Constitution

Downloadable Version Here:
UTRCC Constitution as Adopted on 8-5-19

Union Township Republican Party
Clermont County, Ohio
A member of Clermont County Republican Party

CONSTITUTION OF
THE UNION TOWNSHIP REPUBLICAN PARTY
CLERMONT COUNTY, OHIO

Amendment History
• As amended on August 5, 2019 from a Constitution last amended April 4, 2005.

Preamble
The Union Township Republican Central Committee (UTRCC), of Clermont County, Ohio, in accordance with the statutes of the State of Ohio, hereby makes, ordains and establishes the Constitution of the Union Township Republican Party (UTRP) of Clermont County, Ohio.

Article 1: Purpose
The purpose of the UTRCC shall be to assist and/or render support in securing the most capable, honest and forward-looking administration of government at all levels—national, state, county, township, village and city, in accordance with the principles of the Republican Party as enunciated by the State, County and National Committees of our Party. Further, the Purpose of the UTRCC shall be to conduct activities of the UTRP, promote Republican principles and policies, and to cooperate and assist Republican efforts in national, state, and local elections.

Article 2: Membership and Organization
Section 1: Membership
The UTRCC shall consist of one member, henceforth referred to as a committeeman, elected from or appointed to each precinct in Union Township, in accordance with the Statutes of Ohio and this Constitution.

Section 2 – Election and Re-Organization
A. Following an election of committeemen, administered by the Clermont County Board of Elections (BOE), there shall be a reorganization meeting for the sole purpose of electing officers of the UTRCC.
B. The reorganization meeting will be scheduled after the date of certification of election results by the BOE and before the organizational meeting of the Clermont County Republican Central Committee (CCRCC).
C. The Chairman of the outgoing UTRCC shall call the meeting inviting all newly elected committeemen of the UTRCC per certified results from the BOE. For newly elected committeemen, who were not committeemen of the outgoing UTRCC, notice of such meeting shall be sent by postal mail postmarked at least 5 days prior to said reorganization meeting to addresses as provided by the BOE. For newly elected committeemen who were committeemen of the outgoing UTRCC, notice may be provided by electronic means per Article 3, Section 3 (A).
D. At the reorganization meeting, the outgoing Chairman shall serve as Chairman of the meeting. The outgoing Secretary shall serve as Secretary of the meeting. A quorum shall be at least thirty percent (30%) of newly elected committeemen.
E. At the reorganization meeting, the newly elected UTRCC committeemen shall elect a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer. All officers shall be selected from the elected membership of the UTRCC. Each newly elected committeeman present shall have one vote in each election. Proxy votes are not to be honored.
F. UTRCC officer elections shall be by secret ballot and a majority of all votes shall constitute an election. In the event of a plurality, the candidate receiving the lowest number of votes shall be dropped in each round of voting until a majority is obtained. In the event of a tie, a two-sided coin shall be used to break the tie. The two candidates must be assigned an individual side of the coin before the coin toss. The coin shall be tossed in the air, landing upon be tossed, landing upon the floor in plain sight, to determine the winner. All secret ballots shall be destroyed immediately following the election by a person designated by the Chairman. Where there is only one candidate for an office, an election may be held by voice vote.
G. If an office is not filled at the reorganization meeting, that office shall be declared vacant and can be elected (filled) at any subsequent UTRCC committee meeting. The vacancy shall be an agenda item at each regular meeting until such vacancy, from the reorganization meeting, is filled.
H. All records maintained by the outgoing Secretary and Treasurer shall be turned over to the newly elected Secretary and Treasurer within thirty (30) days of the reorganization. The financial records shall be reviewed within thirty (30) days of receipt of the records by three separate individuals as designated by the newly elected Chairman. The purpose of the review shall be to provide an independent opinion on the truthfulness and fairness of the financial statements and to determine that no material misstatements have been made.

Section 3 – Officer Responsibilities
A. The Chairman shall preside over all meetings. He shall have the authority to appoint subcommittees and is a de-facto member of every committee. He shall run all meetings in accordance with Roberts Rules of Order unless otherwise noted in this Constitution.
B. The Vice Chairman shall, in the event of the Chairman’s absence, serve in the capacity of the Chairman.
C. The Treasurer will be responsible for all funds of the UTRCC and shall keep accounts of such funds and receipts and disbursements. The Treasurer shall deposit all funds with a financial institution in the name of the UTRCC within a reasonable period of time. The Deposits must be federally insured or guaranteed. The Treasurer shall keep the financial records of the UTRCC which shall be available for inspection by any committeeman within a reasonable time period. The Treasurer shall prepare and submit any required campaign finance reports. In the event of the Chairman’s and Vice Chairman’s absence, the Treasurer shall serve in the capacity of the Chairman.
D. The Secretary shall keep minutes of all meetings of the UTRCC, which shall be circulated to all members of the UTRCC and be available for inspection at reasonable times. The secretary shall keep the records of the UTRCC. Records are defined as meeting minutes, contracts, committeeman contact information (including e-mail addresses), resignation letters since the last election of committeemen administered by the BOE, and document(s) presented to the committee. In the event of the Chairman’s, Vice Chairman’s, and Treasurer’s absence, the Secretary shall serve in the capacity of the Chairman.
E. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman shall serve as members of the Executive Committee of the CCRCC. The Chairman shall vote for the UTRCC. The Vice-Chairman shall vote for the UTRCC in the absence of the Chairman. In the event of the absence of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman the Treasurer shall assume the role of Chairman for purposes of Executive Committee of the CCRCC and vote for the UTRCC. The Chairman, in the UTRCC regular meeting preceding any CCRCC Executive Committee meeting, shall consult UTRCC committeemen on known issues to be considered or raised in order to ascertain and vote the will of the UTRCC.

