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Reform Party of Kansas Call to Reform Party of Kansas Tue Sept 9, 2014 7 pm Executive Committee Meeting (as continued)

This is a call to a Reform Party of Kansas
a) Executive Committee meeting

commencing at 7 pm Central time
Tuesday September 9, 2014

and as may be continued by recess or adjournment.

The call is by adjourned / recessed continuation of the 08/28/14 meeting(s) and

by severable call of the chair.

This will be by teleconference and / or in-person.

The Teleconference number is:

conference #: 712-432-8700
code : 9288170#

Help line for problems: 913-940-0641

The in-person address is:

2210 South 50th Street
Kansas City, KS 66106

The agenda is:

2014 Nominating Convention and Caucus
2014 Election Nominations and related business
2014 Party Offices and related Elections
Vacancies
Elections
ByLaw changes - (Current Proposed Text is below)
Kansas Secretary of State
Other Business

Regards,

Joy Holt Chair and Secretary
Reform Party of Kansas

PROPOSED BY LAW CHANGES FOR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION 09/09/2014

View PDF to see details of proposed changes.
Key to Reform Party of Kansas Proposed By-Law Changes
Add - new text is underlined
Strike - [stricken text is in brackets and bold and larger font]
Unchanged - unchanged is neither underlined nor bold
* - as pertaining to numbering - allow for renumbering

ADD NEW ARTICLE 13* (* subject the numbering change)

Article 13* - REQUIREMENT WAIVERS

The Executive Committee may, waive, in whole or part (much may include partial reduction of requirements),
a) Any requirement in these Bylaws which is qualified in the Bylaws immediately subsequent to the part of the sentence in question by the parenthetical "(Article 13* Waivable)" and starting from the first preceding punctuation (comma or semicolon or dash) or beginning of the sentence if no preceding punctuation is present; or,
b) Any other Party Rule.

Such waiver, if granted, must be by unanimous vote of the Executive Committee Members present at a valid Executive Committee meeting, and only may be applied to:
a) Qualifications for Reform Party of Kansas Party Membership; and / or,
b) Qualifications for participation in the Reform Party of Kansas; and / or,
c) Qualifications for candidacy for office for any office authorized by the Reform Party of Kansas either internal or public; and / or,
d) Qualifications for service in office for any internal office authorized by the Reform Party of Kansas.

CHANGE ARTICLE 1.2

Section 2.
A party member ("Member") is any registered voter in the State of Kansas who is

a) Registered [registered] to vote in Kansas as affiliated with the Reform Party[.]; or,
b) Who is otherwise registered to vote in the state of Kansas (Article 13* Waivable),and whose membership application to the Reform Party of Kansas has been accepted by the Reform Party of Kansas (Article 13* Waivable), and once accepted whose membership remains in good standing (Article 13* Waivable). Additional details of this 1.2.b membership application and acceptance process shall be defined by the Executive Committee.

CHANGE ARTICLE 1.4

Section 4.
Each Party member is entitled to participate in the official organization and activities of the Party to the extent provided by these By - Laws. Members eligible to vote at Party meetings shall be only those persons who have been continuously registered Party members in the State of Kansas for at least [two (2] nine (9) months (Article 13* Waivable). Questions regarding continuous registration will be adjudicated by the Executive Committee.

CHANGE ARTICLE 2.2

Section 2.
The Committee shall consist of the State Party Officers, as defined in Section 3 of this Article, and Article III, and one representative [from] for each current congressional district in the State of Kansas as is seated in the U.S. House of Representatives. Qualifications to serve as a representative shall be such that no person shall serve, who has not been a continuously registered Party member in the Reform Party [State] of Kansas for at least [six (6)] twelve (12) months (Article 13* Waivable), and must reside within the congressional district the member is representing (Article 13* Waivable), and be such that no person shall serve as a State Party Officer who has not been a continuously registered Party member in the Reform Party [State] of Kansas for at least [12] eighteen (18) months (Article 13* Waivable). All Committee members shall serve without pay.

CHANGE ARTICLE 2.3

Section 3.
The members of the State Executive Committee shall be comprised of the State Party Officers (Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer), and one additional member [from] for each of the four Kansas congressional districts. The State Party Officers shall be the officers of the State Executive Committee and shall hold the same offices on the Executive Committee.

CHANGE ARTICLE 2.4

Section 4.
Committee members shall be elected at a state convention by a majority vote of the members present and shall serve two-year terms, except as provided in Article II, Section 8. The terms of office of the Committee members shall be staggered
so that the chairman, treasurer, and representatives from the odd numbered congressional districts are elected in even numbered years and the vice-chairman, secretary, and representatives from the even numbered congressional districts are
elected in odd - numbered years. The terms of office for these persons shall commence the day after their election. Article 12* (Extension / Carryover) language has precedence over any conflicting fixed term language herein.

