The Organizational Meeting of County and State Central Committees

Don't let yourself be taken for a ride

Many members of County and State Central Committee are buffaloed into producing a set of bylaws and officers that do not represent their constituents. With the low turnout in Ohio’s split primary it is more important than ever to not get hornswoggled.

The organizational meeting is without a doubt the most important meeting of a central committee.

GETTING THINGS STRAIGHT

As organizational meetings go for State and County Central Committees, we should get a few things straight right off the bat.

No matter whether your State Central Committee or County Central Committee have adopted “permanent” bylaws or not – they are not permanent. Ohio law does not make a provision to bind a succeeding committee to a preceding committee. Every new committee is just that – new and novel in the eyes of the law. In fact, Ohio’s direct primary laws were supposed to prevent “permanent bylaws” when they were passed in 1906. The direct primary laws were designed to eliminate the influence of party bosses once they were out of power. One way Ohio achieved limiting the power of the party bosses was to make no provision for the party bosses to maintain their influence through the party bylaws.

In EU Vs San Francisco Democratic Committee, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the first and fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution provide political parties with associational rights that means that each incoming party has the right to determine their own rules. This means that has been interpreted to mean the incoming party can adopt the old bylaws, adopt new bylaws, or adopt no bylaws and give all the power to the chairman of the party. Every new State or County Central Committee is new and novel – exactly like Ohio’s General Assembly is a new General Assembly every two years.

Ohio Revised Code 3517.02 is a vague law and does not assert that when a new Central Committee is sworn in that they must adopt bylaws. Instead, the code just says that they must be registered with the Secretary of State within 30 days of adoption.

Section 3517.02 | Controlling committees of major or intermediate political party.

All members of controlling committees of a major political party shall be elected by direct vote of the members of the party, except as otherwise provided in section 3517.05 of the Revised Code. Their names shall be placed upon the official ballot, and, notwithstanding division (B) of section 3513.23 of the Revised Code, the persons receiving the highest number of votes for committeepersons shall be the members of those controlling committees. Each member of a controlling committee shall be a resident and qualified elector of the district, ward, or precinct that the member is elected to represent. All members of controlling committees of a minor political party shall be determined in accordance with party rules.

Each political party shall file with the office of the secretary of state a copy of its constitution and bylaws, if any, within thirty days of adoption or amendment. Each party shall also file with the office of the secretary of state a list of members of its controlling committees and other party officials within thirty days of their election or appointment.

Let’s be clear, not adopting bylaws at the organizational meeting – even if it is the old bylaws – is very dangerous and a callous disregard in protecting the organization. Sending a copy of the bylaws to the Secretary of State’s office is a public declaration of the incoming state or county central committee that they all agreed at the organizational meeting that these would be the rules that govern their organization. If there is no public declaration of the bylaws by which the party is organized, then unlimited shenanigans can take place with no legal recourse. For example, the chairman could declare that they have an unlimited spending authority and could make preposterous purchases and with no adopted bylaws the central committee would have no legal recourse against the chairman.

An organizational meeting is not a reorganizational meeting. An organizational meeting is only for a new and novel organization. A reorganizational meeting is the reorganization of an existing organization. In a reorganizational meeting, the old bylaws must be followed until new ones are adopted.

Now, it is true that political parties have been given wide latitude by the courts to govern their internal affairs. They have been determined to be treated as private organizations. Yet, bylaws do not trump the Ohio Revised Code.

Ohio Revised Code 3517.04 is quite specific of who is supposed to do what at the organizational meeting. That the retiring chairman presides over the meeting long enough to elect a temporary chair and secretary. That the temporary chair is to preside over electing the officers of the organizations.

Section 3517.04 | Organization of state central committees.

