LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF SUFFOLK COUNTY
BY-LAWS
As of May 10, 2007
ARTICLE
I - NAME
Section1.
The name of this organization shall be the League of Women Voters of Suffolk
County (LWVSC). This
County
League is an integral part
of the League of Women Voters of the
United States (LWVUS) and of the League of Women Voters of New York State
(LWVNY).
ARTICLE
II PURPOSE AND POLICY
Section 1.
Purpose:
The purposes of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County shall
be to promote political responsibility
through informed and active participation of citizens
in government and to act on selected governmental issues.
Section 2.
Policy:
The League of Women Voters of Suffolk County may take action on
County governmental.
measures and policies in the public interest
in conformity with the Principles of
the League of Women Voters of the
United States. The League shall not
support or oppose: any political party or
candidate.
ARTICLE III
- MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. How Composed:
The League of Women Voters of Suffolk County
shall be composed of the members of
the local and provisional leagues in the County which have been recognized by
the League of Women Voters of the United States and of League
members-at-large who are residents of Suffolk County.
Section 2.
Types of Membership:
The membership of the League shall be
composed of voting members, life
members, and associate members.
(a) Voting members shall be citizens at least 18 years of
age who are enrolled in local
or provisional Leagues in Suffolk County or who are members-at-large residing in
Suffolk County. Life members are those who have been members
of the League for 50
years or more.
(b) Associate members, without a vote, shall be all other
members who are enrolled in
the League.
ARTICLE IV -
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section 1. Selection. Qualification and Term: The Board of Directors
shall consist of the officers of the League,
of five elected Directors, not more than eight appointed Directors and local.
League Presidents or their chosen representatives. The term of office of elected
Directors shall be two years. Two
Directors shall be elected in odd numbered years and three Directors in
even-numbered years. The elected members of the Board of Directors
shall appoint such additional Directors, not
exceeding eight, as they may deem necessary
to carry out the work of the League. The term of office of the appointed
Directors shall be one year and shall
expire at the conclusion of the Annual County Convention.
Section 2. Qualifications:
All elected or appointed Officers and
Directors of this organization must
be voting members of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County.
Section 3.
Vacancies:
Any vacancy, other than the Presidency,
occurring in the Board of Directors by reason of the resignation, death or
disqualification of an officer or elected Director may be filled until the next
Convention by a majority vote of the remaining
members of the Board of Directors.
Section 4. Powers:
The Board of Directors shall have full charge
of the property and business of the organization with full power and authority
to manage and conduct the same,
subject to the instructions of the Convention. The Board shall plan and direct
the work necessary to carry out the
program on County governmental matters as adopted by the Convention. The Board
shall create and designate such special committees, as it may
deem necessary.
Section 5. Regular Meetings:
There shall be at least six regular meetings
of the Board of Directors annually.
The President shall notify each member of the Board of Directors and
the Presidents of all local and provisional
leagues in the County of all regular meetings.
Section 6. Special Meetings:
The President may call special
meetings of the Board of Directors, and shall call a special meeting upon
written request of five members of the
Board.
Section 7. Quorum:
One third of the members of the Board of
Directors shall constitute a quorum,
and a majority of the members in attendance at any Board meeting shall, in the
presence of a quorum, decide its
action.
ARTICLE
V -
OFFICERS
Section 1.
Enumeration and Election of Officers:
The Officers of the League of Women
Voters of Suffolk County shall be a
President, a first Vice-President, a second Vice-President, a Secretary,
and a Treasurer who shall be elected for terms of two years. Two
individuals with shared responsibilities may
fill any office. The President, first Vice-President,
and Secretary shall be elected in odd-numbered years. The second VicePresident
and the Treasurer shall be elected in even-numbered years. They shall be elected
at the Convention and hold office
until their successors have been elected and qualified.
Section 2.
