Ladies and Gentlemen, the game has changed.
For the last few years, we have been operating under a set of rules and interpretations of those rules that said that Alternates may be seated only to fill Delegate slots from their own jurisdiction. For example, at the LD Caucuses in 2008 and 2012, only Alternates from Precinct #1 could be seated to replace a Delegate from Precinct #1 that did not attend. So that's what I've been telling people, and that's what I said last night on the training livestream.
The state party office sent out an email yesterday that was brought up by Richard May but that I had not seen yet. When I saw it this morning, I reached out to get clarification because it turns my understanding of the rules on its head.
Here is the text of the email sent out by the state party:
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Seating of Alternates
The Delegate Selection and Affirmative Action Plan states that
Alternates shall be listed and seated in the order in which they were elected, and must be of the same initial presidential preference, and, to the extent possible, of the same gender and from the same electing jurisdiction as the delegate being replaced.
This paragraph tells us a number of things:
Alternates may only be seated to replace an absent or disqualified delegate. An alternate cannot be seated in a position that went unfilled at the precinct caucuses.
No delegate may be replaced by an alternate who did not share that delegate's presidential preference, under any circumstances.
Within a presidential preference, alternates shall be seated in the following order:
*Same precinct as the delegate; same gender as the delegate
*Same precinct as the delegate; different gender from the delegate
*Different precinct from the delegate; same gender as the delegate
*Different precinct from the delegate; different gender from the delegate
If, at any of those levels, there is more than one alternate available, priority shall be given to the alternate with the lowest alternate number (alternate #1 seated before alternate #2), with ties broken by lot.
Please note that these instructions are much more detailed than those listed in the Proposed Rules we sent, and must be followed. To prevent confusion at your caucus/convention we recommend that you alter Rule 2 of the proposed rules to read
2. Delegates to the [LD Caucus/County Convention] shall be the delegates and alternates elected at the precinct caucuses. An alternate shall not have a vote unless seated to replace an absent or ineligible delegate. Alternates must be of the same initial presidential preference, and, to the extent possible, of the same gender and from the same precinct as the delegate being replaced.
Finally, I've been asked what happens if a delegate shows up after an alternate has already been seated for them. Delegates retain the right to their seat, and may reclaim it from an alternate at any time.
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What does this mean? It means that the "jurisdiction" is less important than I thought it was, and that any Elected Alternate of the same Presidential Preference may be seated to fill any Delegate slot that goes unfilled within the same Legislative District because that Delegate does not show up to the Caucus.
I'm going to repeat that.
ANY Elected Alternate of the same Presidential Preference may be seated to fill ANY Delegate slot that goes unfilled within the same Legislative District because that Delegate does not show up to the Caucus.
Alternates, if you were elected at the Precinct Caucuses, you MUST show up at the LD Caucus. Your chances of being seated just got launched into the Stratosphere.
One last thing on this. Because this is new for me, it's also new for a LOT of the Chairs that will be at the podiums on Sunday April 17th and on May 1st. Have patience with them. They're volunteers just like everyone else.
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