B. The Rights and Duties of a Delegate
C. Alternates and How They Replace Delegates
D. How a Convention Differs from Other Meetings
E. The Three Important Steps in Beginning a Convention
F. Establishing the Voting Membership of the Convention
H. Adoption of the Convention Rules
I. Adoption of the Convention Program
J. Consideration of Resolutions
A convention is an assembly of delegates. Delegates are representatives of the constituent units of a larger group. For example, a national organization with hundreds or thousands of chapters might hold an annual convention, composed of delegates separately elected by each chapter, for the purpose of electing national officers and setting policies for the organization as a whole. The convention serves as a single deliberative body acting in the name of the entire organization. [RONR (12th ed.) 58:1.]
The information in this chapter is intended primarily for the guidance of the member of a local branch of a state or national organization who may be elected as a convention delegate or alternate. If you share responsibility for planning or conducting a convention, if you are to preside at a convention, or if you are a member (especially the chair) of any of the convention committees, it is essential for you also to read the much more extensive coverage of conventions in RONR (12th ed.) sections 58 and 59.
B. THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF A DELEGATE
The procedures for determining the number and qualifications of delegates, and how they are selected, are spelled out in your organization’s bylaws. Your unit must send in “credentials” forms designating the unit’s delegates (and alternates; see next section) before a date, specified by the bylaws, in advance of the convention.
When you are selected as a delegate to a convention, you have the duty of attending the business meetings at the convention. After arriving at the convention site, you go to the credentials desk to register and receive a badge or other insignia to identify you as a delegate. This initially entitles you to take your place in the convention hall.
You are free to vote as you see fit on matters that come before the convention, except that you must vote in accordance with any instructions your unit may have chosen, by majority vote, to give you. After returning, it is your duty to be prepared to present to the unit for which you are a delegate an information report on what happened. [RONR (12th ed.) 58:6–9, 59:14(5), 58:18.]
C. ALTERNATES AND HOW THEY REPLACE DELEGATES
Usually alternates are selected in a number equal to the number of delegates, under procedures set out in the bylaws. When you are selected as an alternate, your job is to be available in case a delegate is unable to fulfill his or her duties. Like those selected as delegates, after arrival at the convention site you go to the credentials desk to register and receive a badge or other insignia. This identifies you as an alternate and gives you access to the alternates’ section of the convention hall.
Unless each alternate is paired with a specific delegate to replace, alternates fill vacancies in the delegation—the group of delegates representing a particular unit—in the order in which they were elected. (When the president of a unit serves as a delegate by virtue of that office, then the vice-president is the alternate for the president.)
If a delegate fails to register at the convention, the appropriate alternate is registered as a delegate in his or her place. If a delegate has already registered at the convention, then an alternate may replace that delegate only when the Credentials Committee is presented with proper evidence of the delegate’s withdrawal and reregisters the alternate as the new delegate. A delegate’s temporary absence from the convention hall does not entitle an alternate to vote, speak, or make motions in the delegate’s place, even with the delegate’s authorization. [RONR (12th ed.) 58:12–17.]
D. HOW A CONVENTION DIFFERS FROM OTHER MEETINGS
Although there are many similarities in the way business is conducted at a convention and the way it is conducted at other meetings, there are also significant differences. It is important for you to become familiar with the most important of these differences in order to be an effective delegate or alternate.
Because each convention is normally composed of a new set of delegates, it must begin with a series of steps by which it “organizes” itself before it can go on to consider substantive business. How a convention organizes itself can have a great impact on the decisions it ultimately makes, so it is very important for you as a delegate or alternate to understand these procedures and how you can affect them.
E. THE THREE IMPORTANT STEPS IN BEGINNING A CONVENTION
After any opening ceremonies (which may include an invocation, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, speeches by dignitaries, and the like), a convention organizes itself through three steps:
1) establishing its membership by adopting the Credentials Committee report;
2) deciding upon its rules (to the extent these will differ from those in the parliamentary authority) by adopting the report of the Committee on Standing Rules; and
3) scheduling the order in which it will consider its business by adopting the Program Committee report. [RONR (12th ed.) 59:10–13.]
F. ESTABLISHING THE VOTING MEMBERSHIP OF THE CONVENTION
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? A convention must deal with a similar question. Before it can proceed to other business, its voting membership must be officially established. Normally, the existing membership of a group votes to admit or approve new members. Yet who can vote to certify members—approve the list of delegates—before there are any approved delegates?