The President: The President shall
preside at all meetings of the organization
and the Board of Directors unless the President shall designate another person
to preside. The President may, in the absence or disability of the treasurer,
sign or endorse checks, drafts and
notes. The President shall be, ex-officio, a member of all committees except the
nominating committee. The President
shall have such usual powers of supervision and
management as may pertain to the office of
President and perform such other duties as
may be designated by the Board.
Section 3. The
Vice-Presidents: The
vice-presidents, in the order of their rank, shall, in the
event of absence, resignation, disability,
or death of the President, possess all the powers
and perform all the duties of that office, until such time as the Board
of Directors shall elect one of its
members to fill the vacancy. The Vice-Presidents shall perform such other duties
as the President and Board may
designate.
Section 4.
The Secretary:
The secretary shall perform the duties of a Recording and a
Corresponding Secretary; shall keep minutes of all meetings of the Board of
Directors and of all Conventions of
the League; shall notify all Officers and Directors of their election and shall
perform such other functions as may be related to the office.
Section 5. The Treasurer:
The treasurer shall collect and receive all
monies due; shall be the custodian of these monies, shall deposit them in a bank designated
by the Board of Directors. The
treasurer shall present periodic statements to the Board at its regular
meetings, and an annual report to the
Convention. The Treasurer shall arrange for an
annual audit of the books.
ARTICLE VI -CONVENTION
Section 1. Date:
The Convention shall be held annually
between May I and June 30. Time
and place to be determined by the Board.
Section 2.
Composition:
The Convention shall consist of delegates chosen by the local and
provisional leagues as provided in Section 4 of this article and the members of
the Board of Directors of the League
of Women Voters of Suffolk County.
Section 3.
Qualification and Voting: Each delegate
shall be a voting member enrolled in a
recognized local or provisional league. Each
delegate shall be entitled to only one vote at
the Convention even though that delegate may
be attending in more than one capacity.
Absentee or proxy voting shall not be
permitted. The Convention shall be the sole judge of
whether a delegate is qualified to vote.
Section 4.
Representation: The members of the
League of Women Voters of Suffolk County
who are organized into local or provisional
leagues shall be entitled to voting representation in the Convention as follows:
Each local and provisional league shall be entitled to send one delegate to the
annual convention for every fifteen (15) members or major fraction thereof. The
record in the state office of paid-up voting members as of January 1 of the year
of the Convention shall determine the official, membership count for
this purpose.
Section 5. Powers:
The Convention shall consider and authorize a
program for action, elect officers, directors, and members of the nominating
committee, shall adopt
a
budget
for the ensuing year, and shall transact such other
business as may be properly presented.
Section 6. Quorum:
A quorum shall consist of a majority of
those registered and qualified to
vote, providing that not less than one-half of the local and provisional leagues
are represented at the Convention.
ARTICLE VII
-
NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS
Section 1.
Nominating Committee: The
Nominating Committee shall consist of three
members, one of whom shall be a member of the Board of Directors. The Chair, and
one member, who shall not be a member
of the Board, shall be elected at the Convention. The current Nominating
Committee shall make nominations for these offices. The other member shall be
appointed by the Board immediately following the Convention. Each member of the
Nominating Committee shall be from a different league. The Committee shall
serve for one year. Any vacancy occurring in
the Nominating Committee by reason of resignation, disqualification, or death
shall be filled by the Board of Directors
Section 2. Suggestions for
Nominations: The Chair of the Nominating Committee shall
request, through the President of each local
and provisional league, suggestions for
nominations for offices to be filled. Any
member may send suggestions to the chair of the Nominating Committee.
Section 3.
Report of Nominating Committee and
Nominations from the Floor: The
report of the Nominating Committee of
its nominations for officers, directors, and the Chair and one
member of the succeeding Nominating Committee shall be sent to the local
leagues at least four weeks before the
annual Convention. The report of the Nominating Committee shall
be presented to the Convention. Immediately
following the presentation of this report, any member of the Convention may make
nominations from the floor provided that the consent
of the nominee shall have been secured.
