Click below to review and print the 2021 convention rules

Scott County GOP BPOU Convention
February 1, 2021 @ 6:30 PM
Proposed Agenda
REGISTRATION CLOSES AT 7:00PM
CONVENTION ADJOURNS AT 9:30PM OR EARLIER
1. 5:30 PM: Registration Begins
2. 6:00 PM: Nominations Committee Begins Meeting with All Candidates
3. 6:30 PM: Call to Order and Welcome
4. Pledge of Allegiance
5. Invocation
6. Reading of the Call
7. Parliamentary Procedures
a. Motion for the Election of a Temporary Chair of the Convention - Joseph Ditto
b. Motion for the Election of a Temporary Secretary of the Convention
c. Appointment of Convention Officials
i. Chief Sergeant-at-Arms
ii. Chief Teller
iii. Parliamentarian - Barbara Lerschen
d. Appointment of Convention Committees
i. Arrangements – Tony LaLonde
ii. Constitution – Bill Paulsen
iii. Credentials – Jonathan Painter
iv. Nominations – Joseph Ditto
v. Rules – Barbara Lerschen
e. Preliminary Credentials Report
f. Motion to Approve Preliminary Credentials Report
g. Adoption of Rule V (Seat Alternates) and Rule VII (Addressing the Convention) Part A
h. Seating of Alternates
i. Adoption of Remaining Rules (Including the Agenda)
j. Motion to Make the Temporary Organization Permanent
8. 7:00 PM Registration Ends
9. Final Credentials Report
10. Motion to Approve the Final Credentials Report
11. 7:15 PM Close of Nominations for State Central Delegates/Alternates, and Nominations for Scott County GOP
Executive Committee
12. Constitution Committee Report
13. Legislative Updates
14. Scott County GOP Chair’s Report
15. Nominations Committee Report for Scott County GOP Executive Committee
16. Election of Executive Officers (Chair, Deputy Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Director-At-Large)
17. Nomination Committee Report for State Central Committee Delegates/Alternates
18. Election State Central Committee Delegates/Alternates (7 Delegates and 21 Alternates spots available)
19. Treasurer Report & Finance review
20. Sub-caucus by House Districts (20A, 55A and 55B)
a. Election of House District Directors (Each House District has 2 Directors)
b. Election of Congressional District 2 Alternates (Seated after Delegates and Alternates elected in 2020)
21. Reconvene Scott County GOP BPOU Convention
22. Other Business
23. Motion to Adjourn the Convention
* At her/his discretion, the Convention Chair may move agenda items around as needed for purposes of expediency.
However, items 8 and 11 may not be moved to an earlier time or earlier position on the agenda.
** Qualified guest speakers may be recognized at the discretion of the Convention Chair throughout the convention as
time allows. A report from any outgoing officers of the Scott County GOP BPOU will also be in order.

Page 1 of 5
2021 Scott County GOP Basic Political Organization Unit (BPOU)
Convention Rules
Note: Sections in Italics come directly from the Republican Party of Minnesota Constitution
and cannot be changed.
I. Parliamentary Rules
Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, shall govern the conduct of the business of this Convention
when not in conflict with the laws of the State of Minnesota, the Constitution and By-Laws of the
Minnesota Republican Party, and Rules adopted by this Convention.
II. Order of Business
A. The order of business for this Convention shall be as outlined in the official Agenda of the
Convention which is an integral part of these Rules.
B. A motion to adjourn shall not be in order until the official business of the convention, as stated in the
Agenda is completed.
C. Not withstanding Rule II. B., the convention shall adjourn no later than 9:30PM.
III. Registration
A. Not withstanding Article II, Sections 2 and 3, registration fees may be assessed Delegates and
Alternates attending a convention.
B. Once a Delegate or a seated Alternate has registered for the convention he/she remains part of
the voting strength of the convention even if he/she leaves the convention prior to the convention’s
official adjournment.
C. A convention may close registration of Delegates and Alternates only if the convention call
states the time at which registration will close. If the call states a registration closing time the
convention may permit a later closing time for registration or may require the convention to
remain open regardless of the language in the call.
IV. Convention Roll and Quorum
A. The permanent roll of the Delegates entitled to speak and vote at this Convention shall consist of the
duly elected Delegates who are registered and such Alternates who shall be registered and seated in
accordance with these Rules.
B. The Scott County GOP Republican Party BPOU Convention shall be composed of the delegates and
alternates elected by the February 25, 2020 Precinct Caucuses. Attendees must be elected from
Precinct Caucuses in House Districts 55A, 55B and 20A (Scott County portion).
C. A majority of the total number of Delegates registered shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of
convening the Convention. Thereafter, a call for a quorum shall be out of order. No action except
adjournment shall be transacted by the Convention without an affirmative vote of 25% of the
registered Delegates and seated Alternates as established by the most recent report of the
Credentials Committee.

