Election Procedures for the Selection of the Next Vice Chair for Finance

The short link to this page is txdem.co/VCFF-Election.

Election procedures approved Monday, May 12, 2025 by the Texas Democratic Party’s State Democratic Executive Committee. For anything not covered in the adopted election procedures, the TDP looks to Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised, 12th Edition (RONR, the party's parliamentary authority) for guidance in facilitating the election. The deadline for filing as a TDP Chair candidate ends on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, 6 PM CT. For the list of filed candidates, please see txdem.co/VCFF-Candidate-List.

References

Candidate Qualifications

  • Candidates for State Chair must be registered to vote in the State of Texas and affiliated with the Texas Democratic Party. 

  • In accordance with Texas Election Code, Chapter 162, all candidates shall swear/affirm an oath of affiliation. 

  • Candidates are not required to be members of the SDEC.

  • Candidates are not limited to a specific gender identity.

See TEX. ELEC. CODE 162.001 requiring affiliation to serve on the Executive Committee.

Candidate Filing

  • Vice Chair for Finance candidates may file at txdem.co/VCFF-Form-2025. All filed candidates are listed at txdem.co/VCFF-Candidate-List.

  • Filing Period:

    • Opens - No later than Noon CT on Wednesday, May 14, 2024.

    • Closes - 6 PM CT on Wednesday, May 28, 2025.

  • In order to qualify as a candidate, an individual must file a Declaration of Candidacy with the Texas Democratic Party electronically which will be made available on the TDP website. 

  • There shall be no filing fee or petitions associated with a Declaration of Candidacy.

  • Following the filing deadline, staff will transmit the list of all candidates who file a Declaration of Candidacy to the Nominations Committee, which shall meet virtually to formally nominate all eligible candidates, pursuant to TDP Rules ART.VII, B.7.

See ART.VII, B.7 which requires candidates for a vacant office to be nominated by a member of the SDEC.

Quorum

A majority of the SDEC membership shall be required for a quorum to fill the vacancy and elect the Incoming Vice Chair for Finance.

Eligible Voters

  • All members of the SDEC with voting privileges [txdem.co/sdec-voting-members] are eligible to vote in the election. 

  • A list of the voting members with contact information shall be provided to candidates by staff.

See TDP Rules ART. VII(B)(7), which provides in pertinent part: “…a majority of the members of the SDEC shall elect a successor…” and ART.VII(A)(1) which details the membership of the SDEC.

Majority Vote Required

  • A majority vote of the executive committee members voting is required for election as Vice Chair for Finance. 

  • Written ballots shall provide for instant runoff voting and shall allow for choosing up to three choices in order of preference. If no candidate wins a majority, the person with the lowest vote total shall be removed from the count and their ballot awarded to the candidate who is the next highest ranked person. This process shall continue until a candidate obtains a majority of the votes.

  • All paper ballots used during the election will be retained by the Texas Democratic Party for a period of sixty days after the adjournment of the election meeting. 

  • Counted ballots will be available for review once submitted to the State Chair or their Designee(s). The Tellers Committee shall be the custodian of the counted ballots at the election meeting and will facilitate review requests during the election meeting. The State Chair or their designee(s) will be custodian post-meeting and will facilitate review requests.

  • Any vote that results in a tie for second place shall be decided by either a coin toss or a die roll.

    Method of Voting

  • The method of voting in the election will be by signed written ballot. 

  • No secret ballots shall be used.

  • No fees shall be charged for voting, and the meeting shall be open.

See TDP Rules ART. V.(C) and (D).

Proxies

  • Proxy voting shall be permitted; however, no person may hold or vote more than one proxy. 

  • A proxy holder for a congressional district representative on the SDEC must reside in the same district as the member assigning the proxy. 

  • A proxy holder for a representative of an organization on the SDEC must be a member of the same organization as the member assigning the proxy. 

See TEX. ELEC. CODE 171.004 and TDP Rules ART. V.(F).

Vice Chair for Finance Candidate Forums

The week of the Saturday, June 14 Q2 2025 Regular SDEC Meeting in Denton, there will be one official, virtual Vice Chair for Finance Candidate Forum at a date and time to be determined.

Questions and Inquiries 

Please contact TDP via email at [email protected] for questions or inquiries.