Article 6 - Checks and Balances
Section 6.1 - Decision Making
Decision making by committee shall follow the pattern below;
6.1(a) 6.1.1 When an actionable proposal is presented in a committee meeting which pertains only to internal function of that committee, decisions are to be reached by consensus. If an issue arises for which a consensus cannot be reached after appropriate deliberation as judged by the committee members, it may be treated as an external issue. Internal issues are not subject to appeal, though if there is adequate cause to suspect misconduct, a case can be made for Internal Review (see Article 22).
6.1(b) 6.1.2 When an actionable proposal is presented in a committee meeting which pertains to GEU outside of the function of the committee in question, then the committee shall make decisions as follows:
6.1(c) 6.1.3 The floor shall be open for discussion for no less than 5 minutes, or the committee may establish a consensus that discussion is unnecessary. After the discussion, there will be a non-binding vote on the proposal. If the vote is not unanimous there will be a dissenting discussion, limited to a length of ten (10) minutes. The limit can be extended if a simple majority of the group believes additional time is necessary. If the vote is unanimous, no further action is required.
6.1(d) 6.1.4 If there is a dissenting discussion and no consensus is reached, the proposal will be decided by majority vote. The proposal passes if a committee majority (see Article 23) (hereafter “majority”) of the total committee members is in favor, and fails otherwise.
6.1(e) 6.1.5 If a proposal receives less than majority approval, but could pass if the votes of absent members were counted, then absentees may vote in absentia in writing until the following meeting, or until a majority in favor or against is reached. As soon as a majority is reached through absentia voting, the proposal passes. The vote of any committee members who do not vote before the next committee meeting will not be counted. If majority in favor is not reached before the next meeting, or if majority against is reached, the proposal fails. The committee shall select representatives for both supporting and dissenting points of view to provide a brief written statement which can be sent to the absent members in the email communication. Representatives will brief absent members in writing within 24 hours, and include meeting minutes in the brief.
Section 6.2 - Appeal
Any decision made by vote of a committee which affects GEU members and overall operations (hereafter “the decision”) may be appealed by another committee with a consensus among its members. If an individual member wants to appeal a decision, they must find a committee to sponsor their appeal. An appeal, once resolved, may be appealed following the same process described below:
6.2(a) 6.2.1 Broadly, any decision or appeal resolved by the Executive Board may be overruled by the Steward Council, which in turn may be overruled by the General Membership. The committee calling the appeal, (hereafter “the appealer”) shall submit their proposal to the Executive Board for consideration, unless the Executive Board is the committee which made the decision (hereafter “the subject”), or is the appealer, in which case the proposal shall be made to the Steward Council. The committee hearing the appeal is known as the “appeal committee”. If the Steward Council is the subject of appeal, or is appealer, and the issue has already involved the Executive Board, then the issue will be presented (including all documentation from any previous appeals of the decision) to and voted on by the general membership in attendance at the next General Membership Meeting as described in Section 6.3, or if the issue in question must be resolved prior to the next General Membership Meeting, a referendum should be issued as described in Section 6.4. The committee handling the appeal shall be referred to as the appeal committee.
6.2(b) 6.2.2 The appeal committee shall meet to discuss the proposal at the earliest convenience; whether that is the next scheduled meeting of the committee or a special meeting is at the appeal committee’s discretion. Written notification of the meeting shall be given to both the appealer and subject of appeal, and at least one (1) representative from each group shall be present to give context to the appeal committee. The representatives will each be given a maximum of ten (10) minutes to explain the point of view of their respective committee, after which they are considered observers to further proceedings. If a representative of the appealer or subject of appeal is not present at the time of discussion, the records pertaining to the original decision and the written proposal of appeal shall be held as self-evident and weighed by the appeal committee without support from any of the representatives.
6.2(c) 6.2.3 After taking the statements of the representatives if present, the appeal committee shall discuss the issue of the decision and proposal of appeal among themselves until a motion to resolve is made. During discussion and deliberation, the appeal committee may ask the representatives who are present “yes or no” questions for points of clarification, but elaboration will not be considered. When a motion to resolve is made, the appeal committee shall come to its decision as described in section 1.b Section 6.1.2 of this article. Once a decision is made the appeals committee will summarize the reasoning behind the decision, and shall provide a written summary of the appeal proceedings to the appealer and subject of appeal within three (3) days of the decision. If the decision being appealed changed any existing document or practice for GEU, the former version of that document or practice shall go into effect. If the issue is subsequently addressed, the body addressing the issue must take the content of any previously written appeal summary into account.