Page 2 of 5
V. Seating of Alternates
A. The Delegates of the Convention shall be seated and constituted as follows:
1. The Credentials Committee shall seat only duly accredited Delegates of each precinct, as such
precincts were constituted on February 25, 2020, who are in attendance prior to the closing of
convention registration. In the event no Delegates are present from a precinct, the Credentials
Committee shall seat all accredited Alternates from the precinct after the first credentials report.
2. The precincts shall caucus after acceptance of the first report of the Credentials Committee. The
Convention shall then proceed to the seating of the Alternates, which shall be accomplished as
follows: Unless the precinct caucus specifies the seating of Alternates to fill delegations in
another manner (for example; rank order determined at 2020 precinct caucus), the seated
Delegates of each precinct shall fill all vacancies by the vote of the seated Delegates and only
from accredited Alternates of that precinct. In case of a tie, the precinct chair shall appoint one
of those who are tied to fill that particular vacancy.
3. In the event questions arise concerning the seating of Delegates or Alternates, the question may
be referred to the Credentials Committee for decision. Decisions of the Credentials Committee
may be appealed to the Convention.
4. A vacancy shall be deemed to exist if at the time of the Convention such Delegate or Alternate
does not reside within the precinct from which they were elected, was elected by a precinct in
which they no longer reside, or has resigned their Delegate or Alternate position
B. Seating of registered Alternates shall be permissible at any time, if a Delegate or seated Alternate is
absent, provided that upon return of the Delegate, the Delegate shall be immediately seated.
However, at the start of any ballot, there shall be no change in seating until that ballot has been
completed.
C. There shall be no cross-seating; a Delegate or Alternate from one precinct cannot be seated in a
different precinct.
D. Convention registration shall close at 7:00PM or with the final passage of the rules or whichever is
later.
VI. Amendment or Suspension
After adoption of these Rules, they may be suspended or amended only by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of
the Delegates and seated Alternates voting.
VII. Addressing the Convention
A. The permanent roll of the Delegates entitled to speak and vote at this Convention shall consist of
the duly elected Delegates who are registered and such Alternates who shall be registered and
seated in accordance with these Rules.
B. A Delegate or seated Alternate wishing to speak shall rise, address the Convention Chair, and when
recognized, state his or her name and precinct and the purpose for which he or she rises.

Page 3 of 5
C. Debate on any motion or subject shall be limited to one (1) minute by each Speaker. No person
shall be allowed to speak a second time upon the same question until all others wishing to be
recognized have been heard. Speaker may be allowed to speak one additional time provided that
someone has spoken against the motion.
D. At least two speakers on each side of a question shall be afforded the opportunity to speak on an
issue before a call for the question or motion to table shall be in order. After four (4) minutes of
elapsed debate, the Chair may call for the vote. If there are fewer than two speakers for a side of the
question, and no speakers come forward when the Chair makes a final call, the Chair may call the
question early.
E. Anyone wishing to address the convention shall inform the Sergeant-at-Arms of their desire to
speak. The chair, at a time of his discretion, shall allow the speaker to address the convention.
F. The Convention Chair or his designees shall keep an accurate record of each speaker’s time and
shall rigorously enforce any time limitations.
G. Each person running for Delegate/Alternate to State Central Committee shall be allowed 30 seconds
to speak during the election process.
H. Each person running for Scott County GOP chair shall be allowed 3 minutes to address the
convention. The limit is 2 minutes per candidate for the rest of the BPOU officers.
I. Each person running for Congressional District 2 Convention Alternate will be allowed 30 seconds
to speak during the election process.
J. The chair may recognize guests for two minutes to address the convention as time allows.
VIII. Nomination and Election of Officers and State Central Delegates
A. If there is an uncontested race, the Convention may decide, by a 2/3rds standing vote, to elect by
acclamation.
B. All candidates for State Central Delegate/Alternate or their representatives shall indicate their
interest in running for election by writing their names on the nominating forms located at the
registration table no later than 7:15PM or fifteen (15) minutes after the adoption of these rules,
whichever is later. The tellers may create ballots with all of the names written on the Nominating
forms. The ballots will be passed out at the beginning of the voting process. The Nominations
Committee shall read the names of all candidates on the ballot. The convention will approve the
report and close nominations. Each candidate may then speak for 30 seconds.
C. All candidates for Scott County GOP BPOU Officer shall indicate their interest in running for
election by writing their name on the nominating forms located at the registration table no later than
7:15PM or fifteen (15) minutes after the adoption of these rules, whichever is later.
D. The election of party officers as defined in the Scott County GOP Constitution shall be done
separately in this order Chair, Deputy Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Director-At-Large and sub-caucus
into House Districts for House District Director election.

