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Preamble

We are the University of North Carolina Young Democrats. Our purpose is to educate the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's campus community concerning political issues and governmental affairs, and motivate it to take action generating positive change. We will encourage our members to take full advantage of their rights to vote and voice their opinion. We will encourage them to use the Democratic Party as their outlet for their political and social activism.

Article I: Name and Affiliations

Section 1: Name

The name of this organization will be the University of North Carolina Young Democrats (UNCYD).

Section 2: Affiliations

This organization will be affiliated with the Democratic Party of North Carolina, the Orange County Democratic Party, and the North Carolina Federation of College Democrats and will be influenced and guided by the policies and platforms of the local, state, and national Democratic Party.

Section 3: Limitations

This organization will not take any action that is in conflict with these bylaws, with the Constitution of the United States, with the North Carolina Constitution, with national, state, or local law, or with the Student Code.

Article II: Policy

Section 1: Nondiscrimination

UNCYD will encourage participation in the Democratic Party by all, without regard to race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity/expression.

Section 2: Active interest

UNCYD will take an active interest in campus, city, county, state, national, and international affairs.

Section 3: Democratic nominees

This organization will support actively and by appropriate means the nominees of the Democratic Party in national, state, and local elections.

Section 4: Pre-nomination

This organization will not endorse or support any candidacy for public office prior to nomination by the Democratic Party, with the exception of those outlined in Appendix III.  However, individual members may support individual candidates prior to nomination. The organization may also provide publicity, room reservation services, and/or other benefits to Democratic campaigns prior to an endorsement as long as it offers to do so on an equal basis to all Democratic candidates running for a particular office.

Section 5: Allied organizations

This organization will seek to ally itself with other campus and community organizations in pursuit of common interests and goals.

Section 6: Issue positions

This organization may enact resolutions expressing the political sentiments of the membership. A simple majority of the members present at an official general membership meeting will be required for passage. These positions may be codified into an organizational platform that will be distributed to the affiliated organizations of UNCYD and appropriate public officials.

Section 7: Website

This organization will maintain a website that contains at least these bylaws and contact information of the Officers.

Article III: Membership

Section 1: Eligibility

Any member of the student body, faculty, or staff of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is eligible for full membership and participation without regard to race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity/expression.

Section 2: Membership in Good Standing

All members will be in good standing and entitled to vote on general motions, resolutions, and in elections, as long as they have met their financial obligation to the organization, which will be constituted by the payment of annual dues in an amount determined by the organization's executive council. The deadline for fulfilling these financial obligations is at the regularly scheduled meeting immediately preceding a general election.

Section 3: Dues

Dues shall remain as set in the beginning of the fall semester and if changed shall not take effect until August 1st.

Article IV: Officers

Section 1: Composition

The Officers of UNCYD will be composed of a president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer which will be elected by the membership at large.

Section 2: Duties and responsibilities

It is the responsibility of all Officers to enforce and uphold the provisions of these bylaws. Other duties of the Officers will be outlined elsewhere in this document.

Section 3: Decision-making by the Officers

Each Officer will cast one vote (regardless of the number of individuals holding the office) with majority ruling in any case unless otherwise specified by these bylaws. Each jointly-held office shall have one vote, and if unable to reach a consensus, shall abstain. In the event of a tie due to abstention or absence, the president will cast the deciding vote. In the event of a tie coinciding with the absence or abstention of the president, the next highest present Officer not abstaining (in descending order of vice president, secretary, and treasurer) will cast the deciding vote.

Section 4: Officer Meetings

The Officers will meet at a mutually agreed upon time and place at a minimum of once every two weeks during fall and spring semesters. Special meetings of the Officers may be called, but no binding action may be taken unless two-thirds of the Officers are present.

Article V: Election of Officers

Section 1: Qualifications

Any student, faculty, or staff member in good standing for at least thirty days previous to nomination is eligible to hold office. Each office will be occupied by only one person unless the prospective officeholders are nominated and run for election as a team, in which case it is permissible for two people to hold office jointly.

Section 2: Nominations

Nominations will take place at the regularly scheduled meeting immediately preceding elections. Additional nominations may be taken immediately prior to election with consent of a simple majority of the present membership. Only members present may be nominated immediately prior to an election. Nominations must be accepted to be valid.

Section 3: Elections

Elections will take place at the last regularly scheduled meeting in November to become effective at December 1st. The first voting will not occur until at least fifteen minutes after the scheduled starting time of the meeting.

Section 4: Voting

All elections will be conducted by secret ballot.  The outgoing president(s) or the president’s designee if he/she/they are up for election, shall run the election. The candidate receiving a majority in an election will be declared the winner. When no majority exists, the two candidates with the most votes will participate in a run-off election. In the event of a tie, the election will be decided by moving the election from within the general membership meeting to the general membership listserv, in which an announcement will be sent out to the members via email. In this email, each candidate will be able to issue a statement concerning his or her candidacy. Dues paying members will be able to vote for a candidate via email to the secretary before the next regularly scheduled meeting, when the results will be announced. In the case of a tie, the election will then be decided by a coin toss in which the candidates whose last name occurs first in alphabetical order will be designated "heads."

Article VI: Committees

Section 1: Composition

The Committees of UNCYD will be appointed by the Officers each semester to assist in the planning and implementation of UNCYD’s events and programs. Each committee must consist of at least one Director, and may consist of any number of general members as determined and appointed by the Officers.

Section 2: Cabinet

The Officers along with the Committee Directors shall make up the UNCYD Cabinet. The Cabinet will meet regularly, a minimum of once every two weeks during the fall and spring semesters, and regular attendance will be expected (see Appendix I).

