Many thanks to those who have
emailed or called since August 24 th regarding two
rules amendments that were approved by the Convention Committee on
Rules and Order of Organization and ratified by a majority voice
vote of the Republican delegates on the floor of the Convention last Tuesday
afternoon.
As a bit of background……. Over 2
1/2 years I was honored to be elected and serve as chairman of the RNC Standing
Committee On Rules. This committee met nine times from January 2010 through
August 2012. During this period there were numerous amendments proposed that
strengthen the interpretation of our party rules as well as give greater
empowerment to our Republican activists. The committee submitted it's final
report to the RNC membership for adoption and those amendments were then
submitted pursuant to our party rules to The Convention Committee on Rules and
Order of Organization on August 23 rd.
The Convention Committee on Rules
and Order of Organization passed several amendments which give added strength to
our activists. Following are a summary of several examples of major rules reform
implemented by the RNC :
Rule 4( c )
-- Which defines replacement of officers of the RNC in the event of a
vacancy.
Rule 10 --
Which authorizes a Commission on Convention Planning to study how to better plan
and organize future quadrennial conventions of the national party
organization.This commission will submit it's report in 2014.
Rule
10(a)(1) -- Which provides for pre submission of rule amendments that would give
RNC Standing Committee on Rules members proper time to study proposed amendments
prior to meeting.
Rule 10
(b)(5) --Which creates an RNC Standing Committee On Arrangements to plan the
next quadrennial convention in 2016.
Rule
11--Which adds language making it necessary to get approval of all RNC elected
officials of a state before making any in kind or monetary support for any
public or party office.
Rule 15( c
)(7) --Which imposes greater responsibility upon state parties to allow all
active military, including wounded personnel, unable to attend or participate in
person for primary elections and state party caucuses.
Rule 17(a)
--Which allows Arizona to hold it's presidential preference primary the last
tuesday in February without additional penalty.
These are all
excellent additions to our party rules.
There have been
concerns amongst our activists created over changes on new rule 12 and rule 16.
Please find some background on these two rules for your
consideration:
First, Rule
12 allows our elected RNC members to amend the Rules of the
Republican Party for up to two years after the convention
ends. Any rule changes during this time frame will require
three-fourths of the members - not a quorum - to vote for the rule
change.
The RNC previously had a temporary
rule which required a two-thirds vote of members which passed at
the 2008 convention and applied until this
convention . A ¾’s vote of the 168 member
RNC is a nearly an impossible threshold to meet . So Rule 12 makes
it much tougher to pass a rule change between conventions .This is
good.
Rule 12 could be critical to the
future health of the Republican Party. As we saw last month with
Rule 16, the hand of a campaign can weigh heavily on
our party at the convention. The views of a campaign and those of a political party
are sometimes divergent from one another. The needs of the campaign are urgent
and important ; but their horizon is usually just a couple of months
. The party’s needs are more long term. It is important that when necessary we be able to
revise our rules when an environment exists where the needs of the party become
paramount. We believe Rule 12 accomplishes that
requirement.
There was no
intent to disenfranchise the grassroots of our Republican Party with the
addition of Rule 12 . Instead Rule 12 gives the elected members of the RNC
Standing Committee On Rules flexibility to act in the long term
interests of our political party on behalf of our grassroots provided there is a
3/4 vote of the RNC members.
Rules 16a(1)
and (2) as finally amended and passed REINFORCES our
rights at the state level to freely choose our delegates to a National
Convention.The original version of this amendment was an over reach and most
members immediately recognized it as such and went to work to
correct. The final form of this
rule change strengthens the ability of
conservatives to maintain their current influence over our party and it's
platform.
Rule 16a(1)
requires Arizona to do what our state statute requires. Delegates will continue
to use their best efforts to vote for the winner of our Presidential Preference
Primary on the first ballot under Arizona Revised Statutes.
This rule
amendment now makes it explicit instead of confusing as it was prior to this
rule change. This always has been the intention of the Rules and 16a(1) fixed
this problem. This Rule excludes those states where the Delegates and Alternates
appear on a ballot and are elected directly by the primary voters.
Finally,
Rule16a(2), which has caused so much controversy. The final version of this
Rule was approved overwhelmingly on Tuesday by the Convention
Rules Committee by a vote of 78 to 14 with our Arizona delegation members to the
committee voting with the majority. Both the pro and the con sides were given
equal time to speak on the amendment. After the vote was taken in the committee
opponents of the rule change were unable to muster sufficient support to file a
minority report to the convention. As passed, the Rule requires
AZGOP to follow State law and its By Laws and vote for the winner of the
Primary. If a Delegate refuses to follow the rules, then they can be replaced
with an Alternate and the correct vote cast.
We as
Republicans believe in following rules that are set forth for our
Party. What has occurred in a number of States during this primary
season including Arizona can be detrimental to our future ability to elect our
Republican nominee . After winning the Arizona Presidential Preference Primary
Mitt Romney was entitled to 29 votes from Arizona but only received 26 at the
convention. The Convention Tally Committee decided to allow votes to be cast for
several different individuals that should have been cast for Mitt Romney because
of the confusion that existed in the Rules of this convention. Rule 16a(1) and
(2) should remedy this problem.
Finally, a
clarification of the voice vote that took place on the floor of the convention
August 28 th to approve the Rules. There are a few who believe that
the vote was close and there should have been division called and recognized. I
would point out the convention is not run under Robert's Rules. Instead the
proceedings are conducted using the rules of The US House of Representatives
which gives the Convention Chairman broad latitude to conduct the business of
the convention.
Additionally, based on a canvas done earlier by state
delegations, there was a substantial majority of Delegates who supported passage
of the Rules, including Arizona. The voice vote on the floor,
unfortunately, included Alternates and Guests in the convention hall voicing an
illegal vote. Even then it was clear that the ayes were more than sufficient to
carry the report of the committee.
Thank you
for your consideration and trust in our process. Both The RNC Standing Committee
on Rules and The Convention Committee on Rules and Organization did a remarkable
job and the final product reflects the efforts of the committee chairman and all
members to thoughtfully consider reform to our party rules and create
opportunities for all of our activists to participate in electing Republican
candidates .
Now is the
time for all Republicans who believe in restoring American excellence to come
together and support our GOP ticket for The White House. By the very nature of
contested primaries and conventions politics is often a bruising experience.
This is nothing new. Every time Republicans become united we win elections.The
stakes in this election are enormous. I hope you will agree with me that between
now and November 6th we will all work on the same side fighting just like our
founding fathers did when they faced an oppressive foe.
Bruce Ash - Arizona Republican National Committeeman
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