Mason, News

Alert Mason District Democratic Caucus Participants
There may be a motion at Monday night’s reorganization meeting Monday night to amend the rules to hold caucuses in many of Mason’s precincts and/or at-large. Voters registered in the affected precincts may vote in those precinct caucuses as well as in the at-large caucus.

Draft Rules for Reorganization Caucus, Precinct Caucuses, and School Board Endorsement Recommendation
The Mason District Democratic Committee (www.MasonDems.org)?reorganization is on December 7 at 7:30pm at the Mason District Government Center, 6507 Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA 22003.
Mason Democrats who have filed for the committee as of the December 2 deadline will participate in the reorganization. There were five precincts (see below)?with over-filings (more than two people filing); these precincts will caucus to vote for the two members to serve on the committee from that precinct. Democrats who have filed for the following precincts by the December 2 deadline will be able to vote for themselves and only registered voters from the specific precinct, declared as Democrats, can vote in the caucus for that precinct’s members.

• Baileys
• Belvedere
• Ravenwood
• Weyanoke
• Leewood

Democrats will be checked in by the Credentials Committee as they enter the meeting room at the Mason District Government Center. You will need to present ID with address and your address will be checked against the state party registered voters list. If you have just recently moved into the precinct and have recently changed your address you will need to present appropriate proof that you have changed your registration to the precinct in question.

Only voters who live in the contested precinct may vote. Voters in the contested precinct will be given a credential (a blue index card with the precinct name on it) which will need to be presented at the time the ballots are distributed.
Credentialing will cease once the ballots have begun to be distributed.
The draft rules for the District caucus and the Precinct Caucus are below.
Beginning of District Caucus

• The current District Chair convenes District Caucus as the Acting Chair.
• The Caucus elects its own Permanent Chair.
• For any precinct where there are more filings than the number of seats allocated:
  • the Chair designates a convener for each of those precincts and designates a location in the room or building for each Precinct Caucus to meet, and
  • the Chair recesses the District Caucus until the Precinct Caucuses are completed.

At this time, once ballots have begun to be distributed, credentialing ceases.
Precinct Caucuses (where necessary)

• Registered voters who reside in the contested precincts go to their designated area.
• The designated convener of each Precinct Caucus begins the Caucus.
• Only registered voters who reside in the Precinct may vote.
• The Caucus selects its own Chair.
• The Caucus Chair explains the rules that one of the seats must be filled by a resident of the Precinct, that there will only be one ballot, and that ties will be determined by a coin toss.
• The Caucus Chair can do all kinds of things, introducing everyone to each other, calling for very limited statements by the candidates, etc.
• The Caucus Chair distributes the prepared ballots, and it is at this time that the credentialing ceases. The ballots are collected and counted and the winners are determined.
• The Caucus Chair adjourns the caucus.
• The Caucus Chair reports the results to the Chair of the District Caucus.

Draft Rules for Endorsement Recommendation Process

• The chair has appointed a Credentials Committee to check in all new members and guarantee the integrity of the election.
• Each campaign may appoint 1 observer to be present during the ballot counting.
• The chair also will appoint an Elections Committee that will include two tellers (1 from each campaign) for the ballot counting and to provide the results to the chair of the newly reorganized committee and perform any other tasks required to complete the Election. This committee will also include two floaters to help as necessary.
• The chair will appoint a moderator for the process to ensure the time limits and speaking order.
• The process will be as follows:
  • All candidates who wish to participate in the recommendation for FCDC endorsement process must agree to step aside if they do not win the Mason District recommendation.
  • Each candidate will have 3-minute opening statements. Order will be determined by a coin toss. The winner of the coin toss will have the option of opening first or last. The order will be reversed in the closing statements.
  • Following opening statements each candidate will answer questions posed by the newly reconstituted committee. The question period will run for 30 minutes. Each candidate will have 2 minutes to answer each question and order of response will be rotated during the course of the questions.
  • Following the question and answer period each candidate will have 2-minute closing statements, the order determined by the coin toss at the beginning of the process.
  • The elections committee will distribute paper ballots to all credentialed members of the newly reconstituted committee.
  • Completed ballots will be collected by the Election Committee Tellers
  • The Election Committee tellers shall count the ballots and report the results to the Chair who will announce the results to the committee.