Pursuant to the authority provided by the Virginia Democratic Party Plan, the Madison County Democratic Committee hereby calls a Caucus to be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 20, 2017 at the Madison Chamber of Commerce, 110 N. Main Street, Madison, VA, 22727.

1. Incorporated Documents.  All appropriate provisions of the Virginia Democratic Party Plan (“State Party Plan”), as amended, the Call to Convention issued by the 30th District Committee of the Va. House of Delegates, and the Call to Convention issued by the Fifth District Committee of the Democratic Party of Virginia dated March 27, 2017 are incorporated into this Call by reference and made a part hereof.

2. Purposes.  The purposes of the County Caucus shall be:

 a. To elect 4 delegates and 2 alternates to the 2017 30th House of Delegates District Democratic Convention to be held on the 29th day of April in 2017, at 10 a.m., at Culpeper County Democratic Committee Head Quarters, 102 North Main Street, Culpeper, VA, 22701, second floor

b. To elect 3 delegates and 2 alternates to the 2017 Fifth District Convention to be held at 12:00 noon Saturday, May 13, 2017, at Northside Library, 705 Rio Rd W., Charlottesville, VA 22901

3. 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 delegate 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.

4. Notice Requirements. The Madison County Democratic Committee shall cause to be published the time, date and location of the Caucus at least 7 days prior, but not more than 2 weeks before said caucus. All notices shall be published in a paid political advertisement in a newspaper or on the Committee’s website of general circulation in each precinct in which the Caucus is to be held.

5. Conduct of the Caucus. The caucus shall be held at the Madison Chamber of Commerce, 110 N. Main Street, Madison, VA, 22727, 2nd floor. Doors will open at 7 p.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.; those in line at 7:30 p.m. will be allowed to participate in the caucus.  The caucus shall be an assembled caucus (i.e., mass meeting). The watch of the chair of the Madison County Democratic committee shall be the official clock of the caucus. The chair of the Madison County Democratic Committee shall oversee the caucus. All registered voters in Madison County who are willing to sign the caucus participation form shall be allowed to participate. Prior to the start of the caucus, the Madison County Democratic Committee chair shall appoint a Tellers’ Committee to count the ballots.  The 4 delegates and 2 alternates from Madison for the 30th HoD District Convention will be determined proportionally based on the vote totals of each candidate receiving at least 15%. The 3 candidates for delegate and 2 candidates for alternate from Madison for the 5th CD Convention shall be determined by those receiving the most votes at the Caucus, with the highest votes being the delegates and the next highest votes being the alternates to the 5th CD Convention.

6. Pre-filing. Any Democrat wishing to be a delegate or alternate to the 30th HoD District Convention AND/OR the 5th CD Convention must file a Delegate Prefiling form with the Chair of the Madison County Democratic committee, or designated representative, by the filing deadline – 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 13, 2017.  Signed forms may be emailed to chair@madisondems.org or by surface mail to P.O. Box 66, Leon, VA 22725. Only those delegate or alternate candidates who have filed by the deadline will appear on the ballots distributed at the caucus.  If no more than 4 persons have prefiled to be delegates and no more 2 persons have prefiled to be alternates to the 30th HoD District Convention, that portion of the Caucus shall be canceled.  If no more than 3 persons have prefiled to be delegates and no more 2 persons have prefiled to be alternates to the 5th CD Convention, that portion of the Caucus shall be canceled.

7. Declaration.  All candidates for delegate or alternate, and all persons participating in the caucus, shall sign a Declaration form which includes an affirmation that the person is a resident of, and registered to vote in Madison County; 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.

8. Filing fee.  The Madison County Democratic Committee has requested a voluntary administrative fee for each delegate and alternate to the 30th HoD District Convention and the 5th Congressional District Convention of $30.00 ($10.00 to the 30th HoD Committee and $20.00 to the 5th CD Committee).  All delegates and alternates are asked to pay $30.00 when they are elected.  This fee is voluntary; no person shall be denied the right to participate in the delegate selection process due to nonpayment of the voluntary administrative fee.

9. Certification of District Delegates.  Within five days following the caucus, the Madison County Democratic Chair shall provide a list of all delegates and alternates to the Chair of the 30th House of Delegates Democratic Nominating Committee, Sheila Clark, 117 Parliament St., Locust Grove, VA 22508 or by email at sheilaclark769@gmail.com and the Chair of the Fifth District Committee, 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.

10. Call Distribution.It shall be the duty of the Madison County Democratic Committee Chairman to distribute a copy of the Call to Caucus to all members of that local committee and any other individuals interested in participating. It shall further be the duty of the Madison County Democratic Committee Chair to cause this Call to Caucus to be publicized through the news media of the County as is feasible.

Approved by the Madison County Democratic Committee, this 3rd day of April 2017.