Section 4 – Committeemen
A. The expectations of a UTRCC committeeman are to regularly attend UTRCC and CCRCC meetings and to assure coverage of their precinct polling location on election days.
B. In addition, UTRCC committeemen are encouraged to participate in CCRCC and UTRCC activities.
Section 5 – Committeeman (Precinct) Vacancies
A. Beginning with the first meeting after the reorganization meeting, appointments can be made to fill precinct vacancies by virtue of no one being elected, death, resignation, a committeeman moving from their precinct of residence or act of law.
B. Vacancies must be announced at least one meeting prior to the appointment of a committeeman excepting positions initially vacant by virtue of no one having run for the position.
C. To be considered for appointment to the UTRCC, any person must show in the Secretary of State (SoS) voting records as a Republican and their voting address, per the SoS, must be within Union Township.
D. Should more than one person seek appointment as committeeman for a given UTRCC precinct, a person residing in the precinct shall have precedence.
E. Appointment to the UTRCC shall be by a vote of the UTRCC. Such appointments shall be considered provisional and subject to approval by the CCRCC. Should such an appointment be voted down by the CCRCC, the UTRCC appointment shall be considered revoked. The UTRCC has the right to rescind any appointment, not yet voted upon by the CCRCC, by majority vote at any regular meeting subsequent to the appointment being made.

Section 6 – Officer Vacancies
A. Should an officer position that was filled at the reorganization or subsequent meeting become vacant due to death, resignation, an officer moving from their precinct of residence, officer removal (pursuant to Article 2, Section 7) or act of law each officer shall advance to the next higher level. These advancements shall be considered “acting” and shall be in effect until the UTRCC conducts an election to fill officer vacancies.
B. Should the Treasurer advance to Vice Chairman, he shall also maintain his duties and title of Treasurer. The Secretary shall advance only if the Office of Treasurer becomes vacant.
C. A special meeting shall be called by the Chairman, within a reasonable period of time, to fill the officer vacancy and any other officer vacancy that occur as a result of filling the initial opening. Such officer election shall take place following the procedure outlined in Article 2, Section 2 (F) of this Constitution.
D. Should the office of Secretary be vacant, the Chairman shall have the authority to appoint an acting secretary for any regular or special meeting in order to assure minutes are taken.

Section 7 – Officer Removal
A. Any officer of the UTRCC may be removed as an officer for just cause. Just cause will be considered any violation of the oath of office (See Appendix A) taken by the officer.
B. Such action to remove an officer of the UTRCC, may be brought in a regular meeting by any committeeman and must specify the alleged violation constituting just cause. Such action shall then be advanced in special meeting if called by a majority vote of the committee in the regular meeting where such action is brought.
C. Notice of said special meeting and the purpose thereof shall be given pursuant to Article 3, Section 3 (A).
D. The officer subject to removal shall be provided, by the secretary, written notice of the charges by certified mail, return receipt requested, mailed to his last known place of residence, ten (10) days prior to the special meeting. He may provide a rebuttal to the alleged violation.
E. Removal for just cause shall require a 2/3 affirmative vote of committeemen present, a quorum having been met.

Article 3 – Meetings
Section 1 – Regular Meetings
A. After the reorganization meeting, the newly elected Chairman shall call the first regular meeting to take place within 30 days of the reorganization meeting.
B. A schedule of regular meetings, not less than 4 per year, shall be adopted annually by the UTRCC. Changes to the schedule of regular meetings can be adopted in any UTRCC regular meeting. The annually adopted schedule of regular meetings shall be posted on any UTRCC website.
C. The Chairman shall set an agenda for each regular meeting. Such agenda shall include, but not be limited to, the following standing topics: Approval of Minutes, Treasurer’s Report, Executive’s Report, Report on the last CCRCC Executive Committee meeting, Committee Reports, Old Business, New Business.

Section 2 – Special Meetings
A. Special meetings of the Committee may be called by the Chairman, the Vice Chairman (in the absence of the Chairman), by a majority vote of the UTRCC in a regular meeting, or by written notice signed by twenty percent (20%) of the committeemen of the UTRCC delivered to the Chairman or Secretary.
B. A special meeting can take place on the same day as a regular meeting.
C. Special meetings shall be restricted to the specific topic for which the meeting was called.

