Article I. The name of this organization shall be the College Democrats of Notre Dame.
Article II. The purpose of the College Democrats of Notre Dame will be to uphold and promote the principles of the Democratic Party and social justice through debate and action.
Article III. Membership
Section 1. Membership is open to any interested student of the University of Notre Dame, Holy Cross College, and St. Mary’s College.
Section 2. Each member must pay annual dues. The exact amount shall be determined by the executive board of the College Democrats. The fee shall be collected during the first three meetings of an academic year. If a member joins after the first three meetings of the academic year, the Finance Director will collect the established annual fee at the time of the member’s enrollment.
Section 3. The faculty and staff of Notre Dame, Holy Cross College, and Saint Mary’s College are welcomed to join the Notre Dame College Democrats as associate members. As associate members, these members possess no voting rights and cannot be elected to a club office.
Article IV. Election of Officers
Section 1. An annual election shall be held during the month of March for the officers of the executive board.
Section 2. Candidates for office must be members of the College Democrats of Notre Dame. Candidates for office must be students attending the University of Notre Dame, Holy Cross College or Saint Mary’s
College. Additionally, at a minimum, at least half of the executive board must be undergraduate students of the University of Notre Dame. At least one of the Co-Presidents must be an undergraduate student of the University of Notre Dame.
Section 3. Interested individuals must announce their candidacy to the membership prior to the elections. There will be an initial anonymous candidacy declaration process, which will later be publicized and available for change.
Section 4. With the exception of Co-presidents or semester-alternating tickets, the formation of slates for multiple positions will not be allowed.
Section 5. The position of Election Commissioner will be appointed by the executive board of the Notre Dame College Democrats prior to the candidacy declaration process. The Election Commissioner will be responsible for overseeing elections, and shall not be a member of the preceding Executive Board, or a candidate for the Executive Board.
Section 6. Elections will take place at the annual Election Meeting. At this time each candidate or ticket will have the opportunity to address the membership. In the event that the candidate is studying abroad during the semester of the election, they can designate an individual to speak on their behalf at meeting of the election. Candidates have the option to submit a video for their candidacy no longer than 1:30 minutes or a short statement no longer than 200 words. Elections will take place via a google form administered by the Election Commissioner, who will verify all votes as being from members of College Democrats, characterized by membership on the listserv at the time of the election. Elections will close at midnight on the day after the election meeting. The election commissioner will announce the results of elections via email on the following day.
Section 7. The Election Commissioner, assisted by a member of the general membership, will tabulate the results and announce the new officers to the complete membership. The candidates winning a majority of votes cast in their election will win. In the event that no candidate receives at least 50%+1 of the votes cast in their election, a run-off election shall be held between the two candidates receiving the most votes. Ties will result in an immediate runoff vote between the two tied candidates, except in the case of a tie between Co-Presidential tickets, wherein the tie will be broken by members of the newly elected executive board. The tie break will be administered by the Election Commissioner.
Section 8. In the event that the candidate is studying abroad one semester for the term in which they would be in office, they are permitted to run as a joint ticket with one other member of the club who will be present for the semester in which the aforementioned candidate is absent. It is the responsibility of the candidate studying abroad to secure a running partner. If they fail to do so, they will be disqualified from the election. There will be no time constraint for when this partnership can be formed prior to the election.
Article V. Officers
Section 1. Two Co-Presidents, Vice-President, Political Director, Finance Director, Communications Director, Partnerships Director, and Programs Director shall be the officers of the club.
Section 2. The duties of the Co-Presidents shall be to preside over meetings of the College Democrats of Notre Dame and to oversee all College Democrats activities.
Section 3. The duties of the Vice-President shall be to preside over meetings of the College Democrats in the absence of the Co-Presidents and to assist the Co-Presidents in College Democrats activities.
Section 4. The duties of the Political Director shall be to interact with campaigns and secure internship opportunities for the members of the club.
Section 5. The duties of the Finance Director shall be to directly oversee the financial transactions and the general financial status of the College Democrats of Notre Dame and to prepare accurate financial statements at the end of their term. The Finance Director shall also oversee any fundraising activities.
Section 6. The duties of the Communications Director shall be to maintain websites affiliated with the club including the official club website, Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter; issue press releases to the local media; and serve to promote the goals and ideals of the club through the media in any other capacity.
Section 7. The duties of the Programs Director are to plan events and correspond with speakers.
Section 8. The duties of the Partnerships Director shall be to sponsor events and form relations with other clubs and organizations on campus and off.
Section 9. All the officers will form the core of the Executive Board and all, excluding the advisor, will have one vote.
Section 10. In the case that an officer should take a leave of absence (or separates) from the university, said officer will recommend a replacement to be voted upon by the board. In the case that the board fails to approve that replacement, a special election shall take place for that position to fill the rest of the vacancy, following the election protocol in Article IV.
Section 11. Ad hoc officer positions for a given academic year can be created with the unanimous consent of the incoming Co-Presidents and Vice President for that academic year. Appointees to ad hoc officer positions must be approved by a majority vote of the incoming Executive Board.
Article VI. Impeachment of Officers
Section 1. An elected officer found to be deficient in their duties may be promptly removed by a two-thirds vote of voting College Democrats of Notre Dame voting members, and shall be replaced following the guidelines of the elections of officers.
Section 2. The advisor of the College Democrats shall oversee impeachment proceedings.
Article VII. Advisor
Section 1. The duties of the advisor shall be to provide advice and support for the membership of the College Democrats of Notre Dame upon request.
Section 2. The advisor of the Notre Dame College Democrats must be a full-time faculty or administrative member at the University of Notre Dame.
Section 3. Candidates for advisor to the Notre Dame College Democrats must be annually elected by the members of the Notre Dame College Democrats by a majority vote.
Article VIII. Meetings
Section 1. The College Democrats of Notre Dame will meet at least bimonthly (two times per) on a day determined by the executive board. Members will be notified of meetings via email by the executive board.
Section 2. A quorum is established for a purpose of a meeting when at least one-third of the members are in attendance as determined by the officers. If less than one-third of members are present, any action by the members present is non-binding.
Section 3. In the event that an emergency meeting of the club must be held, the Co-Presidents of the club shall have the authority to call such meetings. All officers must agree in advance to the emergency meeting and at least 24 hours’ notice must be provided to all active members by sending out an email. Communication of emergency meetings will be the responsibility of the Co-Presidents.
Article IX. Disbursement of Funds
Section 1. Any expenditure under $100 must be approved by a member of the executive board and the Finance Director.
Section 2. Any expenditure exceeding $100 must be approved by a vote of the members of the executive board.
Section 3. All receipts, including those from on or off-campus charges, should be turned into the Finance Director within a week of the transaction.
Article X. Amendments.
Section 1. Amendments to this constitution may be made at any time by a majority vote of voting members. Section 2. All amendments must be submitted in writing directly to the Student Activities Office for approval following a membership vote.
Article XI. Affiliation Clause
Section 1. The policies of the University of Notre Dame shall supersede policies of the state and national federations of College Democrats in the event of a conflict of interest.