CHANGE ARTICLE 2.9

Section 9.
No individual may serve more than two (2) consecutive terms in the same elected Committee office (Article 13* Waivable) .

CHANGE ARTICLE 2.10

Section 10.
The Committee shall call and hold a meeting of the membership in each year, providing timely notice in the media of general circulation in the State of Kansas. The official Party Website qualifies as general circulation media.

CHANGE ARTICLE 3.2

Section 2.
State Party officers and the additional Executive Committee members from the four congressional districts shall be elected by majority vote of the Party members present at a State Party Convention. The terms of office for these persons shall
commence the day after their election and continue for a period of two years. No person shall serve for more than two consecutive elected two-year terms in the same elected office (Article 13* Waivable) . Article 12* (Extension / Carryover) language has precedence over any conflicting fixed term language herein.

CHANGE ARTICLE 3.4

Section 4.
The Vice-Chairperson shall perform all the duties of the Chairperson in the Chairperson's absence or disability. In the event of a vacancy in the office of the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson shall become Chairperson for the remainder of the
Chairperson's term.

In the event of a vacancy in the office of Vice Chairperson, a new Vice-Chairperson shall be elected by the Committee from among its members (Article 13* Waivable). In the event of a vacancy of any other Committee member the Committee shall elect a replacement. The term of a Committee member appointed to fill a vacancy on the Committee shall be coterminous with the term, which the replaced Committee member had been entitled.

In the event of a vacancy of a member of one of the congressional districts the Committee shall select a replacement from the same congressional district (Article 13* Waivable).

CHANGE ARTICLE 4.1

Section 1.
The Party shall hold a state convention in each even-numbered year [if required by Kansas' law] , or should the Committee in its discretion deem such convention necessary. Each convention shall be called and conducted in accordance with [Kansas' law] the rules of the Reform Party of Kansas.

CHANGE ARTICLE 4.2

Section 2.
Candidates who are willing to run for state or local office will be nominated and voted upon by the nominating caucus. If there are two or more nominees for one position, the candidate selected will have a clear majority of the vote (half plus one) rather than merely a plurality. If no nominee receives at least half the votes plus one, the nominee with the least votes is removed from consideration, and the vote is repeated. If nominees tie for the least votes, then none are removed from consideration, unless such a tie happens three times in succession, at which point one or more coin-tosses will decide which one nominee to remove from consideration.

Should a candidate die, or withdraw his/her candidacy for any reason, or should become ineligible for any reason, the Chairman of the party may call for a party district convention or any authorized party selection process, to select a substitute candidate in accordance with Reform Party of Kansas Rules and with state law not in conflict with Reform Party of Kansas Rules . All registered Party members eligible to participate [in the appropriate district] in the authorized selection of substitute candidate process will be given at least one week's written notice via posting to the official Party website or by other written means of [the district convention] any selection process meeting. The chairman of the party or his/her designate will chair the meeting and, with the designated secretary, submit the appropriate documentation to the Secretary of State so that the ballots may be changed.

CHANGE ARTICLE 4.5

Section 5.
The Committee shall promulgate rules for the conduct of the convention. The Committee, or the secretary of the convention as appropriate, shall ensure that timely notice in general circulation media in the State of Kansas (which includes the Official Party Website) of the time, place and location of the convention is made available to the Party membership.

CHANGE ARTICLE 5.1

Section 1.
The presidential and vice presidential candidates of the Reform Party of Kansas shall be the Reform Party candidates for president and vice president selected at the national nominating convention. To this end the Reform Party of Kansas shall take all necessary steps to cause the names and addresses of these candidates to be certified to the State of Kansas as provided by Kansas law which are not otherwise in conflict with Reform Party of Kansas Rules, and to otherwise ensure that the names of these candidates appear for these offices on the general election ballot in Kansas.

