Facts About the GOP State Convention
Don't be misled by misinformation
We continue to be saddened and dismayed at the rumors being spread about the 2024 State Republican Convention. Just last week, at the last Pulaski County Committee meeting, misinformation was shared about the validity of the Convention, which led Pulaski County Chair Lorri Justice — who was out of town and missed that meeting — to write this to her Republican Committee members:
Good afternoon. First, I want to thank Mike for standing in on Thursday evening. I heard he did an excellent job!
I want to address some rumors regarding our State Convention that occurred on June 8th. I'm not sure where this misinformation is coming from, but it needs to be nipped in the bud. Everything that passed, was passed overwhelmingly by the delegates.
There was a quorum for the convention. Robert's Rules 12th Edition Chapter II 3:4 (pg 19), states, "In the meetings of a convention, unless the bylaws of the organization provide otherwise, the quorum is a majority of the delegates who have been registered at the convention as in attendance, irrespective of whether some may have departed." A quorum check was done as well. A quorum was present.
Next, we recessed rather than sine die. A convention does not have to be adjourned for it to be legal. Whoever is telling you that what occurred doesn't count because the meeting is not closed, is lying to you. Many of you may remember, that our county committee also recessed, as do most county committees, and as the district and state committees have done for years. Recessing conventions was instructed by the State Party for well over a decade up until the 2024 conventions. Most county committees kept with the recess procedure that had always been instructed.
Further, Article 1, Section 6, (L) states, "A convention may, by majority vote, upon a motion duly made and seconded, recess, adjourn to a specific date, adjourn to the call of the chairman, or sine die. When a convention has adjourned sine die, it has no further authority."
Lastly, someone mentioned that minutes have not been released. That is correct. The Secretary went on vacation shortly after the convention and works a full time job. This was a 10 hour convention. As you can imagine, it will take a while to get the minutes squared away for a convention that lasted as long as this one. This has no bearing on the convention itself as all changes take immediate effect. Everyone knows that RONR is very clear on this and that votes of the body take immediate effect. Minutes have nothing to do with the effective date of the votes - 6/8/24. Furthermore, no State Convention minutes have ever been sent out prior to posting the changes on the RPA website as the RPA has always correctly followed the immediate effect RONR directive. Additionally, convention minutes have not been distributed to the delegates in the past.
I am attaching a link to a Conduit article that I suggest every one of you read. If you scroll to the bottom, this article has attached, our new rules and platform with the changes that were put in place by the duly elected delegates. I would even print them out and keep a copy of them/learn them. They went into effect 6/8/24.
https://conduitnews.com/2024/06/21/newly-adopted-2024-rpa-platform-rules-and-resolutions/
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Lorri Justice