County Convention

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A County Convention shall be held at a time of day and place set by the County Executive Committee by January 15th of the voting year and be posted on the State Party website calendar and local party websites where available.

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Time and Place

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Each County Convention shall be held on the third Saturday after the First Tuesday in March; however, if that date occurs during Passover or on the day following Good Friday, the Convention shall be held on the next Saturday that does not occur during Passover or on the day following Good Friday. The Convention shall be held in a place easily accessible to the public and large enough to accommodate all participants. 

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Qualifications and Eligibility to Participate

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Any qualified Democratic voter who will be 18 years of age or older on the date of the General Election in November who resides in the county and who has voted in the Democratic Primary, or who signs an oath affiliation to the Democratic Party and has not voted in another party’s primary, convention, or supported a candidate of another party, shall be eligible to attend, to participate in, and be a candidate for any Party Office or for any Delegate or Alternate position to be filled at that convention.

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Temporary Roll

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To attend a County Convention a person may preregister by electronic means through an online registration system maintained on the state party website. The County Chair shall advertise and make the registration site accessible through local websites.

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In a presidential election year, the registrant will make a declaration of support for presidential candidates or a statement of uncommitted status. A person may change their presidential status until the County Chair has announced that registration has closed.

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The online and in-person registration must include the statement described by Texas Election Code Section 162.004(a) and require a preregistered attendee to affiliate with the party by taking the oath described in Section 162.007(b). By pre-registering online, the registrant shall affirm that they have read and attest to both oaths.

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The preregistration shall open on the first day of filing for office for the general primary and close 48 hours prior to the county convention.

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A person who does not preregister to attend a convention may register in person at the convention.

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Any person without access to electronic registration may register in writing with the County Chair. The Chair or their designee shall enter the registration into the online system.

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Each county chair or their designees shall have access to download the list of preregistered convention attendees for their county convention.

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Each attendee at a county convention who has preregistered shall write their original signature on the list as they arrive at the convention. All eligible persons who did not preregister online shall have the right to register at their convention and provide all the required data in subsection (b) and an affirmation to the oaths.

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The list of persons who preregistered or registered on site shall become the temporary roll of the convention. 

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If for any reason, the preregistration roll is not available, the Chair shall allow onsite registration in writing for all attendees as long as preregistration data to the extent possible and oaths are maintained with an original signature for each registrant.

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Committees

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Convention Committees shall be the Committees on Credentials, Nominations, Platform and Resolutions, and Rules and Procedures. Each committee shall be composed of enough members to fairly represent the diversity of the county.

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These committees shall be appointed by the County Chair and ratified by the Precinct Chairs at an executive committee meeting after the First Primary.

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Resolutions

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Any person qualified or eligible to participate in the County Convention may submit to the County Convention Chair or a designee a proposed resolution for consideration by the Convention. Resolutions may be submitted to the Chair for referral to the Resolutions Committee beginning on the date of the canvass of the vote of the First Primary. If the state party maintains an online submission system, a resolution must be submitted through that system within one hour after the convention convenes.

 

Resolutions shall be printed on the form available on the TDP website, in Appendix A of these rules, or from the County Chair. Instructions for preparing resolutions are available from the same sources. The Chair shall announce at the beginning of the convention where and with whom resolutions shall be filed. The period for filing resolutions shall be open for at least one hour from the time of said announcement. The Convention may waive this one-hour period if there is no objection from any attendee. For resolutions submitted for the first time during a convention, after adoption by the convention they shall be entered into the state party online submission system. If the resolution was one that was posted on the state party website prior to the convention, the Chair shall simply notify the State Chair through an online system that the resolution was adopted.

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The Committee on Resolutions may meet prior to the Call to Order of the County Convention to organize their work and make preliminary recommendations of submitted resolutions or those filed online with the state party.

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Rules Changes

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Any person qualified or eligible to participate in the County Convention may submit to the County Convention Chair or a designee a proposed change to the Texas Democratic Party Rules for consideration by the Convention. Proposed rules may be
submitted to the Chair for referral to the Rules Committee beginning on thendate of the canvass of the vote of the First Primary. These proposed rules changes shall be submitted to the state party through an online system if the state party maintains an online system.

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The County Convention Chair shall announce at the beginning of the convention where and with whom rules shall be filed. The period for filing proposed changes to the rules shall be open for at least one hour from the time of said announcement. The Convention may waive this one hour period if there is no objection from any attendee.

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The Committee on Rules may meet prior to the Call to Order of the County Convention to organize their work and make preliminary recommendations of proposed changes to the rules.

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Convention Officers

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The County Convention Chair shall submit the names and information about Delegates to the State Convention and all resolutions to the State Chair within five days after the Convention. These reports shall be submitted through the online submission system. Additional delegates submitted after the convention also shall be submitted online.

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The County Chair shall be the chair of the County Convention unless the County Chair is absent or declines the position. In such a case, the delegates shall elect from among themselves a chair by majority vote.

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Submission of Delegates

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The County Chair or their designee shall submit the minutes of the convention and the list of Delegates to the State Convention through an online electronic system on the website of the state party.

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The Chair shall retain a written copy of the minutes which shall contain signatures of the County Chair and the Secretary of the Convention. The Chair or Secretary should bring this original copy to the State Convention in the event a challenge to the delegation occurs.

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Order of Business 

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The order of business at County Conventions shall be as follows:

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a) Call to Order.
b) Establishment of Temporary Roll of Delegates. (Art. IV B 4.)
c) Report of Credentials Committee. The credentials report shall include recommendations regarding challenges of attendees and shall be acted upon before other business is considered.
d) Report of the Rules and Procedures Committee and action on its report.
e) Election from among those present of a Convention Chair (if the County Chair is absent or declines the position), a Permanent Secretary, and other officers necessary to conduct Convention business. 
f) In presidential years, completion of the presidential preference or uncommitted status poll.
g) Election of Delegates to the State Convention as set forth in these rules.
h) Other Business: Committee reports, resolutions, etc.
i) Adjournment.

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Because of uncertainty of the length of any particular committee meeting, the Convention Chair may take Committee reports out of order. Further, the Reports of any Committee may be divided and partial reports given and adopted as necessary. Specifically, the report of the Committee on Resolutions can be made by the Chair of the Resolutions Committee forwarding individual resolutions as they are recommended by the Committee to the Convention Chair for action.

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Election of Delegates from County to the State Convention

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The ratio for the selection of Delegates to the State Convention shall be one Delegate for each 300 votes or major fraction thereof cast in the county for the Party’s candidate for Governor in the last General Election. Each County Convention, however, shall elect at least two Delegates to the State Convention.

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(Note: The summary above includes often abbreviated excerpts from the Texas Democratic Party Rules, which were last updated on January 25, 2023. For detailed questions concerning convention rules you can access the complete party rules below.)

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