The solution developed by parliamentary law is to have a Credentials Committee, whose membership is determined in accordance with the organization’s bylaws, preliminarily certify a list of delegates and alternates. Those on the Credentials Committee list are provisionally seated. After the convention has been called to order, the Credentials Committee submits the list of delegates it has approved to those same delegates to be voted on. Before adopting the Credentials Committee report, which approves the list of delegates and establishes the official voting membership of the convention, the delegates tentatively seated may vote to amend the report by inserting, striking, or substituting names.
Both amendment and final adoption of the Credentials Committee report require a majority vote. Subsequently, the Credentials Committee makes supplementary reports, reflecting new registrations—normally at the beginning of each day and whenever called upon to do so by the convention, such as immediately before an important vote. Each is subject to amendment under the same process as with the initial report. Although each supplementary report replaces the roll previously adopted, it requires only a majority vote to adopt. [RONR (12th ed.) 59:22–26.]
The convention’s quorum should be set by the bylaws or by the convention standing rules. Otherwise, it is a majority of the number of delegates who actually register at the convention as in attendance, regardless of whether some may have departed. [RONR (12th ed.) 59:26.]
G. CREDENTIALS CONTESTS
In the majority of conventions, the list of delegates is noncontroversial, and the Credentials Committee report is routinely adopted without debate or amendment. If you are a delegate or alternate to such a convention, you may safely skip this section.
In some conventions, however, chiefly those of political organizations, the credentials of some delegates or of entire delegations may be hotly contested. If you are a delegate or alternate to this type of convention, it is important for you to know the procedure for dealing with credentials contests, since who are ultimately seated as delegates will likely have great influence on what the convention ultimately decides when it conducts elections and formulates policies.
It is possible for there to be a dispute over the number of delegates to which a particular unit is entitled. In other cases there may be disagreement over which individuals were validly selected to represent a unit. There may even be a contest between rival groups, each claiming to be the organization’s authorized unit for a given locality or subdivision.
If the Credentials Committee has serious doubt about who is entitled to be seated in any of these cases, it omits the contestants from the roll it submits (but describes the dispute in its report). On the other hand, if the committee finds the claim of one side to be legitimate, it includes that side’s delegates in the list. All those listed by the Credentials Committee as delegates are provisionally seated as voting members of the convention, pending the convention’s action on the Credentials Committee report.
At the beginning of the first business meeting, following any opening ceremonies, the report of the Credentials Committee is given by its chairman. The chairman concludes by moving that the roll of delegates submitted with the report be the official roll of the voting members of the convention.
At this point, any delegate who has been included on the list may move to amend the report, for example:
a) “by striking out ‘Ingrid Nolan’ in the roll of delegates as submitted, for the state of Missouri,”
b) “by adding, ‘provided that the name of Luis Garcia be added to the roll of delegates, as submitted, as a delegate from the state of Missouri,’” or
c) “by striking out ‘Ingrid Nolan’ and inserting ‘Luis Garcia’ in the roll of delegates as submitted, for the state of Missouri.”
No single amendment may apply to more than:
1) a single challenged delegate; or
2) a single delegation, all of whose members are challenged on the same grounds.
None of those involved in the case may vote on the amendment. However, those seated by the Credentials Committee, even if contested in a case not yet reached, can vote on all cases except their own. If any such amendment is adopted, anyone seated by the amendment can thereafter vote on further motions connected with the consideration of the report, while those unseated by it can no longer vote and must leave the delegate (or alternate) section of the hall. [RONR (12th ed.) 59:23–24.]
H. ADOPTION OF THE CONVENTION RULES
A convention is of course governed by the rules in the organization’s bylaws and its adopted parliamentary authority. However, it almost always is advisable to adopt rules specifically for the convention, which contain additional provisions, and which in some cases vary from those in the parliamentary authority. For example, the limited time and press of business at a convention usually require strict limits on the time a delegate may have for debate.
The Standing Rules of the Convention normally include two types of rules. Some (for example, limiting speakers to two minutes) are in the nature of special rules of order; see pages 86–87. Others (for example, requiring delegates to wear badges) are administrative standing rules; see page 87.
Before the convention, a Committee on Standing Rules, whose members are selected in accordance with provisions in the organization’s bylaws, drafts the proposed rules. The rules it proposes are handed to each delegate and alternate upon registration.