CHANGE ARTICLE 5.2

Section 2.
Should either the Reform Party candidate for president or the Reform Party candidate for vice president die or withdraw before the general election, the Reform Party of Kansas candidate for such office shall be chosen by the Reform Party of the United States to replace the withdrawn or deceased candidate. To this end, the Reform Party of Kansas shall take all necessary steps to cause the name and address of the replacement candidate, as well as all other information related to him required by the State of Kansas to be certified and submitted to the State of Kansas as required by Kansas law which are not otherwise in conflict with Reform Party of Kansas Rules , and to otherwise ensure that the name of the replacement candidate shall appear on the general election ballot in Kansas as the Reform Party candidate for the office for which the national party has chosen him. Should both the Reform Party candidate for president and the Reform Party candidate for vice president die or withdraw before the general election, the Reform Party of Kansas candidates for these offices shall be the candidates chosen by the Reform Party of the United States to replace the withdrawn or deceased candidates. To this end, the Reform Party of Kansas shall take all necessary steps to cause the names and addresses of the replacement candidates, as well as all other information related to them required by the State of Kansas, to be certified and submitted to the State of Kansas as required by Kansas law not otherwise in conflict with Reform Party of Kansas Rules , and to otherwise ensure that the name of the replacement candidates shall appear on the general election ballot in Kansas as the Reform Party candidates for the offices for which the national party has chosen them.

CHANGE ARTICLE 5.5

Section 5.
The chairperson, after consulting with the members of the Executive Committee, shall prepare and transmit to the State of Kansas, in accordance with Kansas' law, a list of nominees for president and vice presidential electors and alternate electors. Such nominees shall be nominated in accordance with Kansas' law not otherwise in conflict with Reform Party of Kansas Rules .

CHANGE ARTICLE 5.6

Section 6.
Should a nominated elector candidate withdraw, die or become come disabled before the general election, the State Executive Committee will designate a replacement and certify to the appropriate elections officials a replacement as provided by Kansas law not otherwise in conflict with Reform Party of Kansas Rules .

CHANGE ARTICLE 5.7

Section 7.
No United States senator nor representative in Congress, nor any person holding an office of trust or profit of the United States, may be nominated as a candidate for presidential elector. All nominees for electors must be registered voters of the State of Kansas and Reform Party members (Article 13* Waivable) and must meet all other requirements of Kansas' law regarding presidential electors not otherwise in conflict with Reform Party of Kansas Rules.

CHANGE ARTICLE 8.1

Section 1.
Removed. [The Reform Party of Kansas shall undertake all other organizational measures necessary to comply with Kansas law.]

CHANGE ARTICLE 9.1

Section 1.
Three National Committee members from the state of Kansas shall be elected by a majority vote of the Party members present at a state convention in even numbered years and shall serve two-year terms. These persons shall have been registered Party members in the state of Kansas for [6 (six)] 12 (twelve) months (Article 13* Waivable) and shall serve without pay. Article 12* (Extension / Carryover) language has precedence over any conflicting fixed term language herein.

CHANGE ARTICLE 11.

ARTICLE XI. MISCELLANEOUS
Section 1.
Should any of the foregoing provisions or any part conflict with the requirements of Kansas or federal laws, these By - Laws supersede any such requirement or law and are [hereby automatically] amended to conform to the requirements of law and to provide the Party authority to act accordingly only by specific unanimous vote of the Executive Committee. All rights are reserved. Specifically and without limitation, U.S. and Kansas Constitutional Rights to conduct political affairs and to free speech, as the Party determines and directs are asserted, no rights are waived.

Section 2.
Should any of the foregoing provisions or any part thereof be validly declared invalid by a court of valid jurisdiction and which is not disputed by the Party or is an unappealed final judgment, then for any reason such invalidity shall not affect any other term or provision thereof. These invalid By - Laws shall be interpreted and construed as if such provision or part thereof had never been contained herein.

Section 3. The term Party Rules is inclusive of these By Laws.

Section 4. The Reform Party of Kansas is affiliated nationally, as of September 2014, with the Reform Party National of which Joy Holt is Vice Chair. The Reform Party National is considered by the Reform Party of Kansas as the legitimate unbroken continuation of the national political party founded in 1997 as the RPUSA, prevailing party Federal trademark litigation Florida Northern District 4:05-cv-00426; and while the RPUSA trademark remains in federal litigation whose outcome is not determinative of the Reform Party of Kansas national affiliation.

Additional Reform Party of Kansas Selected By-Law for Reference Only (not for consideration)

ARTICLE XII. EXTENSION / CARRYOVER OF REFORM PARTY OF KANSAS
TERM OF OFFICE (Adopted 08/28/2014)

Section 1. The term of office for holders for offices conferred by authority of the Reform Party of Kansas do not go vacant if they would otherwise expire and a successor is not seated, rather if there is a valid office holder, the term is extended or continued until the successor is properly chosen and seated. This Article's Extension of Term of Office does not apply in cases of resignation, or death, or if an individual is removed from office, or for nominations for public office conferred by the Reform Party of Kansas.

Details:

Contact Joy Holt at 913-677-3760 for details.