Greater Indianapolis for Change Urges You to Consider Running for Election for Democratic Precinct Committeeperson and/or 2010 Indiana Democratic State Convention Delegate!
An Explanation of the Office of Precinct Committeeperson and Its Responsibilities, Duties, and Rights
The elected office of Democratic Precinct Committeeperson in Indiana represents the most grassroots level of the Democratic Party in our communities. Precinct Committeepersons serve for four-year terms and are expected to represent the interests of the Democrats in their precincts in the county Party structure.
Their responsibilities and duties include:
-Recommending and staffing the Democratic Precinct Election Board in their precinct for election days consisting of an Inspector, Judge, and Clerk and operating a precinct Election Day organization
-Representing the Democratic Party in their neighborhood by polling residents, registering voters, maintaining a current poll list of voters, identifying and assisting absentee voters to register, promoting Party candidates, encouraging voting by Democrats, and recruiting volunteers
-Reporting periodically on the state of the Party to the county and/or ward chairs and attending training and other party-building activities
Their rights include:
-Voting rights at county slating conventions where the Party chooses the candidates for public office that it officially supports in primary elections, at caucuses to fill sudden vacancies for all pertinent legislative, municipal, and local offices (except for U. S. Senator and for when vacancies occur less than 31 days before a general election), and at the reorganization meeting to elect the Democratic County Chair (in 2013)
-The right to appoint a Vice Precinct Committeeperson who has the same rights and privileges (except with regards to the caucuses, unless as a proxy for the precinct committeeperson) in addition to the duty of assisting the precinct committeeperson
Precinct and Vice Precinct Committeepersons are the closest point of contact between Democratic Party voters and the Party at large, both as representatives of their precinct’s Democratic electorate to the Party and as representatives of the Party to their precinct’s Democratic electorate. Holding this office is an important way of having a larger voice in the Democratic Party and therefore the government as a whole.
How to Run for Election for Democratic Precinct Committeeman
To run for election to this office in Indiana in 2010 you must file a notarized form CAN-37 Declaration of Candidacy for Precinct Committeeman and State Convention Delegate at your county election board or county courthouse (City-County Building, Suite W-144, 200 E. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN, 46204 for Marion County 317-327-5040) between Wednesday, January 20, 2010 (open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday thru Friday) and noon on Friday, February 19, 2010. Your name will appear on your precinct’s Democratic Primary ballot in May and you will be provided with a list of all of the probable Democratic voters in your precinct so that you can contact them.
There is no provision requiring that candidates for these offices file campaign finance documents and traditionally no one spends any funds on campaigning for them.
In addition, none of the responsibilities for recommending an election board exist for this May’s primary as you will not be the elected committeeperson until afterwards.
If elected we urge new Committeepersons to name a Vice Precinct Committeeperson by certified mail to the Democratic County Chair within two days after the May Primary election.
In the last election for Precinct Committeepersons in Marion County in 2006 only 15% of the precincts had anyone file for election and less than 2% of these precincts had more than one candidate file. In many ways filing for candidacy may be all that one need do to become elected. However, if your precinct election is contested we strongly suggest that you canvass your Democratic neighbors in order to win in May.
In fact, one might as well canvass their Democratic neighbors even if they are unopposed simply to solicit them to participate in the primary election. For anyone who canvassed in the Obama campaign, as a frame of reference a precinct generally is the size of 3 or 4 walk lists. It would also be desirable for the winners of any possible contested elections to automatically appoint their opponent as Vice Precinct Committeeperson.
Given the desire (and resistance) to the change we need in these perilous times taking a more active interest in the local Democratic political scene can only be beneficial to both the Party and, more importantly, our country. These positions will remain unfilled except by appointment by the county chair until 2014 if things remain as they are, and appointed precinct committeepersons are only required to be residents of the county, not of the precinct in which they are appointed, and serve at the pleasure of the county chair. GIfC feels that a larger number of elected PCs would be more representative of the grassroots of the Party.
One person may file and run for both Precinct Committeeperson and State Convention Delegate on the same ballot. Also, the same form CAN-37 is used to file for both candidacies. However, this form must be filed once for each office sought, meaning that if you intend to run for both you must file the form twice, once for each office. The completed forms must also be notarized. A notary will likely be present at the informational events that are being planned by the Greater Indianapolis for Change Political Action Team.
You can find your home precinct by looking on your voter registration card, or (if you live in Marion County) by visiting this site, entering your street address, and then selecting Voting Elected Officials and then selecting Voting Precinct, or by visiting this site (if you live in Indiana) where you can search your voter registration and your home precinct will be listed. If you live in Marion County a map of your precinct can be found here.
Finally, here is the complete Rules of the Indiana Democratic Party for further information.
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