LP Mass Constitution

The Constitution of the
Libertarian Association of Massachusetts
(As amended at the 2009 Regular State Convention)
Preamble, Name and Purpose
We, the Libertarians of Massachusetts, do hereby unite to form the Libertarian Association of
Massachusetts, in order to give voice to and implement the fundamental principle of
libertarianism: that no person, group of people, or government has the right to initiate force
against any other person, group of people, or government. We shall do this by supporting
candidates for public office, publicizing the principles and goals of libertarianism, and taking
any actions that the State Convention or the State Committee deem will further our aims. The
Association, its Bylaws, and State Committee exist solely as a path for reaching the objectives of
this preamble.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Article I: Membership. ............................................................................................................ 2
Article II: State Convention. .................................................................................................... 2
Article III: Candidates. ............................................................................................................. 2
Article IV: State Committee. .................................................................................................... 3
Article V: Bylaws, Rules and Amendments. .............................................................................. 4
Article I: Membership
1. Members are all dues-paying members in Massachusetts, and all other persons who may
so qualify under uniform rules of non-dues paying membership for which the State Committee
may provide in its Bylaws.
Article II: State Convention
1. A regular State Convention shall be held in every year.
2. Persons, who are Members of this Organization whose dues are current, and who joined
the Organization at least 30 days prior to the date of the State Convention, are eligible to vote
and participate in the business meeting at the State Convention. Persons who were dues-paying
Members of the Organization, or Sustaining Members of the National Libertarian Party, within
the past three years, including a period at least 90 days before the day of the State Convention,
but whose Organization dues are not current, may join or rejoin this Organization at the State
Convention by paying their yearly dues. They may then vote and participate in the business
meeting at the State Convention.
3. The State Convention may endorse candidates for office or it may explicitly endorse
running no candidate for an office. If it does so, the Organization will support those candidates
to within the limits of State and Federal law and other demands on its resources, and will not
support any competing candidates for the same office. In the absence of a State Convention
endorsement, either for a candidate or for no candidate, the State Committee may support a
candidate for that office, again within the limits of law and competition for resources.
Article III: Candidates
1. The responsibility for meeting the legal requirements for ballot access rests with each
candidate.
2. In the event State or Federal Law authorizes this Organization to place candidates on the
ballot, whether to replace candidates, fill vacant ballot lines, or for whatever other reason, in the
absence of contrary legal specification or directive of the State Convention, the State Committee
is authorized to act on behalf of the Organization for this purpose.
Article IV: State Committee
1. Each regular State Convention shall elect, as provided in the Bylaws, up to nine State
Committee members.
2. Within 30 days of their election, the newly-elected State Committee shall meet and elect
a Chair, a Treasurer, and such other officers as are specified in the Bylaws.
3. The State Committee shall elect officers to fill any vacancies. The State Committee may
by majority vote appoint to itself additional members.
4. All members of the State Committee shall hold office until adjournment of the next State
Convention at which their successors are chosen.
5. The State Committee may make rules for its proceedings, for the calling of State
Conventions, and for the selection of Delegates and Alternates to the National Convention.
Delegates to the Libertarian Party National Convention shall be chosen at the State Convention
held immediately prior to that National Convention.
If elections for State Committee and Convention Delegates happen at the same State
Convention, the State Committee is elected first. Persons who will be members of the State
Committee at the time of the National Convention are entitled ex officio to be named as
Delegates or Alternates, but must so request prior to the election of Delegates and Alternates.
The State Convention or State Committee may promulgate Bylaws consistent with this
Constitution to ensure a full delegation at the National Convention.
6. To be eligible to be elected as a Massachusetts Delegate to the National Convention, a
person must, at the time of the National Convention, be:
a. a legal resident of Massachusetts, and
b. a Member in good standing of the Organization.
7. The State Committee shall have the authority to adopt or amend the Bylaws by a twothirds
vote, two weeks' notice and an opportunity to respond having been given.
8. To be elected or serve as a member or officer of the State Committee, a person must be a
Member of the Organization whose dues are current.
9. Every member of the State Committee must make available their name, their office in the
Organization if any, and a working way to contact them, in the Organization's newsletter and on
the Organization's web site. This may be a physical mailing address, e-mail address, telephone
number, or some combination of these.
10. The State Committee may by two-thirds vote of its entire membership expel a person
from the State Committee, for cause, after affording the accuse reasonable access to due process.
Expiration of membership in the Organization is cause, but payment of membership dues to
renew membership, prior to the vote, constitutes an absolute defense.
Article V: Bylaws, Rules and Amendments
1. Bylaws to implement and clarify the authority and duties of persons and bodies
authorized by this Constitution may be adopted or amended by a majority vote at a State
Convention, or by a two-thirds vote of the State Committee. When each State Committee meets
for the first time to organize, any Bylaws previously in force shall remain in force unless a twothirds
vote of the State Committee shall specify otherwise, provided that any amendments to the
Bylaws shall be consistent with this Constitution and with actions at State Conventions.
2. Each body authorized by this Constitution may adopt rules for its proceedings.
3. This Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of all persons eligible to vote and
registered as attending the State Convention at which the vote is being taken, whether or not
voting, provided that there is a quorum, if and only if the following conditions are met:
a. The amendment has been approved beforehand by the State Committee, or has
been endorsed beforehand by the signatures of at least ten percent of the Members whose dues
are current, which amendment and endorsement shall be submitted in writing to the Chair of the
State Committee, and
b. A copy of the proposed amendment has been sent by mail to each Member of the
Organization whose dues are current, postmarked at least two weeks prior to the date of the State
Convention in which the amendment is to be considered.