It’s time for Reorganization, the process under the Virginia Democratic Party Plan where we elect local committee leadership.
This year, the Executive Board is recommending some changes to our bylaws to create two categories of membership and to add additional positions on our Executive Board.
Membership categories
The Virginia Democratic Party Plan states that a quorum of 30 percent of the membership is required for a local Democratic committee to take action. As Historic Triangle Democrats continue to grow, a quorum is getting harder to establish and requires a large attendance at meetings. Some larger committees handle this by limiting the number of voting members they have through various means.
Rather than setting a limit, we hope that establishing two membership categories will help keep the quorum at an achievable number and allow people to select how they would like to participate in the committee.
Voting Member:
A Voting Member shall have the right to introduce motions and vote on all business before the committee. If you want to come to meetings consistently so that a quorum can be established, we want you as a Voting Member! A Voting Member who fails to attend three consecutive meetings without notifying the Chair will be moved to a Supporting Member of the Committee.
Supporting Member:
A Supporting Member is a person who may not be able to, or have an interest in, meeting the attendance requirements of a Voting Member. Supporting Members have all other rights of membership, including being a part of discussions that may result in a vote. If you participate in the activities of the committee but don’t attend meetings, this is the category for you.
All members, whatever the category you choose, are considered Members of the Historic Triangle Democrats. These changes are not intended to eliminate any Democrats’ voice in our committee. They are designed to keep the business of the committee moving forward.
New positions on the Executive Board
The Executive Board is proposing adding four new positions to the Executive Board — a Volunteer Coordinator, a Young Democrats Liaison and At-Large Members for Williamsburg-James City County and for York County-Poquoson.
You can review the proposed bylaws here.
You can join the Historic Triangle Democrats Committee for 2026 after our meeting on Dec. 18. Our membership form will allow you to choose the membership category that works best for you.
Here is the timeline for our Reorganization:
- Thursday, December 18, 7 pm: We will vote on the proposed bylaws changes at our regular monthly meeting. That meeting will be held on Zoom. Once the bylaws are approved, the membership form will go live.
- Friday, December 19: We will post the form on our web site that you must complete to run for office and share via email. As people file to run, we will post their names on our web site and give them the opportunity to provide a 200-word statement about why they are running.
- Friday, January 2 at 5 pm: This is the deadline to file to run for an office on our Executive Board.
- Friday, January 2 at 5 pm: This is also the deadline to file to join the committee and be allowed to vote in the reorganization meeting. After this deadline, you may apply for membership and be voted in at the next monthly meeting.
- Saturday, January 10, 10 am: Our reorganization will take place via Zoom. We will vote in members and hold elections for offices that have more than one person seeking an office.