Rules for the Special Election of RIGOP Chairman

The following rules and procedures governing the election of Chairman of the Rhode Island Republican State Central Committee (“RIGOP”) were approved on December 7th, 2011 by the RIGOP Executive Committee.

On December 21, 20011 there will be a special election for Chairman. All candidates for Chairman shall be responsible for submitting a letter to the RIGOP expressing his or her intent to seek the office of Chairman. This letter must include accurate contact information (phone and email) for the Nominating Committee Chairperson. An electronic submission of this letter must be sent to and received by contact [at] rigop [dot] org no later than 7:00 pm on December 11, 2011. If the candidate cannot make an electronic submission of his letter, the candidate must submit a written letter to the RIGOP at 1800 Post Road, Warwick, RI 02886. A written letter must be received by the RIGOP no later than 5:00 pm on December 9, 2011.

Candidates who have properly filed a letter of intent will be contacted by the Nominating Committee Chairperson. The chairperson of the Nominating Committee will set the time and date of Nominating Committee meeting and schedule the time at which candidates for chairman will speak. If a candidate is unable to attend, they may send a representative to attend on their behalf, attend by telephone conference or video conference, or submit information in writing or by electronic media.

When the Acting Chairman opens the floor for nominations for chairman at the December 21, 2011 meeting, the only nominations that will be in order will be those of candidates who submitted a letter expressing their intent to run for chairman by the deadline. There will be only two nominating speeches for each candidate. Each speech is limited to three (3) minutes. Nominating speeches will not be required if the race is uncontested.

Voting will be by secret ballot as is the custom of the RIGOP in any election for an officer position unless the race is uncontested. If the race is uncontested, the chairman will be elected by a voice vote. When a Member receives a ballot, they shall circle the name of the candidate for whom they wish to cast their ballot for the office being voted. The election is won by attaining a majority of the votes eligible to be cast. The majority of votes cast is defined as more than half of the votes cast by persons legally entitled to vote, excluding blanks or abstentions. Abstentions and blank ballots will not be included in determining the number of votes needed to win the election. Prior to the election, each candidate shall designate one (1) Member to serve as that candidate’s representative (“teller”) during the tabulation of votes and this person will be allowed to observe the counting of the ballots during a secret ballot election.

As soon as the results of the balloting are available, the presiding officer shall announce the ballot results starting with the number of votes received by the candidate with the highest number of votes. If there are multiple candidates, and a majority is not attained, there will be additional rounds of voting until an election results in a majority vote. Any speech announcing the withdrawal of a candidate can be made following a vote and before the next vote is taken. The speech must be made in one (1) minute or less by the candidate or an authorized representative of the candidate.

Source: Rhode Island Republican Party