Republican Party of Congressional District 6

Convention Rules
March 29th, 2025 - Delano High School

Parliamentary Rules

Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised, shall be the parliamentary authority on all points not covered by the statutes of the State of Minnesota, the Constitution and Bylaws of the Republican Party of Minnesota, the Constitution and Bylaws of the Republican Party of Congressional District 6 (CD6), the Official Call of this convention, or the rules adopted by this convention. These rules shall not be amended nor suspended except by a two-thirds vote of the Convention.

Order of Business

The order of business of this convention shall be as stated in the 2025 Convention Agenda. All persons on the convention premises shall register with the appropriate Credentials committee member. Any person denied credentials should be referred to the Credential Committee Chair for final determination. . Guest credentials will be available for a fee. All persons must sign in with credentials committee chair or designee to receive their personal credentials. Any person misrepresenting their credentials will be denied access to the convention floor for the balance of the convention. Access to the convention floor will be restricted to those persons with valid convention credentials which allow floor access

Speaking & Floor Privileges

A delegate or seated alternate wishing to speak shall rise, address the chair, state his/her name and the Basic Political Organizational Unit (BPOU) they are from, and the purpose for which he/she rises. Only seated delegates or alternates shall be allowed to make motions or address the convention for debate.

The chair of the Convention may recognize only elected officials and RPM officers to address the convention s and give them the privilege of speaking for up to three minutes. Legislative updates shall be given five to seven.

The convention chair shall appoint a timekeeper for the purpose of timing discussion, debate and speeches during the convention. Debate upon any motion or subject shall be limited to one minute by each speaker with equal time and number of persons representing each pro and con. No person shall be allowed to speak more than twice upon the same subject until all others who wish to speak have had the opportunity to do so. The total time allowed for debate on each motion or resolution shall not exceed six minutes with equal opportunity afforded to each side of the issue, affirmative and negative. After there have been two speakers on one side and the chair has asked three times for a speaker in opposition, if there is no speaker on the opposing side, the debate will be ended. The chair of the Convention may recognize special visitors at his/her discretion and give them the privilege of speaking for up to 3 minutes, with the exception of the elected CD6 member of Congress, who shall be afforded up to 15 minutes. A motion to adjourn shall not be in order until the specific business stated in the agenda is complete.

Convention Etiquette

Please silence cell phones. No audio or video recording will be allowed unless specifically approved in writing by the 6th Congressional District Chair. The 6thCongressional District Republican Party is not a public entity and therefore reserves the right to remove any individual or group attempting to disrupt its proceedings without warning.

Convention Roll and Quorum

Registration will close at 10:30AM per convention call. Any one in line at that time shall be allowed to register, but anyone attempting to register after that shall be denied. Anyone pre-registered and prepaid will be considered a present delegate regardless of arrival time

A quorum shall be determined, and if appropriate, declared after the preliminary report of the Credentials Committee. A quorum shall consist of a numerical majority of the total number of registered delegates as given in the preliminary report of the Credentials Committee. In no event shall the quorum be less than 10% of the eligible delegates allocated to said convention. Once a quorum has been established, a quorum call shall be out of order. BPOU chairs, or designee shall be responsible for seating delegates and alternates per the CD6 Constitution, Art. X, Sec. 3 and reporting any change in voting strength to the Chair of the Credentials committee.

The permanent roll of the convention shall be constituted as follows:

  • The duly elected delegates to the CD6 convention of each BPOU elected at the BPOU convention who are actually present and registered. As provided in the Republican Party of Minnesota Constitution, Art. V, Sec. 4, “When a delegate returns to the floor of the convention, he or she will be seated immediately.”
  • If any duly elected delegate to this convention is absent at any time a vote is to be taken, then a duly elected alternate from that BPOU shall be seated in his/her stead by the BPOU chair or designee. If the BPOU chair or designee is not present, a temporary chair for that BPOU shall be appointed by the convention chair. The order of seating of alternates shall be as follows.
    1. From the duly elected alternates of the BPOU, alternates shall be seated according to the procedure established by the constitution or bylaws of the BPOU.
    2. If no other procedure is established alternates shall be seated in order of votes received at the BPOU convention.
    3. If a vote count is not available, alternates to be seated at this convention shall be elected by majority vote of seated delegates of that BPOU.
    4. If no duly elected delegates or seated alternates are present, there shall be no representation from that BPOU.
    5. The report of seated alternates shall be reported to the Chair of the credentials committee.
  • The voting strength of each BPOU shall be the number of delegates and seated alternates present on the convention floor as reported to the convention Chair by the Chair of the Credentials committee. The Credentials committee chair may report any changes in the delegations prior to the election for each office or when requested by the convention chair. Each BPOU chair or designee will issued the proper number of voting cards, if used, by the credentials committee. Each BPOU chair or designee will be in charge of maintaining the distribution and collection of the voting cards.
    1. There shall be no cross-seating between BPOUs. That is, a delegate or alternate from one BPOU cannot be seated in another BPOU. The BPOU’s Constitution and/or By-Laws shall govern cross-seating within a BPOU.
    2. Seating of registered alternates shall be permissible at any time, if a delegate or seated alternate is absent, provided that upon return of the delegate, the delegate shall be immediately seated. However, after the start of any ballot, there shall be no change in seating until that ballot has been completed.

