes. The purposes of the District Convention shall be:

A. To elect twenty Democratic State Central Committee members; and
B. To conduct such other business as may properly come before the Convention.

Convention Operations.

1. Allocation of District Convention Delegates. The delegates to the District Convention shall be allocated as follows:

2. District Convention Rules and Committees. Following adoption of this Call, the Fifth District Committee shall appoint the members of the Committees on Credentials and Rules. The District Chair shall appoint the Chairs of each committee. Each committee shall be composed of at least 5 members, to be appointed by the District Chair to be representative of the entire District.

3. Election of Members of the State Central Committee. Anyone wishing to be selected as a member of the State Central Committee from the Fifth Congressional District must prefile with the District Chair by 5:00 p.m. on April 13, 2017, by delivering a signed copy of the prefiling form to the District Chair. This prefiling may take place by mail or e-mail. The Convention will elect 10 men and 10 women to serve as the members of the Democratic State Central Committee from the Fifth Congressional District from among those who prefiled. No more than one person may be elected from any one jurisdiction as members of the Fifth Congressional District Committee.

4. Slates. Any individual or group of Democrats may sponsor or endorse a slate of candidates for election to the State Central Committee. However, no slate may receive preferential treatment or a preferential place on the ballot, nor may any slate be publicly identified on the ballot or otherwise as the “official slate.” Person(s) who want a slate listed on a ballot must provide (1) the name of the slate and (2) a list of persons comprising the slate. This information must be filed with the District Chair by 5:00 p.m., Monday May 8, 2017. A slate may include the names of no more than 10 men and no more than 10 women. No more than one man or one woman from the same jurisdiction may be on any slate. NOTE – prefiling a slate does not, by itself, operate to prefile the members of the slate.

5. The Form of the Ballot. The official ballot will be yellow and will be marked with the word “Official” at the top. It shall list all prefiled female candidates for election to the State Central Committee in alphabetical order, all prefiled male candidates for election to the State Central Committee in alphabetical order, and all prefiled slates in alphabetical order. Next to each candidate’s name, the ballot will show the jurisdiction in which the candidate is registered to vote.

6. Manner of Voting. Each delegate shall mark a ballot for no more than 10 men and no more than 10 women. If a ballot is marked for more than 10 men, none of the votes for any of the men shall be counted. If a ballot is marked for more than 10 women, none of the votes for any of the women shall be counted. If the delegate marks a ballot for a slate, no votes for any individual candidates shall be counted.

7. Determining the Winners. The District Chair will name a Head Teller and Tellers to count the ballots. The 10 men and the 10 women who receive the most votes will be elected as members of the State Central Committee, subject to this condition – that if more than one person of a particular gender from a particular jurisdiction is among the 10 of that gender with the highest number of votes, only the candidate from that jurisdiction with the highest number of votes will be elected, and the candidate(s) from that jurisdiction who did not receive the highest number of votes shall not be elected. In that case, the candidate who received the next highest vote total who is otherwise eligible for election shall be elected. Any ties shall be broken by lot.

8. Cancellation of Convention. Should 20 or fewer qualified candidates prefile for positions on the Fifth District Committee, the convention will be canceled and all of the qualified candidates shall become the members of the new Fifth District Committee. If fewer than 20 qualified candidates prefile, those additional members will be elected by the reorganized Fifth Congressional District Democratic Committee.

Local Committee Responsibilities

1. Rules of District Convention Delegate Selection.

A. Participation and Outreach. Participation in Virginia’s Democratic delegate selection process is open to all registered voters who wish to participate as Democrats. All meetings shall be open to all members of the Democratic Party regardless of race, sex, age, color, creed, national origin, religion, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, economic status, or disability, and all meetings should be publicized fully. Each District and local committee should conduct outreach programs to encourage full participation by all Democrats in the State Central Committee election process, including notice, publicity, and education programs. Such outreach should be directed to all Democratic constituencies, including groups such as ethnic minorities, young people, persons over 65 years of age, lesbians and gay men, persons with a high school education or less, persons with disabilities and persons of low and moderate income.

B. County and City Calls. Each County and City Democratic Committee shall provide a copy of its Call to Caucus to the State Democratic Party and the Fifth District Democratic Committee Chair by April 3, 2017.

