Proxy Voting at General Meetings
Preamble
WHEREAS the Green Party of Canada Constitution’s Value “Participatory Democracy” states "that in all electoral systems, each adult has an equal vote", and
WHEREAS this can create any number of biases, such as in favour of those who live near the meeting site or have sufficient funds or time to attend, and
WHEREAS our claim to be a grassroots party is seriously weakened by our lack of a participation model for non-attending members who comprise the vast majority of the membership, and
WHEREAS every other major party has some sort of mechanism for members from local ridings to have their views represented at national policy meetings by locally-chosen delegates, leaving us as, ironically, the least grassroots party, and
WHEREAS any delegate system we adopt should preserve the one-member-one-vote principle from our history and the Global Green Charter, and
WHEREAS the system being proposed below has been used successfully by the Green Party of Ontario for over a decade;
Operative
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Green Party adopt a by-law enabling proxy voting with the parameters set out below:
1) any non-attending member-in-good-standing of an EDA may send their proxy votes with any attending member-in-good-standing of the same EDA
2) any attending member-in-good-standing of an EDA may carry proxy votes from up to 9 other willing non-attending members-in-good-standing of the same EDA
3) the process of authorizing these proxies shall involve the executive of the local EDA for initial confirmation, as well as the regional organizer, national organizer, or convention organizer for final confirmation, and can be handled in writing or by email (from the email address on file for the non-attending member)
4) in a riding without an EDA, the nominated candidate and candidate-of-record shall be able to carry proxy votes on behalf of up to 9 members (each), subject to initial confirmation by the regional organizer
5) an attendee carrying proxies will have his/her vote counted as equal to the total number of proxies carried plus one (their own) for votes on policy/directive/constitution motions but not for votes on procedure
6) the proxy votes carried by an attendee must always vote together, they cannot be split; proxy votes are non-transferable
Background
The Green Party of Canada already has the principle that in all electoral systems, each adult has an equal vote, and reflects this in the one-member-one-vote online or mail-in process for electing leader and councillors, as well as in the local candidate nomination process and EDA executive elections. The GPC also reflects this in theory in policy votes at general meetings whereby each attending member has an equal vote. In practice, policy is adopted by the votes only of the minority of members who can afford the time and cost of attendance. There is absolutely no mechanism to encourage that the preference of general meeting attendees in any way accurately reflects the views of the greater party membership. A proxy system will provide an additional membership benefit, helping in the recruitment/retention of members.
Code
Proposal Type
Submitter Name
Party Commentary
Preamble
WHEREAS the Green Party of Canada Constitution’s Value “Participatory Democracy” states "that in all electoral systems, each adult has an equal vote", and
WHEREAS this can create any number of biases, such as in favour of those who live near the meeting site or have sufficient funds or time to attend, and
WHEREAS our claim to be a grassroots party is seriously weakened by our lack of a participation model for non-attending members who comprise the vast majority of the membership, and
WHEREAS every other major party has some sort of mechanism for members from local ridings to have their views represented at national policy meetings by locally-chosen delegates, leaving us as, ironically, the least grassroots party, and
WHEREAS any delegate system we adopt should preserve the one-member-one-vote principle from our history and the Global Green Charter, and
WHEREAS the system being proposed below has been used successfully by the Green Party of Ontario for over a decade;
Operative
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Green Party adopt a by-law enabling proxy voting with the parameters set out below:
1) any non-attending member-in-good-standing of an EDA may send their proxy votes with any attending member-in-good-standing of the same EDA
2) any attending member-in-good-standing of an EDA may carry proxy votes from up to 9 other willing non-attending members-in-good-standing of the same EDA
3) the process of authorizing these proxies shall involve the executive of the local EDA for initial confirmation, as well as the regional organizer, national organizer, or convention organizer for final confirmation, and can be handled in writing or by email (from the email address on file for the non-attending member)
4) in a riding without an EDA, the nominated candidate and candidate-of-record shall be able to carry proxy votes on behalf of up to 9 members (each), subject to initial confirmation by the regional organizer
5) an attendee carrying proxies will have his/her vote counted as equal to the total number of proxies carried plus one (their own) for votes on policy/directive/constitution motions but not for votes on procedure
6) the proxy votes carried by an attendee must always vote together, they cannot be split; proxy votes are non-transferable
Sponsors
Background
The Green Party of Canada already has the principle that in all electoral systems, each adult has an equal vote, and reflects this in the one-member-one-vote online or mail-in process for electing leader and councillors, as well as in the local candidate nomination process and EDA executive elections. The GPC also reflects this in theory in policy votes at general meetings whereby each attending member has an equal vote. In practice, policy is adopted by the votes only of the minority of members who can afford the time and cost of attendance. There is absolutely no mechanism to encourage that the preference of general meeting attendees in any way accurately reflects the views of the greater party membership. A proxy system will provide an additional membership benefit, helping in the recruitment/retention of members.
Party Commentary