Voting

Only delegates and seated alternates registered and present on the floor of this Convention shall be permitted to vote.The vote on all questions shall be by the Chair’s discretion subject to the following restrictions:

  • There shall be no voting by proxy or unit rule.
  • A secret (paper) ballot shall be used for all contested elections. All ballots will be supplied by the Tellers.
  • If division of the assembly is called for by any ten seated delegates or alternates from at least two BPOUs; or at the discretion of the convention chair, a rising vote shall be taken.
  • Roll call votes shall be taken at the request of a majority of the delegates and seated alternates or at the discretion of the convention chair.
  • The Chair, or designee, of each BPOU shall distribute and collect the paper ballots from the delegates of their BPOU, verify the ballots as to number and deposit them with the tellers. If the Chair of the BPOU is not seated, the Convention Chair shall appoint a designee for that BPOU. The BPOU Chair, or designee, shall not open or count the ballots for their BPOU, except for roll call votes or to ensure the correct number of ballots received. Only tellers shall open and count the ballots for a candidate during non-roll call votes.
  • If there is a dispute as to the number of votes cast, the Head Teller shall decide the dispute and, if necessary, shall have appointed tellers canvass the vote of that BPOU by separate written ballots, which shall then be the votes for that BPOU.
  • All elections shall require a majority vote. If no candidate receives a majority on the ballot, another ballot will be required with only those candidates receiving 10% or more on the first ballot shall proceed to the next round. Beginning the third and subsequent ballots, the candidate receiving the lowest vote total will be eliminated from the next ballot. Balloting will continue in this manner until a majority is reached.
  • Election of At-large Congressional District Officers
    Any person seeking election to an at-large officer position shall report their intention to seek that office to the nominating committee chair by the time specified in the official convention call. Those seeking office shall be referred to the nominations committee for determination of qualification for office. The nominations committee shall report the names of all qualified candidates and no other names shall be entered for election to that office. Each candidate for office will have 3 minutes total to address the convention for nominations, seconding and candidate speeches.
  • Election of Congressional District Vice Chairs
    Each geographical area will caucus for election of Vice Chairs per the CD6 constitution. A caucus chairperson may be elected. Each person seeking office as a Vice Chair may have up to two minutes to address their area caucus. Once election is completed, the result shall be adopted by the geographical area caucus and be reported to the convention secretary.

Signs, Banners, Stickers and other Distributed Material

Any and all materials distributed at the convention must contain the name of the organization or the name and address of the individual(s) paying for the material, with the exception of lapel stickers. Candidates or organizations that require a table to display information and distribute literature must pay a $200.00 fee for the provided table which includes 2 guest credentials. This fee will be waived for Republican officials, candidates, and affiliates.

If the venue allows, there shall be no more than 20 signs for a side of any issue or candidate posted or affixed to surfaces within the convention hall, with no more than one exceeding eight square feet in area. The total number of signs posted or affixed inside the convention premises, shall not exceed 50 for a side of any issue or candidate, with no more than five exceeding eight square feet in area. This does not include signs, banners or stickers being held or worn by persons. No signs shall be allowed within 10 feet of the stage center or podium area except during candidate speeches.

No page, sergeant-at-arms or other official convention staff (to include the convention chair, convention secretary, parliamentarian, credentials committee chair, Chief teller and tellers (while tallying ballots), time keeper or other convention officials while speaking from the podium) shall exhibit any outward sign of support for or engage in any activities on behalf of any candidates for congressional district officers until election for that office has been completed.