C. Selection of District Convention Delegates. The delegates to the District Convention shall be selected by county and city caucuses, to be held at 7:30 pm on April 20 or noon on April 22, at the option of the local committee. The caucuses may be assembled or unassembled. Each county and county committee shall provide the Fifth District Committee Chair their Call to Caucus on or before April 3, 2017.

D. Filing. Any Democrat wishing to be a delegate to the District Convention must file a certificate of candidacy with the Chair of the local county or city Democratic committee, or a designated representative, by the filing deadline. (See Convention Operations #3 for process to become a candidate for the State Central Committee.) For caucuses to be held on April 20, 2017, the filing deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Thursday April 13, 2017. For caucuses to be held on April 22, 2017, the filing deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Monday April 17, 2017. Only those delegate candidates who have filed by the deadline will appear on the ballots distributed at the caucuses. Each County and City Committee shall provide notice of the filing deadline and of the date, time, and place of the caucus at least seven days but not more than two weeks prior to the caucus.

E. Declaration. All candidates for delegate, and all persons participating in the caucuses, shall sign a Declaration form which includes an affirmation that the person is a resident of, and registered to vote in, the jurisdiction holding the caucus; does not intend to support any candidate who is opposed to the Democratic nominee in the next ensuing general election; is a Democrat; is not a member of any other political party; and has not participated and will not participate in the nominating process of any other political party for the 2017 general election.

F. Certification of District Delegates. Within five days after its caucus, each local Democratic Committee Chair shall provide the State Democratic Party, the Chair of the Fifth District Committee, and the Chair of the Credentials Committee with a certified list of delegates and alternates, including the name, address, telephone number and e-mail address (if by e-mail, as a Word document or .pdf).

G. Local Delegation Chair. The Chair of the city or county Democratic Party shall be the Chair of that jurisdiction’s delegation to the Convention. If the Chair of any local Democratic Party will not be attending the Convention, the Chair shall designate someone who will be attending to serve as the Acting Chair of the delegation, and shall notify the Chair of the Fifth District Committee and the Chair of the Credentials Committee of the name, address, telephone number and e-mail address of the Acting Chair.

H. Filling Vacancies in Delegations. If any elected delegate is unable to attend the Convention, that delegate shall inform the Chair of the local delegation that he or she will be unable to attend. The delegate may then choose any elected alternate to serve in his or her place. The Chair of the local delegation shall communicate this information to the Credentials Chair as early as possible so that check-in on the morning of the Convention will go as quickly as possible. Thereafter the alternate thus promoted will be treated in every respect as a delegate. If, on the day of the Convention, the Chair of the local delegation determines that there is a vacancy in that delegation, the delegation shall select one of its own alternates to serve as a delegate. If there are not enough alternates from that jurisdiction present to fill all of the vacancies, the delegation may fill its vacancies from any other registered voter from that jurisdiction who is present at the Convention.

2. Rules and Notice. Each county and city Democratic Committee within the Congressional District shall establish rules for its caucuses in conformity with this Call and the State Party Plan. Such rules shall be adopted in a timely manner and shall provide for required public notification of the time, place, and method of delegate selection.

3. Filing Fee. A voluntary administrative filing fee of $30.00 ($20 to the Fifth Congressional District Democratic Committee and $10.00 to the local committee) shall be charged to those wishing to be file as a delegate or alternate. Local committees shall collect the entire voluntary filing fee. Each local committee shall make payable to the Fifth Congressional District Democratic Committee its’ portion of the voluntary administrative fee by April 29, 2017; and mail it to 608 W. 3rd Ave., Lawrenceville, VA 23868.

Communication with District and State

1. Filing Deadlines and Locations. All documents to be filed with the District Chair may be filed by mail or e-mail, provided that the form is received by the stated deadlines. All papers to be filed with the Chair of the District Committee shall be filed by mail to Cyliene Montgomery, 608 W. 3rd Ave., Lawrenceville, VA 23868 or by email at montgoma4@aol.com . All papers to be filed with the State Democratic Party or its chair shall be filed at Democratic Party of Virginia, 919 East Main Street Suite 2050, Richmond, VA 23219. All documents to be filed with the Chair of the Credentials Committee may be filed by mail to Bob Zwick, 5098 Dondoric Farm Rd., The Plains VA 20198 or by email at bz@zwick.net .

Approved by vote of the Fifth District Committee, this 27th day of March 2017.