Section 3: Applications

The Officers will meet each semester to prepare applications for Committee positions to be distributed in a timely manner. To appoint each Committee and its Director(s), each Officer will cast one vote; in the event of a tie, the president casts the deciding vote. Any Committee appointment is subject to majority approval of the general membership in good standing at the meeting at which selections are announced.

Article VII: Vacancies

Section 1: Special Elections

Such vacancies as may occur in any elected office will be filled by the president on an interim basis. At the first general membership meeting following the vacancy, the president will advise the membership of the need for a special election, which will occur at the following meeting. All nomination and election procedures will be followed as outlined in Article V.

Section 2: Presidential Vacancy

In the event the office of the president becomes vacant, the vice president will temporarily assume the duties of president. The vice president will then provide for the announcement and execution of a special election as outlined in Article VII, Section 1.

Section 3: Jointly Held Offices and Vacancy

When one of two persons jointly holding an officer position chooses to vacate the office, the other officeholder must also immediately vacate the office. New elections will be held as outlined in Article IV, Section 1 and 2.

Section 4: Other Vacancies

In the event of a vacancy in a Committee, the Officers may appoint a replacement following Article VI, Section 3, though it is not required.

Article VIII: Removal

Section 1: Grounds for Removal

There are two separate categories of grounds for removal from office: violation of the attendance policy and miscarriage of duty.

Section 2:  Attendance

All members of the Cabinet are expected to abide by the Cabinet Attendance Policy as outlined in Appendix 1 of this bylaws document. Violation of the policy is grounds for an impeachment hearing, as outlined in Article VIII, Section 4. Non-cabinet committee members are expected to attend meetings in a manner outlined by the Officers at the beginning of the semester.

Section 3: Miscarriage of Duty

Non-attendance-based grounds for removal include (but are not necessarily limited to) failure to carry out the requirements of office as outlined in this document, fraud, perjury, embezzlement, or conviction of a felony.

Section 4: Procedure

A Committee Member or Director appointed by the Officers may be removed on the grounds of attendance or miscarriage of duty at any time by an affirmative 3/4 vote of the Officers. Alternatively, an impeachment procedure for any Officer or Committee Director may be initiated by any member in good standing filing a written complaint with the president describing the nature of the breach of Attendance Policy or the miscarriage of duty, signed by at least ten percent of the membership in good standing. Notice of impeachment must be given at the first general membership meeting following initiation of the motion, with impeachment proceedings to be held at the following regularly scheduled meeting. An affirmative vote by two-thirds of the members in good standing present shall be required for removal from office. In the event the person under impeachment cannot be reached by that time, the impeachment vote will be postponed until the following regularly scheduled meeting, at which a vote will take place regardless of the presence of the impeached.

Section 5: Impeachment of the president

If the Officer under impeachment is the president, the vice president will perform the functions assigned to the president in Article VIII, Section 4.

Article IX: Government

Section 1: Meetings

The organization will hold weekly general membership meetings during the regular academic year. A quorum of 30 members in good standing will be required for binding action on the business of the organization.

Section 2: Amendments

These bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members in good standing present at a general membership meeting when fourteen days prior notice of the prospective amendment is given. When no previous notice is given, any amendment may be affected by a three-quarters vote of members in good standing. All amendments must be presented in written form.

Section 3: Parliamentary Authority

The following authorities in the following order of precedence will govern the proceedings of UNCYD: these bylaws, rulings of a general membership meeting, the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order, and executive discretion.

Appendix I: Cabinet Attendance Policy

Section 1: Purpose

Participation and attendance of meetings by the Cabinet is vital to assure the effective administration of this organization.

Section 2: Procedure

Each member of the Cabinet will be allowed three absences per semester from the Cabinet  meetings and regularly scheduled meetings (cumulative). In the event a Cabinet member is absent from a meeting, one absence will be accrued by them. At such time that a Cabinet  member accrues three absences, a written notice will be sent to the Cabinet member by the president informing them that they have reached their allowable total of absences and that any further absence may result in impeachment proceedings.
Exceptions: Mandatory academic events are the only legitimate excuse for absences. Any other legitimate reasons for the absences can be addressed to the organization during the impeachment proceedings.

Appendix II: County and State Election Laws

All members will be informed of the provisions of state and county elections laws so that no member knowingly violates these laws in the course of their work throughout the campaign season or on Election Day.

Appendix III: UNCYD Sponsored Forum

Section 1: Purpose

To more actively involve the organization in campus political life by offering endorsements for candidates in the Student Body presidential races during each spring semester.

Section 2: Procedure for the SBP Forum

UNCYD will hold its own SBP forum during the spring semester. Every SBP candidate will be invited to attend.  The Officers will determine the format, date, and time of the forum.  UNCYD will endorse a candidate for Student Body President at the end of the meeting.

Section 3: SBP Endorsement Vote

The procedure for endorsing shall be the same as the process for the election of Officers as outlined in Article V, Section 4 of these bylaws.

Section 4: Other Elections

Additionally, UNCYD may choose to endorse one or more candidates for other student elections, such as Student Congress, or to endorse a different candidate for Student Body President if the previously endorsed one has dropped out or become ineligible. A forum is not required for these endorsements. Either a unanimous affirmative vote by the Officers OR a 3/4 affirmative vote of the Cabinet (Officers and Committee Chairs, if any) is required to endorse a candidate.

Section 4: Meaning of Endorsement

Any candidate endorsed by the UNC Young Democrats shall have access to member and phone lists, the UNCYD office, and all items that cannot be depleted. UNCYD shall also be obligated to request volunteers from the general membership at the following regularly scheduled meetings for the purposes of working on the campaigns of said endorsed candidates.