Hi folks, Below are my notes on the verbal concerns/questions/comments from Sunday's election code discussion, followed by the text of two written items that were handed to me after the discussion. I was not quick enough to get verbatim notes, so these give my sense of the core issue/s being raised by the speakers, and they may contain errors of interpretation or general tone on my part. Hopefully everyone will submit these comments in writing also. ~ * ~ Verbal Comments ~ * ~ Michael Borenstein, El Dorado County: When will we be submitting the final version of this? [Warner answered that the original goal was end of January 2005, but that may be overly optimistic.] Jean-Marc Chandonia, San Francisco County: 7879: This section should come before section 7878, which specifies the number of members of a county council. 7941: We should allow non citizens, youth and those with a criminal record to register Green. 7943: Who makes the decision about removal of members of county councils? Recall election? Other method? 7951: Replace "committee" with "county council". Jo Chamberlain, San Mateo County: 6960.5: We do not have the bylaws referred to in this section. We must implement those first. Also, we should specify that this is a nominating convention, since we also have off-year conventions. 6961: Could we expand on this? It sounds like the Secretary of State has too much leeway. 6962: Same concern as 6961. 7878: We should specify a threshold or formula here. 7892(c): What is special about the date of July 20? 7943: What happens to those registered as "Decline to State"? Also, we need to define the procedure for removal of county council members. Whole document: Use "her" before "him". Clarify whether we are using Choice Voting or IRV. David Merlin (sp?), Contra Costa County: Can "Decline to State" voters vote in our elections? This is not clear to me. Ken Kohler (sp?), Stanislaus County: Make sure we comply with state law with respect to NOTA, voters with criminal records, etc. We also need to be concerned about our image if we allow those with criminal records to register Green. Kevin McKeown, Los Angeles County: LA's discussion is being typed up, and he will submit it shortly. He had the following additional comments. Whole document: Replace "central committee" with "county council". 6964.5: Regarding NOTA, we can and should do this. Basically, "tabulated" = "counted" and we must nail down the terminology. Allow no loopholes. 7930: Instead of specifying 50% female / 50% male electors, specify "at least 50% women". Greg Jan, Alameda County: 7943: We must make sure we have due process for removal of county council members. Michael Feinstein, Los Angeles County: 6964: Concern that this gives absolute power to our Liaison to the Secretary of State. 6964.5: Regarding the legality of NOTA, the issue with this in the past arose in the scenario in which NOTA would have a plurality but not a majority (i.e., add up all of the votes for actual candidates, and they constitute a majority). We need to get advice on this, and also on nailing down the "tabulated" terminology. 7920: Don't mention the appointment of county council members until we have bylaws in place for this. 7943: Recall elections are only allowed for paid elected positions. We should develop our own process for removal of county council members. Tian Harter, Santa Clara County: The Secretary of State should write to our Liaison whenever there is information to be shared, and this information should be put into the next Plenary packet. Chris Collins, Alameda County (reading someone else's comment): 6965: Choice Voting and IRV give us a single winner. How do we translate these votes to nominating convention delegate numbers? ~ * ~ Written Comments ~ * ~ Tian Harter, Santa Clara County: "If the Secretary of State has some information s/he wants to share with the Green Party, s/he should put it in a letter and send it to our liaison, with a cover letter asking us to put it in the next plenary packet." Larry Mullen, Fresno County: "Does the Election Code provision include Green Party use of state buildings for meeting once a month? Currently, we are included under the Peace and Freedom parts of the Election Code." Larry R. Mullen 559-227-0293 mullenlr@aol.com ~ * ~ Please let me know if you notice any glaring errors or omissions. I'm really looking forward to our next meeting on this! Best wishes, Valerie Face