Caucuses to elect delegates to the Democratic State Convention are scheduled beginning on Saturday and will continue through Feb. 19. The locations are listed on the caucus page of the Mass Dems website. Caucuses are a great way to get connected to the local Democratic Party.
The Preliminary Call to Convention states:
The Massachusetts Democratic Party, in fulfillment of the “Charter of the Democratic Party of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” hereby calls a Convention for the purpose of adopting an action agenda and amending the Party Charter. Said convention will be held at the Tsongas Center at UMASS Lowell on Saturday, June 4th, 2011.
BMG’s own John E. Walsh, fka “John from Abington”, says the following;
Let’s work hard this year to recruit new people to participate in party activities and do things to help keep our electoral “muscles” in shape. In addition to the normal proceedings, the June convention is going to focus on training in party building, electoral techniques and issue-based organizing.
It is often easier to be elected a delegate to an issues convention. But issues conventions can be quite exciting. At an event I was at today, a Democrat recalled that the first time he was elected as delegate was to the issues convention in 2009. He recalled that it was fascinating and dramatic from start to finish. The Party expects to have a strong training component, similar to what we did on 2008. BMGers and other members of the BlogLeft community played a strong role in that effort. As the “Call” states, there is always the potential for Charter changes.
This year there is the opportunity to be elected as a delegate, even if you can not attend the caucus. First preference is given to those who are able to attend, but if you simply can’t attend and want to take part, just notify the town or ward chair of your interest and you name can be placed in nomination be a 2/3 vote.
Each community is different and each year is different. I will say that in my community it is easier to get elected to be a delegate in a nominating year if you have taken the time to be a delegate in an issues year. It is early to predict what 2012 will bring, but I expect that more than one candidate will be looking to get his or her 15% at the convention.
If you are concerned that your caucus might be cancelled, check the party web site. When in doubt call the chair of your local chair.
We elected 27 delegates this morning. Looking forward to seeing everyone in Lowell, the best convention city in the state.
This year’s schedule in my district made it tough to get to many caucuses. I went to ten, but seven of them were in the same location. I am working on mastering the art of being in two places at the same time, but it is a challenge.
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p>There was only one place where there was a contested vote. They had six men running for five seats. For you rules junkies out there, it was an interesting situation. Four of the men were present and two had contacted the chair and had asked to be nominated. The rules were clarified this year to deal with that very situation. The four men who were present were deemed elected. The vote was only between the two men who were not present. As a visting DSC member I offered to count ballots. I will tell you that it made counting much easier than if I had been counting in a “vote for five” situation.
…how to be in two places at once, kindly let the rest of know:)