Preamble: We, the Libertarians of North Dakota, believing in liberty and freedom, hereby organize and institute in perpetuity, the Libertarian Party of North Dakota under these bylaws.
1.1 The name of the organization shall be the “Libertarian Party of North Dakota”, and shall hereinafter be referred to as the “LPND”.
1.2 The purpose of the LPND shall be the promotion of qualified Libertarian candidates for election to public office and the promotion of Libertarian ideas and philosophy of freedom.
1.3 The LPND shall be affiliated with the National Libertarian Party and shall comply with all the applicable rules and bylaws affecting affiliated parties as promulgated by the Libertarian Party National Committee and the Libertarian Party National Convention.
2.1 A person is a member of the LPND if they are a current North Dakota resident and either a member of the National Libertarian Party or the Libertarian Party of North Dakota
2.2 Any member may be removed by a 2/3 vote of the membership present at an official meeting.
2.3 Any removed member may be reinstated by a 2/3 vote of the membership present at an official meeting.
3.1 The Executive Committee shall be composed of the officers of the LPND and shall consist of the State Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and the previously elected State Chair.
3.2 State Officers shall be elected at the State Convention at every odd-numbered year and shall take office immediately upon election. Officers shall serve for a term of two years, or until their successors are elected at any statewide convention.
3.3 The Chair shall be responsible for calling executive meetings, statewide meetings and State Conventions. They shall chair the State Convention, serve as the official spokesperson of the LPND, and appoint persons and perform functions as authorized by the LPND. They shall call an Executive or statewide meeting at least every three months and a Convention every year. Meetings shall be announced and open to all members. The general public will be invited to at least a portion of all state meetings.
3.4 The Vice Chair shall, when called upon by vote of the committee, act as Chair in the event of the Chair’s inability or unwillingness to perform such actions required by the Chair, keeping an updated roster of members, and contacting and encouraging members to renew and make contributions each year.
3.5 The Secretary shall record and publish the minutes of all LPND meetings on the website, correspond with the LNC and government officials as needed. In the event of a vacancy, the Chair shall assign these responsibilities as necessary.
3.6 The Treasurer shall maintain the records of receipts and expenditures of party funds and shall be responsible for reporting such records to any federal or state agency or official as required by law. They shall prepare a current financial report to be reported at all LPND meetings as well as keep a quarterly accounting on the LPND website. In the event of a vacancy, the Chair shall assign these responsibilities as necessary.
3.7 Should a vacancy occur in any state officer position, that office shall be filled by appointment of the Executive Committee. However, if a vacancy shall occur in the office of Chairman, the Secretary shall call for an election within 60 days to fill that vacancy. The nominations and election can be written or electronic by all members.
3.8 Any 20% of the members can petition for a statewide meeting, or petition for the removal of any state officer with or without cause by a 2/3 vote at any statewide meeting. The Secretary shall call for a statewide election within 60 days of a removal petition and which can be held by written or electronic statewide voting of all members.
3.9 The names and contact information of all state officers, national delegates, and endorsed candidates must be kept current on the State website and reported to the National Party.
3.10 The Communications Director appointed by the chair shall be responsible for all outward-facing communications, websites, multimedia, social media, press releases, media appearances, and media inquiries. The Communications Director may establish and manage committees (including the appointment of any committee chairs) to accomplish these and other communications functions.
3.11 The Outreach Director appointed by the chair shall be responsible for booking and running outreach booths and community events and for maintaining outreach materials. The Outreach Director may establish and manage committees (including the appointment of any committee chairs) to preform these and other outreach functions.
4.1 Local affiliates of the LPND are encouraged and may organize by legislative district, county, tribe, city, university, cause or other useful area.
4.2 Such affiliates shall be recognized by the LPND when the LPND Secretary is provided written notice of the formation of the affiliate including a list of members and officers and the affiliate is approved by majority vote of the Executive Committee.
4.3 Local affiliates must report quarterly to the executive committee on their activities and must not act in any way that reflects negatively on the Libertarian Party.
4.4 Local affiliates may be dissolved by vote of the Executive Committee or by 2/3 vote of the active membership at any state meeting.
5.1 The Chairman, under the direction of and with the approval of 2/3 of the Executive Committee or the State Convention, shall approve all expenditures by the Treasurer of party funds.
6.1 A State Convention shall be held yearly. The time and place of the State Convention shall be determined by the Executive Committee. Written notice of the Convention date, time, place, and agenda shall be available and distributed by the Secretary at least 30 days prior to the convention.
6.2 The purpose of the State Convention shall be to select officers, select National Convention delegates, amend the bylaws, amend the LPND Platform, and endorse candidates.
6.3 Statewide candidates must be members and should be recognized and or endorsed as early as possible to give them ample time to research and organize their campaign.
6.4 Statewide candidates shall have full access to the LPND mailing lists.
6.5 All endorsed candidates must boldly show in all advertisements, literature, and news releases, that they are the Libertarian Endorsed candidate. If they fail to do so, the Executive Committee by a 2/3 vote can revoke their endorsement.
7.1 LPND shall follow Robert’s Rules of Order in all official meetings.
7.2 A quorum shall be one executive officer and two members of the party.
7.3 To Suspend the Rules, a 2/3 vote is required.
7.4 Adoption of platform and bylaw changes shall require a 2/3 vote of members present.
7.5 Only members present, either in person or via telecommunications platform approved by the Executive Committee, may vote at any Executive meeting and State Convention.
8.1 The State Convention shall elect delegates to the National Convention by majority vote.
8.2 The National Convention delegates shall elect their own Chair and Vice Chair.
8.3 The Executive Committee shall fill any vacancies of National Convention delegates.
8.4 The delegation Chair may freely substitute alternates to vote in place of delegates not present on the floor provided that the total number of votes cast by delegates and alternates shall not exceed the total number of delegates entitled to.
9.1 Amendments to these bylaws may be made at the State Convention. If possible, amendments should be published 30 days prior to the State Convention, but may be presented from the floor. Amendments must be presented in writing and copies of the current bylaws must be freely available.
9.2 Adoption of amendments shall be by majority vote of those members physically present.
9.3 If any of these Bylaws are found to be in any way not in accordance with state law, federal law or LNC rules, then then that Bylaw shall be suspended until those defects are corrected.
9.4 In the event that a Bylaw should be found to be defective, the Executive Committee shall correct it during the closest official meeting. These corrections shall be ratified by the membership at the next statewide convention in accordance with Article 7.4.
Bylaws updated to reflect changes made at the 2022 North Dakota State Convention on February 26th, 2022
For a PDF version of the Bylaws click here.
