The Editor: Rule Number 6 of the proposed rules for the Texas LULAC Convention is illegal.
Rule 6 states:
Elections shall be by stand up vote and if election is too close to call a stand up row by row count will be taken. The Election Judge shall repeat the vote to the floor.
The LULAC Constitution, Bylaws and Protocol states in Article IX, Section 4 that the election of state officers shall be the same procedures, found in Article VIII, Section 5, used to elect national officers.
Subsection d of Section 5 of Article VIII states that "[v]oting elections shall be by roll call, a show of hands, secret ballot, as the Rules Committee may recommend and the General Assembly may approve."
The Rules Committee has a role to play in LULAC elections, protected by its power granted in the LULAC Constitution, Bylaws and Protocol, but the authority to decide the method of voting in LULAC Conventions, at all levels, is the General Assembly, the General Assembly at council levels is composed of the council members, at districts by council delegates to the district conventions meeting as the General Assembly, at the state conventions, by the delegates to the state convention meeting as the General Assembly and at national conventions, meeting as the General Assembly.
The LULAC Constitution, Bylaws and Protocol has only three methods of voting, roll call, show of hands or secret ballot.
In selecting a method for voting, the Rules Committee has choices, but choices that can only be recommended from among those listed in Subsection d of Section 5 of Article VIII. The rules committee cannot out of thin air recommend a choice not among those outlined in Subsection d, roll call, show of hands or secret ballot. It can recommend one, two or all three.
The General Assembly would be informed of the recommended rule for voting and it would be left to the General Assembly to vote on the method like any motion, with the right to amendment as needed.
The Rules Committee does not have the authority to recommend any other method. Like in Rule 6, above, the proposed rule, we do not know who proposed the rule since there is not a committee report and there was no voting of the Texas LULAC Board. Regardless of who proposed the rule, whether it was Elia or who, the LULAC Constitution gives final acceptance of the voting method rule a matter for the General Assembly to decide, by simple majority vote.
This voting method authority vested in the General Assembly also includes who gets to respond to the General Assembly on matters related to voting. In most democratic societies, its the presiding officer, in LULAC, it would be the Election Judge. The Legal Advisor has no LULAC Constitution, Bylaws and Protocol role in LULAC elections, other than to interpret a legal matter. The outcome of a vote is a factual matter, not a legal matter. The eyes of the Legal Advisor cannot supplant those of the Election Judge in calling out the outcome of an election. The General Assembly is the ultimate in LULAC regarding the calling out of an election. They have constitutional authority to select the voting method/s that its General Assembly will use and to select a path to the truth in a vote that been taken that is in doubt.
The General Assembly can easily approve a rule for voting that states that voting will be by show of hands with the delegates so voting to stand up and show hands. If the vote is too close to call, the General Assembly can give the Election Judge the option of calling the vote again in similar fashion or can ask for a roll call. Along with this option, the General Assembly can include in this rule that when the Election Judge chooses not to call for a roll call vote, that a member delegate can request for a division, by noting from the floor of the Assembly, Mr./Ms. Election Judge, I move for as division, or I move for a count of the vote. This motion would require a second, would be non-debatable, non-amendable and would proceed to a stand-up vote with a show of hands.
Rule 6 should be change to:
Elections shall be by stand up vote with a show of hands and if the election is too close to call, the Election Judge shall ask for a repeat of the vote in like fashion, and if doubt still persists, the Election Judge shall ask that the vote be taken by roll call, with the option, that when the Election Judge fails to do so, the General Assembly shall permit a motion from any delegate for a roll call vote, said request shall be made in the form of a motion and treated as a non-debatable, no-amendable motion, to be voted on by a roll call vote .
The Election Judge would be wise to ask for a roll call vote, rather than have the General Assembly run the Assembly through two roll call votes, one roll call vote to decide if the General Assembly wants to have a count of the delegates voting for an officer's position and the other to have a roll call vote to count the delegates who are voting from among the candidates for the officer's position.
Rule 13 should de deleted as a rule for the Texas LULAC Convention. Rule 13 is the proposed illegal rule that gets the Legal Advisor involved in the General Assembly's elections of its officers. The Texas LULAC General Assembly does not need an attorney to tell the General Assembly whether or not the Election Judge's call on the outcome of an election for an officer passes legal muster. If the Election Judge calls the election one way and the General Assembly feels that there is doubt in the call, the General Assembly can proceed to a roll call vote as noted in the Editor's proposed Rule 6.
What you have in LULAC in Texas, California and National is an attempt to steal LULAC away from the LULAC General Assembly by crafting rules that are not in keeping with the LULAC Constitution, Bylaws and Protocol.
If you leave everything to the Convention, you will not get your day in court. You will need to go to court to straighten this mess out.
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