Section 6.3 - General Membership Decisions
Any committee may put a matter under its authority to a decision by the general membership. The first place to do so is the General Membership Meeting, by presenting attendees with a binary choice. The process is as follows:
6.3(a) 6.3.1 The decision must be added to the agenda no less than five (5) days prior to the meeting so that the membership can be informed of the vote. However, any committee may propose a decision regarding a matter under its authority from the floor during the meeting, to be made using the procedure in this Section.
6.3(b) 6.3.2 At least one (1) representative in favor of and one (1) against the decision shall be present to give context to the members. The representatives will each be given a maximum of ten (10) minutes to explain their respective point of view so that members in attendance are able to make informed decisions. Representatives must be prepared to take questions from the membership in a “question and answer” session lasting no more than fifteen (15) minutes.
6.3(c) 6.3.3 Voting will follow the question and answer session, where a vote passes if it has the support of a committee majority (see Article 23) of the members in attendance:
6.3(c)(1) 6.3.3.1 The VP of Operations shall conduct a voice vote and judge whether it passes the support threshold. Any member in attendance may call for a division of the assembly to clarify the outcome of the voice vote. Any member in attendance may appeal the result of the voice vote or division of the assembly and advance the process to Step 2 (below).
6.3(c)(2) 6.3.3.2 If the VP of Operations cannot judge the outcome of the voice vote or division of the assembly is appealed, members shall cast their votes anonymously by paper ballot. The vote will be tallied at the meeting by a committee of three (3) tellers, including the VP of Operations. Any member in attendance may request a recount, to be completed at the meeting by the VP of Operations and one other Executive Board member. Only one (1) recount is allowed per decision.
The decision is considered valid so long as at least a general quorum (see Article 23) of the membership was in attendance and voted, and if so, the decision will be announced immediately at the meeting and to all members via email within five (5) days of the meeting. If a decision is made but is not valid due to lack of quorum, any member present may bring the matter to referendum (see Section 6.4) without petition.
Section 6.4 - Referendum
In the case that a decision requires the input of the total membership, a referendum can be issued. If the decision is one which is not the result of a previous ruling (i.e. Internal Review, Committee Decision, or Appeal), then it can be brought to referendum by petition of a General quorum (see Article 23) submitted to and verified by the Executive Board. If the Constitution or Bylaws explicitly state that a matter is to be decided by referendum, a petition is not necessary. The outcome of a referendum is binding, and may only be overturned by referendum. Referenda shall be issued as follows:
6.4(a) 6.4.1 Upon receipt of a referendum petition or notice to the VP of Operations that a referendum is initiated in keeping with the Constitution and Bylaws, a Voting Committee will be formed, will announce a vote to take place no less than five (5) days from the verification of signatures or receipt of notice, as applicable, and will administer the vote in keeping with Article 21. In that time:
The Political Action Committee may arrange an information session for the referendum to be held on or before the final voting day.
At the discretion of the VP of Organizing and time permitting, stewards are to make house and office visits to inform the membership of the vote, and distribute the informational material provided by the Voting Committee.
6.4(b) 6.4.2 The vote on the referendum is to be carried out as described in Article 21, where the questions are issues the referendum will decide, and the options are alternative ways to address the corresponding issue. If it is practicable to maintain the status quo regarding an issue, an option to do so will be included. The result of voting will be valid once a Referendum quorum (see Article 23) has voted. Voting will remain open for at least two (2) days and until the referendum quorum has been met; voting may only be closed early upon full (100%) response from the membership. If the referendum quorum is not reached within five (5) days, no decision is made.
Section 6.6 6.5 - Conflicts of Interest
Pertaining to any decision made within the GEU; if a conflict of interest exists for a decision maker, that person is obligated to abstain from binding votes, discussion, and deliberations. Their position shall not be counted toward total membership of the deciding body. The nature of the conflict need not be divulged in any capacity, merely that one exists. If it is found that a conflict of interest exists for a decision maker, and that person did not abstain or excuse themselves from discussion, the decision is considered invalid and that person is subject to Internal Review (see Article 22). Similarly, anyone who falsely asserts that a decision maker has a conflict of interest is subject to Internal Review.
Section 6.7 6.6 – Precedence
If any provision in the Bylaws conflicts with a provision in the Constitution, the provision in the Constitution supersedes the provision in the Bylaws.