Page 4 of 5
E. The Nominations Committee shall place into nomination all names on the BPOU Officer nomination
form for that office. The convention approves the report and closes nominations for this Officer
position. If contested race, the convention will vote using a secret ballot. Otherwise the convention
has the option of a rising vote (VIII A). Repeat this process until all officers are elected.
F. Nominations for each office shall be closed before balloting begins.
G. A candidate may remove his or her name from consideration at any time.
H. The order of candidate speeches for each Scott County GOP office shall be determined by lot.
I. Candidates for BPOU Officer, State Central Delegate/Alternate, State and CD 2 Alternate may
designate a representative to give their candidate speech.
J. No person shall be elected a Scott County GOP officer unless he or she has received the most valid
votes cast on that ballot. Ties will be broken at this convention by a random method defined by
tellers.
K. A ballot will not be considered valid if it contains the same name more than once, if it contains more
votes than the number of positions to be filled, if it contains other than properly nominated
candidates or if it is left blank.
IX. Voting
A. The vote on all questions shall be by voice except as follows:
1. At the request of at least five (5) Delegates or seated Alternates or at the discretion of the Chair,
a rising vote shall be taken.
2. Voting for contested elections shall be by secret ballot.
B. The House District Director(s) or designee shall collect ballots cast by each delegate/seated
alternate in their House District and turn them over to the tellers. If the House District Director(s)
are not present, then the remaining Delegates and seated Alternates will elect a person to serve in
that capacity.
C. The Chief Teller shall verify the number of ballots cast by a House District and the Convention
Chair shall announce any discrepancies before the ballots are comingled with other ballots.
D. House District Director(s) or their designee shall ensure that each Delegate and seated Alternate in
his or her House District will cast only one vote and that unused ballots are returned unmarked.
E. The Chief Teller shall report back to the Convention Chair the total number of votes cast for each
candidate and the Convention Chair shall announce the results to the Convention.
F. If there is a dispute as to the number of ballots cast by any House District, the said House District
challenge shall be made before the ballots from that House District are comingled with those of
other House Districts. Upon such a challenge, the Convention officers selected by the Chief Teller
shall count the ballots cast by said delegation.

Page 5 of 5
G. Each Delegate or seated Alternate shall have one full vote. Voting by unit rule is forbidden.
H. No Delegate or seated Alternate shall be required to vote for any number of candidates
I. Any ballot marked for more than the allowed number of candidates shall be considered spoiled.
J. Each candidate may have one observer in the “counting room”.
K. Ballots will be destroyed after the close of the convention or after ballots have been counted, which
ever is later.
L. The Scott County GOP Delegate and Alternate positions to the State Central Committee shall be
nominated at the Scott County GOP Convention held during odd-years. Alternates must be seated
by descending vote totals. Ties for the last delegate spot(s) will be decided by coin toss. Ties for
alternate will be broken at the Scott County GOP convention by a random method defined by the
tellers. [Note: From Scott County GOP Constitution.]
X. Miscellaneous
A. All literature distributed at the Convention must have its source(s) prominently displayed. All noncompliant literature must be immediately removed. Without objection, the Convention Chair
determines compliance.
B. Removal of literature following the convention, other than official Convention documents, is the
responsibility of the source(s). The Scott County GOP BPOU may recover reasonable clean-up
cost.
C. Any person, campaign, or organization found to have violated the venue property owner’s policies
shall be liable for associated fines, fees, and damages.