Immediately following adoption of the initial Credentials Committee report, the convention considers the report of the Committee on Standing Rules. Normally the committee chairman reads the proposed rules in their entirety. He or she concludes by moving their adoption, on behalf of the committee.
The proposed rules may then be debated and amended. Any delegate may demand a separate vote on any individual rule, in which case the convention votes first on all of the rules not separated out by such demands, together, and then proceeds to consider each of the rules thus separated.
To adopt any individual rule thus separated or any new rule sought to be added, a two-thirds vote is required if it is in the nature of a special rule of order. If it is an administrative standing rule, only a majority vote is required to adopt it. A vote on the package of rules, including some of each nature, requires a two-thirds vote to adopt.
Once the rules have been adopted, they may be suspended for a particular purpose by a majority vote, in which case the relevant rule in the parliamentary authority becomes applicable. To suspend a rule in the parliamentary authority (alone or in combination with convention standing rules) requires a two-thirds vote.
To amend or rescind a standing rule of a convention once adopted requires a vote of two thirds of the delegates present and voting or a vote of a majority of all the delegates who have registered, unless it is an administrative standing rule, in which case it can also be rescinded or amended by a vote of a majority of the delegates present and voting after notice on at least the preceding day. [RONR (12th ed.) 59:27–47.]
I. ADOPTION OF THE CONVENTION PROGRAM
The final step in “organizing” a convention is also a very important one. It is the adoption of the convention program, which includes the agenda for the business meetings plus the schedule of special events—forums, workshops, banquets, etc. Unless the rules are suspended, only those items that are on the agenda may be considered by the convention, and they will be dealt with in the order and at the times they are listed. Frequently, the agenda will set a limited time for the consideration of some or all items.
Because items not listed will not be considered, and items toward the end of the agenda have a greater chance of never being reached if there are delays, you should pay close attention to the proposed agenda, and be prepared to propose amendments to it if needed to ensure that your policy objectives and those of your unit are given adequate consideration.
A Program Committee, whose members are selected in accordance with procedures in the bylaws, prepares a proposed program before the convention begins. This proposed program is provided to each delegate upon registration and is followed as a guide until the time for its formal adoption. This comes immediately after the convention adopts its standing rules. The committee chairman reports on behalf of the Program Committee and concludes by moving the adoption of the program as printed (or perhaps with corrections or changes which he or she announces).
The proposed program is then debatable and amendable. Both amendment and final adoption require a majority vote.
Once adopted, the agenda can be changed only by a vote of two thirds of those present and voting or by a vote of a majority of all the delegates registered, or—as is frequently done—by unanimous consent. [RONR (12th ed.) 59:57–60.]
J. CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTIONS
Apart from the conduct of elections and the reception of reports, the bulk of the time at business meetings of your convention is likely to be taken up in consideration of resolutions. Commonly a rule of the convention requires either that proposed resolutions be submitted directly to a Resolutions Committee, sometimes a specified time in advance of the convention, or that immediately upon their introduction on the floor of the convention resolutions be automatically referred to that committee.
The authority of the Resolutions Committee varies depending on the rules of each organization or convention. It ranges from merely having power to put proposed resolutions into proper form and to organize them in the order in which they are to come before the convention, to having power to decide which resolutions will or will not come before the convention (typically subject to the authority of the convention to overrule the committee). An intermediate level of authority requires the committee to report all resolutions properly submitted to it, but allows it to make recommendations for or against passage, or for amendments. Like the other convention committees previously discussed, its membership is selected in accordance with procedures in the organization’s bylaws.
Ordinarily the Resolutions Committee holds hearings on the resolutions submitted to it, and then meets in executive session (privately) to review them and prepare its report. [RONR (12th ed.) 59:79.]
Sometimes the Resolutions Committee itself originates resolutions. Commonly, these include one or more “courtesy resolutions” recognizing those who have contributed to the convention. In some organizations, the Resolutions Committee prepares a detailed “platform” designed to express the group’s views.
Except for resolutions that originate in the Resolutions Committee, those on which it reports are treated as if they have already been moved and seconded. During the committee’s report, its chairman does move adoption of amendments it is proposing, as well as the adoption of resolutions that originate with it.
The resolutions on which the Resolutions Committee reports to the convention are debated, amended, and voted on as in the case of motions reported to an assembly by any committee. [See pp. 166–68 of this book; RONR (12th ed.) 59:67–83.]