STEP ONE
- The process begins at town hall meeting organized by wards, which are simply a group of 2 to 5 precincts.
- Every registered Democrat who has been registered for 30 days is invited to attend, vote and run for office. You must be present in person to vote, though you can be elected if you are not present.
- The Ward meeting elects, in addition to a Ward Coordinator and Vice Ward Coordinator, the Central Committee Members who will go to the County Central Committee meeting where the County Chair will be elected.
- When you attend, you will cast one vote for a County Central Committee member, even though there will be several County Central Committee members to elect. The person with the most votes gets a position, then the person with the next most votes and so on until all positions are filled. (In cases of ties a deck of cards determines the winners). The purpose of this system is to allow minority groups and views to secure some positions rather than permit the majority to control all the seats.
- For example, if there are 12 seats to fill and 12 persons each vote for themselves, all 12 will be elected with one vote each. If there are 25 people present and 12 people receive 2 votes, and one person receives one vote, the 12 with 2 votes would be elected.
STEP TWO
- The Central Committee members next go to a Central Committee meeting which they can do in person or by giving a proxy to someone else in their Ward. (There will be proxy forms available at the Ward Election) This Central Committee meeting is where the Santa Fe County Chair is elected.
- The Central Committee also elects State Central Committee members by a proportional voting system to assure that minority groups and views are represented.
- The State Central Committee members go on to a State meeting to elect State Leadership and National Committee members. This is a biannual grassroots-up process that works with good participation.
- For this reason, it is important to come vote and spread the word to others who support developing robust Democratic Party participation in New Mexico!
