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Charter Amendments 2022

2022 Charter Amendments Committee Report

To: Gus Bickford, Chair, Massachusetts Democratic Party

Jim Roosevelt, legal counsel, and Nigel Simon, sub-committee liaison.

As Co-chairs of the Charter Amendments Subcommittee, we are pleased to report that the 2022 Charter Amendments Subcommittee met on Saturday, May 7th and voted on two proposed amendments to be presented to the Convention for a vote. The amendments include a statement in support of the amendments from the Charter Amendments Subcommittee written by submitter Linda Monteiro.

The proposed amendments are attached.

Thank you,

Sandi Bagley and Tyler Carlton

Co Chairs, 2022 Charter Amendments Subcommittee

Proposed Charter Amendment Article 6, Section IV.1

Article Six, Section IV.1 – State Convention

CURRENT

provide for no fewer than 2,500 delegates; and to ensure adequate representation at the Democratic State Convention, the Democratic State Committee shall survey the delegates elected at the caucuses to determine whether marginalized communities’ representation reflects the participation of the marginalized communities in the Party as defined in Article I of the Charter of the Democratic Party of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If it does not so reflect the minority population of the Commonwealth, the Democratic State Committee shall elect, based upon the recommendation of the Caucus of Minority Democrats at least thirty days prior to said convention, a number of at-large minority delegates…

REVISED

provide for no fewer than 2,500 delegates; and to ensure adequate representation at the Democratic State Convention, the Democratic State Committee shall survey the delegates elected at the caucuses to determine whether marginalized communities’ representation reflects the participation of the marginalized communities in the Party as defined in Article I of the Charter of the Democratic Party of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If it does not so reflect the underrepresented ethnic and racial groups ~~minority population~~ of the Commonwealth, the Democratic State Committee shall elect, a number of at-large ~~minority~~ delegates from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups at least thirty days prior to the said convention, based upon the recommendation of the Caucus of ~~Minority~~ Democrats from Underrepresented Ethnic and Racial Groups, formerly known as the Caucus of Minority Democrats. All of the add-on delegate categories must meet the same diversity goals that are used to fulfill the Party’s commitment to diverse representation when selecting the add-on delegates from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups…

NEW

provide for no fewer than 2,500 delegates; and to ensure adequate representation at the Democratic State Convention, the Democratic State Committee shall survey the delegates elected at the caucuses to determine whether marginalized communities’ representation reflects the participation of the marginalized communities in the Party as defined in Article I of the Charter of the Democratic Party of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If it does not so reflect the underrepresented ethnic and racial groups of the Commonwealth, the Democratic State Committee shall elect a number of at-large delegates from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups at least thirty days prior to the said convention based upon the recommendation of the Caucus of Democrats from Underrepresented Ethnic and Racial Groups, formerly known as the Caucus of Minority Democrats. All of the add-on delegate categories must meet the same diversity goals that are used to fulfill the Party’s commitment to diverse representation when selecting the add-on delegates from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups…

RATIONALE: A statement was added to ensure the Party’s commitment to the diversity of the delegation at the State Convention is achieved and representative of the current composition of the Commonwealth. The additional changes in this clause are purely administrative to remove the final remaining references of the term minority in the Charter. As background, the former term minority was approved to be replaced with the term underrepresented ethnic and racial groups at the 2021 State Convention.

Respectfully Submitted by

Linda Monteiro

Member, Democratic State Committee

Co-chair, Affirmative Action and Outreach Subcommittee

Proposed Charter Amendment Article Three, Section II.c

Article Three, Section II.c – State Committee