The members-elect of each major political party state central committee shall, except as otherwise provided in this section, meet following the declaration of the results by the boards of elections of the election of members of the state central committees, at a suitable place and time to be designated by the retiring chairman of the committee in accordance with party rules. In the case of a county central committee, the meeting shall be held not earlier than six nor later than fifteen days following the declaration of the results by the board of elections of the election of members of county central committees in that county. Notice of any meeting held pursuant to this section, giving the place and time, shall be sent to each member-elect by the retiring secretary of the committee by mail and a copy of the notice shall be posted in the office of the secretary of state or board of elections, as the case may be, at least five days prior to any such meeting. The meeting shall be called to order by the retiring chairman or secretary or if there is no such officer, or if such officer is absent, then by a member of such committee designated by the secretary of state in the case of the state committees, and by a member of the board of elections of the same political party, designated by the board, in the case of county committees. A temporary chairman and secretary shall be chosen and the committee shall proceed to organize by the election of a chairman, vice-chairman, treasurer, secretary, and such other officers as the rules provide.

The State Central Committee Ohio Republican Party have bylaws that are inconsistent with the Ohio Revised code and are thereby unlawful.

ARTICLE II SECTION I

During the month of January of each odd-numbered year, the Committee shall meet and elect its officers by a majority vote of the seated members of the Committee (but not including vacancies in the Committee). Any contested election for officers shall be voted by secret ballot. The officers shall serve at the pleasure of a majority of the seated members of the Committee (but not including vacancies in the Committee), or until their successors are elected and qualified. Unless otherwise provided by law (Ohio Revised Code Section 3517.02 or any successor provision then in effect), the Committee shall be the judge of the qualifications and the election of its members of the Committee. All contests of the election of members shall be brought, filed, and determined in accordance with the laws of Ohio (Ohio Revised Code Section 3517.02 and Ohio Revised Code Section 3517.03 or any success provision then in effect) and the rules of the Committee, not inconsistent therewith.

Their bylaws, Article II Section I (as referenced above) call for having their elections for officers in January. Article II Section I besides being unlawful stands opposed to Article I Section II which calls for all officers being elected at the organizational meeting. This just illustrates how poorly the Ohio Republican Party Bylaws are written and how little faith should be placed in Bricker and Eckler’s ability to produce bylaws that are not confusing and are legal.

ARTICLE I SECTION II

 At the first meeting of the State Central Committee following the election and qualification of its members, all of its officers, the chairman and co-chairman of the Ohio Republican Finance Committee, and the National Committeeman and National Committeewoman, shall be nominated and elected to the State Executive Committee, which shall then be merged into the Republican State Central Committee.

The Reign of Bob Paduchik - is it coming to an end?

For those trying to guess what will happen on September 9th here is what I see in my crystal ball.

Scenario 1:

The September 9th organizational meeting is cancelled and rescheduled for sometime in December or January. While ORC3517.04 is specific on a date for county central committees it is not specific for State Central Committees. The Bylaws only mention a specific date in January and do not mention a date for the organizational meeting….(another shortcoming of the poorly written bylaws.) Why would they do this - this keeps Bob in charge until after the November election and makes it that much more likely if he has a successful mid-term that he could be re-elected.

Scenario 2:

The Party leaders keep the September 9th meeting and use an immense amount of bullshit to say that the January 6th date is the date that must be followed to elect it leaders and tie everything up in court - which won’t be decided before January and so he will get what he wants.

How to head off Bob Paduchik at the pass.

The organizational meeting has to take place - if he does not reschedule the meeting to December or January then new members can adopt new bylaws and give clarity as to when the meeting must occur.

If Bob reschedules the meeting for December, then you have a valid case of challenging him with the Secretary of State who has the controlling committee. A majority of members would have to meet and draft bylaws and go through the organizational meeting process and then it is up to the Secretary of State to determine who leads the party.

Unfortunately, it seems that those that tend to take the bull by the horns on the State Central Committee do not like to listen to the that have experience in these ventures and while we wish our conservatives well and hope they have success………we do not see the odds in their favor.