Section 4. Elections:
The election shall be by ballot, provided
that when there is but one nominee
for each office, the Secretary may be instructed to cast the ballot for every
nominee. A majority vote of those
present and qualified to vote shall constitute an election.
Absentee votes or voting by proxy shall not be permitted.
ARTICLE VIII PROGRAM
Section 1.
Authorization: The governmental
principles adopted by the National Convention, and supported by the League as a
whole, constitute the authorization for the
adoption of Program.
Section 2. Program:
The program of the LWV of Suffolk County
shall consist of:
(a) action to implement the Principles, and
(b)
County governmental issues chosen at Convention for concerted study & action
Section 3. Program
Selection: The Convention shall select
the governmental issues for concerted study and action using the following
procedures:
(a) Local and provisional league boards may
make recommendations to the Board of
Directors at least three months prior to the Convention.
(b) The Board of Directors shall consider the
recommendations and formulate a proposed program that shall be submitted to the
local and provisional league
Presidents at least four weeks prior to the Convention.
(c) A majority vote shall be required for
adoption of the program proposed by the
Board of Directors at the Convention.
(d) Any recommendation for the program
submitted to the Board of Directors at least
two months before the Convention, but not proposed by the
Board, may be
adopted at the Convention provided that:
1. The Convention shall order the consideration by a majority vote, and
2. The Convention shall adopt the item by a two-thirds vote.
Section 4.
Changes in the Program.
Changes in the program in the case of altered
conditions may be made provided that:
(a) information concerning the proposed
changes has been sent to the local and
provisional league Presidents two months prior to the
adoption of the proposed
changes
by the Board of Directors, and
(b) A
majority of the local and provisional leagues approve the proposed changes.
Section 5.
Local League Action.
Action by local -leagues on County program must conform to the position taken by
the Board of Directors. Any
league may
refrain from taking action on
a County program item, but in such
cases, the local Board shall make information on the program
available to its members.
Section 6. Member Action.
Members may act in the name of the
League of Women Voters of Suffolk
County only when authorized to do so by the Board
ARTICLE
IX
- FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION
Section 1.
Fiscal Year:
The fiscal year of the LWV of Suffolk County shall be from July 1 to June 30 of
the year.
Section 2. Financial Support:
Financial responsibility for the work of the LWV of
Suffolk
County shall be assumed annually by the local and provisional leagues. Each
local and
provisional shall make a per member payment
directly to the LWV of Suffolk County. The amount of such payment shall be
subject to review each year according to budgetary
needs.
Section 3.
Budget:
the Board shall submit to the Convention for adoption a budget for the
ensuing year. A copy
of the budget shall be sent to each local and
provisional league
President in Suffolk County at least four weeks before the
Convention.
Section 4.
Budget Committee:
A committee appointed for that purpose by the Board of
Directors shall prepare the budget. The
Treasurer shall be ex-officio a member of the
budget committee but shall not be eligible to serve as
chair.
ARTICLE X -PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
Section 1.
Parliamentary Authority:
The rules contained in ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER
NEWLY REVISED shall govern the organization in
all cases to which they are applicable and
in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws.
ARTICLE XI
- AMENDMENTS
Section 1.
Amendments:
These bylaws may be amended at any Convention by a two
thirds vote of those present and qualified to vote.
Proposed changes shall be submitted to
the Board of Directors at least two months prior to the
Convention. The Board shall send all such proposed amendments to the Presidents
of all local and provisional leagues at least
four weeks prior to the Convention together with the
recommendations of the Board of
Directors.
Amended 1989
Amended May 12, 2001
| The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan,
volunteer organization working to promote political responsibility through the
informed, active participation of citizens in government. The League does
not support or oppose any political party or candidate. It does support or
oppose legislation after serious study and substantial agreement among its
members. Membership is open to everyone.
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| For information about membership
in the League, call the telephone number for your local
League listed in the left margin, or (631) 862-6860. You may also
send e-mail, or write to
LWV of Suffolk County, P.O. Box 1440, Stony Brook, NY 11790.
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