Section 3 – Meeting Notice, Quorum and Voting
A. Notice of regular and special meetings shall be provided by the Chairman or Secretary via e-mail to all committeeman at least 5 days prior to such meeting.
B. Quorum for any regular or special meeting shall consist of thirty (30%) of UTRCC committeemen.
C. A majority of the committeemen present in a regular or special meeting, a quorum being met, shall constitute a majority for the purposes of voting unless otherwise noted. Proxy votes are not to be honored by the UTRCC at any time for any purpose.
Article 4 – Spending, Policies and Amendment of the Constitution

Section 1 – Spending
A. The Treasurer may authorize spending of $20 or less for incidental UTRP expenses, not to exceed $20 in any given month.
B. All other spending of UTRCC funds shall be authorized by the UTRCC in a regular meeting and require a 2/3 affirmative vote of committeemen present, a quorum having been met.
C. Direct donations to other individuals or organizations such as candidate or issue committees shall be limited to a maximum of $100 per such per UTRCC meeting.

Section 2 – Policies
A. The UTRCC may adopt or amend an endorsement policy by a 2/3 affirmative vote of committeemen present in a regular meeting or a special meeting (called for that purpose), a quorum having been met. If adopted, such policy shall be considered Appendix B to this Constitution.
B. The UTRCC may adopt or amend a communications, web and social media policy by a 2/3 affirmative vote of committeemen present in a regular meeting or a special meeting (called for that purpose), a quorum having been met. If adopted, such policy shall be considered Appendix C to this Constitution.
C. The UTRCC may adopt or amend a Republican club policy by a 2/3 affirmative vote of committeemen present in a regular meeting or a special meeting (called for that purpose), a quorum having been met. If adopted, such policy shall be considered Appendix D to this Constitution.

Section 3 – Amendment of the Constitution
A. This Constitution may be amended by the UTRCC. Such action to amend this Constitution, may be brought in a regular meeting by any committeeman and must specify the text of the amendment. Such action shall then be advanced in special meeting if called by a majority vote of the committee in a regular meeting.
B. Notice of said special meeting and the purpose thereof shall be given pursuant to Article 3, Section 3 (A) and must specify the proposed amendment text.
C. Amendment of this Constitution shall require a 3/4 affirmative vote of committeeman present at the called special meeting, a quorum having been met.
D. Any Constitutional changes adopted by the UTRCC shall not go into effect until the next regular scheduled meeting following the special meeting at which they were adopted.

Appendix A – UTRCC Officer Oath
I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Ohio, that I will follow and uphold the Constitution of the Union Township Republican Party and any policies adopted thereto, and that I will perform my duties as an officer of Union Township Republican Party to the best of my ability – so help me, God.

Appendix B – Endorsement Policy
Section 1 – Endorsement
• The UTRCC can endorse candidates for office. Endorsements may include any elected office that represents any part of Union Township.
• Candidates who are pursing endorsement by the Union Township Republican Party shall notify the Chairman of their request for endorsement in writing via hardcopy or email and at least 7 days in advance of any meeting at which endorsements are to be considered.
• The chairman shall call a special meeting for the consideration of endorsements, in accordance with Article 3 of the UTRCC Constitution, to take place no earlier than 7 days after the petition filing deadline when the chairman has received a request for endorsement.
• In any special meeting considering endorsements, the UTRCC shall first vote on whether to endorse for the given race for elected office or issue.
• Should the UTRCC vote to endorse in a given race:
o In field races impacting any part of Union Township including but not limited to township trustee, school board or fiscal officer, a simple majority vote of committeemen present, a quorum having been established, shall be the threshold for endorsement.
o For local issues impacting any part of Union Township but not the entity of the county, a 2/3 affirmative vote of committeemen present, a quorum having been established, shall be the threshold for endorsement.
o In all other cases, the threshold required for endorsement will be in accordance with the then current CCRCC endorsement policy.
• Secret ballots will be used to select candidates for endorsement. Each committeemen present shall receive one endorsement vote per number of positions to be elected to a given office.
• Committeemen may vote for any given candidate only once per endorsement vote.
• All voting results are to be tallied in plain sight of committeemen and totals are to be announced in full.

Section 2 – Revocation of Endorsement
• Endorsements may be revoked in a subsequent special meeting called for that purpose pursuant to Article 3 of the UTRCC Constitution. If an endorsement is revoked, a new endorsement may be considered in that same special meeting. Revocation of an endorsement shall require the following:
o Revocation of a prior candidate endorsement shall require a 2/3 majority vote of committeemen present; a quorum having been established.
o Revocation of a prior issue endorsement shall require a 2/3 affirmative vote of committeemen present; a quorum having been established.
• Secret ballots will be used for votes to revoke a candidate or issue endorsement.

Appendix C – Communications, Web and Social Media Policy
Placeholder
Appendix D – Republican Club Policy
Placeholder